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 Chronicle of the hundredth birthday of R 
 
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Cornell University 
 Library 
 
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 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
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 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013447846 
 
74 Chronicle of the Hundredth Birthday 
 of Robert Burns, containing accounts of 
 872 meetings held in various parts of the 
 English-speaking world, and the most im- 
 portant of the speeches delivered thereat, 
 collected and edited by J. Baxlantyne ; 
 illustrated with fine steel portrdit of Bums 
 and view of his birthplace. First Edition, 
 original cloth, uncut. Good Copy, ids, 1859 
 
 _. royal 8vo 
 
 CHRONICLE 
 
 THE HUNDREDTH BIRTHDAY 
 
 ROBERT BU-RNS. 
 
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 G0TT/(GE 1)^ WHICH BUR.NS "WAS BORN 
 
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 i-^fJ-A I--ULUKTON * C°_fy^ 
 -CT EDINBURGH AND L N D N l^Jv.- 
 
CHRONICLE 
 
 THE HUNDREDTH BIRT.HDAY 
 
 ROBERT BURNS. 
 
 COLLECTED AND EDITED 
 
 BY JAMES BALLANTINE, 
 
 AUTHOH OF THE " OABBKLUNZIB'S WALLET," &C. 
 
 A. FULLARTON & CO., 
 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON. 
 
 MDCCCUX. 
 

PREFACE. 
 
 ' He'll hae misfortunes great and sma', 
 But aye a heart aboon them a' ; 
 He'll be a credit till us a', 
 
 We'll a' be proud o' Robin.'' 
 
 The celebration of the hundredth birthday of Robert Burns, on the 25th day of 
 January, in the year 1859, presented a spectacle unprecedented in the history of the 
 world. 
 
 The extent and variety of the materials necessary to chronicle the incidents of 
 such a day may be judged of by the following analysis of the meetings herein 
 chi'onicled : 
 
 Scotland, ..... 676 
 
 England, . . .76 
 
 Ireland, . . 10 
 
 Colonies, ... .48 
 
 United States, . . 61 
 
 Copenhagen, . . 1 
 
 Total, . . 872 
 
 The utmost enthusiasm pervaded all ranks and classes. Villages and hamlets, 
 unnoticed in statistical reports, unrecorded in Gazetteers, had their dinners, suppers, 
 and balls. City vied with clachan, peer with peasant, philanthropist with patriot, 
 philosopher witli statesman, orator with poet, in honouring the memory of the 
 Ploughman Bard. The meetings were no less remarkable for their numbers than for 
 their unanimity of sentiment ; the number of speakers at each meeting being greatly 
 over the- average on other public occasions, and far beyond what the space of this 
 Chronicle can record. 
 
 Many noble poems and eloquent orations have been omitted. It was not easy 
 to see and resolutely keep the way to this necessary condensation. The deter- 
 mination is told by the book itself, which chronicles only Robert Burns. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 The Editor, for his own satisfaction, takes this opportunity to chronicle the 
 efficient aid afforded by his friend. Sheriff Gordon, and the assistance received 
 from the practical co-operation of his friend, Mr. John A. FuUarton, one of the 
 members of the publishing firm by which the work was projected. No men ever 
 entered on a genial task with greater harmony. No labour -of love was ever carried 
 out with more thorough kindliness. And it is to be hoped that the volume will carry 
 down to a remote period a faithful memory and expression of the gratitude of the 
 human heart to one who gave utterance to its truest and happiest feelings. 
 
 J. B. 
 
 Edinburgh, leth May, 1859. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 Page 
 
 EDINBURGH, 
 
 
 1 
 
 GLASGOW, 
 
 
 39 
 
 AYB, ... 
 
 
 92 
 
 DUMFRIES, . 
 
 
 116 
 
 ABDIE— ZETLAND, 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 141—420 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 
 
 421 
 
 ALNWICK-WREXHAM, . 
 
 . 
 
 428—491 
 
 ARMAGH— TRALEE, 
 
 ABERFOYLE— YAAS, 
 
 ADRIAN— WEST FARMS, 
 
 IRELAND. 
 
 COLONIES. 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 COPENHAGEN. 
 
 492—511 
 
 512—548 
 
 649—605 
 606 
 
 GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE ANCESTORS, DESCENDANTS, AND 
 
 COLLATERAL RELATIVES OF ROBERT BURNS, . facing 606 
 
THE 
 
 BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 EDINBURGH. 
 
 Tub Hundredth Anniversary of the birth of 
 Robert Burns was by all classes in Edinburgh 
 regarded as a holiday. So far as the weather 
 was concerned, the day corresponded pretty 
 closely with that on which the poet was born — 
 the "Januar' wind" blowing with the strength 
 and energy of a hurricane. About two o'clock, 
 without concert, but with one accord, shop- 
 keepers began to shut up ; and within little 
 more than an hour after, crowds were in all 
 parts of the town to be seen proceeding to the 
 various places in which the Centenary Festivals 
 were to be held. Long lines of cabs and car- 
 riages extended from all the entrances to the 
 Music Hall, and groups of spectators gathered 
 at every door, or promenaded George Street, 
 observing the arrivals. Nothing could have 
 been more cordial or general than the enthusi- 
 asm that prevailed at all the meetings ; at the 
 great gathering in the Music Hall especially 
 tlie tone was admirably struck by Lord Ard- 
 millan, to whose hearty manly eloquence as a 
 speaker, and tact and good-humour as a chair- 
 man, the complete success of this chief festival 
 was in no slight degree indebted. Here and 
 at the Corn Exchange and Queen Street Hall 
 all the proceedings passed off with the greatest 
 eclat, while lesser celebrations, of which we 
 have no note, numbered by scores; and in no 
 case have we heard of any untoward occurrence. 
 The monument to the poet at the Calton Hill 
 was florally decorated for the occasion — the 
 dome, pillars, and base being wreathed and en- 
 circled with evergreens ; and in the course of 
 the day many persons paid to this memorial of 
 genius the homage of a visit. 
 
 THE MUSIC HALL. 
 
 A great banquet took place in the Music 
 Hall in the evening. Tables were laid out for 
 
 seven hundred persons, besides which the gal- 
 leries and orchestra were crowded with five 
 hundred ladies in full dress, who took their 
 places at an early hour, and remained till 
 nearly the conclusion of the proceedings. 
 
 Lord Ardmillan presided, and he was ac- 
 companied to the platform by the Lord Pro- 
 vost, the Lord Justice-Clerk, Lord Ivory, Lord 
 Neaves, Colonel M'Laverty, Captain Carnegie, 
 Kev. Dr. Kobert Lee, Mr. Adam Black, M. P., 
 Sir William Gibson-Craig, Professor Blackie, 
 Mr. D. 0. Hill, Secretary, E. S. A., Mr. 
 James Ballantine, and Professor Campbell 
 Swinton. Sheriff Gordon and Mr. E. Cham- 
 bers acted as croupiers. 
 
 Among the gentlemen in the body of the 
 hall were Sir W. Dunbar, M. P., Bishop Gillis, 
 Mr. Hepburn, as representative of the Cale- 
 donian Society of London, Sir John Eichard- 
 son of Lancrigg (the Arctic navigator, and in 
 his youth a frequent visitor at Burns' house in 
 Dumfries), Mr. Gray of Preston (who, as a 
 playmate of his children, knew the^ poet, and 
 who came from Preston to be present on this 
 occasion), the Provost of Leith, Sir W. Baillie, 
 Professor Simpson, Mr. A. T. Boyle, Mr. Rus- 
 sell (Scotsman), Bailie Forester, Bailie Grieve, 
 Bailie Johnston, Treasurer Russell, Councillor 
 F. Richardson, Councillor Mossman, Councillor 
 Cassels, Councillor Hill, Councillor Wood, Coun- 
 cillor Hay, Councillor Marshall, Bailie Lindsay 
 of Leith, Professor Dick, Mr. A. Morrison, Dr. 
 Schmitz, Mr. John Ritchie, Mr. Maurice Lo- 
 thian, Mr. F. Russell, Mr. G. Lorimer, Mr. C. 
 Maclaren, Mr. Edmonston, Professor Kelland, 
 Professor M'Dougall, Colonel M'Niven, Sir 
 William Forbes, Bart., Mr. Cosmo Innes, Mr. 
 E. F. Maitland, Mr. David Laing, Mr. William 
 Tait of Priorbank, Mr. David Rhind, Mr. John 
 Archibald Campbell, Dr. John Eenton, Mr. 
 Williamson (Kinross), Mr. John Philip, R. A., 
 
 A 
 
THE BUKNS CENTENARY, 
 
 Mr. George Harvey, R. S. A., Mr. John Steele, 
 R. 8. A., Mr. Horatio M'Cullooli, R. S. A., 
 Mr. Kenneth Macleay, R. S. A., Mr. James 
 Drummond, R. S. A., Mr. W. B. Johnston 
 (Roval Academy librarian), Mr. James Archer, 
 R. 'S. A., Mr. William Brodie, R. S. A., 
 Mr. Allan Eraser, Mr. Howden, Dr. W. T. 
 Gairdner, Mr. Gillon, Rev. Mr. Boyle, Rev. 
 Mr. Torrance, Mr. J. C. Smith, Mr. M'Ewan, 
 Mr. Oliver G. Miller (Dundee), Mr. Peter 
 M'Kenzie (Glasgow), Mr. P. S. Eraser, Mr. 
 Hunter (New Mains), &c. There were also 
 present as guests of the meeting, Miss Burns, 
 granddaughter of the Poet, and three daughters 
 of his friend the late Mr. George Thomson. 
 
 After dinner, before and after which grace 
 was said by the Rev. Dr. Robert Lee, 
 
 The Chairman rose amid loud cheering, and 
 said — I cannot, in mere words of form, propose 
 to you the toast with which it becomes us, as 
 good subjects, to commence our proceedings. 
 This is the centenary of a day when, within 
 the "auld clay bigging" of a Scottish cottage, 
 the peasant-bard of our country was born; and 
 now that each returning summer brings royal 
 visits of condescending kindness to Scottish 
 cottages, I am sure that you will join me in 
 dedicating loyally, thankfully, and joyously our 
 first enthusiastic pledge to the health, happi- 
 ness, and prosperity of the Queen. (Great 
 cheering.) Whether we take a retrospect of 
 the years which have passed since the birth of 
 Burns, or try to number our national blessings, 
 or mark the present aspect of the times, and 
 anticipate the bursting on other lands of the 
 storm with which the little cloud on the hori- 
 zon may be charged, we have great reason to 
 be thankful to Divine Providence that our be- 
 loved Queen is, by the personal virtues of her 
 pure and amiable character, an illustrious ex- 
 ample to her subjects, and that in her wise and 
 benign sway we have the best security for so- 
 cial order and national tranquillity, and the 
 surest guarantee of personal and constitutional 
 freedom. (Cheers.) Thus it is that, from the 
 stateliest castle to the humblest cottage of our 
 happy land there prevails one universal feeling 
 of devoted loyalty to the Throne ; and that, 
 with the deliberate conviction of our judgment, 
 and the earnest affections of our hearts, we 
 unite loyally and lovingly in a bumper to the 
 Queen. (The toast was drunk with great en- 
 thusiasm.) 
 
 The Chairman then gave, in succession, 
 " The Prince Consort," and " The Prince of 
 Wales and the rest of the Royal Eamily." 
 
 The Chairman again rose, and called for a 
 bumper. — 1 rise to propose to you " The Arms 
 of our Country" — not the heraldic arms, bla- 
 zoned though they be with the historic glories 
 
 of departed ages; but the two brave and power- 
 ful arms with which Britain now guards her 
 shores, maintains her rights, and achieves her 
 triumphs— the Navy and Army. It is in no 
 narrow or exclusive spirit that at this Scottish 
 festival we rejoice to think that Scotsmen have 
 ever been, and now are, in the front rank of 
 our defenders on sea and shore. In the navy, 
 where a Prince of the blood royal is now train- 
 ing for service and developing his promise of 
 distinction, there are leading Scotsmen too nu- 
 merous to mention ; and I iim happy to see 
 present my honourable and gallant friend, pe- 
 culiarly qualified to represent his noble profes- 
 sion, as he adds new lustre to a name heredi- 
 tarily distinguished in the annals of naval war. 
 In the army our eyes turn to the daring veteran 
 whose Scottish arm now bears aloft the stan- 
 dard of victory in the East, and to that deter- 
 mined Scottish brigade who so brilliantly ac- 
 complish the plans of a leader worthy of their 
 confidence. (Cheers.) On this occasion there 
 is a peculiar propriety in the toast ; for in every 
 phase of the soldier's life — at each step in the 
 course of conflict, victory, and returning peace 
 — some tones from the harp of Burns come 
 thrillingly to our feelings. In the unflinching 
 stand from which attacking foes recoil, scat- 
 tered like waves from a rock ; in the desperate 
 onset which sweeps the enemy from the field, 
 how has there run along the Scottish line the 
 sound — first murmuring low, then swelling like 
 thunder — of that noblest of martial odes, — 
 " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." (Enthu- 
 siastic applause.) In the hour which crowns 
 the triumph, and closes the career, as "victory 
 shines on life's last ebbing sands," how finely, 
 with a touch at once powerful and delicate, 
 does Burns describe the dying hero : — 
 
 " Nae cauld faint-hearted doublings tease him; 
 Death comes — wi' fearless eye he sees him, 
 Wi' bhiidy hand a welcome gi'es him : 
 
 And when he fa's, 
 His latest draught o' breathing lea'es him 
 
 In faint liuzzas." 
 
 And, once more, when the fruits of victory are 
 reaped in honourable and lasting peace, who 
 can forget — who even that has not seen Mr. 
 Faed's illustrations can forget — Burns' picture 
 of " The Soldier's Return " — 
 
 " When wild war's deadly blast was blawn, 
 
 And gentle peace returning, 
 Wi' mony a sweet babe fatherless, 
 
 And mony a widow mourning ; 
 I left the lines and tented field 
 
 Where lang I'd been a lodger, 
 My humble knapsack a' my wealth, 
 
 A puir but honest sodger. 
 
 (Cheers.) 
 
EDINBURGH.— MUSIC HALL. 
 
 ;» 
 
 "A leal light heart was in my breast, 
 
 My hand unstained wi' plunder, 
 And for fair Sootia hame again 
 
 I cheery on did wander. 
 I thought upon the banks of Coil, 
 
 I thought upon my Nancy, 
 I thought upon the witching smile 
 
 That caught my youthful fancy. 
 
 " At length I reached the bonny glen, 
 
 Where early life I sported, 
 I passed the mill and trysting thorn 
 
 Where Nancy oft I courted. 
 Wha spied T, but my ain dear maid, 
 
 Down by her mother's dwelling, 
 I turn'd me round to hide the flood 
 
 That in my eon was swelling." 
 
 May many such returns be soon witnessed, 
 and may peace, and home, and love be the re- 
 wards of the brave! The toast is " The Navy 
 and Army," coupled with the health of Captain 
 Carnegie and Colonel M'Laverty. (Drunk 
 with great enthusiasm?) 
 
 Captain Carnegie, in reply for the Navy, 
 j-emarked that, while the Navy could claim a 
 monopoly of Dibdin as a poet, and a large 
 share of Campbell, he could not find anything 
 specially connected with the navy in the career 
 of Burns. The fact was that he wrote not lor 
 one class but for all ; he struck every chor 1 in 
 the human heart that ever beat, whether under 
 a black coat, a red coat, or a blue coat. 
 (Cheers.) 
 
 Colonel M'Laverty replied for the Army, 
 and referred to the influence of Burns on the 
 soldier, in all circumstances, and especially on 
 the Scottish soldier. He also remarked that 
 the people of Belfast, in his native county of 
 Antrim, were at that moment celebrating the 
 centenary of the poet with the same cordiality 
 and enthusiasm as in tliis country. (Cheers.) 
 
 The Chairman again rose amid cheering, and 
 said — Let us now oifer our best wishes to the 
 Lord Provost and Magistrates of this city — 
 "Edina, Scotia's darling seat.'' I am rather 
 amazed to find myself in this chair. In the 
 first place we had hoped and longed for the 
 presidency of Lord Brougham, from whom I 
 have had the honour of receiving a most in- 
 structive and valuable letter, which has been 
 printed and handed to every one present that 
 it may be deliberately considered, and then 
 retained as a memorial of the occasion and of 
 the writer. Not, indeed, that any special me- 
 morial of that learned, eloquent, and distin- 
 guished man can be required, for the extended 
 intelligence and the enlarged liberties of his 
 country are his appropriate and enduring me- 
 morial. (Cheers.) Then, in the absence of 
 Lord Brougham, I expected to see the Lord 
 Provost in the chair ; but as he has done me 
 the honour of supporting me in a chair which 
 
 he was so well entitled to occupy, I take tlie 
 earliest opportunity of proposing his health and 
 that of the Magistrates; and sure I am the 
 toast deserves, and will receive, your hearty 
 adoption. (Drunk with Town Council honours.) 
 
 The Loud Provost, in acknowledging the 
 toast, said — For myself and my colleagues in 
 the Magistracy I beg to thank you for the hon- 
 our which you have been pleased to confer 
 upon us. While this day brings along with it 
 associations which are dear to every lover of 
 his country, it is invested with a peculiar in- 
 terest to the inhabitants of this city as the place 
 which was visited by our great national poet 
 during the prime of his active manhood, and 
 where his genius received an additional impetus 
 from coming into close contact with many of 
 the master-spirits of his day. (Cheers.) It 
 was here that he publbhed the second edition 
 of his works, and his genius broke forth into 
 full effulgence — an edition which contains pre- 
 fixed to it one of the finest of his prose compo- 
 sitions — I refer to the dedication which he then 
 made of his works to the members of the Cale- 
 donian Hunt, where he gives expression to that 
 noble spirit of self-reliance and prido of coun- 
 try for which he was so remarkable. " I was 
 bred," he says, " to the plough, and am inde- 
 pendent. I come to claim the common Scottish 
 name with you my illusti-ious countrymen, and 
 to tell the world that I glory in the title." 
 (Cheers.) It was in this city that, by the kind 
 influence of the amiable and accomplished Dr. 
 Blacklock, he was induced to change his resolu- 
 tion to emigrate, and was thus preserved to his 
 country. I rejoice to know that, on this day 
 set apart to commemorate his genius, such is 
 the enthusiasm felt by the inhabitants of this 
 metropolis, no apartment could be found stifli- 
 ciontly capacious to contain the numbers of 
 those who are ready to do him homage. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 The Chairman then rose amidst enthusiastic 
 cheering, and said — Though I am deeply con- 
 scious that I shall very inadequately present to 
 you the great toast of this evening — especially 
 as I am a most unworthy substitute for the il- 
 lustrious man whom we had hoped to see in 
 the chair — I shall, without prelude, address 
 myself to the subject which has evoked these 
 simultaneous gatherings in every part of the 
 world. One hundred years ago, a Scottish 
 peasant was born, who in his life was first flat- 
 tered and tempted, then scorned and neglected, 
 by the great, and whose world-wide fame now 
 craves a demonstration altogether without pre- 
 cedent. There is a pretty impromptu by James 
 Montgomery — with the manuscript of which I 
 was favoured by Mr. Watson in Princes' Street, 
 whose store of literary memorials, and especially 
 
THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 of Burns' memorials, is very extensive and in- 
 teresting : — 
 
 "He passed through life's tempestuous nigfit 
 A brilliant trembling Northern Light, 
 Through after years he shines from far 
 A fixed unsetting Polar Star." 
 
 To that star, clear and bright, after the lapse 
 of a century — a glorious light and yet a beacon 
 light — all eyes are now turned. No poet of 
 any age or country has obtained the same posi- 
 tion in popular admiration and affection as 
 Burns. Truly it is said by Wilson — a noble 
 and appropriate eulogist of such a man — 
 (cheers) — " Burns was by far the greatest poet 
 who ever sprung from the bosom of the people, 
 and lived and died in humble condition." As 
 the embodiment of popular genius, the champion 
 of popular independence, and the type of pop- 
 ular elevation, his memory — not the memory of 
 his faults and his follies, but the memory of his 
 matchless genius and his noble spirit — is cher- 
 ished close to the heart of every Scottish man. 
 (Loud and continued applause.) In my own 
 county of Ayr, to my connexion with which I 
 owe the honour of my present position, this 
 feeling is greatly intensified. His memory 
 there is inscribed on every feature of natural 
 scenery, and associated with every phase of do- 
 mestic life. Everything there around us is im- 
 pressed by his genius and vocal with his name. 
 (Cheers.) We seem to hear it in the song of 
 every bird and the murmur of every stream, in 
 the sough of the night -wind that rocks the 
 raven's nest at Alloway Kirk, and the rippling 
 of the moon-lit vi^aves breaking on the coves of 
 Culzean; our breezes whisper, and our rocks 
 repeat, all nature echoes, and the heart of man 
 owns it with responsive throb. There, in a 
 lowly cottage, on " the banks and braes o' 
 bonny Doon," dwelt his wortliy father— he who 
 is so touchingly and beautifully described in 
 " The Cottar's Saturday Night," as reading to 
 his gathered household from "the big ha' Bible," 
 and offering the family prayer, so impressive in 
 its simple solemnity — 
 
 " That He, who stills the raven's clamorous nest, 
 And decks the lily fair in flowery pride, 
 
 Would, in the way His wisdom sees the best, 
 For them and for their little ones provide; 
 But chiefly in their hearts with grace divine preside." 
 
 In that cottage Burns was born. Within a 
 week of his birth the "auld clay bigging" 
 was partly blown over in the night, and be- 
 neath the midnight storm and howling wind 
 and flashing light, the infant poet and his 
 mother were carried to a neighbouring hovel 
 for protection — meet ushering into life of the 
 tempest-tossed soul of Burns — fit emblem of the 
 
 startling combination of the wild and the tender, 
 the terrible and the homely, which swayed his 
 heart and inspired his muse. Since Ayrshire 
 contains not merely the spot of his birth but the 
 scene of his youth and his prime, of his sports 
 and his toil, of his loves and his friendships— 
 the scene of his nascent thoughts and springing 
 fancies, where his young genius tried her early 
 wing — and 
 
 " As he walked in glory and in pride, _ 
 Following his plough upon the mountam side, 
 
 his great heart swelled with its high aspirings 
 — amid such scenes an Ayrshire man may be 
 forgiven an intense and peculiar feeling on the 
 subject. (Cheers.) But Burns belongs not to 
 Ayrshire alone, but to Scotland; and, in a 
 sense, not to Scotland alone, but to humanity. 
 In every part of the habitable world where 
 Scottish enterprise has penetrated, and the 
 Scottish tongue is known, and Scottish hearts 
 beat with manly feeling and patriotic emotion, 
 his works are universally felt to be a great 
 popular treasure — his fame a great popular 
 heritage — his genius a great popular impulse, 
 as it sheds gladness on the humble home, and 
 cheers the social board, and inspires the dream 
 of young ambition, and revives the courage 
 of sinking hope. (Loud cheers.) To the 
 Scottish peasant Burns represents and illus- 
 trates all that he prizes most: his order en- 
 nobled ; his humble lot dignified ; his unuttered 
 aspirations expressed in words that set his heart 
 on fire; his country honoured by the genius 
 of the cottage-born. But there have been 
 other peasant-bards ; and it is not alone to his 
 humble birth, his rural toils, and his Scottish 
 dialect, that the name of Burns owes its popular 
 spell. The true power of the charm lies in 
 three qualities, characteristic alike of the man 
 and of his poetry — sensibility, simplicity, and 
 reality. He was the poet not of fiction but of 
 truth. His joys and tears, his passion and his 
 pathos, his love and his pride, the reckless 
 mirth of his jovial hours, and the remorseful 
 sadness of his subsequent reflections — all are 
 real — the product not of his fancy, but of his 
 experience; and as he clothes in language of 
 modest and nervous simplicity his natural and 
 earnest thoughts, his words find an echo in the 
 heart. Under all the forms of affectation, 
 whether it be of thought, or fancy, or feeling, 
 or style, the charm of poetry breaks and the 
 power of genius withers; and of all true poetry 
 the inspiration should be drawn, like that of 
 Burns, fresh, clear, and gushing, from the 
 fountains of natural thought and feeling. 
 Burns, though the best of song-writers, was 
 no mere song-writer. Had he never written a 
 song, his poems would have made him im- 
 
EDINBURGH.— MUSIC HALL. 
 
 mortal; had he written an epic or dramatic 
 poem, the author of "The Cottar's Saturday 
 Night," and of " Tam o' Shanter," could not 
 have failed ; and in any view he must frank, not 
 merely as the greatest poet of humble station, 
 but as one of the greatest poets whom the world 
 has produced. (Cheers ) In my humble opin- 
 ion there is more genius in Burns' songs than 
 in volumes of our modern poetry. Sometimes 
 in sublimity, sometimes in pathos, sometimes 
 in graphic description, sometimes in elevated 
 sentiment, sometimes in exquisite humour, and 
 always in tender and passionate emotion. Burns 
 is without a rival. (Loud applause.) Let petty 
 fault-finders and carping cavillers object as they 
 may — (vehement and renewed cheering) — the 
 true test of the power of Burns' poetry is, that, 
 like what is recorded of his society, criticism 
 is disarmed by intense emotional impression. 
 There are deep springs in the human heart, 
 often covered and hidflen by the rubbish and 
 debris which the tide of life deposits as it rolls 
 along; other poets pass over the surface and 
 pierce not the interposed earthiness ; but these 
 hidden springs are stirred by the power of a 
 spirit like Burns, and Nature, evoked from her 
 deep and rarely-reached recesses, owns the 
 touch of a master-spirit, and bursts forth re- 
 sponsive to the call of true genius. (Loud 
 cheering.) I should trespass too long on your 
 time if I onoe began to quote in illustration of 
 this peculiar character of Burns' poetry. "What 
 heart does not feel that " The Cottar's Satur- 
 day Night," " The Vision," the " Lament," and 
 the address " To Mary in Heaven," with others 
 too numerous to mention, are poems of the 
 rarest and highest order? What can be finer, 
 wild and startling as it is, than the "Address to 
 the Deil," and the picture of the great enemy 
 as — 
 
 " WhylSs, ranging like a roaring lion, 
 For prey a' lioles and corneis tryin' ; 
 Whyles on the strong-winged tempest flyin', 
 
 Tirlin' the kirks; 
 Whyles in tlie human bosom pryin', 
 
 Unseen thou lurks!" 
 
 (Great cheering.) " Tam o' Shanter," to any 
 one well acquainted with the Scottish dialect, 
 is magnificent. (Great cheering and laughter.) 
 It is scarcely possible to refrain from quoting; 
 but I must forbear. Notwithstanding the 
 supernatural ingredients so admirably wrought 
 into the tale, it has all the air of a reality. 
 Every Scotsman, especially every Ayrshire-man, 
 with a mind above the clods of the valley — 
 (loud cheers) — can close his vision on exist- 
 ing objects, and in his mind's eye can see Tam, 
 and the Soutar, and the landlady, and the 
 parting cup, and the ride in the storm, the auld 
 
 haunted kirk, the accumulated horrors on the 
 table, the dance of witches to the unearthly 
 music of the demon-piper on the bunker, the 
 furious rush of the startled legion with Cutty- 
 sark at their head> the crisis of Tam's fate at 
 the keystane of the brig, and the gray mare 
 skelping hame without her tail ! (Laughter 
 and applause.) In the midst of this wild 
 description, where horror and humour prevail 
 by turns, how beautiful is the vanity of earthly 
 pleasure touched ofl': — 
 
 " But pleasures are like poppies spread, 
 You seize the flower, its bloom is shed; 
 Or like the snow-fall in the river, 
 A moment white — then melts for ever; 
 Or like the borealis race, 
 That flit ere you can point their place; 
 Or like the rainbow's lovely form, 
 Evanishing amid the storm." 
 
 But wonderful as " Tam o' Shanter " is, our ad- 
 miration is increased by the extraordinary fact 
 that the whole poem was written, not in Ayr- 
 shire, where he was in the midst of the scenes, 
 but at Ellisland, and between breakfast and 
 sunset of one day. Among the many specimens 
 of the broad and hearty humour of Burns, I 
 may mention " Meg o' the Mill," " Tam Glen," 
 " Death and Dr. Hornbook," where rare caustic 
 humour alternates with a power almost sublime; 
 and " Hallowe'en," where the rustic sports of 
 that now almost forgotten festivity are charm- 
 ingly described. Think of the adventure of 
 " Fechting Jamie Fleck " — 
 
 " Who whistled up Lord Lennox' march 
 To keep his courage cheerie; 
 Although his hair began to arch, 
 
 He was sae fley'd and eerie : 
 Till presently he hears a squeak, 
 An' then a grane and gruntle, 
 He by his sliouther ga'ed a keek, 
 An' tumbled wi' a wiutle 
 
 Out-ower that night. 
 
 He roared a horrid murder-shout 
 
 In dreadfu' desperation I 
 And young and auld came rinnin' out, 
 
 To hear the sad narration ; 
 He swore 'twas hilchin Jean M'Craw 
 
 Or crouohie Merran Humphie, 
 Till, stop ! — she trotted through them a'. 
 
 An' wha was it but grumphie, 
 Asteer that night I " 
 
 (Laughter.) Or call to mind the scaring of 
 Leezie on the brae — a sketch in which the 
 graphic and humorous spirit is relieved by a 
 bit of exquisitely beautiful description : — 
 
 " A wanton widow Leezie was, 
 
 As canty as a kittlin ; 
 But, och ! that night, amang the shaws, 
 
 She got a fearfu' settlin' ! 
 She through the whins, and by the cairn, 
 
 And owre the hill gaed scrievin, 
 
THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Where three lairds' lands meet at a burn, 
 To dip her left sark sleeve in, 
 
 Was bent that night. 
 
 Whyles owre a linn the bnrnie plaj's. 
 
 As through the glen it wimpl't, 
 Whyles round a rooky scaur it strays ; 
 
 Whyles in a wiel it dimpl't: 
 Whyles glittered to the nightly rays 
 
 Wi' bickering, dancing dazzle; 
 Wliyles oookit underneath the braes. 
 
 Below the spreading hazel, 
 
 .Unseen that night. 
 
 Araang the brackens, on the brae. 
 
 Between her and the moon. 
 The deil — or else an outlet quey 
 
 Gat up an' gae a croon : 
 Puir Leezie's heart maist lap the hool, 
 
 Near lav'rock-height she jumpit; 
 But missed a fit, and in the pool 
 
 Out-ower the lugs she plumpit, 
 
 Wi' a plunge that night." 
 
 Or what say you to his epigram on a certain 
 lawyer ? — 
 
 " He clenclied his pamphlets in his fist. 
 
 He quoted and he hinted, 
 Till in a declamation-mist, 
 
 His argument he tint it ; 
 Hovgaped for't, he graped for't. 
 
 He fand it was awa', man. 
 But what his common-sense cam' sliort. 
 
 He eked it out wi' law, man." 
 
 (Great laughter.) I cannot pause to give 
 specimens of the tender and passionate poetry 
 of Burns. His songs abound in stanzas of 
 surpassing beauty, chiefly inspired by his love 
 to Bonnie Jean, his good and faithful wife — 
 a love which was, I think, his deepest and 
 tenderest feeling. His famous lines, said to 
 be addressed to Clarinda, and containing the 
 stanza adopted by Byron as the motto of the 
 " Bride of Abydos," 
 
 " Had we never loved so kindly. 
 Had we never loved so blindly, 
 Never met, or never parted. 
 We had ne'er been broken-hearted," 
 
 were not, I believe, meant for Clarinda, but 
 for Bonnie Jean, whose image was never long 
 absent from his heart. His best letters, to 
 my mind, were those to Mrs. Dunlop, not 
 those to Clarinda; and his most tender and 
 touching songs were inspired by Bonnie Jean. 
 He walks by the burn-side at night and sings — 
 
 " As in the bosom of the stream 
 The moonbeam dwells at dewy e'en, 
 So trembling, pure, is tender love 
 Within the breast of Bonnie Jean." 
 
 He plods his way across the hills from Ellis- 
 land to Mossgiel, and love prompts the charm- 
 ing song to Jean, " Of a' the airts the wind 
 can blaw." When Lapraik's verses are sent 
 him, his heart chooses — 
 
 " There was ae sang amang the rest 
 Aboon them a' it pleased me best, 
 That some kind husband had addressed 
 
 To some sweet wife ; 
 It thrilled the heart-strings through the breast, 
 
 A' to the life." 
 
 He sees in fancy the genius of Coila, and Jean 
 recurs to his mind as alone rivalling the ce- 
 lestial visitant — 
 
 " Down flowed her robe — a tartan sheen, 
 Till half a leg was serimply seen, 
 And such a leg — my bonnle Jean 
 Alane could peer it; 
 Sae straight and tape)-, tight and clean, 
 Nane else came near it." 
 
 (Great cheering and laughter.) And then, 
 with all his high aspirings, and all his lo\'e 
 for social pleasures and even social excesses, 
 where does he place the scene of his highest 
 duties and his dearest joys ? 
 
 " To make a happy fireside clime. 
 For weans and wife. 
 That's the true pathos and sublime 
 Of human life." 
 
 (Loud applause.) Had this man not a heart, 
 and a heart with some rare qualities — sen- 
 sitive, passionate, and tender? (Enthusiastic 
 and long-continued cheering). I believe that, 
 next to the blessing of a conscience divinely 
 enlightened and divinely cleared, the greatest 
 happiness permitted to man in this life, is 
 the happiness of loving and being beloved. 
 (Cheers.) The heart is the true spring of 
 happiness, as Burns himself well says — 
 
 " It's no in titles nor in rank, 
 It's no in wealth like London bank 
 To purchase peace and rest. 
 It's no in books, it's no in lair, 
 It's no in making mickle mair. 
 To make us truly blest. 
 If happiness have not her seat 
 And centre in the breast, 
 We may be wise, or rich, or great, 
 We never can be blest. 
 Nae treasures, nae pleasures 
 Can make us happy lang; 
 Tlie heart aye's the part aye 
 That makes us right or wrang." 
 
 Of the moral character of Burns I must say 
 a word. Let us not be misunderstood. I am 
 no hero-worshipper, no unqualified eulogist of 
 Burns. I protest against the thought that for 
 what is morally wrong an excuse can be found 
 in the rarest talents ; and deeply should I 
 regret if any word fell from me tending to 
 lower the standard of character, or loosen the 
 obligations of religion and morality. There 
 are few sadder subjects of contemplation than 
 a noble generous spirit like that of Burns 
 manly, tender, and true, full of the love of 
 nature, of country, and of liberty, yet floating 
 rudderless and helpless on the tide of life till 
 
IIDINBUKGH.— MUSIC HALL. 
 
 dashed on the fatal rocks which have wrecked 
 so many of his countrymen. His lot, indeed, 
 was cast on evil times, — on times peculiarly 
 perilous to such a temperament as liis. The 
 tone of morality in his day was not pure or 
 iiigh ; the tone of religion was cold, and hard, 
 and low. To the prevailing devotion of his 
 day, generally cold, frequently ascetic, some- 
 times hypocritical, there was an antagonism in 
 Burns' nature. (Loud cheers.) Genuine, prac- 
 tical, and loving piety might have charmed 
 and won him. If, instead of the stern or the 
 cold preachers who repelled his feelings and 
 stimulated his opposition, there had met Burns 
 a pastor in whose large and genial heart dwells 
 love and sympathy as well as faithfulness, who, 
 true to his own convictions, recognises in others 
 the rjglits of conscience, whose preaching and 
 whose life presents religion in her most at- 
 tractive aspect, and whose imperishable me- 
 morial will be read in tlie statistics of dimin- 
 ished crime, in the testimony of reclaimed 
 children, and in the records of converted 
 souls, who can tell what impression might 
 have been made on him ? He was not so 
 fortunate. To him was rarely presented the 
 instructive illustration of the influence of true 
 religion on human character. That influence 
 comes in no harsh or ascetic spirit, it diverts 
 no noble aim, it extinguishes no honourable 
 ambition, it quenches no pure fire of genius, 
 no flame of virtuous love, no generous senti- 
 ment or kindly feeling, but, entering with 
 searching power into the heart, out of which 
 are the issues of life, it expels from the 
 " dome of thought " and the fountain of feel- 
 ing the dark spirits of evil, it raises man to 
 his true dignity, and directs his faculties to 
 their appropriate aims. We must deplore and 
 condemn much in the character and in the 
 writings of Burns; we must lament that the 
 spirit in which he wrote the " Cottar's Satur- 
 day Night" did not always prompt his pen 
 or guide, his life ; but there was much to 
 deplore in the character of the times in which 
 he lived. Time has not passed in vain over 
 the influence of Burns. Shakspeare says — 
 
 " The evil that men do lives after them ; 
 The good is oft interred with their hones." 
 
 The popular enthusiasm of Scotland has re- 
 versed the process. From the grave of Burns 
 it has resuscitated the buried good, — and the 
 evil now only lives that the lesson and the 
 warning may be learnt. As a mountain tor- 
 rent, depositing its earthiness as it flows, 
 comes after a long course to reflect the face 
 of heaven on its bosom, time has cleared and 
 mellowed the influence of Burns— (applause) 
 like an old and rich wine, the coarse and 
 
 impure particles have subsided, and we now 
 rejoice only in the pure and generous quali- 
 ties which remain. I do not seek to disguise 
 or to palliate his faults — but who among us is 
 without faults 1 Ciiarity, which hopeth all 
 things and thinketh no evil, ought to be our 
 monitor. (Applause.) Let us " gently scan 
 our brother man " — let us judge ourselves 
 severely, and others leniently — let us gather 
 the good we can, though it be intermingled 
 with evil — let us use aright the more favour- 
 able appliances which surround us — let us 
 strive ourselves to cultivate a purer morality, 
 and adorn by our lives a sounder religious 
 profession ; but let us admire in Burns what- 
 ever is worthy of admiration, and honour his 
 genius as it deserves. Those who object to 
 this demonstration must remember that the 
 power of Burns over the popular mind of 
 Scotland is a great fact which cannot be 
 ignored. (Enthusiastic applause.) Burns has 
 lived, and has written, and has a hold upon 
 the heart of Scotland. (Kenewed cheering.) 
 It is well to qualify our praises, and to incul- 
 cate the warning lessons of his life. But surely 
 it is not the part of wisdom or of virtue so to 
 repudiate such a man as to consign to the cause 
 and the friends of mischief a name and fame so 
 attractive and so potent. (Long -continued 
 applause.) Let us rather deal with the power 
 of Burns' name as science has dealt with the 
 electric element. Science has not stood afar 
 off, scared by each flash, mourning each shiv- 
 ered tower ; science has caught and purified 
 the power, and chained it to the car of com- 
 merce and the chariot of beneficence, and 
 applied it to the noble purpose of consolidat- 
 ing humanity — uniting all the world by the 
 interchange of thought and feeling. On this 
 day Burns is to us, not the memory of a 
 departed, but the presence of a living power 
 — (enthusiastic cheering) — the electric chain 
 which knits the hearts of Scotchmen in every 
 part of the world, stirring us not only to ad- 
 miration of the poet's genius, but to the love 
 of country, of liberty, and of home, and of all, 
 things beautiful and good. Therefore, I call 
 on you to pledge me, not in solemn silence, 
 but with our heartiest honours, to " The Im- 
 mortal Kobert Burns." (The chairman, whose 
 speech was delivered with great power and 
 fervour, resumed his seat amidst volleys of 
 
 cheers.) 
 
 Song — " There was a lad was horn in Kyle " — Mr. 
 Stewart. 
 
 Mr. James Ballantine (Secretary), then read 
 the following verses, composed by himself for the 
 occasion. 
 
 burns' centenary banquet. 
 I dreamed a dream o' sitting here, 
 Delighted wi' our canty cheer, 
 
THE BURXS CENTENARY. 
 
 Wliile Bangs ami speeches charmed the ear 
 And heart by turns, 
 
 When, lo, as frae some heavenly sphere, 
 Descended Burns. 
 
 He strode straught forward to the chair, 
 And sat him down by Craufurd there, 
 When shouts o' welcome rent the air 
 
 As ne'er were heard. 
 And proved the love that Scotland bare 
 
 To Scotland's Bard. 
 
 He rose — his form towered proud an' hie. 
 Fire flaughted frae his goss-hawk e'e — 
 Syne, wi' a gesture bauld and free, 
 
 He leant him back, 
 And in deep tones o' melody, 
 
 Thus Robin spak. 
 
 " Dear friends and brither Scots, guid e'en ; 
 Hech, sirs, it seems but like yestreen 
 Since first frae Ayrshire's pastures green 
 
 I daured to stray, 
 And to Edina, Scotland's queen, 
 I made my way. 
 
 " A touch strikes fire frae flint or steel, 
 A spark gaurs granite mountains reel. 
 And kindness shown a rustic chiel. 
 
 Far frae his hame, 
 Soon made his grateful bosom feel 
 
 A kindred flame. 
 
 " But threescore years an' ten hae fled. 
 And a' those genial friends are dead 
 Wha that young ploughman's footsteps led 
 
 Through palace ha's, 
 And his poetic fancy fed 
 
 Wi' kind applause. 
 
 " Yet those kind friends o' auld lang syne 
 Still live within this breast o' mine. 
 For a' their generous virtues shine 
 
 In memory's sky, 
 And I wad fain a wreath entwine 
 
 Eound days gane bye. 
 
 " Glencairn, ray patron, friend, and brither, 
 The woi'ld scarce e'er saw sic anither ; 
 His godlike form and soul thegither, 
 When seen an' felt. 
 Ye had a kind o' hankerin' swither 
 Ye should hae knelt. 
 
 " Then Erskine, wha could cowe the whole age 
 For wit an' lair, for fun an' knowledge ; 
 Wi' Blair and Stewart, Kirk and College, 
 
 Weel skilled to lead ; 
 And Creech, wha charged nae fee or toUage 
 On my winged steed. 
 
 " And then the genuine Man o' Feeling, 
 Sic fostering love to me revealing. 
 His eloquence to a' appealing,. 
 
 Soon made weel kenned 
 The thoughts that born in humble shealing 
 Made man my friend. 
 
 " And thus did friendship's sacred flame 
 Light up my rugged path to fame ; 
 And ploughman Eab, wha's muirland hame 
 
 Was cauld and drear, 
 Auld Reekie, canty, couthy dame, 
 Was first to cheer. 
 
 " The first kind blink o' opening Sjiring, 
 That set the birds to churm and sing, 
 Aye set ray fancy on the wing, 
 
 To wander on. 
 And gaured me aim my harp to string 
 
 In unison. 
 
 " When Suramer cam', in sun and showers. 
 And clothed the earth wi' leaves and flowers. 
 How sweet to wander leesome hours, 
 ' And no think't lang,' 
 While hills and dales, and woods and bowers. 
 Burst forth in sang. 
 
 " When hai-vest filled a' hearts wi' cheer. 
 And reapers' mirth rang loud and clear. 
 Ilk lad had aye his lassie near 
 
 To geek an' gab wi' — 
 And wadna Robin lookit queer 
 
 Wi' nane to blab wi' ? 
 
 "For Love and Beauty aye were themes 
 Of a' my highest hopes and dreams. 
 And slee side keeks, or glowing beams, 
 
 Frae maidens' eyes. 
 Aye warmed me up, wi' gowden gleam.s 
 0' sumraer skies. 
 
 "And Beauty still, I'm proud to see. 
 Here blinks on me wi' kindly e'e. 
 As gin she cam' to tell to me 
 
 I did nae wrang 
 In reining the unbridled glee 
 
 O' auld Soots sang. 
 
 "When mountains wore their snawy hood. 
 And Winter howled through leafless wood, 
 I lo'ed to mingle wi' the cloud, 
 
 On rugged height. 
 And wauk wi' sang the Patriot's blood, 
 
 For freedom's right 
 
 "I kenned the puir man's eident life, 
 I shared his cares, and soothed his strife; 
 And tho' whiles sorrows, dark and rife. 
 
 Might grieve or stound him, 
 Joy cam', like light, when weans and wife 
 A' clustered round him. 
 
 "Byganes hae been, let byganes gang; 
 That ever Scotland meant me wrang 
 Was never sung in a' ray sang. 
 
 But when we parted 
 I felt a queer mysterious pang. 
 
 And dee'd sair hearted. 
 
 " Then fare-ye-weel, Auld Reekie dear. 
 And ilka time each coming year 
 Your sons and daughters meet me here 
 
 They'll ken me better. 
 And own a spirit true and clear 
 
 In every letter. 
 
 "But, hark! the cup that memory's quaflSn' 
 Amid the universal dafiin', ■ ' 
 
 While Freedom's sun-bright flag ia wawffin' 
 
 Afar and near. 
 And Time's auld clock is telegraphin' 
 
 Mr Hundredth Year." 
 
 Sheriff Gordon, in rising to propose the 
 health of Lord Brougham, was received with 
 loud and continued applause. He said— Lord 
 Ardmillan, ladies and gentlemen, of all who 
 
EDmBUEGH.— MUSIC HALL. 
 
 are here to-night, there is not one probably, 
 except myself, who may hesitate for a moment 
 to regret the absence of Henry, Lord Brougham. 
 Right gladly; too, could I have seen the hearts 
 of this vast assembly, like boughs of the wind- 
 stricken forest, swayed to and fro by the resist- 
 less impulse of his living words. But I doubt 
 if in his own presence, had I then been privi- 
 leged to speak of him, I could have ventured 
 to have given full utterance to all my honest 
 admiration of his great-hearted and many-handed 
 life. (Cheers.) And yet it is possible perhaps 
 that even as I had looked upon him face to 
 face, there might have touched me one spark of 
 his own impetuous and irrepressible fire, which 
 has now for more than half-a-century flamed 
 in the forehead of his country's story. (Ap- 
 plause.) He is not with us, but depend upon 
 it, and indeed we are sure, that his sympathies 
 are not far away from a meeting which means 
 to appreciate the sturdy independence and the 
 blunt honesty of a nature on which the shadows 
 of hypocrisy or duplicity never fell — (cheers) — 
 a meeting which means to commemorate the 
 victorious progress of an inborn vigour, which, 
 against the barriers of social condition, ay, and 
 even of individual temperament, held on its 
 earnest way till glory filled the furrows of its 
 plough — and a meeting which means to wreathe 
 with green gratitude the wonderful achieve- 
 ments of that -iEolian sensibility which, placed 
 in the window of a peasant's breast, vibrated 
 to every whispering air or stirring breeze, or 
 even stormy gust, which moves man's strange 
 and chequered life, and gave back the ex- 
 quisite melody, of which the undying echoes 
 have been, and will be, wafted over "a' the 
 airts the wind can blaw " till time shall cease 
 to be. (Loud cheering.) Brougham is not 
 with us, but I see him now, the Demosthenes 
 of Britain, as he sits on the shore of the bright 
 Mediterranean and revokes across its tideless 
 mirror the magnificent renown and the terrible 
 ruin of which the colossal annals, from the pil- 
 lars of Hercules to the blue Symplegades, strew 
 the whole margin of its waters. (Applause.) 
 
 "Thy shores are empires, changed in all save thee, 
 Assyria, Kome, Greece, Carthage, what are they? 
 Thy waters wasted them while they were free, 
 And many a tyi-ant since." 
 
 (Cheers.) And I hear him murmur to this un- 
 changeable witness of the awful vicissitudes of 
 nations and kingdoms — " Does then the past 
 always teach us the future ? for if the free and 
 brilliant race who conquered at Marathon, the 
 Bannockburn of Greece, and if the majestic and 
 proud people who survived Cannse, the Flodden 
 of Italy, are now crumbled into littleness al- 
 most worse than nothingness — shall I fear or 
 
 may I hope for my own grand country?" 
 (Applause.) But it is not for the sea, but for 
 us ourselves, his countrymen and his fellow- 
 citizens, to answer his query, and I think we 
 may bid him be of good cheer ; or at all events 
 I think we may tell him with a cheerful pride 
 that there has not often lived in the world any 
 man who more truly than Henry Brougham, 
 looking back with an undimmed eye through a 
 retrospect of fourscore years, can track the 
 steady and large improvement of his country 
 by the very footprints of his own luminous and 
 indefatigable career. That very spirit of in- 
 domitable vitality, of which, as active yes- 
 terday when he wrote that long letter with 
 his own hand as in the vehement ardour of 
 his prime, he scattered the seeds so broadly 
 among us, has ripened, under his guidance, 
 into not only abundant and general, but 
 healthful and invigorating, harvest both of 
 thought and of action. But I suspect that the 
 pilgrimages of many generations of men must 
 begin and end before there can be fairly esti- 
 mated or properly fixed the precious value and 
 the vast extent of what, directly and indirectly 
 in every corner of the commonweal, the energy 
 of his efforts and the influence of his example 
 have done or helped to do. Remember that I 
 cannot now justify this large eulogy, or even 
 illustrate it, by particular incidents in his ca- 
 reer. I cannot be a miniature painter. I can- 
 not even give you his portrait in colours. I 
 must rather try, however roughly and imper- 
 fectly, to put before you, as it were, in a model 
 of sculpture, the muscular massive outline of 
 the image of that individual force and that in- 
 dividual activity which has made itself felt 
 throughout the length and breadth of the Bri- 
 tish empire. I set before you an avenging 
 giant with a hundred arms, but I must leave 
 you to select what head of the hundred-headed 
 hydra you wish to bring down, which the hun- 
 dred arms of Brougham were ever ready to at- 
 tack and destroy. (Applause.) I do not dwell, 
 therefore, upon the manifestations, I dwell upon 
 the reality, the intensity, and the efficacy of a 
 power which, on memorable, momentous, and 
 even vital occasions, has photographed so vivid- 
 ly the existing wrong, and has telegraphed so 
 unmistakably the coming right. (Cheers.) 
 And I will draw the general conclusion, that 
 when a man has spoken and written as 
 Brougham has done, whether his cause was 
 right or Wrong, he has done so with a glowing 
 consciousness of enormous mental strength — 
 (cheers) — and knowing his strength, the ques- 
 tion is. How has he used it ? And I say that 
 he has used it invariably, perseveringly, and 
 enthusiastically, and with a glorious success, 
 for the intellectual expansion, for the social 
 
]0 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 amelioration, and for the political elevation of 
 his fellow-men. (Continued cheering.) He 
 has invaded tyranny in all its citadels, and 
 sliaken all its arsenals, and settled the sunshine 
 of the standard of freedom both upon the 
 heights and down in the valleys of humanity. 
 He has torn bigotry into very tatters, and let 
 in the comfort of the light of common sense 
 even through the densest theological atmosphere 
 — (cheers) — and he has warred with ignorance 
 under every shape and in every recess, and 
 planted, and watered, and cherislied, till its 
 fruits were ripe and mellow for the taste and 
 nourishment of all, the blessed tree of general 
 knowledge. I do think that the man who has 
 done all this may well hope, and need not fear 
 for his country, which by its whole life shows 
 that the lessons of Brougham have entered 
 deeply into the convictions, the aspirations, and 
 the daily habits of its people. And therefore 
 I shall, in all our names, bid the currents of the 
 ocean carry to that old man eloquent, upon the 
 shore of the great inland deep, our heartiest 
 thanks and good wishes, and our belief that 
 when he obeys the doom to which we all must 
 yield, even if no temple, or column, or memo- 
 rial tomb shall mark his resting-place, he needs 
 none of them who shall be known in after times 
 as a man who can feel on his deathbed that, 
 largely by his means, man his brother in his 
 native land stands at this hour more erect and 
 free before God and his fellow-man. (Loud 
 and long cheering.) 
 
 The toast was drunk with enthusiasm. 
 Song— "John Anderson, my jo"— Miss Cole. 
 Solo on the Violoncello on favourite melodies of 
 Burns — Mr. Hausmann. 
 
 Lord Neaves, in proposing " The Biogra- 
 phers of Burns, and Mr. Robert Chambers," 
 said — It has been said that a hero is nothing 
 without a poet to celebrate his achievements ; 
 and it may be added that a poet is not wholly 
 himself without a biographer to commemorate 
 his character and conduct. Some poets there 
 may have been so fortunate as to afford few 
 materials for a biography — who, blest with a 
 decent competence, and exempt from violent 
 passions, have retired to the secluded contem- 
 plation of nature, or have looked at the world 
 through the loopholes of some calm retreat 
 where they might behold the perils of life 
 without partaking of them — 
 
 "With friendly stars their safety seek, 
 Within some little winding creek. 
 And see the storm ashore." 
 
 (Cheers.) But with those who are cast forth 
 upon the billows and breakers, the rocks and 
 quicksands of human existence, who, with feeL 
 ings as quick and passions as powerful as their 
 
 genius, are exposed to all the trials and temp- 
 tations that flesh is heir to; above all, with 
 those who, with manly souls and genial dis- 
 positions, have known the heights and hollows 
 of worldly fortune, the task of the biographer 
 is necessary not only to make us know the 
 poet, but to make us know his poems. With 
 all its imperfections, there is no literary work 
 more delightful than Johnson's Lives, and there 
 has seldom been a life more deserving of com- 
 memoration than that of the great man in 
 whose honour we are now met. (Loud cheers.) 
 I shall not attempt to enumerate all his bio- 
 graphers, for their name is Legion. I shall 
 select four names out of the list as specially 
 deserving notice. The services of Dr. James 
 Currie, as the first great biographer of Burns, 
 were nearly as valuable as they were meritori- 
 ous and disinterested. I do not enter on the 
 controversy whether Currie was too forward 
 tp do what another great man forbade — 
 
 " To draw his frailties from their dread abode, 
 The bosom of his Father and his God." 
 
 If he erred in this respect, it was not through 
 want of charity or from bad intention, and any 
 accusations there admitted have since been an- 
 swered by anxious and ample vindications, 
 which have enabled the cooler hands of our 
 own day to hold the balance impartially. We 
 now know the man as he was, with many 
 errors that in him were unhappy, and in us 
 would be unpardonable, but with virtues 
 at the same time that far outweigh aU his 
 faults I with a deep feeling of piety, an ardent 
 patriotism, a wide philanthropy, a tenderness 
 of heart that embraced even the beasts of the 
 field and the birds of the air, a lofty love of 
 independence, a scorn for everything sordid 
 and base, and a sincere self-abasement for his 
 own faults. (Cheers.) But Currie was espe- 
 cially useful in helping men to form a true 
 estimate of Burns' genius and works. Even in 
 Scotland Burns was then imperfectly appreci- 
 ated. But in England he needed an interpret- 
 er to introduce him. Currie discharged that 
 office successfully, and thereby at once did 
 honour to the Scottish name, and rendered 
 good service to English literature. Towards 
 the end of the last century there seemed at 
 one time a great risk that all manly and noble 
 poetry would be extinct. By the influence of 
 some silly women and sillier men, a school 
 arose under the name of the Delia Cruscan, of 
 the most sickly and senseless sentimentality, 
 while, on the other hand, a return to the old 
 style of Pope and Dryden was hopeless. At 
 this juncture there arose two men especiallv 
 qualified to regenerate the public taste, and 
 give it a truer and firmer tone than it had lonw 
 
EDINBURGH.— MUSIC HALL. 
 
 11 
 
 exhibited. From the seclusion of an English 
 village Cowper published his " Task " in 1785, 
 and in 1786 there appeared in the obscure 
 town of Kilmarnock a volume of "Poems, 
 chiefly in the Scottish Dialect," which needed 
 only to be known in order to be admired. 
 These two men were very different, and were 
 suited to reach very different minds ; but they 
 agreed in this, that they were men of manly 
 intellects and noble hearts, and it was impos- 
 sible that where their poetry could penetrate 
 there could be any room for affectation or 
 imposture. (Applause.) The diffusion of a 
 relish for Burns was in this way a safeguard 
 against false taste, and a preparation for what- 
 ever of genuine nature or feeling we have since 
 welcomed in the poetry of the present century. 
 Nor would it, perhaps, be a bad thing if some 
 of the poets of the present day would revert 
 to those models, and imitate, without copying, 
 the native force and st»aightforward simplicity 
 — the intelligible; feelings and the transparent 
 diction — by which they are so eminently char- 
 acterized. (Cheers.) It should never be for- 
 gotten iis to Currie, that while he devoted to 
 his friendly task the time and strength which 
 might have been occupied in his profession, he 
 generously gave up to Burns' family the whole 
 profit — a very considerable sum — which was 
 thus realized. (Cheers.) The next names I 
 shall couple together — ^Loekhart and Wilson — 
 who have both done justice to our great bard ; 
 and the eulogy of Wilson is one of the noblest 
 pieces of criticism in the language. These 
 men, adorned with all the learning of classical 
 studies, and accomplished in all the arts that 
 confer literary skill, recognised fully, by an 
 instinctive sympathy, the merits of him who 
 had "followed his plough upon the mountain 
 side;" and they gave him their admiration, not 
 as a sentiment of relative wonder due to a show 
 or a prodigy, having reference to his origin and 
 position, but as a tribute of just praise to an 
 equal — to one who, in his own department, 
 was absolutely and abstractly, both in senti- 
 ment and in expression, an unrivalled master 
 of liis art. (Applause.) I now come to the 
 last of the list — .one who, in closing the pro- 
 cession, has done his work so fully and so ex- 
 haustively, that he seems to have made it im- 
 possible that he can have a successor. Our 
 friend and fellow-citizen, Mr. Eobert Chambers 
 — (cheers) — has brought to bear on this task 
 that power of industry and skill of research 
 which in other departments, and particularly in 
 Antiquities and in the Domestic Annals of 
 Scotland, have rendered such services to his j 
 country. In preparing his Life of Burns, ! 
 every source of information has been visited, 
 every track that promised any advantage has | 
 
 been followed up, every document has been 
 collected that could throw a ray of light on the 
 truth. We have thus, I think, a perfect history 
 and representation of the man, while the occa- 
 sion and motives of all his poems have been 
 admirably illustrated. Altering a well-known 
 quotation, we may say — 
 
 " Quo fit ut omnis 
 Votiva pateat veluti depicta tabella, 
 Vita viii!" 
 
 Alas ! we cannot say as Boswoll did in his 
 picture of Johnson, " Vita senis ;" and we 
 must remember this fact. I do not in all 
 things assimilate Johnson and Burns, yet it 
 has been pointed out that they strongly re- 
 semble each other. Both were men of manly 
 and courageous minds, of strong passions and 
 kindly affections — both were lovers of truth 
 and lovers of independence. Johnson was as 
 superior to Burns in strength of moral principle 
 as Burns was superior to him in poetical power. 
 But Johnson had his own share of faults and 
 infirmities ; and if Johnson had died at the age 
 of thirty-seven, and we had minutely known 
 his life when he was the companion of Savage, 
 and often passed the night on the streets of 
 London without a lodging, we might have seen 
 some of those traces of temptation and evil 
 communication which can so seldom be escaped, 
 and could scarcely have detected the features 
 of the venerable moralist who was afterwards, 
 from his desk as from a teacher's chair, to in- 
 struct and to ameliorate mankind. To Mr. 
 Chambers we owe, with reference to Burns, a 
 full and fin.al development of the truth, and we 
 can there learn the lesson to forgive and avoid 
 his errors, to admire his virtues, and to cherish, 
 as we now seek to do, the memory of his genius. 
 (Cheers.) I ought to add that Chambers, like 
 Currie, has literally made his work a labour of 
 love, and generously surrendered the profits of 
 his great exertion to promote the comfort of 
 those of Burns' surviving relatives who needed 
 assistance. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. E. Chambeks thanked the company for 
 the kind notice that had been taken of his 
 name as a biographer of Burns. He feared it 
 might be held presumptuous in him to have 
 entered a field in which he had had such dis- 
 tinguished precursors ; but it must be attributed 
 to Burns himself and to the growth of his fame. 
 From his earliest years he had felt the keenest 
 interest in Burns and his poetry. There was 
 indeed no name of the past which he had been 
 accustomed to regard with so much veneration 
 and love as that of Robert Burns. There were 
 some men who objected to him and his writ- 
 ings; but he never could understand what 
 constitution of mind these men were of. 
 
12 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 (Cheers.) He believed that of all men living 
 he had inquired into Burns' life and character 
 with the most minuteness, and the result was, 
 he still retained the same love atld regard for 
 the name of Robert Burns that he ever did 
 in his earliest youth. (Cheers.) Then the 
 fame of Burns had been progressive. Burns 
 was not now in the same position with the 
 British public that he was in the year 1820. 
 He had advanced as Shakspeare had done. 
 In his (Mr. Chambers') early days, Burns was 
 comparable to Shakspeare in the days of Rowe 
 and of Pope. The earlier biographies gratified 
 all the curiosity that there was then about him. 
 But as time went on, and gave us no other 
 Burns, and as we took a wider view of the 
 character of his writings, the public became 
 more and more in love with them, saw more 
 and more beauties in them, and more and more 
 intensely appreciated them as they saw that 
 they were so completely unmatched. Then it 
 was they found men making pilgrimages to the 
 country which had been beautifully and appro- 
 priately called the land of Burns ; they found 
 that every surviving acquaintance of Burns had 
 become a notability ; all the facts, places, and 
 circumstances adverted to in his writings, be- 
 came matter of keen interest. It had, there- 
 fore, appeared to him that it was necessary that 
 they should look more narrowly into the life 
 of Burns. He had made that his task, and if 
 in executing that task to the best of his humble 
 ability, he had contributed to gratify the in- 
 terest of the present or any future generation 
 regarding our marvellous national poet, he 
 should have been amply rewarded for many 
 laborious nights and days. (Loud cheers.) 
 Glee — "Willie brewed a peck o' maut." 
 The Chairman then announced that he had 
 received a letter from the Dean of Faculty, 
 stating that, in consequence of severe indispo- 
 sition confining him to bed, it was out of his 
 power to take part in the proceedings. The 
 Dean added that he deeply regretted that he 
 was thus prevented from being present on such 
 an occasion, that he cordially sympathized with 
 the objects of the meeting, and that he was 
 deeply disappointed in being compelled to re- 
 linquish the very flattering and agreeable task 
 of proposing the toast of the Peasantry of Scot- 
 land. Lord Ardmillan proceeded to say — That 
 toast I now give to you. I propose the foun- 
 tain from which the stream flowed in which we 
 all are rejoicing. I propose — I will not say 
 exactly that body of the people of Scotland 
 from which he sprung, because I think he sprung 
 rather from the body that may be called a little 
 higher in social position than the peasantry; he 
 sprung certainly from a small farmer in Ayr- 
 shire, but, at all events, giving it the largest and 
 
 widest meaning, he spiung from the people of 
 Scotland. (Cheers.) I am not now called upon 
 to repeat What has been so well said by others 
 around me of the influence of Burns' poetry 
 upon the people of Scotland. Undoubtedly 
 that is an influence which subsists at this mo-" 
 ment; it affects them in their homes, it af- 
 fects them at their social meetings, it affects 
 them in their public convocations, — it affects 
 the heart and mind of Scotchmen not in Scot- 
 land only, but throughout the whole world at 
 this day. (Loud cheers.) That influence may 
 have been injurious in some quarters and at 
 some periods ; but, looking to its present power, 
 it cannot be anything but a generous, noble, 
 virtuous sentiment that comes so home to the 
 hearts of men at every stage of their lives and 
 in every part of the globe. (Cheers.) And, 
 therefore, with every warm wish for the pros- 
 perity, for the advancement, for the advantage, 
 and for the elevation of the peasantry of Scot- 
 land, I propose this toast. No good can befall 
 them that I do not wish them ; no good can 
 happen to them that they do not deserve ; no 
 good can be theirs which Burns would not have 
 desired^(cheers) — no good can be theirs that 
 we, on the centenary of Burns' birthday, should 
 not earnestly, and with our whole hearts, wish 
 them. (Loud applause.) Therefore, I propose 
 the Peasantry of Scotland — may every good 
 alight on them — may they retain the noble pa- 
 triotism of Burns — may they retain the love of 
 liberty of Burns — may they retain the noble 
 heart, the free feelings, the fervent affections of 
 Burns — may they, with firmer principles and 
 more self-denial, and more self-control, vindi- 
 cate their character as rising even superior to 
 what Burns would have desired of them. 
 (Loud applause.) 
 
 The toast was drank with the greatest enthusiasm. 
 Song — ■" Highland Mary " — Miss Cole. 
 
 The Chairman then said — I understand 
 that we have now present among us in this 
 great assemblage the only man who saw the 
 day which this day celebrates — -one man alone, 
 when generations have been swept to their 
 graves, lives to be present now who lived when 
 Burns was born. There is a man in this room 
 who is now more than 100 years of age — (loud 
 cheers) — who was alive when the poet Burns 
 was born, and who personally knew that im- 
 mortal man. He is here in this room, Mr, 
 Walter Glover, who was the carrier between 
 Dumfries and Edinburgh in the days of Burns, 
 who has seen Burns, whose eye has met the 
 eye of Bums, whose voice has met the voice 
 of Burns, whose ear has heard the words of 
 Burns. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Walter Glover, who is in his 101st 
 year, having been born in th6 summer of 1758" 
 
EDINBUKGH.— MUSIC HALL. 
 
 VJ 
 
 who, when carrier between Dumfries and Edin- 
 burgh, knew Burns well; and who now resides 
 at Craigmillar, then ascended the platform 
 amidst loud cheers. The old man, to the 
 amazement of the audience, recited " Tam o' 
 Shanter" from end to end, in a strong voice 
 and with " due emphasis and discretion." 
 
 Mr. Black, M.P., proposed the health of " The 
 Chairman," wliieh was most cordially received. 
 He said they had all been witnesses to the admira- 
 ble manner in which he had performed his duties. 
 (Cheers.) But admirable as hisconduct had been, 
 it had not surprised them. It was just like him. 
 (Applause.) It was like what they might have 
 expected from one who had discharged in so 
 satisfactory a manner all the duties of life from 
 his boyhood till he had risen to the high emi- 
 nence which he had now attained — an eminence 
 which he had reached not from the power of 
 great family connexions or from accidental cir- 
 cumstances, but from tfeading in the footsteps 
 of Jeffrey and Cockburn, and Monerieff and In- 
 glis, and other ornaments of the bar. He had 
 risen by his own great talents, by his incorrup- 
 tible honesty, and by his great legal attain- 
 ments, to the high and responsible situation 
 which he now filled with much credit to him- 
 self and with the greatest benefit to his coun- 
 try'. He (Mr. Black) did not use the language 
 of eulogy, but he spoke the words of truth and 
 of soberness when he said that both as a man 
 and as a judge he had secured the universal 
 confidence and respect of his countrymen, who 
 sincerely trusted that he would be long con- 
 tinued a blessing to his country. (Protracted 
 cheering.) 
 
 Song — "Of a' the aii-ts" — Mr. Hunter. 
 
 The Chairman briefly acknowledged the 
 toast and the very kind manner in which it had 
 been proposed and received ; and mentioned 
 that he had just received a telegraphic message 
 from Newcastle, stating that the chairman and 
 all present at the meeting there in honour of 
 Burns desired to concur with their meeting in 
 all possible honour to the memory of the bard. 
 (Cheers.) He (the chairman) had before him 
 a great and enthusiastic meeting of Scotchmen 
 with all their hearts warmed on this great oc- 
 casion ; he had before him a mountain-daisy, 
 sent to him by a working-gjirdener in the 
 neighbourhood, grown at this early season, 
 which recalled one of the sweetest images of 
 the poet ; he had before him one of the many 
 bowls of Robert Burns — a bowl full only of 
 the recollections of his genius, and his affec- 
 tionate, loving, noble disposition, emptied of all 
 that his attackers and assailers could object to. 
 (Cheers.) In these circumstances, he might 
 well feel proud of the position which he now 
 occupied. He could only return his best thanks 
 
 to the company, and in no language could ho 
 do so so appropriately as in the language of 
 Burns himself. He was there on the kind in- 
 vitation of the committee to preside — an invita- 
 tion which he was deeply gratified to find the 
 meeting had adopted. He might return, then, 
 the kind of invitation that Burns once returned 
 when asked to dine with a friend. He could 
 not go, and his reply was : — 
 
 " But Maucliline race, or Mauohline fair, 
 I should be proud to meet you there; 
 We'se gie ae night's discharge to care, 
 
 If we forgather, 
 And hae a swap o' rhymin'-ware 
 
 Wi' ane anither. 
 
 (Loud cheers.) 
 
 "The four-gill-chap, we'se gar hiin clatter, 
 And kirsen him wi' reekin' water; 
 Syne we'll sit down and tak' our whitter, 
 
 To cheer our heart; 
 And, faith, we'se be acquainted better 
 
 Before we part. 
 
 "Awa' ye selfish war'ly race, 
 Wha think that bavins, sense, and giace, 
 Even love and friendship should give place 
 
 To catch the plack! 
 I diuna like to see your face, 
 
 Nor hear your crack. 
 
 " But ye whom social pleasure charms, 
 Whose hearts the tide of kindness warms, 
 Who hold your being on the terms, 
 ' Each aid the others,' 
 Come to my heart, come to my arms, 
 
 My friends, my brothers I " 
 
 (Prolonged cheers.) 
 
 Solo on the violin by Mr. Howard. 
 
 Captain Carnegie then proposed " The La- 
 dies." The probability is, he said, that there 
 is no one individual of the male sex in this hall 
 who has not at some time of his youth, in the 
 inmost recesses of his heart, drunk the health 
 of somebody or another ; but, if he did so, he 
 did it to the total exclusion of the public. 
 (Laughter and cheers.) Now, his Lordship 
 has made me a universal lover. (Eenewod 
 laughter and cheers.) He has desired me to 
 toast the whole sex. I can be no longer par- 
 ticular or personal— I must be general. My 
 task, and the diificulty of it, is therefore in- 
 creased tenfold ; but as no man yet has ever 
 been able satisfactorily to propose the health of 
 the ladies, I can only say that, as success is im- 
 possible, I hope I shall fail with as much dig- 
 nity as possible, and wrap my mantle round me 
 with the least possible disgrace. In the early 
 part of this evening I had the pleasure of ad- 
 dressing you on another subject, and I was 
 compelled to say then that I could find no con- 
 nexion whatever between Burns and the naval 
 profession ; but in regard to the toast which I 
 
14 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 have now to propose, all those excuses have 
 vanished. (Cheers.) I have no longer any 
 reason for saying tliat Burns is not with me. 
 Nine-tenths of his poems are amatory — nine- 
 tenths of his poems are devoted to the adora- 
 tion of that sex who have come here in such 
 numbers to do honour to the memory of that 
 poet who wooed not one of them but their 
 whole sex in the most bewitching tones. Now, 
 gentlemen, Burns has got me into a scrape, 
 and Burns shall be made to get me out of it. 
 It is impossible to describe the attraction of 
 women better than Burns has described them. 
 It would be the highest presumption on my 
 part, particularly on this night and at this mo- 
 ment, to endeavour to describe the better part 
 of the creation in terms which canby any pos- 
 sibility come to be equal to the smallest of 
 Burns'; I shall therefore take refuge under 
 his segis, and propose that we should drink to 
 the Scotch lasses as Burns describes them. 
 (Cheers.) We can pay them no higher com- 
 pliment. I wish we could. If you want his 
 description, open his book. You cannot turn 
 over a page without finding some remarkable 
 stanzas expressive of his admiration of them. 
 If you are not satisfied with that description — 
 circumspice! (Loud cheers.) Turn if you 
 please from the black letter of the book to the 
 book of Nature, and you will find you cannot 
 show your respect for that sex which has hon- 
 oured VIS with their presence here to-night, in 
 any way more than by drinking their healths 
 as Burns' own lasses. (Loud applause.) 
 
 Tlie toast was drunk with great enthusiasm. 
 
 Professor Blackie, after some introductory 
 remarks, said — It is with the greatest pleasure 
 that I rise to propose " The Memory of Sir 
 Walter Scott." There are six great names in 
 Scottish history round which all true Scotsmen 
 nuist gather as the proudest symbols of their 
 nationality — two in the political world, Eobert 
 Bruce and William Wallace ; two in the world 
 of Christian heroism and devotedness, Patrick 
 Hamilton, the first Protestant martyr, and John 
 Knox, the founder of our National Church; two 
 in the literary world, Eobert Burns and Walter 
 Scott. To which of these truly representative 
 men we are most indebted for the inheritance 
 of our great birthright of national feeling it 
 were foolish to inquire; enough that they have 
 all contributed to make us what, by the grace 
 of Grod, we are — a free, an independent, a 
 thoughtful, a sober-minded, and a conscientious 
 — an earnest, determined, and persevering — 
 and, so long as we cherish these virtues, a 
 prosperous and an invincible people, I value 
 Walter Scott for many things; but for nothing, 
 certainly, more than this, that he was a 
 thoroughly national, and an eminently Scottish 
 
 writer; and with all this strong tincture of 
 nationality, he was at the same time so widely 
 human, and so generously catholic, that he has 
 made Scottish character and Scottish scenery 
 known and beloved wherever the common Brit- 
 ish language is understood, from the Ganges to 
 the St. Lawrence. There is no doubt a certain 
 class of shallow witlings besouth the Tweed 
 who would gladly have the whole British world 
 refashioned after their own Anglican image; 
 to whbm, of course, anything like the assertion 
 of an independent type and characteristic 
 feature in Scottish men is an abomination. 
 And yet these very pert and priggish persons 
 are delighted with nothing so much, when they 
 perform their autumnal visit to Scotland, as to 
 find our Grampians not exactly like their own 
 Malvern Hills, and our Highland lochs not 
 simply a mere northern repetition of their 
 Westmoreland meres. (Cheers and laughter.) 
 But if it is right and pleasant that there should 
 be various types of landscape in the various 
 districts of our island, it is no less right and 
 pleasant that there should be various types of 
 men inhabiting those districts; and therefore 
 it is right that the style of human being called 
 Scotsman should glory in his national peculi- 
 arities, as a lion glories in his mane, and not 
 submit his strong shaggy exterior to be clipped 
 smooth according to any London or Oxonian 
 model of pithless proprieties and conventional 
 gentilities. Therefore, let us rejoice in Walter 
 Scott, not merely as a great painter of men and 
 nature, but as pre-eminent in the truthful 
 portraiture of Scottish men and Scottish man- 
 ners. No doubt he has not done justice to one 
 class of Scottish men — to our Guthries and our 
 Eenwicks, and our whole glorious army of 
 martyrs, who are, with good reason, more to us 
 than St. Jerome or St. Augustine, or all the 
 saints in the calendar put together; but that 
 was his misfortune no doubt, not his fault; be- 
 sides, religion is always a somewhat delicate 
 matter, with which, in a divided country, a 
 poet is often wise not to intermeddle. With 
 this single exception, however, there is no 
 Scottish writer more thoroughly Scottish, in his 
 whole tone, temper, and habits, than Sir Walter 
 Scott; none to whom a Scotsman, by whom 
 his nationality is prized, lies under greater ob- 
 ligations; none who has more just claim to be 
 specially remembered in this national recogni- 
 tion of the great lyric poet of the Scottish 
 people— Eobert Burns. There is scarce a not- 
 able hill or crag in the country on which he 
 ha-s not stamped his name; not a birch-frino-ed 
 amber-flooded stream which does not murmur 
 more sweetly, or rush more fiercely to the stir- 
 ring notes of his lyre. Scotland lies painted in 
 his pages as truly and as significantly as the 
 
EDINBURGH.— MUSIC HALL. 
 
 15 
 
 ■woody Zacynthus or the rocky Ithaca in Homer. 
 There is everywhere in Scott's poetry to me a 
 breath as of the bracing mountain air, and a dis- 
 tinct smell of heather — qualities which are 
 not only essentially Scotch, but pre-eminently 
 healthy. And this brings me to the second 
 point which I should wish to bring forward in 
 connexion with the bard of "Marmion" and 
 " The Lady of the Lake." Scott is character- 
 istically, both in his prose and in his verse, a 
 healthy poet; and this is a quality which, both 
 in prose and verse, but especially in verse, 
 ought to be ranked a great deal higher than 
 now-a-days seems in certain quarters to be 
 fashionable. I could name poets of consider- 
 able note within the present century whose 
 works can be accurately defined no otherwise 
 than as the musical utterance of a sublime dis- 
 ease ; with which one may be pleased after a fash- 
 ion, as with the piteous cries of the Sophoclean 
 Philoctetes left on the desert isle ; but after all 
 it was an ugly sore; and one has permanent 
 delight in the warblings of a happy bird, not in 
 the scroamings of a wounded Titan, into what- 
 ever curious harmonies they may be worked up. 
 It is not at all an indifferent matter whether a 
 great poet be a healthy and therefore a happy 
 man. The business of poetry — the special pre- 
 rogative of genius — is not merely to stimulate 
 and to excite, but to harmonise and to recon- 
 cile; and no one who does not know the bless- 
 ing of a reconciling and harmonising temper in 
 his own mind can communicate that greatest of 
 all blessings to the souls of his fellow-men. My 
 notion unquestionably is, that if a man can give 
 nothing to the public but musical wails, and 
 lamentations, and denunciations, he had better 
 hold his tongue. (Laughter.) We have enough 
 of misery in the world without applauding per- 
 sons as great poets for whisking up into 
 sparkling foam the bitter waters of their own 
 diseased emotions. And yet it is precisely be- 
 cause he does not do this that certain persons 
 are constantly repeating that Walter Scott is 
 great only as a novelist, but very poor as a poet. 
 Certainly a volcanic poet, in the style which 
 the French Eevolution was quick to raise up, 
 he was not; and those people who prefer the 
 turbid sublime of a volcano to the clear benefi- 
 cent glory of the sun, or the cheerful blaze of 
 the domestic hearth, may laud Byron and write 
 down Scott with perfect consistency. But for 
 my part I prefer the steady splendour of the 
 familiar luminaries of the sky, and the fireside, 
 to Titanic convolutions of eruptive smoke, and 
 tlie fitful glare of distempered lightnings. 
 (Cheers.) Walter Scott was not a poet of this 
 troubled class, and may be compared fitly not 
 to a seething ocean of passion, but to a cup of 
 mellow wine. He will not be the chosen poet 
 
 of those young ladies, to whom the " horrible 
 murder " and the " shocking accident " is the 
 most delightftd paragraph in the newspapers. 
 As little will he please those to whom neither 
 poetry nor sermons, nor even novels, in the 
 present age, are piilatable without a certain 
 amount of misty metaphysics and super-subtle 
 theology. This metaphysico-theological tend- 
 ency also is one of the sublime diseases of the 
 present time ; to which, as a necessary transition 
 stage, in its proper place, a reasonable man can 
 have no objection ; but poetry is not that place 
 at all, certainly not the most fitting place. It 
 is tlie misfortune, perhaps, of metaphysicians 
 and theologians to be ever tormenting them- 
 selves and others with fruitless attempts to solve 
 the insoluble. But be this as it may; it never 
 can be the business of any sane poet to be con- 
 stantly striving to jump out of his skin, and 
 vainly struggling to give a body to that which 
 is essentially bodiless. (Applause.) It is tlie 
 business of the true poet directly in a rich life, 
 various with concrete reality, and indirectly in 
 musical expression, to enjoy all that is enjoyable, 
 and to help other men to do the like. Had 
 Walter Scott been infected with the modern 
 rage for mixing up metaphysics with poetry, lie 
 never could have set forth with such graceful 
 luxuriance those vivid and sunny pictures of 
 Scottish nature which only the morbidly fretful 
 and the inanely ambitious will despise. I have 
 only another word to say in conclusion, and it 
 is this. A great deal of critical fencing has 
 taken place among notable men abroad, and in 
 this country also, about the two great schools 
 of art, the classical and the romantic. I ha^■e 
 no wish to tax your patience at present with 
 any curious definitions on this subject; but this 
 I will say, that in the best and deepest sense of 
 the word, Walter Scott is the most classical of 
 modern poets, and that precisely by virtue of 
 the thorough nationality and broad healthy- 
 minded popularity which was so eminently 
 characteristic of his genius. If there is one dis- 
 tinction between ancient Greek poetry as a 
 whole, and modern British poetry, and spe- 
 cially the poetry of the last fifty years, it is this, 
 that while the ancient poet was essentially the 
 spokesman of the people, the modern poet is 
 too apt to use his verse as a vehicle to vent his 
 personal- feelings, and spin his own peculiar 
 speculations. Hence the perfect freedom of 
 classical poetry generally from all those favour- 
 ite characteristics of much of our modern 
 poetry, which are only various phases of emo- 
 tional self-indulgence, and pampered individu- 
 alism. Pindar, jEschylus, and Sophocles spoke 
 to the people; performed, in fact, in their 
 works part of the regular public life of the 
 nation to which they belonged ; and therefore 
 
16 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 they are never overstrained or transcendental in 
 their style. Therefore, they are always clear 
 and true, sober and sensible, moderate and 
 judicious. For an appeal to the normal stand- 
 ard of healthy human feeling, as it exists in the 
 great mass of what is called the public, is 
 always the great God-ordained corrective of 
 the private crotchets of tlie individual thinker, 
 poet, philosopher, or theologian. This appeal 
 the Greeks always had without seeking it. 
 This Walter Scott, with the wise instinct of a 
 thoroughly healthy nature, always sought, and 
 never failed to find. Therefore, while ignorant 
 of the Greek language, he everywhere mani- 
 fested a soul in healthy freshness, in breadth of 
 popular sympathy, and in frank hilarity, con- 
 taining the best elements of what we most ad- 
 mire in the great classic writers of antiquity. 
 He is in fact more like Homer both in style and 
 manner than any writer that I know, ancient or 
 modern. In Homer there is no dim-groping the- 
 ology, no self-torturing metaphysics, no unreal 
 supersensualism; but only and everywhere 
 Greek nature and Greek life, Greek men and 
 Greek women, Greek grace, Greek cheerful- 
 ness, and Greek eloquence. So in Walter 
 Scott, while we are everywhere kept far from 
 the dim region of intangible speculations and 
 laboured subtleties, we are nowhere divorced 
 from the invigorating influences of Scottish 
 nature and Scottish life, Seotfch sobriety and 
 Scotch humour, Scottish hills, Scottish heather, 
 and Scottish mountain air. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Part song — " Scots wha hae." 
 
 Professor Campbell Swinton then briefly 
 proposed " Scottish Art and the Royal Scottish 
 Academv,'' which was acknowledged by Mr. D. 
 O. Hill." 
 
 Song — "My Nannie's Awa" — Mr. Smith. 
 
 The Chairman then proposed the Secretary, 
 Treasurer, and Committee, alluding particular- 
 ly to the exertions of Mr. A. T. Boyle and Mr. 
 Ballantlne in connexion with the arrangements 
 for the banquet. 
 
 The whole company, standing, and hand in 
 hand, then sung "Auld Langsyne." After 
 Miss Cole, Mr. Howard, Mr. Hunter, and 
 others who led the singing, had concluded, 
 Lord Neaves sang an additional stanza, in 
 capital style and amidst warm applause, the 
 company renewing the chorus with increased 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 There was an excellent orchestra, led by Mr. How. 
 ard, who himself sang several of Bums' songs in ad- 
 mirable style ; and Mr. James Sinclair, Unicom Pur- 
 suivant, dressed in a court costume of Burns' time, 
 performed the duties of toast-master with great effect 
 and success. 
 
 The following letter fi'om Lord Brougham to Lord 
 Ardmillan was circulated amongst the company: — 
 
 LETTEK FROM LORD BROUGHAM TO LORD 
 ARDMILLAN. 
 
 My Lord, — It is altogether unnecessary to say 
 how very deeply I lament the disappointment of 
 my hopes that I should have been able to attend 
 this interesting festival. Such celebrations are the 
 discharge of a duty, the payment, as it were, of a 
 debt to departed genius ; they afford occasion for 
 indulging in mutual congratulations, and display- 
 ing honest national pride. But also they should 
 by all means be turned to good account, in the op- 
 portunity which they give of drawing practical in- 
 ferences from the subject-matter of our contempla- 
 tions. To two of these inferences I take the great 
 liberty of directing your attention, in order that 
 this celebration may be productive of some useful 
 result. 
 
 After liis great poetical genius, there is nothing 
 so remarkable in Burns' history as the extraordi- 
 nary refinement of his sentiments, and even of his 
 taste, from his earliest years, the effect certainly 
 of his education having been greater than falls to 
 the lot of the peasantry, even in Scotland. But it 
 is impossible to read the accounts of liis family, 
 and his description of, and correspondence with, 
 his friends of the same age, and the same humble 
 station, and not be struck with the manner in 
 which they wei*e all raised above their condition 
 by the ordinary education of the parish schools, 
 and the taste for reading and for contemplation to 
 which it gives rise, beside its effects in forming 
 industrious and temperate habits. It led in him 
 further to the greater cultivation of his faculties, 
 and the nursing and unfolding of his genius ; and 
 we have an unquestionable right to affirm that but 
 for this education he in all likelihood would have 
 passed through the life of an humble and unknown 
 peasant, and that his genius would never have been 
 known either to himself or the world. The exist- 
 ence of genius must ever be an accident; but as 
 it cannot be confined to any class of the commu- 
 nity, the chances of its appearing, that is, of its ex- 
 istence being known, must needs be in proportion 
 to the numbers placed in circumstances that shall 
 nurse and unfold it. Thus beside the ordinary and 
 everyday effects of this education, we have its ne- 
 cessary tendency to mature and to disclose rare 
 capacity of the highest order — all that is called 
 genius ; a Watt to alter the whole face of the 
 world by the changes which his profound science 
 and matchless skill produced, each change an im- 
 provement, and adding to the happiness of man- 
 kind; a Burns whose immortal verse makes the 
 solace and the delight of his countrymen in every 
 age and every country where their lot may be cast. 
 These are of course very rare examples ; but it is 
 fit to dwell upon the common and universal effects 
 of the system in raising the character of our peo- 
 ple, distinguishing them wherever they go for in- 
 telligence and usefulness; for thoughtful and there- 
 fore prudent habits. The testimony is general and 
 it is striking, which is borne to them in these re- 
 spects, not only by calm observers free from all 
 national prejudice, like M. Biot, father of the Na- 
 tional Institute (whose work on our Scotch system 
 I am publishing with notes), but by the employers 
 of labour m all parts of the world, both old and 
 new. It IS truly gratifying to reflect that wher- 
 
EDINBURGH.— MUSIC HALL. 
 
 17 
 
 ever a native of Scotland goes lie bears this char- 
 acter along with him, and finds his claims to respect 
 acknowledged as soon as he declares his country, 
 not like the old Koman appealing to the fears 
 awakened by the sound of the barbarous tyrant's 
 name, and silencing the voice of justice or pre- 
 venting its course, but representing the humane 
 and enlightened nation which has faithfully dis- 
 charged its highest duty of diffusing knowledge 
 and promoting virtue. 
 
 The inference to be drawn is, that what cannot 
 in any way be treated as the ground of empty 
 boast, should not be made the ground of exultation, 
 foolish and unprofitable. Our duty is to maintain 
 and to amend the system by all well-considered 
 measures, so that it may not only be perpetuated 
 but improved. There, as everywhere else, time 
 has produced some defects and disclosed others. 
 By our experience in both thege respects we are 
 bound to profit — securing the independence of 
 teachers ; placing them under the inspection which 
 the law originally intended to be effectual; pro- 
 viding for their removal when incompetent, and 
 for their support when disaWed by age or infirmi- 
 ty ; apportioning their advancement to their merits; 
 and raising to their just place in society such as 
 are distinguished by their useful labours; nor ever 
 forgetting that to this body of men there once be- 
 longed one of the most powerful preachers and 
 eminent leaders of the National Church. Tliat a 
 firm resolution to work for the attainment of these 
 objects may arise out of this celebration, to which 
 it is so peculiarly appropriate, would not seem to 
 be entertaining too sanguine a view. 
 
 But it is also fit that we should, on this occa- 
 sion, consider in what language Burns' poems, at 
 least by far the most celebrated, and the most 
 justly celebrated, are written. It is the language, 
 tlie pure and classical language of Scotland, 
 which must on no account be regarded as a pro- 
 vincial dialect, any more than the French was so 
 regarded in the reign of Henry V., or Italian in 
 that of the first Napoleon, or Greek under the 
 Roman Empire. Nor is it to be in any manner of 
 way considered as a corruption of the Saxon ; on 
 the contrary, it contains much of the old and gen- 
 uine Saxon, with an intermixture from the nortliern 
 nations, as Danes, and Norse, and some, though a 
 small adoption, from the Celtic. But in whatever 
 way composed, or firom whatever source arising, 
 it is a national language, used by the whole people 
 in their early years, by many learned and gifted 
 persons throughout life, and in which are written 
 the laws of the Scotch, their judicial proceedings, 
 their ancient history, above all their poetry. 
 Its Saxon origin may be at once proved by the 
 admitted fact, that Barbour, Chaucer's contempo- 
 rary, is more easily understood by an English 
 reader at this day than the Saxon of the father of 
 English poetry. The merits of the Scotch lan- 
 guage are attested, as regards conciseness, by the 
 brevity of the Scotch statutes compared with the 
 English, and as regards clearness, by the fact that 
 there has been much more frequent occasion for 
 judicial intei-pretation of the latter than of the for- 
 mer. But. the peculiar value of the language arises 
 from the great body of national poetry entirely 
 composed in it, both in very remote times, and in 
 those nearer our own day; and there can be no 
 
 doubt that the English language, especially its 
 poetical diction, would gi-eatly gain by being en- 
 riched with a number, both of words and of phrases, 
 or turns of expression, now peculiar to tlie Scotch. 
 It was by such a process that the Gr^ek became 
 the first of tongues, as well written as spoken. 
 Nor can it be for a moment admitted that the 
 Scotch has less claim to this partial adoption, than 
 the Doric had to mingle with the Ionian ; or the 
 ^olic with the Attic. Indeed of ^olic works 
 there are none, while there is a whole body of 
 Scottish classics. Had Theocritus lived before 
 any poet like Pindar made frequent use of the new 
 Doric, his exquisite poems, so much tinged with 
 Sicilian, must have given that dialect admission into 
 the pure Greek. Lideed Pindar, himself Boeotian, 
 and naturally disposed to use the old Doric, has 
 recourse to the new, for its force of expression, 
 probably as much as he would have done, had he 
 like Theocritus been a Sicilian; as Moschus did, 
 who belonged to those colonies of Asia Minor, the 
 origin of the language and literature of Greece. It 
 must be allowed that when we refer to the free 
 admission of various dialects into the classical lan- 
 guage of Greece, we should bear in mind-the pecu- 
 liar fastidiousness of the Attic taste, and its scru- 
 pulous rejection of all barbarisms, and all solecisms 
 — all words in languages not purely Greek, and all 
 terms of expression arising from a corruption of 
 that pure tongue. 
 
 It is a great mistake to suppose, as some have 
 done, that the interest excited in all minds by the 
 associations of early years, forms the only ground 
 of desiring to retain in certain compositions the 
 language familiar to us in childhood. The charm 
 imported by such associations is unquestioned; but 
 it is not the only merit of the language, which may 
 have other claims to being preserved independent 
 of that. Thus Scotchmen will beyond all doubt 
 feel a greater interest in Burns' poetry, because it 
 is in the language used by those who cherished 
 them in childhood, and which themselves first 
 spoke. But so they will feel a greater interest 
 than foreigners in the songs which they knew at 
 the same period of life, in whatever language com- 
 posed, an interest wholly independent of the lan- 
 guage ; and yet there may be in the merits of the 
 language itself, strong claims to being p\-eserved 
 and adopted. A SicUian might feel the charm of 
 Theocritus' verse, because it reminded him of the 
 pastorals, the national songs of the peasantry, from 
 whence, indeed, it was in a great part taken ; and 
 he might delight in that verse all the more for the 
 language in which it was composed. But others, 
 as Pindar and Moschus, who could have no feeling 
 of local associations, could adopt that language in 
 their lyrics and pastorals, if not preferring it, yet 
 uniting it to their own, because of its peculiar ad- 
 aptation to the subjects of their composition. 
 
 The events which brought about the general dis- 
 use of the Scotch language, first, the union of the 
 Crowns, but infinitely more, that of the kingdoms, 
 have not extinguished the great works in which it 
 is preserved. It stands in very different circum- 
 stances from the Italian in this important respect. 
 The accident of the great writers, especially the 
 poets, being Tuscans, in all probability prevented 
 the dialect of Venice from being the classical lan- 
 guage of Italy, and its great beauties make men 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 lament that it is not partially adopted into the 
 more expressive but harsher Tuscan, the preva- 
 lence of which has kept all poets of eminence from 
 using any other. Scotland stands vei-y diffei'ently 
 in this important particular; for the greatest of 
 modern lyric poets has used the Scotch alone. 
 Assuredly, had either Dante or Petrarch been 
 Venetians, the Tuscan would have divided its so- 
 vereignty with the dialect of Venice. The acci- 
 dent of all the great writers of the fourteenth cen- 
 tury being Tuscans liad the same effect in preventing 
 the other languages from keeping its ground, which 
 political changes had in discouraging the Scotch ; 
 yet it can hardly be doubted that, if Ariosto or 
 Tasso, at a much later period, had used the Vene- 
 tian, it would have gained an ample share of esti- 
 mation ; and if to this had been added the impor- 
 tant circumstances, that all the Italian national 
 poetry was confined to the shores of the Adriatic, 
 as all the British has ever been to the country 
 beyond the Tweed, the inevitable consequence 
 would have been a gi'eat softening of the Tuscan 
 by the sweeter Venetian, at once to improve the 
 language, and to prevent two several tongues being 
 used by the same people. 
 
 Would it not afford means of enriching and im- 
 proving the English language if full and accurate 
 glossaries of approved Scotch words and phrases, 
 those successfully used by the best writers, both 
 in prose and verse, were given with distinct ex- 
 planation and reference to authorities ? This has 
 been done in Prance and other countries, where 
 some dictionaries accompany the English, in some 
 cases with Scotch synonyms, in otliers with varie- 
 ties of expression. It may be hoped that the very 
 learned person who is preparing an important phi- 
 lological work of the same description, may incor- 
 porate with it the flowers.at least of our northern 
 Doric. Two of our most venerated names, those 
 of Playfair and Stewart, may be cited ; they were 
 wont to express their desire to borrow some Scotch 
 words as of gi-eat scientific use. In the judicial 
 proceedings of Parliament we have, at least of late 
 years, discountenanced all attempts at translating 
 Scotch technical expressions into English. Let it 
 be added, that the greatest poet after Burns whom 
 Scotland has produced (there wants no mention of 
 T. Campbell), was wont to lament the inability of 
 using his mother tongue with the mastery which 
 he had so happily gained over a foreign language. 
 
 I have to apologise for this intrusion upon the 
 meeting ; but only for the length of the letter, and 
 its inferiority to the'subject. — Yours faithfully, 
 
 Bkougham. 
 
 Cannes, January 17, 1859. 
 
 THE CORN EXCHANGE. 
 
 The "grand citizen banquet" in the Corn Ex- 
 change, under the auspices of the Total Absti- 
 nence Society, came off with great eclat. The 
 decorations of the Exchange were tasteful and 
 brilliant, and the tout ensemble of the prepara- 
 tions was scarcely less striking than what was 
 presented on the occasion of the celebrated 
 Crimean banquet which was held in the same 
 
 place two years ago. Numerous flags and ban- 
 ners waved from every available spot on the 
 walls and ceiling, while from arch to arch of 
 the roof were suspended enormous garlands of 
 evergreens, intermingled with artificial flowers. 
 Along both sides of the hall temporary galleries 
 were erected capable of accommodating four 
 hundred individuals. At the south end an 
 enormous platform, for the speakers and special 
 guests, and fitted up with tables for two hun- 
 dred, was raised high above the floor of the 
 hall ; and at the north end, opposite the prin- 
 cipal platform, was a smaller erection, on which 
 was stationed the band of the 16th Lancers, 
 who performed the overture " Fair Maid of 
 Perth" during the assembling of the audience. 
 The fronts of the platforms and galleries, as 
 well as the piUars which support the roof, were 
 all tastefully draped with red and white cloth, 
 and festooned with evergreens. On the wall, 
 at the back of the speakers' platform, were the 
 letters "E. B." illuminated with variegated 
 lamps, and surrounded by a laurel wreath, on 
 either side of which were placed banners bear- 
 ing the Edinburgh and Scottish arms. Twelve 
 parallel tables stretched the whole length of 
 the area of the Exchange, at which those hold- 
 ing tickets for that part of the building were 
 served with tea, presided over by about an 
 hundred and fifty ladies. A spacious gasalier 
 was suspended in the centre of the hall, and, 
 along with numerous smaller brackets, all taste- 
 fully decorated, threw a flood of light upon the 
 vast assemblage beneath, and completed the 
 brilliant effect of the scene. Every corner was 
 filled long before the hour announced for the 
 proceedings to commence, and even the pas- 
 sages were choke full. There could be no fewer 
 than fifteen hundred persons present. The ar- 
 rangements, however, were on the whole very 
 satisfactory. Mr. Duncan M'Laren occupied 
 the chair; and among those on the platform 
 were the Lord Provost, Bailie Grieve, Council- 
 lor Fyfe, J. B. Gough, Esq., John Dunlop, 
 Esq. (Brockloch), Eev. A. Wallace, Dr. Brodie, 
 J. W. Jackson, Esq., Dr. Menzies, Andrew 
 Scott, Esq., David Low, Esq., Thomas Knox, 
 Esq., William Logan, Esq. (Glasgow), John 
 Knox, of Greenlaw, Berwickshire, &c. 
 
 After tea had been partaken of, 
 
 Tlie Chairman said — Ladies and gentlemen, 
 —The hall is so large, the difficulty of speak- 
 ing IS so great, that no speaker can hope to be 
 heard unless very great silence be observed. 
 (Applause.) I have to explain first of all, that 
 although this meeting is not the one that was 
 first advertised and brought before the public 
 of Edinburgh, it was not started in any rival 
 spirit to the meeting in the Music Hall. (Hear 
 hear.) But its promoters thought that at no 
 
EDINBURGH.— CORN EXCHANGE. 
 
 19 
 
 meeting in honour of a man who was pre- 
 eminently the man of the people should the 
 door be barred against the people by a large 
 ))rice being charged for admission. (Applause.) 
 On that ground, and with these feelings alone, 
 this meeting was projected; and the committee 
 soon found that they had struck the right 
 chord; and when the tickets were all disposed 
 of, and thousands could not obtain admission, 
 then other meetings were organised, until this 
 evening there are four large meetings in the 
 four largest halls in Edinburgh to celebrate the 
 centenary of Robert Burns. (Applause.) It is 
 not for me to depict the character of that dis- 
 tinguished individual in all its parts. His 
 merits as a poet speak to the heart, I am sure, 
 of every one present ; and anything that is to 
 be said upon that subject will far more aptly 
 come from the learned Lord Neaves, who is to 
 address you this evening — (applause) — than 
 from the humble individual who now addresses 
 you. I will only say that the poetry of Burns 
 has sunk into the character and hearts of the 
 people of Scotland. Every one knows more or 
 less of it. Every one knows so much of it, that 
 I have no doubt whatever that if, by some ex- 
 traordinary event, the writings of Burns *were 
 to be all burnt, they could be reproduced 
 from the memories of the people of Scotland. 
 (" Hear, hear," and applause.) The power of 
 his writings is something extraordinary. They 
 have, as it were, been woven into the thoughts 
 and feelings of the people. His whole char- 
 acter seems to have been imbued with the most 
 intense love of country — with the most ardent 
 patriotism. I know many people blame us for 
 coming here to celebrate the Centenary of 
 Burns, because, as they justly say, he was not 
 an immaculate character. Few men, unfortu- 
 nately, are so; and I don't suppose that those 
 who originated this meeting did so with any 
 view of justifying much that he wrote or did. 
 All have their own opinions on these questions, 
 and it is not necessary for me minutely to 
 analyse his character. We are here to do hon- 
 our to him as the great poet of Scotland — the 
 man of all others by whom Scottish poetry is 
 best known, — whose name and fame are better 
 known throughout all the countries in the 
 world to which Scotchmen and Englishmen 
 emigrate than any man of modern times, with 
 the exception of Shakspere. (Applause.) No 
 doubt, ladies and gentlemen, many things could 
 be pointed out which are deserving of severe 
 criticism; but, when we consider the character 
 of the man, we must consider it in reference to 
 the times in which he lived. (Applause.) We 
 must not measure a man like ISurns by the 
 gauge of the customs and sentiments of the 
 present day alone. For example, if, in the days 
 
 of Burns, some great meeting had been called 
 to celebrate the heroes whom he idolized and 
 almost worshipped — I mean Wallace and Bruce 
 — (applause) — had a meeting been called for 
 such a purpose when Burns lived and was in 
 the zenith of his fame, I ask you, would it have 
 been possible to have called 2,500 persons to- 
 gether in a hall like this, where they had no- 
 thing stronger to drink than tea and water ? 
 (Renewed applause.) Those who read the 
 contemporary history of that time know that, 
 much as he is blamed for some parts of his con- 
 duct — for the bacchanalian sentiments to be 
 found in many of his songs, and for the eflfect 
 which these in some instances have produced, 
 he must be measured by the men amongst 
 whom he lived ; and if you look at contempo- 
 rary history and inquire into the customs whicli 
 then prevailed, by reading the lives of men who 
 lived in those times — take, for example, the 
 glimpses which are given of life in Edinburgh 
 at the beginning of the present century in that 
 interesting work of Lord Cockburn's — you will 
 find that men far more elevated, in a worldly 
 point of view, than Burns — men most dis- 
 tinguished on the bench and at the bar — in- 
 dulged as much, I fear some of them even 
 more, in those bacchanalian orgies for which 
 Burns became, unfortunately, so distinguished. 
 (Cheers.) Other three meetings are held in 
 this city to-day of the same character as this. 
 In all of them the utmost propriety of conduct 
 will be observed; and from all of them the 
 parties will go home, I have no doubt, without 
 anything occurring that will require the cen- 
 sure of the public of Edinburgh to-morrow. 
 (Cheers.) This state of things could not have 
 existed in any town in Scotland during the last 
 century, and such considerations should oblige 
 us to make very great allowances in judging of 
 the character of Burns. (Cheers.) There is 
 one part of his character which I should like to 
 notice — the deep and heart-felt sympathy which 
 he had for everything calculated to elevate man 
 — (cheers) — his ardent love of liberty; his 
 sympathy with every just and good cause; his 
 utter abhorrence of everything like obsequious- 
 ness, or falling down and worshipping the rich 
 and the great, in whatever society he was placed. 
 (Cheers.) When he came, for example, to this 
 great city to have the second edition of his poems 
 published, he was taken into the highest circles. 
 He was almost idolized; no man could have 
 been more noticed and petted (if I may say so) 
 than was Burns." (Hear.) And yet, from all 
 that we know of that period of his life, we have 
 every reason to believe that he took his place 
 amongst the highest of the land, standing erect 
 and calling no man master. (Cheers.) He 
 tells us himself in a short sketch of the early 
 
20 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 period of his life which is preserved, that the 
 first books which he ever read after he left 
 school were the Life of Hannibal, and the Life 
 of Wallace by Blind Harry ; and that the effect 
 of the reading of the last of these worki^ upon 
 his mind was extraordinary. He says — " The 
 story of Wallace poured Scottish prejudices 
 into my veins which will boll and run over 
 until the floodgates of life shut in eternal rest." 
 (Cheers.) This was unquestionably the case. 
 This may be regarded as the key to his char- 
 acter. To his intense love of country as a 
 Scotchman, his intense admiration of his patriot 
 hero, and of all those who, like him, stood up 
 in defence of liberty, we are no doubt indebt- 
 ed for that beautiful and heart-stirring sbisg, 
 " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." (Chefers.) 
 In no circumstance of his life did he forget 
 that self-respect to which he was entitled from 
 his talents and genius. When he came to 
 Edinburgh, he met with an amount of kindness 
 which, I think, has been greatly under-rated. 
 (Hear, hear.) Many people say he did not get 
 justice from the more distinguished men who 
 lived in his time. My impression is that he 
 could hardly have expected to meet with greater 
 attention, greater respect, or greater patronage 
 (as it was then called) than he did when he 
 came to Edinburgh. (Hear, hear.) After re- 
 ferring to what had been done for the success 
 of Burns' second edition of his works by the 
 gentlemen of the Caledonian Hunt, who sub- 
 scribed for one hundred copies, at a guinea 
 each, and to the fact that 2,800 copies were 
 subscribed for at lower prices, Mr. M'Laren 
 said — Li the dedication to that edition of his 
 works we do not find that fawning, flattering, 
 cringing to the great which we find in the 
 dedications of many works of that period by 
 distinguished literary men. In that dedication 
 he says, in words never to be forgotten---" I 
 was bred to the plough, and am independent." 
 (Cheers.) That was Burns' idea of independ- 
 ence. Burns was one of the people. He knew 
 that to every man health and strength, united 
 with industry, gave real independence, for by 
 these he could earn his bread; and that inde- 
 pendence he would not have exchanged for the 
 most distinguished position which the world 
 could give. (Applause.) That is the kind of 
 man with which the people had to deal; and 
 hence the ardent love of liberty which is to be 
 found woven into the very heart of all his 
 poetry, and which has done so much, in my 
 opinion, to nourish and cherish the love of 
 liberty which exists to so great an extent 
 amongst the people of Scotland. (Great 
 clieers.) I believe that, next to the spirit that 
 was infused into this country by the Cov- 
 enanters (to whom we can never be sufliciently 
 
 grateful), to Burns we are more indebted than 
 to any other single individual for cherishing, 
 and preserving, and increasing that intense 
 patriotism and love of country and that love of 
 liberty which characterise Scotchmen, not only 
 in their own country, but in every other country 
 in the world to which it may be their fortune 
 to go. (Great cheers.) 
 
 The Lord Provost then addressed the as- 
 semblage, and was received with loud cheers. 
 He said — Often since the clos*e of the short but 
 brilliant career of our great national poet has 
 the day of his birth been celebrated by his 
 countrymen in proud remembrance of his ge- 
 nius. An epoch has now been reached which 
 more emphatically than hitherto marks and 
 brings the event to our remembrance. (Ap- 
 plause.) Let me congratulate you on your as- 
 sembling as you now do, in order to mingle 
 your homage along with that offered by your 
 fellow countrymen to the memory of one whose 
 genius has shed a halo of glory around our na- 
 tive land and her people. (Loud cheers.) The 
 source of the intense admiration cherished to- 
 wards Burns by his countrymen is to be traced 
 partly, perhaps chiefly, to the vivid delineation 
 given by him in his writings of our national 
 character, and of the virtues which made the 
 peasantry of his country in his day stand out 
 in bold relief, as distinguished from those of 
 every other country in the world. (Applause.) 
 No poet ever identified himself more fully with 
 his class than did Burns. The lofty tone of 
 self-respect maintained by him, and in which 
 he invariably spoke of his brother man, sus- 
 tained that elevation of thought and of action 
 amongst his class, of which he was the true ex- 
 ponent. He furnishes in himself a noble speci- 
 men of the spirit of self-reliance, which is so 
 strongly inculcated in his writings, (Cheers.) 
 He enjoyed the inestimable blessing of the edu- 
 cation which, in bygone times, was furnished to 
 the people of Scotland by their parish schools, 
 and which has done so much to form our na- 
 tional character. (Applause.) It was there 
 that he imbibed a thirst for knowledge, and 
 such was the value attached by him to its ac- 
 quisition that he established — and it is believed 
 he was the first who established in Scotland — 
 a village library, and who evinced a desire to 
 diffuse, in this form, a taste for reading amongst 
 the humbler classes of his countrymen. (Cheers.) 
 But there was another fountain whence he de- 
 rived the education which no school can give, 
 and without which all other instruction is com- 
 paratively valueless : I refer to the example 
 \vhich he was privileged to enjoy under the 
 parental roof — (applause) — which lighted up 
 the flame of piety that glows with solemn fer- 
 vour in what we all admit to be his greatest 
 
EDmBURGH— CORN EXCHANGE. 
 
 21 
 
 work, "The Cottar's Saturday Night" — (ap- 
 plause) — of which I know that I express your 
 sentiments when I give utterance to the ardent 
 wish that, perpetuated and handed down, as 
 it is sure to be, to all succeeding ages, it may 
 ever be found exerting a benign influence on 
 the people of our country — an example which 
 makes the memory of the sire as dear to us 
 as is that of his gifted son. (Great cheer- 
 ing.) Who can tell the amount of good which 
 has not only been sustained but produced by 
 the tone of religious and moral sentiment — the 
 scene of pure domestic bliss depicted in that 
 immortal work! (Applause.) The sentiments 
 there expressed must have been felt before they 
 were described ; and bitter, therefore, the an- 
 guish at a departure from them. If we turn 
 to his lyrical compositions, which form an im- 
 portant and valuable portion of his writings, 
 how strongly are all our best feelings and emo- 
 tions evoked \vhen listeninj^to his songs, known 
 to us from childhood, and the more admired 
 the longer they are known. (Great applause.) 
 Who does not know some exile wljose fond re- 
 collections of country and of home have been 
 soothed and sustained by the songs of Burns, 
 whose works find a place in the library of 
 every Scotchman who Igaves his native land ? 
 (Cheers.) The source of our admiration of 
 Burns, however, has its rise from a foundation 
 deeper than any feeling which is merely na- 
 tional. While to his countrymen his deline- 
 ations of character have an interest and value 
 which one would think could scarcely be ap- 
 preciated by those who are unacquainted with 
 our vernacular and unversed in our national 
 usages, we find that in all lands wheje his 
 works are known they have commanded the 
 same homage as at home — (cheers) — and for 
 this reason — that they are delineations of the 
 human mind, and therefore they secure a sym- 
 pathy which is universal and has no limits. 
 - (Applause.) Hence it is that his works, when 
 translated into other languages, are almost as 
 much appreciated by others as by ourselves — 
 the sentiments and feelings which they convey 
 being intelligible to all. Where will you find 
 patriotism described in colours so glowing as in 
 the works of Bu,rns? — (applause) — where are 
 pure love and disinterested afieetion-:— where is 
 manly independence more warmly inculcated — 
 and when are we induced more ardently to 
 long after the possession and the exercise of 
 the nobler affections and duties, than in rising 
 from a perusal of those of his writings which 
 bear on these all-important topics. (Loud ap- 
 plause.) The subject immediately described 
 may be an individual, and that individual a 
 countryman of his own, and the scene may be 
 in his own country ; still the sentiments to 
 
 which he gives utterance being those of the 
 human heart, find an echo in every breast. 
 (Cheers.) It is, I know, unnecessary for me 
 to say to you that these remarks do not apply 
 to his entire writings, amongst which are to be 
 found some which we could wish had never 
 been written ; and others which, though they 
 may be palliated, cannot be excused even by 
 the vitiated taste of a bygone age. Casting 
 aside the dross which is to be found in the 
 works of Burns — as, alas ! it is to be found in- 
 termingling itself with the works of almost 
 every writer of his time — we this day fix our 
 exclusive attention on those emanations of his 
 gepius where aU that is best in our common 
 nature is so beautifully and faithfully depicted 
 — where the domestic altar, love of country 
 and of his brother man, manly independence, 
 and unsullied integrity, are held up to our ad- 
 miration and respect. (Loud cheers.) At the 
 age of thirty-seven he closed a life of varied 
 enjoyment and suffering, which has left behind 
 it many lessons. More than sixty years have 
 elapsed since he was consigned to an early grave. 
 His fame survives — a fame which, we believe, 
 will never die, because he gave utterance to 
 thoughts that are immortal. ■ (Great cheering.) 
 Mr. Thomas Knox was the next speaker. 
 He said — Mr. chairman, ladies and gentlemen, 
 allow me to say in all sincerity that I never 
 stood up to address my fellow-citizens more 
 conscious of the difficulty of the task I had un- 
 dertaken than I do now ; and I am only sus- 
 tained by this conviction, that no man ever 
 does his best, in the best spirit, before an Ed- 
 inburgh audience, Tyithout having the best con- 
 struction put upon his efforts. I feel that this 
 is indeed a very great occasion, and that it 
 may well task our powers, for it is no other 
 than the celebration of the hundredth birthday 
 of Scotland's national bard — Robert Burns. 
 In the words of the great-hearted Robert 
 Nicol — 
 
 "This is the natal ^ajf of him 
 
 Who, born in want and poverty, 
 Burst from his fetters and arose, 
 The freest of the free ; 
 
 "Arose to tell the watching earth 
 What lowly men could feel and do, 
 To show what mighty heaven-like souls 
 In cottage hamlets grew." 
 
 It seems to me that we sometimes speak of 
 Burns as our national bard without adequately 
 realizing how transcendently glorious the title 
 is ; for only think how big that soul of his 
 must have been whose influences fill up the 
 great spaces of a century — I might even say of 
 the wide, wide world of civilization itself; for 
 where is the habitable nook of creation that 
 
22 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 the enterprising and daring feet of our country- 
 men have ever trodden, that have not also been 
 penetrated and gilded by the sunlike rays of 
 his resplendent genius ? Wherever Scotchmen 
 go, he goes — dwell, he dwells — sorrow, he sor- 
 rows — ay, laugh, and he laughs ; and it is because 
 of this moral ubiquitousness of Burns that he 
 is emphatically our national poet, and that we 
 now celebrate his centenary in a manner that 
 has never been before, and may never be again. 
 If I were asked to define in one simple and sig- 
 nificant word the great, supreme characteristic 
 of Robert Burns, I would call it — universality. 
 And as this definition. must include every phase 
 of his life and literature, perhaps there are 
 some present in this vast gathering who expect 
 me to take up particularly certain parts of both. 
 I will only remind you that I have conducted, 
 as I hope, an honourable ^ controversy with 
 Burns for upwards of twenty years, and that I 
 would be a poor dull pupil in the school of his 
 mental independence had I not dared to do so, 
 and did I not dare to say so now. If, how- 
 ever, more than this is expected of me, here 
 I must disappoint you, for I wish on this 
 occasion only to refresh my memory and yours 
 with the crowning virtues of the bard. I have 
 said that universal love was his supreme charac- 
 teristic, he loved all mankind, without reference 
 to creed, country, or colour, with an uncon- 
 strained exuberance of heart and soul all his 
 own. All men who ever came near his works 
 have felt this, and have given him love for love. 
 Like a great magnet, his nature has attracted 
 all varieties of human sympathy towards itself. 
 Mr. Knox here graphically told an occurrence 
 in a hotel where a man of colour was reading 
 Burns and laughing most immoderately. Though 
 he (the Ethiopian,) confessed not to know all 
 the Scotch words, yet he so felt ?^nd understood 
 those great broad strokes of humour, those 
 " touches of nature " which make the " whole 
 world kin," that he loudly laughed. And a 
 company of gentlemen also laughed at the 
 sight of his great black shining face, showing 
 teeth as white as a mouthful of snow. So in 
 this distant hotel the Ayrshire magician was 
 conjuring with equal facility rich humour and 
 glee from the hearts of black and white. We 
 believe no poet ever gave such overflowing ex- 
 pression in his verse to the great idea of uni- 
 versal brotherhood as did Burns. He wrote 
 out, and sang out, the divine gospel " that God 
 hath made all men of one blood to dwell upon 
 the face of the earth" with his whole heart and 
 soul. Every separate theme upon which he 
 wrote was intended to give force and further- 
 ance to this supreme idea of his life. When in 
 moods of satire or of independence, when patri- 
 otic or pathetic, still he twanged out from the 
 
 strings of his great heart the same sublime 
 truth. No matter the subject he began with, 
 it would certainly end with it. Allow me to 
 give one illustration — 
 
 "Does haughty Gaul invasion threat? 
 
 Then let the louns beware, Sir, 
 There's wooden walls upon our seas, 
 
 And volunteers on shore, Sir. 
 The Nith shall rin to Corsincon, 
 
 The Criffel sink in Sol way, 
 Ere we permit a foreign foe 
 
 On British ground to rally ! 
 
 "Oh let ns not, like snarling curs 
 
 In wrangling be divided ; 
 Till, slap I come in an unco loun, 
 
 And wi' a rung decide it. 
 Be Britain still to Britain true, 
 
 Amang oursels united; 
 For never but by British hands 
 
 Maun British wrangs be righted 1 
 
 "The kettle o' the kirk and state 
 
 Perhaps a clout may fail in't ; 
 But deil a foreign tinkler loun 
 
 Shall ever ca' a nail in't. 
 Our fathers' bluid the kettle bought, 
 
 And wha wad daur to spoil it ; 
 By heavens! the sacrilegious dog 
 
 Shall fuel be to boil it! 
 
 "The wretch that wad a tyrant own, 
 
 That wretch, his 'true-born brother, 
 Who'd set the mob aboon the throne. 
 
 May they'be cursed together! 
 Wha will not sing, God save the King, 
 
 Shall hang as high's the steeple ; 
 But while we sing, God save the King, . 
 
 We'll ne'er forget the people ! " 
 
 So you see that the last line is made all of a 
 sudden to give overwhelming prominence to 
 the fo|;emost aim of his heart and life — " We'll 
 ne'er forget the people;" and the people an- 
 swer — " We'll ne'er forget the poet— Burns ! " 
 These verses, though sixty-five years old, are 
 young as yesterday, and have a most comforta- 
 ble blood-heat about them. Burns knew no 
 blood-royal on earth intrinsically diiferent from 
 the ruddy blood of honest men and honest 
 women everywhere — always with him 
 
 "An honest man, though e'er sae poor. 
 Is king 0' men for a' that." 
 
 "God hath made all men of. one blood" was 
 the burden of his gifted soul. He knew that 
 every mother's love is the same, every father's, 
 every sister's, every brother's, — every lover's 
 love the same, whether in lofty hall or lowly 
 cot. The power and beauty with which he 
 proclaimed this conviction showed the inten- 
 sity with \Yhich he felt and cherished it, and 
 the world - response of this centenary day 
 proves the depth of his insight into the great 
 throbbing heart of humanity. We believe his 
 writings have done much to make a proper fu- 
 
EDINBURGH.— CORN EXCHANGE. 
 
 23 
 
 siori of all classes of society. It were an im- 
 possibility, indeed, to despise the great order 
 of industry from which he sprung, and wliich 
 he so grandly represented. That order of in- 
 dustry is made properly aspiring and confident 
 by those words of Nicol's — 
 
 " Burns, thou hast given us a name 
 
 To shield us from tlie taunts of scorn ; 
 The plant that creeps amid the soil 
 A glorious flower hath borne. 
 
 " Before the proudest of the earth 
 We stand with an uplifted brow ! 
 Like us, thou wert a toil-worn man, 
 And we are noble now 1 " 
 
 The rich and the poor are now harmoniously 
 seeking a truer and happier platform on which 
 they can meet and co-operate for the great ends 
 of life on earth. — I glory in this day, not only be- 
 cause of Burns, but because it serves to remind 
 us all of that great idea of universal brotherhood 
 for which he lived and sung, and which, amid 
 the conventionalism and artiflcialism of high 
 civilization, we are all so apt to forget. This 
 day proves that nature is too strong to be 
 partitioned off by sectarianism and convention- 
 alism. Nature loves fusions, and loathes isola- 
 tions. Nations, too, are strong by the fulness 
 of their class-fusions, and weak in proportion 
 to the extent of class-isolations. We are all of 
 one blood to-night, let us strive to realize this 
 great truth more and more, not only poetically, 
 but practically. Let the wrongs of all men be 
 ours, their rights ours, their elevation ours, 
 their joys ours, their sorrows ours, and by so 
 making one indivisible humanity everywhere, 
 life shall become for all a more glorious inherit- 
 ance. It was in looking through all those shams 
 and pretensions which alienate man from man, 
 that made him pen his most immortal poem, 
 " A man's a man for a' that." Mr. Knox here 
 recited with great eifect the whole of that 
 inspiring poem, and then said — Since the Bard 
 fell asleep, what miglfty forces have leapt into 
 the world's arena, impatient almost to fulfil 
 his prophetic longings. The penny-postage 
 unseals its myriad-lips to proclaim his prophecy, 
 " It's coming yet for a' that." The printing- 
 machines, with their ceaseless energies and 
 enterprises, chorus out by night and by day the 
 beautiful strain — " It's coming yet for a' that." 
 The railways, bounding and careering along the 
 valleys of Great Britain, along the valleys of 
 Europe, ay, along the valleys of every con- 
 tinent in the world, merrily whistle the strain, 
 " It's coming yet for a' that." The fleets of 
 steamships scudding along the highways of the 
 sea, beat paddle-time as they bear to every shore 
 the same millennial music, " It's coming yet for 
 a' that." And the Electric Telegraph, impatient 
 
 with the progress of its great compeers in 
 civilization, speeds a lightning-footed courier 
 from city to city, shore to shore, and continent 
 to continent, proclaiming the same heaven-born 
 message to all the world, 
 
 " It's coming yet for a' that, 
 When man to man the warld o'er. 
 Shall brithers be for a' that." 
 
 In the name of our National Bard — Robert 
 Burns ; in the name of his and our " dear auld 
 mlther," Scotland ; in the name of universal 
 humanity ; and in the name of our universal 
 Father-G-od, Amen, so let it be, even so let it 
 universally and quickly be ! (Loud and pro- 
 longed cheering, with waving of handkerchiefs.) 
 
 The Chairman read a letter from Lord Ard- 
 millan, apologising for the unavoidable absence 
 of that nobleman. He also stated that the Lord 
 Provost had been authorised to apologise for 
 the absence of Lord Neaves. 
 
 The Rev. Alex. Wallace of Glasgow then 
 addressed the large audience. He said, — This 
 is, in some respects, one of the most remarkable 
 nights in the history of Scotland. The country 
 is stirred -to its very depths; and not only so, 
 but a sympathetic chord is struck which vibrates 
 in the breast of every Scotchman on the face 
 of the earth. (Cheers.) What is it that has 
 led to such a national demonstration on the 
 part of a people not easily moved to such meet- 
 ings as the present ? The gatherings in every 
 town and village to-night, from John o' Groat's 
 to Maidenkirk, are not sectional or party 
 gatherings, but national. They breathe the 
 spirit of an entire people; for Robert Burns 
 was the most intensely national poet that ever 
 lived. (Cheers.) The Supreme Giver of all 
 good gave Scotland a rich and a rare gift, — we 
 may never see the like of it again, — in that im- 
 mortal genius which, when it rose to the high 
 purpose for which it was given, men felt, — as 
 they feel still, and must ever do so long as 
 human hearts can feel the power of genius, — 
 that this gift was truly the " touch of nature 
 that makes the world Idn." His " native wood- 
 notes wild " were so sweet, so simple, so full of 
 nature, that men felt that a voice was given to 
 feelings which they had all experienced, but 
 which they could not utter, and that new life, 
 and beauty, and attraction, were thrown around 
 the most commonplace objects, and the most 
 familiar incidents of everyday life. It is but 
 simple justice to our national poet to say, that 
 his brilliant genius should be looked at apart 
 from the dark cloud through which, alas ! that 
 genius often shone and struggled into glorious 
 light. The splendour of his genius made the 
 dark spots of his life all the more visible. Wo 
 would look upon these through tears, — the 
 
24 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 blinding tears of pity and regret; but we can- 
 not remain insensible to that genius which has 
 sung, as poet never did before, the joys and the 
 sorrows of the poor man's lot, and given a voice 
 at the same time to noble sentiments which 
 make the poor proud of him as their poet — for 
 he is emphatically the poet of the poor — (cheers) 
 — but by the power of his genius he binds to- 
 gether the rich and the poor in one common 
 sentiment, so widely and practically acknow- 
 ledged to-night,- — ■ 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." — (Loud cheers.) 
 
 His best effusions were written when "he 
 walked in glory and in joy behind his plough 
 upon the mountain side." The toiling thou- 
 sands of this and other lands have reason to be 
 proud of that genius whicli has beautified the 
 rough byways of labour. And so they are. 
 They have ever looked upon his genius with 
 grateful admiration. They stood true to him 
 when he was cast off by those from whom 
 better things might have been expected. 
 (Cheers.) If we are to speak of faults at all 
 to-night, and if there were great genius and 
 great faults on the one side, were there not 
 others to blame ? I ask you to look back upon 
 the social character of those times, so far as 
 drinking was concerned, when he came from 
 the " plough stilts " to take up his abode with 
 a friend from Mauchline, in an apartment in 
 Baxter's Closs in the Lawnmarket, rented at 
 three shillings per week. The drinking habits 
 of Edinburgh killed poor Fergusson ; and was 
 there no danger for Burns, whose conversational 
 powers were even a greater wonder than his 
 poetical genius ? (Cheers.) Where were Scot- 
 land's nobility and gentry, — where was her 
 middle class, — when the life of her greatest 
 poet became a sad tragedy ? There are few 
 things so tragic as the last days of Scotland's 
 greatest poet. Scotland received a gift which 
 she may never receive again ; and if there is to 
 be blame, let a large portion of it rest where it 
 ought to lie, — at the door of Scotland's in- 
 temperance at that time, which made it a 
 terrible risk for a man to be endowed with 
 genius such as Burns possessed. Notwith- 
 standing all his faults, we owe much to him. 
 (Great cheering.) The fact that we have a 
 distinct peasant literature that has sprung from 
 the lowly cottage homes of our country, which 
 has been nurtured amid the many-sided trials 
 of the poor man's lot, which has gladdened his 
 fireside, and made him proud of his land — a 
 literature which has given a name and a glory 
 to every stream, and glen, and river, and 
 ancient ruin, and old feudal 'keep, and lofty 
 mountain, from the far north to the banks of 
 
 the Tweed— a literature which, so far as it lias 
 been embodied in song, is as varied as every 
 mood of the human soul keenly alive to the 
 beauties of nature, and strung to every emotion 
 of joy or of- sorrow in the heart of man — a 
 literature which is at once the burning purpose 
 of the patriot, the war song of freedom, or the 
 voice of artless love, or the low key-note of a 
 mother's affection, as, with a simple song, she 
 hushes the babe to sleep — the fact, we say, 
 that we have such a distinct peasant literature 
 is an honour to which few countries besides our 
 own can lay claim, and, but for the genius of 
 Burns, she would have had but few claims to 
 such an honour. (Cheers.) There are distinct 
 national causes to which we can trace such a 
 literature as this. There is first of all the deep 
 interest which our reforming forefathers took 
 in the education of the people, the practical re- 
 sult of which was the establishment of our par- 
 ish schools. No man ever took a deeper interest 
 in the education of his children than did that 
 most worthy man William Burns, the father of 
 the poet. He drudged hard and stinted him- 
 self of ease and comfort, that he might give his 
 children the blessing of a good education. 
 Then, again, there is a quiet thoughtfulness, a 
 shrewd inquisitiveness, a native enthusiasm, a 
 dogged perseverance, or, if you will, a "dour- 
 ness," in the Scotch character, that nothing will 
 overcome. We have noted examples of this in 
 the case of Hugh Miller and David Livingston 
 — (cheers) — and Burns was not a whit behind 
 them in all these qualities. (Renewed cheers.) 
 He tells us that he had a "sturdy stubborn 
 something " about him, and he reached the lofty 
 height to which, when a boy, he aspired on the 
 harvest field. 
 
 " E'eu then a wish, — I mind its power, — 
 A wish that to my latest liour 
 
 Shall strongly heave my breast,- — 
 That I for puir anld Scotland's sake 
 Some usefu' plan or beuk could make, 
 
 Or sing a sang at leant. 
 The rough burr-thistle, spreading wide 
 
 Among the bearded bear, 
 I turned the weeder-clips aside, 
 
 And spared the symbol dear." — (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Again, is there not even something in the ex- 
 ternal features of our country that awakens a 
 strong national feeling of patriotism, evokes 
 the spirit of a peasant literature, and fires the 
 genius of its " native wood-notes wild?" Who 
 can follow the silvery Tweed, or pass up the 
 soft green vale of Yarrow, or track the Teviot, 
 the Till, the Nith, or the Clyde, or gaze upon 
 the glorious panorama of Highland "lakes, and 
 glens, and mountains, such as Loch Linnhe, and 
 Glencoe, and the everlasting giants of Argyle, 
 without saying to himself, "there is no won- 
 
EDINBURGH.— COKN EXCHANGE. 
 
 25 
 
 der our forefathers fought for such a land as 
 this?" 
 
 " Oh, Caledonia 1 stern and wild, 
 Meet nuise for a poetic child." 
 
 Burns was most favoui'ably situated in this re- 
 spect. He grew up amid the beauties of nature 
 on the banks of the Ayr and the Doon — and no 
 one ever loved nature more intensely, or could 
 describe it in its varied phases better than he 
 did. Take for example his description of a 
 stream, 
 
 Wliyles owre a linn the buvnie plays. 
 
 As thiough the glen it wimpl't ; 
 Whyles round a roeky scaur it strays; 
 
 Wliyles in a wiel it dimpl't; 
 Whyles glittered to the nightly rays, 
 
 Wi' bickering, dancing dazzle; 
 Whyles oookit underneath the braes, 
 
 Below the spreading hazel, 
 
 Unseen that night. 
 
 He loved nature, however, ohiefly in connection 
 with the interests of living things. Many pas- 
 sages in proof of this will at once occur to your 
 own minds. And then, what country teems 
 with more soul-stirring associations thari our 
 own dear Scotland ? The history of our coun- 
 try — whether we turn to its struggles for civil 
 or religious freedom — contains all those stir- 
 ring elements which cannot fail to kindle into 
 proud enthusiasm the peasant in his moorland 
 home, as well as the dweller in lordly hall. 
 (Cheers.) There were materials lying pro- 
 fusely at hand iu the records of our national 
 history to fire the soul of the peasant bard, 
 and pour the burning tide of rapture into his 
 song. Burns felt this, and hence his patriot- 
 ism, his love of freedom and independence, 
 which burst forth in such strains as " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled," and his "words 
 that breathe " in the prayer for Scotland — 
 
 " Oh, Scotia ! my dear, ray native soil. 
 
 For whom my warmest wish to Heaven is sent ! 
 Long may thy hardy sons of rustic toil 
 Be blest with health, and peace, and sweet con- 
 tent ! 
 And, oh ! may Heaven their simple lives prevent 
 From luxury's contagion, weak and vile 1 
 
 That, howe'er crowns and coronets he rent, 
 A virtuous populace may rise the while 
 To stand a wall of fire around our much-lov'd isle ! " 
 
 (Cheers.) In addition to all this, there are the 
 hallowed home influences of humble cottage 
 life in Scotland, which, whatever these may be 
 now, were, generally speaking, in former times 
 most favourable to the development of a pea- 
 sant literature, and could not fail to beget a 
 noble spirit of independence and self-reliance. 
 No cottage home in broad Scotland enjoyed 
 these hallowed influences more than the one 
 over which William Burns was the presiding 
 
 father and priest. Step into that little farm- 
 house in the neighbourhood of Ayr, and, in the 
 long wintry nights, you see a delighted circle 
 gathered around the fireside ; and an elderly- 
 looking man — not old, but old-like from many 
 harassing cares, and from severe toil, that racks 
 the joints, and makes the hair prematurely grey 
 — is instructing his children, amongst whom 
 are his two sons, Gilbert and Eobert. He 
 reads from some useful book, or converses with 
 his two boys "as if they had been men." But 
 hark ! there are rapid footsteps outside, and 
 then a knock at the door. All eyes are turned 
 to it, and a young man, frank, joyous, and 
 warm-hearted, enters, to the great delight of 
 all. This is Murdoch the schoolmaster. He 
 brings books with him ; and what, think you, 
 can he read in such a dwelling? Is it the 
 " JFarmer's Almanack " many weeks old ? No ! 
 but the noblest efiusions of some of our best 
 poets, or the record of some of the most stirring 
 events in Scottish history. The evening would 
 be closed by family worship, so beautifully de- 
 scribed in " The Cottar's Saturday Night : " — 
 
 " The cheerful supper done, wi' serious face. 
 They round the ingle form a circle wide : 
 The sire turns o'er, with patriarchal grace, 
 The big ha' Bible, ance his father's pride ; 
 His bonnet reverently is laid aside. 
 His lyart haffets, wearing thin and bare ; 
 
 Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide. 
 He wales a portion with judicious care ; 
 And 'Let us worship God!' he says with solemn air." 
 
 Whatever influence these causes might have in 
 developing the poetical genius of Burns, or in 
 giving rise to our peasant literature, we can 
 never forget that he was born a poet, that he 
 was a poet by nature, that the gift which was 
 in him was not the result of art, but a gift of 
 nature, as much as is the song of the linnet or 
 the lark. He poured the rich melody of his 
 genius over broad Scotland, because, like the 
 birds, he could not but sing. There was in him, 
 by nature,. what could not fail to attract and 
 delight, and make him a power amongst the 
 people. In that humble homestead in which 
 he was reared, conjugal love and all the gentle 
 ministrations of the home affections brightened 
 the stern face of poverty, strengthened every 
 noble sentiment, and cheered the drudgery of 
 ceaseless toil. No man knew better, or could 
 better describe, the home influences of humble 
 cottage life. He knew the straits, the privations, 
 the joys and the sorrows, the independence and 
 the worth, the manly virtues as well as the 
 weaknesses, that were to be found in the cot- 
 tage homes of Scotland ; and nowhere does his 
 marvellous genius appear to greater advantage, 
 — nowhere does it shine with greater brightness 
 and purity, than when he starts into life those 
 
2G 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 scenes and feelings which appeal to the common 
 heart of man. This is the secret of his power, 
 especially with the mass of the people. They 
 love him notwithstanding all his failings. They 
 look upon him as a brother, because the best 
 effusions of his genius have enshrined in the 
 bosom of living sympathy their own experi- 
 ences, and much which, in point of endurance 
 at least, was peculiar to themselves. What 
 poet lives so familiarly amongst the people as 
 he does ? They fondly speak of him as their 
 own Robin, or Rabbie, when they would char- 
 acterize the more pathetic effusions of his muse ; 
 whilst they speak of him as Rab, or " an unco 
 Rab," in reference to his more wild and reck- 
 less fancies. (Laughter.) Nowhere is his 
 genius more appreciated than at the fireside of 
 labouring men, and that very class of toiling 
 men, of whom Scotland may feel justly proud, 
 
 "Who make her lov'd at home, rever'd abroad." 
 
 (Cheers.) I well remember the thrilling effect 
 produced in a humble home circle, when but a 
 mere child, when some of his noblest effusions 
 were repeated by a pious father, who could do 
 this as but few could do it. (Hear, hear.) 
 The homely jingle was new and attractive to 
 the ear, but the scenes, the sentiments, and 
 the incidents, could move to tears, or shake 
 the sides with laughter. You have but to 
 witness the effect produced in any circle, or in 
 any great promiscuous gathering of the people, 
 by the singing of one of Burns' songs, in which 
 manly independence, or the love of freedom, or 
 patriotism, or conjugal affection, or the purity 
 of virgin love, are set forth, to be convinced of 
 the power and vitality of his genius, and of the 
 hold which he has upon the hearts of men. 
 (Cheers.) The popularity of his best lyrics 
 does not arise from the music to which they 
 have been wed, as is the case with many songs, 
 but from the inherent power of genius itself. 
 Take away from his writings all that is objec- 
 tionable, all that in his last liours he would 
 have blotted out, and which he would have 
 consigned, could bitter regret have done it, to 
 the deepest shades of oblivion — take away all 
 which the best of men and his firmest admirers 
 regret should ever have been written, — and 
 after this is done, there will still remain much, 
 very much, that will endear his genius to the 
 common heart of man, and which that heart, as 
 long as it beats in unison with noble sentiment, 
 will not willingly let die. (Cheers.) I need 
 not say that I am speaking of the genius of 
 Burns in its brightest and purest moods ; and, 
 though we have but mere fitful snatches of 
 these, surely there is enough to call forth our 
 grateful admiration and our deepest pity. Had 
 this not been the case — had there not been in 
 
 his writings the stamp of imperishable genius — ■ 
 that sympathetic something which makes the 
 world kin, which appeals to the universal heart 
 — the name of Burns would have perished. It 
 would have been dragged down into oblivion 
 by the baser part of his life and writings. As 
 time passes, the impure sediment will sink, but 
 the pure stream of genius itself flowing above 
 that, and looked at apart from that, will ever 
 be regarded with grateful admiration, and will 
 remain a " thing of beauty and joy for ever." 
 It is well that the Scottish people, generally 
 speaking, have had the good sense and the 
 charity to look at their national poet in this 
 discriminating way. The diamond is still the 
 diamond, notwithstanding the baser materials 
 in which it is embedded, and in which it shines. 
 I am anxious not to exaggerate in any way on 
 an occasion when there is so much danger of 
 this ; and whilst we express our admiration of 
 the genius of our national poet, let us feel as if 
 we were invited by the bard himself to stand 
 by his grave and read the epitaph which he 
 composed for himself — 
 
 " Is there a whim-inspired fool, 
 Owre fast for thought, owre hot for rule, 
 Owre blate to seek, owre proud to snool? 
 
 Let him draw near; 
 And owre this grassy heap sing dool, 
 And drap a tear. 
 
 The poor inhabitant below 
 
 Was quick to learn, and wise to know. 
 
 And keenly felt the friendly glow. 
 
 And softer flame ; 
 But thoughtless follies laid him low. 
 
 And stained his name." 
 
 In the words of an eloquent living writer 
 
 " Alas ! his sun shone as through a tropical 
 tornado, and the pale shadow of death eclipsed 
 it at noon. Shrouded in such baleful vapour, 
 the genius of Burns was never seen in clear 
 azure splendour enlightening the woi-ld ; but 
 some beams from it did, by fits, pierce through, 
 and it tinted those clouds with rainbow and 
 orient colours, into a glory and stern grandeur, 
 which men silently gaze on with wonder and 
 tears." Notwithstanding all these drawbacks, 
 his genius has wreathed around the brow of old 
 Scotland a garland of poetic beauty imperish- 
 able as her own heathery glens, and sweet and 
 simple as her own "Mountain Daisy," to whicli 
 that genius has given a deathless fame. (Pro- 
 longed cheers.) 
 
 [The speaker was frequently interrupted by the 
 extraordinary entliusiasm of the audience, and when 
 he resumed his seat was greeted with a storm of 
 applause.] 
 
 A choice selection of Burns' songs, sung by Mr. 
 John Johnstone, Mr. William Kerr, Miss Acquroff 
 and a choir of the Edinburgh Abstainers' Musicai 
 Association, filled up the intervals between the differ- 
 
EDINBURGH.— QUEEN STREET HALL. 
 
 27 
 
 eiit addresses, and were received with the utmost 
 entliusiasm by the vast audience. Mr. Melville (of 
 the Theatre-Royal) recited "Man was made to 
 Mourn," and " Mary in Heaven," with much feeling 
 and effect. Mr. A. Laurie presided at the pianoforte, 
 and the performances of the band of the 16th Lancers 
 added much to the entertainment of the evening. 
 The proceedings were brought to a conclusion about 
 half-past eleven o'clock, by the whole audience join- 
 ing with the utmost spirit in the parting song of 
 "Auld Langsyne." 
 
 QUEEN STREET HALL. 
 
 At six o'clock the Trades' Delegates held a 
 fruit soiree in Queen Street Hall, where was 
 assembled an audience that filled every corner 
 both of area and galleries. The only decora- 
 tions consisted of a plentiful array of ever- 
 greens, tastefully arranged around the platform, 
 and a few flags hung in conspicuous positions. 
 One or two portraits of Bm-ns were placed in 
 front of the galleries, and, in addition, a hand- 
 some bust of the poet occupied one of the 
 niches at the back of the platform. A bust of 
 Sir Walter Scott occupied the corresponding 
 niche on the other side. On the motion of 
 Councillor Ford, the chair was taken by Pro- 
 fessor George Wilson, who was heartily cheered 
 on making his appearance. On the platform, 
 besides a number of the Delegates' Committee, 
 were Councillor Ford, Mr. Gorrie, Advocate, 
 Mr. John M'Laren, Advocate, Mr. M'Donald, &c. 
 
 The Chairman, in introducing the business 
 of the meeting, said — ^We are met to-night to 
 commemorate the birthday of a mighty man of 
 genius, who entered on his earthly life this diiy 
 one hundred years ago. I did not look forward 
 to taking a prominent place in the festivals on 
 this occasion, although I deeply sympathise 
 with the spirit that prompts us to commemorate 
 the birthday of Burns. The Chairman, after 
 explaining that he had given the preference to 
 the invitation of the Trades' Delegates over 
 those -which he had received from other quar- 
 ters, on the ground that he was the Professor 
 of Industrial Science, then proceeded — We are 
 met together this night, not to criticise Burns, 
 not to judge Burns, not to apologize for Burns 
 — no, not even to praise Burns. He is now in 
 the land of the great departed, and when we 
 consider that, we shall be slow to call him, 
 whom the Merciful Judge has already judged, 
 before our unauthorized tribunal to judge him 
 anew. If you think that in that world of spir- 
 its they know what happens here, you will be 
 reluctant to call before you him who has been 
 already judged ; and if, on the other hand, you 
 believe that no message goes from this earth to 
 that other spirit world, except by those who 
 themselves have also put off the mortal flesh, 
 
 you will the more feel tliat, as he cannot hear 
 our praises, as little should he be called before 
 us to hear his faults. You will also agree witli 
 me that we should be sparing of judgment, and 
 that we need not offer laudation ; yet, let me 
 say that it is not because we are afraid to sub- 
 mit him to criticism. All know the incident 
 that happened when his grave was opened to 
 lay his widow beside him. When his moulder- 
 ing remains were exposed, they took up that 
 wondrous example of divine architecture — his 
 skull — and, perhaps unadvisedly — I will not say 
 irreverently — they tried whether their hats 
 would fit it. And that very skull, though bare 
 of the flesh that once covered it, and the noble 
 locks that had curled around it, was too big 
 for their hats. Let us be warned by that ; 
 let us not try to cover Burns' head with our 
 caps. (Applause.) Let us not seek to show 
 that his organ of veneration was not so big as 
 ours — that his organ of benevolence was not so 
 large — or that his organ of self- approbation 
 was larger than ours. Ah me ! he was gifted 
 beyond most of us ; and let us cheerfully con- 
 cede this, and waive aught of judgment. And 
 yet we might submit him to judgment, and not 
 be afraid to praise him. We are not here to 
 be partakers of other men's sins. It is not the 
 faults of Burns that have brought us together ; 
 no, it is the superabounding excellence of his 
 virtues that has compelled us to come here to- 
 night. No man denies that he had his faults; he 
 would rise himself from his grave and condemn 
 us if we did. Nevertheless, he was a shining 
 star. In that noble poem which was read 
 to-day in the Crystal Palace, Burns is called 
 a " star-soul," and the fitness of the word will 
 be acknowledged. I would have said he was 
 a "burning and a shining light," did I not 
 fear that I should be called irreverent in 
 quoting Scripture about him. Yet he was a 
 star, and " dwelt apart ;" and, as a star, so 
 as a sun. You know that our sun has spots 
 in it — great blanks of darkness, great areas 
 out of which no light comes. There are some 
 who judge Burns as an astronomer would treat 
 the sun, if, when he was asked about it, he 
 said there were only spots of darkness in it. 
 You do not judge so. As the sun heats as 
 well as illuminates, I ask you if Burns has not, 
 from our earliest childhood forward to man- 
 hood, been alike a source of intellectual light 
 and moral heat, though we do not refuse to ac- 
 knowledge that there are spots of darkness in 
 him. (Applause.) Thus, my friends, we are 
 met together on his birthday to realize as much 
 as possible of the feeling that we experience 
 when we meet together on the birthday of a 
 member of our own family still living, where 
 we do not think of counting our father or 
 
28 
 
 THE BURNS CENTEIsrARY. 
 
 mother, our sister or brother's faults, but, hav- 
 ing liad large experience of their virtues, dwell 
 on them, and think of them. And let me re- 
 mind you that this is the birthday of a dead 
 man, and that it therefore the more becomes 
 us to recall his virtues and not his faults. (Ap- 
 plause.) He is no party to our calling him, 
 and might answer like the Hebrew prophet 
 when invoked by the first king of Israel. At 
 least let us remember that we have him not 
 before us, and that it is not our right to make 
 his faults rank before his virtues. (Applause.) 
 There is a seemliness, nevertheless, in our com- 
 memorating his birthday, for I ask you if it is 
 not the case that Burns lives amongst us to a far 
 greater extent than many a man whose heart is 
 still beating, and whose blood is still flowing in 
 his veins ? He lives so, inasmuch as he was 
 that great thing — a poet. And what does that 
 mean ? It means that he could create what 
 others could not ; it means a man who can see 
 a grander light about all things than other men 
 can see, can hear a sweeter sound in all music 
 than they can hear, can feel a deeper loveliness 
 in all that is loveable than they can feel — who 
 can, in fact, day after day, feel and realize what 
 other men experience only at short seasons 
 and at brief intervals. And then this Burns, 
 who was a marvel of genius — who had the power 
 to see what other men could not see, was no 
 poet-laureate with a liberal pension — (hear, hear) 
 — no titled lord occupying his leisure hours 
 with verses — no idolized youth with his collar 
 turned down — (laughter and applause) — but a 
 hard-worked ploughman, " following his plough 
 upon the mountain side," who could only steal 
 an evening of pleasure to lighten the hardships 
 of his daily toil, by thrashing so many more 
 sheaves in the barn ; one whose bread was 
 scanty and coarse, whose sleep was short — who, 
 in bearing on his shoulders the burden of a 
 Scottish peasant's life, had enough to bear, and 
 yet who rose to be a higher light than the most 
 idolized and most regal Scotsman of them all. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 We are all poets in some degree. The child 
 who thinks it can climb the rainbow, who be- 
 lieves that the moon can be clipped into stars, 
 or who looks into its pillow, and sees won- 
 drous things there, is a poet ; every child 
 who reads the Arabian Nights, who believes 
 in Aladdin's lamp, or who goes to a pantomime, 
 is a poet. And in later years we are all poets — 
 love makes us poets. (Applause.) Every man- 
 lover is a poet ; every gentle sweetheart is a 
 poet; every mother bending over her suckling 
 child is a poet ; every son comforting his old 
 mother is a poet. There is a poetry in all our 
 lives, if we can feel it ; and if we cannot, no 
 Burns or any one can teach us it. But we want 
 
 some one to sing it for us, and this Burns did ; 
 and how did he do it ? He so sang that wo 
 not only enter intensely and sympathizingly 
 into all his feelings, but he sang in the very 
 way that we ourselves would have sung had 
 we had the power. Think of this — that he 
 has sung our native land into greater glory in 
 the earth because it is the birth-land of Burns. 
 (Applause.) There is not anywhere over the 
 civilized world where men are able to appreciate 
 genius, or worth, or reality, a nation which does 
 not say that Scotland, in producing a ploughman 
 like Burns, who did not pretend to speak more 
 than the feelings of his own countrymen, but 
 spoke them with the poet's power, must be a grand 
 land. And he sang our Scottish tongue into a 
 repute that it never had before, and secured 
 for it a longevity that otherwise it never would 
 have had, so that he would be a bold man who 
 would predict the time when that mother speech 
 will die, since Englishmen learn it for nothing but 
 to read the songs of Burns. Such is his power 
 over the language of our hearts and the lan- 
 guage of our country, that Scotsmen scattered 
 over every part of the world are on, this day 
 assembled as we are now ; and I have just 
 learned that, at this very moment, my dear 
 brother will be presiding at a meeting like this 
 in far-distant Toronto. (Applause,) And you 
 know that Burns not only sang so as to please 
 our perhaps too partial ears, but he has so 
 sung that generous England has listened to his 
 songs, and said he is an Englishman, and that 
 he shall have a hearty toast in every English 
 town. In Ireland, too, you may go through 
 its length and its breadth, and if you can sing 
 a song of Burns you will be welcomed. All 
 through Anglo -Saxondom, from the frozen 
 North to the Gulf of Mexico, and thence 
 to the Tierra del Fuego, it is the same ; and 
 wherever the l^ngu^^ge of Burns is understood, 
 there his poems are listened to and his songs 
 are sung. When we remember all this, I 
 think we may very lightly bear the blame of 
 those who say that we are doing a wrong 
 thing in commemorating his birth by meetings 
 such as this. (Hear, and applause.) What did 
 Burns sing of ? He proclaimed in noble words 
 a catholic patriotism, an intense love for his 
 mother-land, which yet should be compatible 
 with the recognition that men of other lands 
 should _ also love them with a similar love. 
 There is a selfish sectarian patriotism, a feeling 
 which I can compare only to the afiection of 
 the cat which lingers around the fire and the 
 hearth-rug, where it is comfortably warmed, even 
 when those who gave it a home have all passed 
 away. But it was another patriotism that 
 Burns sang of, which buried its own roots in 
 the soil of « Caledonia, stern and wild " but 
 
EDINBURGH.— QUEEN STREET HALL. 
 
 29 
 
 all the while waved its broad leaves in sym- 
 pathy with the kindred trees of other lands. 
 Yes ! if he was a lover of his own country, it 
 was no blind love. He knew our Scottish land, 
 and loved it for its own sake. Think of the 
 stories he has preserved in song, which would 
 otherwise have been forgotten; think of that 
 most magnificent war ode, "Scots, wha hae;" 
 think of the affectionate way in which he re- 
 fers to what others might call weeds— to the 
 "mountain daisy," the sweet hawthorn, the 
 thistle, and the harebell ; think of his feelings 
 towards the lower creatures, to the " cowering 
 beastie," to the "chittering bird," to the 
 "wounded hare," to the "old mare;" in a 
 word, how on every living thing he bestowed 
 his affection and his sympathy. Still more did 
 he love his fellow-men. What in very truth 
 killed Burns was, that he could not get love 
 to respond to his own. There was deep loy- 
 alty in him. Veneration fer higher worth and 
 modest self-respect sound from every line of 
 "A man's a man for a' that." (Applause.) 
 The learned Professor proceeded, in glowing 
 language, to allude to some of the sorrow- 
 ful traits in the life of Burns, in which re- 
 spect he paralleled him to Scott, Southey, 
 Moore, Byron, Keats, Shelley, Chatterton, and 
 other poets. From the lives of all these men 
 there was a deep lesson to be learned ; and an 
 obligation lay on all to profit by the story of 
 tliose, who learned in suffering what they 
 taught in song. And as we cannot make 
 amends to the dead, let us be careful not to 
 treat our living poets as our forefathers treated 
 Burns, who when he asked for bread got a 
 stone; and not even that till dead. The Dhair- 
 man concluded by a comparative sketch of the 
 careers of Burns and James Watt, and the re- 
 spective influence which each had, as types of 
 the poetical peasant and the scientific artisan, 
 exercised on his own and the present genera- 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. GoRRiE then addressed the meeting, 
 and said — I confess that, in rising to say a few 
 words on this festival night, I feel as if I were 
 trying to speak where a thousand voices already 
 filled the air. You are all quiet and attentive; 
 but a secret sympathy tells me, as it must tell 
 you, that the "eulogy of Scotland's bard is at 
 this moment ringing round the world. It is 
 not only the tongue of auld Scotland that strug- 
 gles to utter thoughts too deep for utterance ; 
 but pass with me in imagination to what quar- 
 ter of the globe you choose, and there you shall 
 find the sons and daughters of the old country 
 engaged in enthusiastic celebrations. The 
 sound of revelry is rising from Canadian cities 
 — the memory of Burns is being fondly re- 
 called beneath the soft beauty of Australian 
 
 skies — and this night, the Scottish soldier, rest- 
 ing from war, sliall sing the songs of his coun- 
 try's bard by the bivouac fire on the banks of 
 the Ganges. Then why need I attempt to 
 address you when the thousand voices, now 
 treating of the same theme, can but faintly ap- 
 proximate to what Scotland means to say on 
 this the hundredth anniversary of the poet's 
 birth ? It seems to me that it is not of Burns 
 alone, nor of his poetry, that she would speak, 
 but that she takes this man and the produc- 
 tions of his wondrous genius as a type of her 
 nationality — a nationality which even nowgrows 
 dim in the hearts of the people, and in another 
 hundred years may be fed entirely by the songs 
 of Burns. I shall leave it to others then, to enter 
 upon a critical estimate of the poet's works ; I 
 shall leave it to those who feel the subject 
 agreeable to them to point the finger at the 
 follies of his life, and with your permission 
 shall say a few words upon two prominent 
 qualities which the poetry of Burns has cher- 
 ished in the hearts of Scotchmen — I mean in- 
 dependence of character and love of country. 
 But first, as to the time and circumstances 
 when Burns appeared. When, as we have just 
 heard sung, the first blast "blew handsel in on 
 Robin," [the rain and wind at this moment 
 drove with great violence against the windows 
 of the hall, when the speaker said,"] and the 
 elements to-night seem also to be keeping the 
 centenary ; let them lash on, it is the best il- 
 lustration we can have of the wild, dark, and 
 stormy career of the poet! When Burns was 
 born, Scotland, although she had been united 
 to England for half-a-century, was as much a 
 separate nation, with a distinct language, dif- 
 ferent laws, and peculiar customs, as if the 
 articles of Union had never been penned. The 
 blood was scarce dry on the field of Culloden. 
 In the Lowlands the feeling against the Union 
 had mellowed down into a keen attachment to 
 native institutions. The Scottish language was 
 universally spoken in the hall of the noble, 
 from the pulpit, from the bench, as well as in 
 the cottage. But by the time Burns arrived 
 at manhood the influence of England had al- 
 ready wrought great changes, and every one 
 felt it was destined to effect more. The pea- 
 santry were still intensely Scottish ; and it was 
 thus that Burns' poems and songs were re- 
 ceived by them with so much enthusiasm. 
 They expressed the feelings of the nation in 
 the common language. He gave a voice to the 
 patriotism, the humour, ay, and the deep reli- 
 gious sentiment of the people. He clothed in 
 deathless song their loves, their sports, their 
 customs. He shed a richer glory over the ro- 
 mantic scenery of their native land, and, above 
 all, in every line there breathed a spirit of ster- 
 
30 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 ling independence wliich formed a strijiing con- 
 trast to the prevailing characteristic of the 
 higher ranks of the period. Scotland needed a 
 poet to embody in song the life of the nation be- 
 fore a foreign element had weakened and changed 
 its conditions. And, obedient to the great law, 
 when the time was ripe for the man, the man ap- 
 peared, ripe, ready, and specially gifted for the 
 work. He sprang from that class of the people 
 which best suited his mission, a class which has 
 given to Scotland some of her greatest ornaments, 
 but which now, under the influence of what is 
 called " progress," is being blotted from the old 
 country. While from association and sympathy 
 he was a peasant, he had received the education 
 of a farmer's son. The one fitted him to be the 
 poet of the people, the other to wed their aspi- 
 rations and emotions to immortal verse. In very 
 early youth he cherished the idea which he was 
 fated to work out. 
 
 " E'en then a wish, — I mind its power, — 
 A wish that to my latest hour 
 
 Shall strongly heave my hreast, — 
 That I tor puir auld Scotland's sake 
 Some usefu' plan or beuk could make. 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 Let us take, then, the quality of independence 
 of character which breathes through Burns' 
 poetry, and in teaching which he has deserved 
 well of posterity. Without Burns, I believe, 
 we would not have had so much manly inde- 
 pendence among all classes in Scotland. Mo- 
 ralists might write essays innumerable, but 
 they would struggle in vain to teach by any 
 dissertations, however eloquent, what Burns 
 gives in a couple of lines, with a power which 
 brands the sentiment upon the brain for ever. 
 He strove to "preserve the dignity of man with 
 soul erect." Burns was not capable of under- 
 standing that spirit of humility which rejoices 
 in cringing to some fellow-mortal merely be- 
 cause he is rich, and who probably has little 
 claim to respect. He held the true Christian 
 theory of the dignity and brotherhood of man, 
 and longed for the time when "man to man 
 the world o'er, should brithers be for a' that." 
 TJie feeling of independence which he cherished 
 and displayed was something entirely difierent 
 from any mere envy of rank. To those in high 
 station who were worthy of his regards, he paid 
 them with a poet's heartiness ; but he had no 
 respect for mere rank and mere station when 
 dissevered ftom worth. Here also his position 
 in society stood him in good stead. The class 
 of whom his father was one were the salt of 
 Scotland. They had stood by Wallace in the 
 war of independence. They were ever ready 
 at the call of their country — they were in the 
 thick of tlie Reformation — they were in the 
 thick of the Covenanters' struggle, and they 
 
 have been deep in all the bloodless contentions 
 which have since agitated Scotland. They 
 were actuated by a high sense of duty, permit- 
 ting none to come betwixt them and their 
 privileges. Whether it was an English soldier, 
 a Romish priest, a persecuting Prelatist, or an 
 interfering landlord, they each and all received 
 the same stern rebuff. If they were invited to 
 stretch their consciences in sacred matters at 
 the bidding of their superiors, they knew how 
 to resist it with scorn — if in civil matters, they 
 were ready to take the consequences of refusal. 
 They were scrupulously jealous of their inde- 
 pendence in another particular — had you offered 
 to place one of those genuine old world Scotch- 
 men upon the poor-roll, it would have broken 
 his heart ! He knew how to labour hard and 
 live sparingly, but he knew not how to depend 
 upon others for his daily bread. Mr. Gorrie 
 then took up the second subject with which he 
 proposed to deal, namely, that the poetry of 
 Burns had done much for Scottish nationality. 
 The poet was born amid scenes peculiarly fitted 
 to fire the patriotic ardour of his soul. Every 
 inch of the soil which he trode in youth was 
 classic ground. Ayrshire was the land of 
 Wallace before it was the land of Burns, It 
 was the land, too, of the Covenanters ; and the 
 remembrance of the liberty, civil and religious, 
 which had been thus achieved, acted powerfully 
 upon the whole population of the west. The 
 land of Wallace ! and 
 
 "At Wallace' name what Scottish blood 
 But boils up in a spring-tide flood ! 
 Oft have our fearless fathers strode 
 
 By Wallace' side 
 Still pressing onward, red-wat shod, 
 Or glorious died ! " 
 
 The blood of the poet, like that of every 
 true Scotchman, fired at the very name of the 
 Great Patriot. He tells us how he used to 
 visit and muse amid the scenes of Wallace's 
 dangers and triumphs, and how he longed to 
 sing a song worthy of the man and his work. 
 I would the practice were as universal now as 
 then, of recalling the life and labours of one 
 who preserved Scotland from the yoke of bond- 
 age, and thus made her what she is in her free- 
 dom, her prosperity, and her great aspirations. 
 I would it were more common than it is, to tell 
 the children of the land — they who must in 
 
 future bear up the coimtry's banner the 
 
 legends of that elder time when their fathers 
 struck for freedom. But I presume they are 
 now taught the " philosophy of sport " — taught 
 the nature and attributes of a soap-bubble, or 
 why a fly can walk along the ceiling. It is 
 good to do the one, but not to leave the other 
 undone. It is good to teach them the works 
 of Greek and Latin poets, but teach them first— 
 
EDINBURGH.— DUNEDIN HALL. 
 
 31 
 
 " Scots wha liae wi' Wallace bled." 
 
 Burns, I say, has done much for Scotland and 
 Scottish nationality by thus becoming a voice 
 to her patriotism. He kindled his torch ere 
 the fire had burned low, and now it passes 
 from hand to hand down the ages, lighting 
 afresh the patriot's zeal. And God help the 
 country where patriotism is no more, and the 
 science of money-getting reigns supreme ! God 
 help the people who have no thought to be- 
 stow upon the history of their native land, or 
 on the achievements of the great men of their 
 race! Their seeming prosperity may go on 
 widening and deepening till the whole world 
 gazes with admiration and envy, but it is a 
 prosperity which is rotten at the core, and will 
 one day crumble into a terrible ruin. It is not 
 based upon those everlasting foundations which 
 alone can insure permanence to prosperity ; it 
 is reared upon a false political economy; and 
 when the storm comes, as come it shall, the 
 nation shall find that it has built its house upon 
 tlie sand. Yes, initiate your children, if you 
 choose, into all the mysteries of science — make 
 them walking cyclopasdias of knowledge, and 
 forget to tell them how the blood of patriots 
 and martyrs was poured out that the bright 
 legacy of freedom might be handed down un- 
 sullied and unimpaired — forget to tell them 
 that, next to loving God, their duty is to love 
 their country with all their soul and strength — 
 to treasure its traditions — to extend its fame 
 — to guard its privileges, and to widen its free- 
 dom — ^forget all this, then, I say, God help the 
 nation, for its doom is already written : — 
 
 " Oh, Thou ! wlio poured the patriotic tide, 
 
 That streamed through Wallace's undaunted 
 heart, 
 Who dared to nobly stem tyrannic pride, 
 , Or nobly die the second glorious part, 
 
 (The patriot's God peculiarly Thou art, 
 His friend, inspirer, guardian, and reward !) 
 Oil ! never, never, Scotia's realm desert ; 
 But still the patriot, and the patriot bard. 
 In bright succession raise, her ornament and guard ! " 
 
 I thank thee. Burns, for those lines ! It is in 
 such strains he gives a voice to Scottish patriot- 
 ism ; and on this the centenary of his birth 
 the Genius of Scotland seems to appear, and 
 mutely plead that the voice may not be raised 
 in vain. I am afraid we all think too little of 
 auld Scotland, and lay too few plans for her 
 sake. I am afraid there are some among us 
 who even act a more ungrateful part — who 
 ridicule the spirit of nationality, and exult in the 
 humiliation of their country ! It is of these 
 things that the Genius of the land struggles to 
 speak ; but the heart is too big for utterance, 
 and she can only call up before us visions of 
 
 the past, and point silently and sadly to the 
 future. The future ! May we so labour that 
 the future shall be no less glorious than the 
 past — so labour that when the next centenary 
 comes, Scotchmen may look round upon a re- 
 generated land, and seeing, boast the memory 
 of their sires, and fitter a blessing over our 
 graves. (Mr. Gorrie, who was warmly ap- 
 plauded throughout his speech, resumed his 
 seat amidst loud applause.) 
 
 Speeches were then delivered by Mr. John 
 M'Laren, advocate, and Mr. Eraser, one of the 
 Trades' Delegates Committee. At this part of 
 the proceedings the meeting was visited by 
 
 The LoKD Provost, who stated that he had 
 been at the meetings held in the Music Hall 
 and the Corn Exchange, and was much grati- 
 fied at being able to attend this one also. 
 
 Mr. Simon Glover, a contemporary of Burns, 
 and who is now upwards of 100 years of age, 
 made his appearance on the platform during 
 the evening, and was enthusiastically received. 
 He gave a very interesting description of the 
 manner in which he became acquainted with 
 Burns ; and also recited the poet's poem of 
 " Death and Dr. Hornbook." 
 
 Several of Burns' songs were sung during the even- 
 ing; and Mr. Macdonald gave some readings from 
 his poems. 
 
 DUNEDIN HALL. 
 
 The "Working Man's Festival" in Dunedin 
 Hall was crowded by an audience numbering 
 upwards of 2,000 individuals, while many were 
 unable to gain admittance. Mr. Donald Eonald 
 Macgregor presided. The building was deco- 
 rated with flags and evergreens, and had a very 
 fine appearance. A superb band from the 
 Castle was in attendance. On the platform, 
 beside the Chairman, were Councillors Alex- 
 ander, Eedpath, Jamieson, Anderson, &c., and 
 a perfect galaxy of female beauty. After tea 
 had been served. 
 
 The Chairman then rose, and having con- 
 gratulated the meeting on its numbers and 
 heartiness in the cause, proceeded as follows — 
 William Burns, the father of our great national 
 poet, was driven at an early age from the 
 parental roof, in consequence of family misfor- 
 tunes, which had their source in the forfeiture 
 of the Dunnottar estate in Kincardineshire in 
 1716, by the attachment of the Keith Marischal 
 family to the cause of the exiled Stuarts. He 
 came to Edinburgh, and for many years worked 
 hard as a gardener when employment could be 
 had, at times in difficulty and trouble enough ; 
 but still, by self-denial and economy, managing 
 to spare something for the support of his aged 
 
32 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 parents. Ho afterwards removed to Ayrshire, 
 where he took a lease of some seven acres of 
 land near the bridge of Doon, and commenced 
 business as a nurseryman. On this piece of 
 ground, with his own hands, he built a clay 
 cottage, and in December 1757, brought to it 
 Agnes Brown, his youngrbride, the daughter 
 of a small farmer in Carrick. It was in this 
 humble cottage, exactly one hundred years ago 
 this day, that Eobert Burns, their eldest child, 
 was born, and it is this event which we are 
 now met to commemorate, an event which is this 
 day being celebrated not only in every city, 
 town, and village, and hamlet throughout Scot- 
 land, ay, and England too, but in every land, 
 and in every clime where the Anglo-Saxon 
 language is spoken, or an adventurous spirit 
 has carried one of Scotia's sons. (Great 
 Applause.) And well may the whole Scottish 
 nation celebrate the birth of Burns, for Scot- 
 land herself is this day exalted and glorified in 
 the fact that, sprung from the bosom of her 
 people, and living and dying among the chil- 
 dren of toil, she has produced a poet whose 
 genius has pictured, in undying words, all that 
 is lovely and loveable in her daughters, all that 
 is manly and independent, noble and devout, 
 in the character of her sons. (Hear, hear.) 
 In Robert Burns we recognise the true repre- 
 sentative, so to speak, of his countrymen. His 
 genius searched into the hearts of those among 
 whom his life was spent, and gave utterance to 
 the nobilities he found there. The simple piety 
 which erected a family altar in every household, 
 speaks to us in the " Cottar's Saturday Night " 
 — the pure unselfish love of our lads is expressed 
 in such sweet strains as " My Nannie O," and 
 " Of a' the airts the wind can blaw," rising into 
 the sublimity of chastened tenderness and love 
 in the " Ode to Mary in Heaven " — our slow 
 to give, but fast to hold, friendship in " Should 
 auld acquaintance be forgot " — our pride even 
 in our honest poverty, our independence, 
 manly but not boorish, the peasant casting no 
 glance of envy on the peer, is pictured in 
 "A man's a man for a' that" — while Scottish 
 patriotism as it existed in the time of Burns, as 
 we are proud to know it exists among us still, 
 thrills through our every vein, as if we heard 
 the trumpet's call to battle for freedom and our 
 hearths, iii " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." 
 (Great cheering.) Eobert Burns is truly, far 
 excellence, the poet of the Scottish people. 
 His songs are with us in our every mood, are 
 associated with us in our every memory, that 
 takes us back to the days of langsyne, to the 
 days of our boyhood and our youth, to friends 
 who have passed away, and to joys that return 
 no more. His songs lighten the toil of labour, 
 and bring balm to the spirit oppressed with the 
 
 world's care. Robert Burns lives in the heart 
 of the Scottish nation, and there will he be en- 
 shrined while the plough turns up the soil of 
 auld Scotland, or the sound of the hammer is 
 heard in her cities and her hamlets. (Applause.) 
 
 However humble and lowly the household 
 in which Burns grew up to manhood, it was 
 not without its advantages. William Burns, 
 his father, was one of those of whom Scotland 
 may justly be proud — a model of humble intel- 
 ligence and worth — a man ready to make all 
 sacrifices for the education of his children — a 
 man of whom Mr. Murdoch, the poet's teacher, 
 said, " I have always considered William Burns 
 as by far the best of the human race that I 
 ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with, 
 and many a worthy character I have known." 
 An affectionate husband, a kind father, repress- 
 ing every evil and encouraging every heaven- 
 ward influence, we behold him and his family 
 at their simple evening devotions, so exquisitely 
 pictured in the " Cottar's Saturday Night," and 
 he lives in our veneration and love for ever. 
 (Great applause.) 
 
 Robert Burns was barely thirteen when he 
 commenced a life of hard toil, and with a stout, 
 willing heart did he put forth his yoimg strength 
 to help his loved father on the little farm he 
 had taken, for the sake of keeping his family 
 together under his own roof tree. At fifteen 
 "he was chief labourer on the farm, and relieved 
 his father from holding the plough ; and in this 
 capacity he remained until his father's death in 
 the spring of 1784, when being then in his 
 twenty-sixth year, he and his brother Gilbert 
 took the farm of Mossgiel, in the parish of 
 Mauchline, whither the whole Burns family re- 
 moved. The farm-house of Mossgiel, whicii still 
 exists pretty much as when it was inhabited by 
 Burns, is a humble dwelling, mainly two rooms, 
 a kitchen and a parlour, with a kind of garret- 
 closet entering by a trap stair from the lobby. 
 This little garret was the chamber of the poet 
 and his brother. It had a small window of 
 four panes in the sloping roof, and under the 
 window a small deal table. Here he transcribed 
 the verses he had composed in the field, his 
 youngest sister often slipping up to search the 
 drawer for them. Burns was not a farmer in 
 the modern sense of the word, but the douce 
 guidman who held his own plough. The 
 plough was drawn by four horses, driven by a 
 help or gaudsman, as he was called. His 
 gaudsraan at Mossgiel was one John Blane, who 
 related, in illustration of the poet's humane 
 disposition, that one day the ])lough having 
 turned up a field-mouse, he chased and was on 
 the ]3oint of killing it, when he was called back 
 by the tender-hearted Bard, who not only saved 
 its life then, but immortalized it by an ode to 
 
EDINBURGH.— DUNEDIN HALL. 
 
 33 
 
 the "Woe slocUit, cow'riii' timid beastie," — one 
 of the earliest and one of the sweetest he has 
 written. (Great applause.) After two years 
 of hard work on Mossgiel, getting from it 
 barely his wages as a ploughman of £7 a-year, 
 Burns became disheartened, and had well-nigh 
 emigrated to Jamaica; but a volume of his 
 poems having been published at Kilmarnock, 
 and realized the, to him, large sum of £20, he 
 abandoned that idea, and in November of 1786 
 made his first journey to Edinburgh. Here the 
 genius of Burns quickly made him known and 
 welcomed by all classes. Among the first 
 places Burns visited — places of interest to him 
 — were the house of Allan Ramsay, on entering 
 which he reverently took off his hat, and the 
 humble grave of Robert Fergusson, where he 
 knelt and kissed the sod, afterwards erecting a 
 tombstone to his memory — still to be seen in 
 Canongate Kirkyard. (Great applause.) It 
 was at this time that Waltra- Scott, then a lad 
 of sixteen, employed in his father's house, had 
 an opportunity of becoming acquainted with 
 Burns ; he met him in the Sciennes, at the 
 house of Dr. Ferguson, whose son. Sir Adam, 
 tells us that the poet's attention was arrested 
 by a picture in the room representing a soldier 
 lying dead on the snow, his dog sitting in misery 
 on one side — on the other his widow with a 
 child in her arms. These lines were written 
 underneath : 
 
 " Cold on Canadian hills or Minden'a plain, 
 Perhaps that parent wept her soldier slain; 
 Bent o'er her babe, her eyes dissolved in dew. 
 The big drops mingling with the milk he drew, 
 Gave the sad presage of his future years — 
 The child of misery baptized in tears." 
 
 Burns read the lines aloud, but before he got 
 to the end of them his voice faltered, and his 
 big black eye filled with tears. He asked if 
 any one could tell him who had written the 
 lines. The philosophers were silent, but the 
 lame boy modestly told him it was one Lang- 
 horne, and mentioned where they occurred. 
 The poet looked at the lad with kindly interest, 
 and in a serio-comic voice said, " You'll be a 
 man yet, sir." (Great applause.) Although 
 Robert Burns associated with the greatest and 
 wealthiest of the land, he never resorted to the 
 meanness of overlooking the child of honest 
 poverty. One day, walking down Leith Walk 
 with a modish friend, he met an old Ayrshire 
 acquaintance very poorly dressed, and stopped 
 to have a crack. His dandy friend told him he 
 was surprised he had stopped to speak to such 
 a shabby-looking fellow. "What!" said the 
 manly bard, " do you think it was the man's 
 clothes I was speaking to — his hat, his coat, 
 and his waistcoat? No, it was the man within 
 
 the coat and waistcoat; and let me tell you, 
 that man has more sense and worth than nine 
 out of ten of my fine city friends." (Applause.) 
 This visit of Burns to Edinburgh was perhaps 
 the happiest period of his life. He mingled 
 with a society comprising undoubtedly the first 
 names of the day in philosophy, literature, and 
 science, and enjoyed with his friend, Alexander 
 Nasmyth, the landscape painter, many a ramble 
 in the magnificent country around. Arthur 
 Seat being a favourite resort, he would lie down 
 on the top of this romantic hill, and for hours, 
 poet-like, gaze delighted on a view stretching 
 from far beyond the May to the huge Ben 
 Lomond guarding the couch of the weary sun 
 in the far west. 
 
 By the Edinburgh edition of his poems, 
 Burns netted something like £400, about half 
 of which he generously advanced to his brother 
 Gilbert, who struggled on at Mossgiel, and 
 with the remainder he stocked, in 1788, the 
 farm of EUisland, on the Nith, between five 
 and six miles from Dumfries, and to this farm 
 he brought his wife, and set up house late in 
 the same year. Ellisland, turning out no 
 better than Mossgiel, the poet, in 1789, got an 
 appointment as an exciseman, £50 a year, out 
 qf which he had to find his own horse, and for 
 which, as one part of his duties, he had to ride, 
 on an average, 200 miles a-week, 
 
 " Searching auld wives' barrels, 
 
 Och hon the day ! 
 That olarty barm should stain my laurels ; 
 
 But — wliat'U ye say ? 
 These niovin' things ca'd wives and weans 
 Wad move the very hearts o' stanes." 
 
 I give the lines, as they show the motive for 
 accepting the uncongenial office, and do the 
 bard honour. (Great applause.) Two years 
 later, having reason to expect promotion in the 
 Excise, he gave up the farm altogether and re- 
 moved to Dumfries, where he remained until 
 his death, which occurred 21st July 1796, at 
 the early age of thirty-seven. (Sensation.) Of 
 this part of his life I cannot bring myself to 
 speak. No man can read of it with dry eyes ; 
 and we are met, my friends, not to weep, but 
 to rejoice. Suffice it to say that they were 
 years of sorrow and anxiety beyond what com- 
 monly fall even to the lot of man. The ex- 
 pected promotion never came — the poet's free 
 political opinions even jeopardising the poor 
 situation he held, and alienating many friends. 
 Burns never would consent to write poetry for 
 money; and hence we cannot wonder that he 
 left his widow and five children very slenderly 
 provided for. The poet's death- bed was soothed 
 by the conviction that his countrymen, after 
 his death, would be kind to them for his sake. 
 
34: 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 He bequeathed them to his country, and she 
 has shown herself worthy of the trust. (Great 
 applause.) 
 
 We cannot help wishing that some of his 
 great friends had been more true to Burns, and 
 more energetic on his behalf; that in his case, 
 at least, politics had been overlooked, and that 
 the rulers of the nation had honoured them- 
 selves in honouring him, although perhaps we 
 are wrong to expect much in that way in times 
 of Sedition Bills, imprisoning of newspaper 
 editors, and prosecutions of Thomas Muir, 
 Skirving, and others. But whatever views we 
 may take of the doings of the great men in 
 power — the titled, the wealthy, the philoso- 
 phers, the clergy, and the critics of that time — 
 we are bound to say this, and we say it with 
 pride — the working-men of his day with their 
 wives and their sons and daughters — the men 
 who, like himself, had earned their bread by 
 the sweat of their brow, and knew what it was 
 to toil, and to bear, and to suffer — were ever 
 true to him ; and their successors of the present 
 generation, whether it be their lot to whistle at 
 the plougl), or, far from the light of heaven, to 
 dig out the hidden treasures of the earth, to 
 tend the loom, or wield the hammer ; whether 
 watchers of sheep or diggers for gold in far 
 Australia ; pioneers of civilization in Africa 
 or America ; fishermen on our rivers, or sailors 
 on the ocean ; old warriors at the ingleside, or 
 Scotchmen, worthy of the country of Wallace 
 and of Bruce, avenging, 'neath India's burning 
 sun, their murdered and outraged kindred, this 
 day hail Robert Burns as their poet and their 
 brother, and proclaim that his memovy shall be 
 hallowed and enshrined in their hearts for 
 ever ! 
 
 One word as to the various festivals now be- 
 ing held in honour of our great national poet — 
 and they are as varied in their character as are 
 his poems : there is the great festival in the 
 Crystal Palace, which was held at noon to-day, 
 and has been attended, I learn by telegram — 
 kindly sent me by the directors — by 15,000 
 persons ; there is the St. George's Hall banquet 
 in Liverpool, for which 3,500 tickets have been 
 issued ; there are the great demonstrations in 
 our own city, in Glasgow, Ayr, and Dumfries, 
 in Dundee, Aberdeen, and all our great towns, 
 the hearty gatherings in every country village, 
 and in every Highland clachan. Dinners there 
 are, and suppers, sheep's heads and haggises, 
 washed down by Edinburgh ale and whisky- 
 toddy. Masonic lodges, enthusiastic enough, 
 but ungraced by the fair ; and social ga:therings 
 like our own, where Scotland's bonnie lasses 
 grace the festive boards, and prove that spirits 
 are not indispensable to happiness and mirth 
 when we have their pleasant smiles and gracious 
 
 presence. Tea we have from China, coffee 
 from Arabia, sugar from the Indies, and fruit 
 from Spain and the sunny south ; bread from 
 the metropolis of the Land o' Cakes, songs by 
 Burns himsel', sung by lads and lasses he would 
 have loved to listen to ; stringed music from a 
 generous-hearted German admirer of the Bard, 
 and matchless wind music from our Sussex 
 brothers, the " braw, braw lads " from the Castle. 
 Surely this evening shall be one, not only of 
 honour to the memory of Robert Burns, but of 
 happiness to every one I have the privilege of 
 addressing — a happiness enhanced when we re- 
 member that the surplus funds are to be de- 
 voted, through the medium of the Royal In- 
 firmary, to the alleviation of human suiFering 
 and woe. (Great cheering.) 
 
 The song, par excellence, of the evening, entitled 
 " Ye sair wrought sons o' daily toil," (written expressly 
 for the occasion by Mr. John Brown,) having been 
 sung with excellent taste by Mr. Bishop — the Chair- 
 man then introduced Miss SomervlUe, who sang with 
 pathos and feeling " My Nannie's Awa." She was 
 well received, and was succeeded by Mr. Shiels, who 
 sang " Bonnie wee thing," followed by Mr. Smith, 
 wlio gave great effect to "A man's a man for a' that," 
 the immense assemblage joining with hearty good 
 will in the choras. Tlie part songs of " The Birks of 
 Aberfeldy," and " Banks and Braes " came next, and 
 after a tune from the Band, Mr. Manderson, (a blind 
 gentleman,) recited with humour and correctness the 
 tale of " Tarn o' Shanter." 
 
 The Chairman here repeated a few original verses, 
 written by Mr. Manderson, showing a considerable 
 degree of poetical talent. Several other songs were 
 sung — and a vote of thanks to the Chairman was 
 moved by Councillor Anderson, which was warmly 
 responded to. After which tlie Band gave dismission 
 to the meeting by playing " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 GLOBE HOTEL. 
 
 A number of gentlemen dined together in 
 the Globe Hotel in Hill Place, and spent the 
 evening in the most agreeable manner. The 
 chair was occupied by Mr. James Burn, of 
 Elder Street, who proposed the toast of the 
 occasion. After some introductory remarks he 
 said : — It may be argued that Burns was not a 
 poet like Homer, Virgil, Shakspeare, Milton, or 
 many others we might name, and that his ex- 
 perience of men's social haljits and modes of 
 thought was confined to a very narrow circle. 
 I grant such to have been the case, but though 
 he could only survey the world of life from a very 
 humble position, the extraordinary quickness of 
 his perception more than compensated for his 
 want of worldly education. And we must bear 
 in mind that much of the wisdom he has left 
 for our inheritance was the produce of in- 
 spiration rather than the result of worldly 
 experience. Burns possessed the magic power 
 of acting upon the living sympathies of man'§ 
 
EDINBURGH.— DRUMMOND STREET HALL. 
 
 .3.3 
 
 nature, from kings to beggars, and he con- 
 tributed most to our happiness when he told us 
 tlie things we knew, but could not express. 
 The impulses of men's minds are the secret- 
 springs of their actions; and though all our 
 passions and feelings are very simple things, yet 
 simple as they appear, gentlemen, how few 
 there are who can describe them as they really 
 exist. Burns' power of imagery and truthful- 
 ness of description was of the highest order; 
 but it is in dwelling upon the mysteries of 
 human thought and action in the daily con- 
 cerns of life in which he excels. If in a sad 
 hour of reflection he sang the melancholy lay 
 that " Man was made to mourn," he has cheered 
 our hopes and gladdened our hearts with his 
 picture of happiness in humble life in his " Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night." Whether he strikes 
 the lyre to love or patriotism, we are made to 
 feel the force of his magic power ; in the one 
 case his flame is the pure devotion of the heart, 
 and in the other we have the ardour, courage, 
 and determination of a man who would rather 
 die in the defence of his country, than live on 
 the ruins of her liberty. In the dialogue of the 
 " Twa Dogs," the ploughman shows a keen in- 
 sight into the aflfairs of men in the various ranks 
 of society, and in the true spirit of the poet and 
 the philanthropist he never fails to plead the 
 cause of suffering humanity, and claim for the 
 sons of toil the rights of freemen. Who that has 
 read the inimitable " Death and Dr. Hornbook " 
 can ever forget the journey of the half-drunken 
 man as he floundered on his way home in the 
 dead hour of night ? How graphically he de- 
 scribes the different conditions of his mind as 
 reason or whisky prevails, and how the courage 
 of the toper and the superstition of the man 
 battles for mastery ! How playful the wit, how 
 droll the humour, and how keen and cutting 
 the satire when exposing the evils of quackery ! 
 We love Burns for his kind and generous 
 sympathy with our nature, we admire him for 
 his manly independence, and we are pleased 
 with his sparkling wit and rollicking humour. 
 In his moments of gladness lie plays with our 
 susceptibilities until he inoculates us with his 
 own thoughts and feelings. The imagery, the 
 wit and pathos, combined in " Tam o' Shanter," 
 makes it one of the most unrivalled productions 
 in our own or any other language ; and if 
 Burns had never written another line, this 
 poem would have immortalized him. Grentle- 
 men, I am convinced that no man can truly ad- 
 mire a poet until he has felt him ; this is the 
 great secret of Burns, the different states and 
 conditions of his own mind are communicated 
 to his readers, and whether our souls are tinged 
 with melancholy over the dear departed shade of 
 his " Mary in Heaven," carried away by the full- 
 
 flowing tide of friendship in "Auld Langsyne," 
 or dwelling in the misty delights between tlie 
 late and early " wi' a wee drappie in our e'e," 
 we are made to feel that the poet is a living part 
 of our own nature. The ploughman bard had 
 a mission independent of that of ministering to 
 men's lighter enjoyments; he wielded the club 
 of satire with the arm of a giant, and he made 
 men feel tlie force of ridicule who were imper- 
 vious both to reason and common-sense. Some 
 of his satires upon the canting Pharisees and 
 saintly sinners of his time were well directed, 
 and, what is of no small consequence, they are 
 as applicable to certain mistaken Christians, or 
 double dealers, now as they were seventy years 
 ago. We have often heard the poet found fault 
 with for the manner in which he lampooned the 
 unco gude, but the conduct of the parties he 
 flagellated was a greater reproach to religion 
 than could have been inflicted upon it by its 
 worst enemies. Upon more than one occasion 
 some of the able Christians of his own country 
 have endeavoured to brand his name with in- 
 fidelity; this day has proved how far they have 
 succeeded. My opinion is that Burns' idea of 
 religion was far exalted above the narrow- 
 minded, sectarian bigots he so justly exposed. 
 I must confess, gentlemen, that I am not one 
 of those who join in the insane cry that Burns 
 was badly used by his countrymen \yhile living. 
 His literary career was of short duration, and 
 the public had not sufficient time to sit in judg- 
 ment upon his merits as a poet; and it must be 
 remembered, too, that the newspaper press, the 
 great organ of public opinion, was then only in 
 a state of helpless infancy. No man in the 
 present day, with anything like Burns' talents, 
 could long go unrewarded; and we have good 
 proof of what his countrymen would have done 
 for him, if they had known the living man as 
 well as they have since known the poet. 
 
 HOWLET CLUB. 
 
 The members of the Howlet Club, having 
 resolved to celebrate the Burns Centenary, met 
 in Bourgeois' Hotel, and after an excellent 
 dinner, most ably presided over by Mr. J. 
 M'Intosh, spent such a " nicht wi' Burns " as 
 will be long remembered by those who had the 
 gratification of being at this happy meeting. 
 
 DRUMMOND STREET HALL. 
 
 On Tuesday night the Loyal Sir Ralph 
 Abercromby Lodge of Oddfellows, M.U., a 
 number of brethren of the sister lodges, and 
 other friends, assembled in their Lodge-room, 
 
36 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 Drummond Street Hall, to celebrate their six- 
 teenth anniversary, and in lionour of the cen- 
 tenary of Burns. John Middleton, M.D., the 
 surgeon of the lodge, presided, supported right 
 and left by ex-Baron-Bailie Eobert Eitchie, 
 C.E., Dr. Murray Thomson, Messrs. John Dal- 
 gleish, Andrew Thomson, James Wilson, P.G., 
 Hugh Cameron, P.C.S., William Scott, P.G.M., 
 &c. Past Grand Walter Henderson, and Past 
 Secretary A. Eraser, officiated as croupiers. 
 The Chairman, in an eloquent speech, gave the 
 toast of the evening, " The memory of our 
 illustrious bard, Eobert Burns." The toast was 
 most enthusiastically received, and in com- 
 memoration of the bard's connexion as poet- 
 laureate of the Freemasons, " The Lodge 
 Canongate Kilwinning," was given with real 
 " Canongate honours." Various appropriate 
 toasts and sentiments followed, and the hilarity 
 of the evening was much enlivened by songs, 
 recitations, glees, &c. 
 
 FEUIT SOIEEE. 
 
 A fruit soiree, under the auspices of the 
 Dean and Water of Leith Mutual Improvement 
 Society, took place in the Eree Dean Church 
 Schoolroom, on Tuesday evening, in order to 
 afford to the inhabitants of the neighbouring 
 village and district an opportunity, at a moder- 
 ate cost, of paying respect to the memory of our 
 great national bard. The schoolroom was quite 
 crowded. Interesting addresses were delivered 
 in the course of the evening, on the life, genius, 
 and character of Eobert Burns ; and some of 
 his finest songs were sung, and recitations of 
 some of his poems given. The entertainment 
 went off" with great spirit. 
 
 STUDENTS' MEETING. 
 
 About forty legal and medical students from 
 the counties of Dumfries, Ayr, and Galloway, 
 attending the Edinburgh University, celebrated 
 the centenary of the nativity of Eobert Burns 
 by dining together in the Turf Hotel, Princes 
 Street. The duties of the chair were very ably 
 performed by Mr. William Shaw, Stranraer ; 
 Mr. James Eoy and Mr. A. D. Muir olficiating 
 as croupiers. 
 
 The cloth having been removed, the Chair- 
 man, who was received with great cheering, 
 briefly proposed the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts, all of which were received with the 
 utmost enthusiasm, the whole company singing 
 the National Anthem after the toast of the 
 Queen. 
 
 The Chairman again rose to propose the 
 
 toast of the evening, and said, — You are all 
 aware that patriotism is a valued characteristic 
 of the people of Scotland. (Cheers.) There 
 is not a man within whose veins the blood of a 
 Scottish ancestry flows who would suffer the 
 slightest imputation to blot the fair fame of his 
 native land. (Great cheering.) It was patriot- 
 ism which brought us here to-night ; it is our 
 love for our native land, because it is our ad- 
 miration of the immortal genius of a native of 
 Scotland. It is for the purpose of still more 
 indelibly impressing upon our minds the im- 
 mortal memory of Eobert Burns, the plough- 
 boy of Ayrshire; and I am sure a sincere, 
 grateful, and loving tribute will be devoted at 
 the shrine of his immortal genius. (Continued 
 cheering.) It was on this day one hundred 
 years ago that Robert Burns was born. It 
 was at a period not much later, when but a 
 youth, and following the team, " the Genius of 
 poetry first threw her inspiring mantle around 
 him." Then came, as you all know, what he 
 has left behind — poems and songs which have 
 made his name immortal — poems which sang 
 and still sing, the loves, the joys, and the sor- 
 rows of " Auld Scotland." It is a pleasing duty 
 to reflect on some of the finer traits in the poet's 
 character. In all his history he was actuated 
 by uprightness. In his friendships he was sin- 
 cere, and he was the life and soul of the social 
 circle. 
 
 " Tliat man to man, the world o'er, 
 Should brithers be," 
 
 was one of his favourite maxims, and he never 
 deviated in the most minute degree from its 
 proper observances. Of course, we dare not 
 deny that he had weak points : but take into 
 consideration the preponderance of good — 
 could there be found in the motley throng 
 which struts its little hour upon the chequered 
 stage' of life, the single instance of a man, who 
 has not for a time allowed the passions implanted 
 within him as it were to overcome the better 
 rules laid down for our self-government? Our 
 insufficient knowledge of ourselves is the cause 
 of this, and why then should anathema be cast 
 at the fame of Eobert Burns, because the same 
 failings clung to him which cling to us? 
 (Cheers.) It would, therefore, be uncharitable 
 to parade before you those worldly pleasures 
 which 
 
 "Hovenng and blazing with illusive light, 
 Mislead the amazed night wanderer from liis way, 
 To bogs and mires." 
 
 We cannot but sincerely regret that many of 
 our fellow-countrymen, actuated with feelings 
 not distantly related to hypocrisy, have thought 
 fit to make the weaknesses of our poet a reason 
 
EDINBURGH.— HOLYIiOOD. 
 
 37 
 
 why his centenary should not be celebrated. 
 We have, however, reason and judgment as 
 well as they, and reason and judgment have 
 dictated the course we have to pursue. Who 
 could forget the sad history of Burns and liis 
 Highland Mary ? Suppose a summer's night 
 when all around enchanted was in nature's 
 sweetest dreams, while Burns with his dearest 
 Mary sat among the whispering wood beneath 
 the fragrance of the fair flower, and enchanted 
 by the echoing music of the never drumlie 
 streams which encircled the Castle of Mont- 
 gomery. He -was there, brought by sincere 
 and ardent affection, but he did not know he 
 was to take his last farewell. The green birk 
 waved carelessly overhead, while he clasped 
 her to his bosom under the fragrant shade of 
 the hawthorn. But the stream of life may 
 cease to run when least expected. There were 
 the youthful lovers indulging in the sweetest 
 dreams of future prospecft, and they saw each 
 other no more. (Sensation.) Gracefully and 
 feelingly did he sing the rural scenes and fire- 
 side pleasures of his country. That section of 
 his poems abounds in sublimity — summer is as 
 it were made more sunny, while dark and dreary 
 winter is made brilliant by the sunshine of his 
 genius. (Great cheering.) The scene depicted 
 in " The Cottar's Saturday Night," one of the 
 finest, if no.t the finest of all his productions, 
 vi'hen carefully read is not easily forgotten. 
 The picture of nature given in this poem is as 
 enchanting as it is wonderful. The last day of 
 the week arrived, and the weary cottar is re- 
 turned to his ingleside, his toil is forgotten in 
 the felicity of his little ones. The little infant 
 is his tender care, while his own good example 
 is his children's only heritage. Truly this is a 
 noble poem. After having adverted at some 
 length to the poems of Burns, the Chairman 
 concluded as follows — But while we admire his 
 genius and respect his memory, we cannot, we 
 dare not forget, that he was sadly neglected 
 during his life, and our forefathers having ne- 
 glected him, shall we not do what we can now 
 to wipe out the stain ? (Cheers.) Now then, 
 gentlemen, shallj test your enthusiasm. Now 
 let every feeling be evinced at the mention of 
 the name and memory of Burns. Though he 
 be gone (it is hoped to a better world), his 
 spirit still hovers around us. Let heartfelt re- 
 sponsiveness be the reception of the toast. 
 Drink to the great and good — ^the noble spirit 
 and the independent mind — commemorate the 
 centenary of Robert Burns — the immortal Bard 
 of Scotland! (The-toast was drunk with great 
 cheering, and unbounded enthusiasm prevailed 
 for several minutes.) 
 
 Numerous other toasts followed, and the greatest 
 hiliirity prevailed during the evening, and the com- 
 
 pany, after having sung " Auld Langayne," broke up, 
 highly delighted. 
 
 LOWER MUSIC HALL. 
 
 The Free Masons, Free Gardeners, and mem- 
 bers of other corporations, in order not to be 
 behind their neighbours in paying a tribute of 
 respect to the memory and genius of Scotland's 
 favourite bard, availed themselves of the preva- 
 lent kindly feeling towards tlie great poet, and 
 held a ball on Tuesday night in honour of his 
 centenary. This festival was exceedingly well 
 attended by ladies and gentlemen in full dress. 
 The programme, which was strictly adhered to, 
 included all the popular and favourite dances of 
 the present day, with a superabundance of quad- 
 rilles, mazourkas, waltzes, and schottisches, Mr. 
 Macaulay, with the aid of a first-rate band and 
 an efficient master of ceremonies, conducted the 
 charming symposium with great and deserved 
 success. The Barony Broughton Flute Band 
 were also in attendance, and played well several 
 lively strains. After the banquet in the upper 
 hall was over, a few gentlemen not tired out 
 with the feasting and toasting then brought to 
 a close, joined the company in the lower hall, 
 and soon were engaged in tripping it on the 
 light fantastic toe. In the course of the evening 
 Messrs. Stewart and Hutton danced the High- 
 land fling in costume, in a very superior style. 
 There was also a sailor's hornpipe in character; 
 and several songs were sung with great taste 
 and feeling — but we have only space to men- 
 tion Miss Bruce's beautiful interpretation of 
 "My Nannie's Awa," Dancing was kept up 
 till an early hour on Wednesday, when all sepa- 
 rated in an orderly manner, evidently pleased 
 with their night's enjoyment. The whole ar- 
 rangements, under the auspices of Mr. Hutton, 
 were admirably conducted; everything passed 
 off in a quiet and orderly manner, for which the 
 company are entirely indebted to the zeal and 
 active efforts of that gentleman. 
 
 HOLYROOD. 
 
 On Tuesday evening a number of gentlemen 
 assembled to celebrate the centenary in the 
 house of Mr. Robert Finlayson, Watergate — 
 John Fulton, Esq., of Nettlehurst (Ayrshire), 
 in the chair; and Mr. Garratt discharged the 
 duties of croupier. The usual loyal and pa- 
 triotic toasts having been given, the chairman 
 proposed the toast of the evening — " The Im- 
 mortal Memory of Burns," in an able and elo- 
 quent speech. The toast was drunk with en- 
 thusiasm. Mr. Dreghorn proposed the health 
 
38 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 of the " Sons of Burns." Several other toasts 
 followed, and the party broke up in high 
 spirits. 
 
 SUPPER AND BALL. 
 
 The employees of Messrs. Schenck and 
 M'Farlane held a supper and ball in Mr. 
 Dewar's class-room, South Bridge, on Tuesday, 
 in honour of the centennial anniversary of the 
 birth of our great national poet. Several ap- 
 propriate speeches and songs were given in the 
 course of the evening, and dancing was kept up 
 till far on in the morning. 
 
 TAM 0' SHANTER CLUB. 
 
 The Tam o' Shanter Club met in Souter's 
 Inn, South Back of Canongate — Mr. Wni. 
 Darling in the chair, Messrs. James Brown and 
 William Dalglish, croupiers. After partaking 
 of an excellent supper, the chairman gave a 
 feeling address, and the " Memory of the Im- 
 mortal Bard" was given by Mr. Brown with all 
 the honours. The evening was spent with 
 songs and recitations. 
 
 ABBEY BREWERY WORKMEN. 
 
 The workmen (amounting to the number Of 
 about two hundred) in the employment of Wil- 
 liam Younger & Co. assembled on Tuesday to 
 celebrate the centenary of Robert Burns in the 
 large barn within their work, which was beau- 
 tifully decorated for the occasion with bay 
 leaves, holly, and evergreen. On one side of 
 the place, " R. B.," the initials of the poet, 
 " Speed the Plough," &c., were exhibited ; on 
 the other, "V. R.," and other devices; at the 
 back of the chairman was observed "William 
 Younger & Co.," elegantly done with flowers; 
 while at the back of the croupier a bust of the 
 bard, surrounded by seventy dazzling lights, 
 added great beauty to the place. A sumptuous 
 dinner was given to the workmen by their em- 
 ployers, which was handsomely got up. Amongst 
 other dainties was the haggis, a dish that is 
 every Scotchman's brag. Andrew Smith, Esq., 
 occupied the chair, and Mr. Cuthbert acted as 
 croupier. The chairman began by giving the 
 usual loyal and patriotic toasts — " The Queen," 
 which was followed by the "National An- 
 them;" the "Army and Navy," which was re- 
 sponded to by John Younger, Esq. A variety 
 of Burns's songs were sung — " A' the Airts," 
 "Afton Water," "The Birks o' Aberfeldy," 
 " Bruce's Address." Mr, Cuthbert, in an ele- 
 
 gant speech, gave "The Memory of Burns," 
 concluding amidst great cheers. "William 
 Younger & Co." was next given, and the song 
 of " Willie Brew'd a Peck o' Maut" was then 
 sung. Mr. Bruce also delivered a neat address 
 on the genius of Burns; he also gave "The 
 Travellers," which was responded to by Mr. 
 Greenlaw, who also gave a poetical production 
 of his own on our poet. " A Man's a Man," 
 " Ye Banks arid Braes," " I am a Young Man," 
 and many other songs, were sung. " Auld Lang- 
 syne," concluded the celebration. The party 
 then broke up, greatly delighted with the treat, 
 next day showing that the evening's amuse- 
 ment was able to bear the morning's reflec- 
 tions. 
 
 RAINBOW HOTEL. 
 
 Among the many private celebrations of the 
 great centenary in Edinburgh, we have to re- 
 cord a very successful one which took place in 
 the Rainbow Hotel, where between fifty and 
 sixty gentlemen sat down to dinner, presided 
 over by Mr. Henry Kerr, watchmaker; Mr. 
 James Gow acting as croupier. After due and 
 loyal honour had been done to the usual preli- 
 minary toasts, the Chairman gave the toast of 
 the evening, " The Immortal Memory of 
 Robert Burns,'' in a speech characterised alike 
 by great judgment and a true appreciation of 
 the poet's genius and character. His remarks 
 were frequently and deservedly applauded, and 
 the toast was drunk with all the honours, in the 
 most enthusiastic manner. The most popular 
 of the poet's songs were sung in the course of 
 the evening — a glee party from one of the 
 musical associations in town lending their 
 valuable assistance. "Tam o' Shanter" was 
 recited with much spirit by Mr. Henderson. 
 Mr. Douglas delivered an eloquent address on 
 " The Genius of Burns;" and several toasts in 
 connection with the poets and poetry of our 
 native land were given and warmly responded 
 to. " The bonnie lassies" were not forgotten, 
 and although " a man's a man for a' that," his 
 happiness is never complete without them. 
 However, notwithstanding their absence, the 
 meeting was a great success, and assisted, in 
 however humble a way, to throw a stone on the 
 great cairn which was that day reared to the 
 poet's memory. They "a' were proud o" 
 Robin." ^ 
 
 THE EDINBURGH ERECHINERS. 
 
 A large company of gentlemen resident in 
 Edinburgli, connected with Brechin and neigh- 
 
GLASGOW CITY HALL. 
 
 39 
 
 bourhood, culebrateJ the centenavy of Burns 
 by a dinner in the Cafe Royal. The chair was 
 occupied by Mr. John Hendry, and Mr. A. M. 
 Davidson acted as croupier. After the usual 
 loyal toasts, the Chairman, in an admirable 
 speech, proposed the toast of the evening — 
 " The Immortal Memory of Burns," which was 
 received with rapturous enthusiasm. Mr. Da- 
 
 vid Black then read, amidst groat applause, 
 some verses composed by him for the occasion. 
 Tlie "Sons of Burns," "The Peasantry of 
 Scotland," "The Daughter and Nieces of 
 Burns," and various other toasts were given. 
 Several ctf the Bard's choicest songs were sung 
 in the course of the evening, and altogether the 
 meeting was one of great enthusiasm. 
 
 GLASGOW. 
 
 CITY HALL. 
 
 The grand Glasgow den*onstration took place 
 in the City Hall. About Ave o'clock P. M. the 
 company began to assemble, and a few minutes 
 thereafter the body of the hall was filled. The 
 place was magnificently decorated. In front 
 of the organ there was suspended a largo screen, 
 painted to represent various scenes and objects 
 connected with Burns. On the right side was 
 the familiar " Brigs o' Doon," " The Ayr Mon- 
 ument," " The Auld AUoway Kirk," and the 
 cottage in which he was born. On the left 
 side of the painting was " The Mausoleum at 
 Dumfries," with its local scenery. On the ex- 
 treme left was represented the Edinburgh Mon- 
 ument with the Craigs and Arthur's Seat in 
 the background. In the centre of this compo- 
 site landscape was represented a bronze statue 
 of the poet ten feet high. The attitude is 
 taken as he appeared when " following his 
 plough in glory and in joy," with his eyes bent 
 on the ground as if he were musing. Above 
 this characteristic painting, which, we believe, 
 is the work of Mr. Bowie, 26 Bothwell Street, 
 are the shield, mottoes, and crest of the poet. 
 At each side the flags of Scotland, England, 
 Trance, and America drooped in mingled care- 
 lessness, and were supported by the shields of 
 Scotland and Glasgow. On either side, hang- 
 ing from the organ, and every appropriate place, 
 were flags of all designs and colours, which 
 beautifully undulated in the gentle upper cur- 
 rent of the hall. Conspicuous in front of the 
 platform was the splendid portrait of Burns by 
 Mr. Macnee, which was displayed to the best 
 advantage. ■ On the wall at each end of the 
 chairman's table were two busts of Burns, the 
 one the classic model of St. Fillans, and- the 
 other tliat of Mr. Currie. The former was 
 kindly lent by Mr. Thomas Brown, and the 
 latter by Mr. A. Balloch. In the same line 
 
 with these busts, ran on either side along the 
 whole length of the hall those of Wilson, Scott, 
 Motherwell, Ramsay, Shakspeare, Milton, By- 
 ron, Dryden, Pope, and others of the great 
 and good. Tlie spaces between the pillars of 
 the galleries were draped with crimson cloth, 
 fringed with evergreen, and on these, in white 
 letters, were inscribed some of the poet's most 
 popular and most successful lines and poems. 
 In two of tlie spaces were two whole verses 
 from "The Cottar's Saturday Night." The 
 whole appearance of the hall was brilliant in 
 the extreme. 
 
 While the company were assembling, the ex- 
 cellent band of the Sherwood Foresters dis- 
 coursed several pieces of music. The gallery 
 was laid out with a service of cake and wine 
 for the ladies, who were to enter after dinner. 
 
 The gentlemen took their places on the plat- 
 form in the following order : — Sir Archibald 
 Alison, Bart., chairman — supported on the right 
 by Colonel Burns, Sir David Brewster, Samuel 
 Lover, Sheriff Trotter, and Principal Barclay ; 
 on the left by the Lord Provost, Judge Hali- 
 burton, R. Monckton Milnes, M.P. ; R. Mon- 
 teith of Carstairs, and Dr. Norman M'Leod. 
 The gentlemen at the second table of the plat- 
 form were: — Bailie Houlds worth; Mr. Lowe, 
 of the Critic ; C. R. Brown ; Blanchard Jer- 
 rold; Wm. Burns, Esq.; A. Smollett, M.P. ; 
 Bailie Fowler ; James Cairns, Esq. ; Bailie 
 Brown ; Bailie Wilson ; Bailie Gemmill ; Coun- 
 cillor Arthur ; D. M. Lang, Esq. ; Councillor 
 Clark ; J. Cutler Fer.guson, Esq. ; James Mer- 
 ry, Esq. ; Andrew Mitchell, Esq. ; Robert 
 
 Burns Begg; Begg, jun. ; and Colonel 
 
 Mellish. 
 
 The gentleman composing the third table on 
 the platform were : — J. Ross, jun., Esq. ; W. 
 B. Faulds, Esq. ; Robert Gunn, Esq. ; A. Den- 
 
 nistoun, Esq. ; Smith, Irvine ; Moses 
 
 Provan, Esq. ; John Crawford, Esq. ; D. M'Cub- 
 
40 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 bin, Esq. ; R. J. Currie, Esq. ; A. J. Sym- 
 mington, Esq. ; Dr. Morton ; John M'Nab, 
 Esq. ; George Coats, Esq. ; Charles Rogers, 
 LL.D., Stirling; J. T. Rochead, Esq.; Officers 
 of the Sherwood Foresters ; Haliburtpn Hume, 
 Esq.; Dr. Laurie; Provost Grey; Dr. Burns; 
 J. B. Dill, Esq. ; J. Muir Wood, Esq. ; Dr. 
 Strang, City Chamberlain; P. Rintoul, Esq.; 
 George Troup, Esq.; Dr. Drummond; Adam 
 
 Sim, Esq. ; Paterson, Esq. ; Andrew 
 
 M'Laggan, Esq. ; &o. The croupiers were : — 
 Robert Dalglish, Esq., M.P. ; Walter Buchanan, 
 Esq., M.P. ; Henry Glassford Bell, Esq., Advo- 
 cate ; Peter Cunningham, Esq. ; Alexander 
 Baillie Cochrane, Esq. of Lamington. 
 
 Blessing being asked by Professor Barclay, a 
 very capital and recherche dinner — served up 
 by Mr. M'Lerie — was disposed of. Dr. M'Leod 
 returned thanks. 
 
 The Chairman then rose and said, — Before 
 we begin the proper business of the evening, 
 allow me to make two observations in reference 
 to the conduct of the business. We have ascer- 
 tained that no voice, however powerful, can be 
 heard from the other end of the room, and 
 therefore, when the croupiers are to give toasts, 
 they will be requested to move up to the plat- 
 form, in order that what they say may be heard 
 by the whole company. (Applause.) Another 
 observation I have to make before we begin is 
 this, it is important that the toast of the even- 
 ing, " The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns," 
 should be given with all the honours. It is 
 usual on occasions of the health of dead per- 
 sons being drunk to give the toast in solemn 
 silence ; but, gentlemen. Burns never will be 
 dead, his spirit is immortal, and we wiU give 
 liim with all the. honours. (Loud cheers.) 
 Gentlemen, in order that he may be thus 
 given, after the speech in which I will have 
 the honour to propose it, I hope you will rest 
 for a minute or two till your glasses are all 
 filled with champagne, in order that the toast 
 may be befittingly honoured. (Cheers.) Allow 
 me, also, in reference to the arrangements of 
 the meeting, to make one other request. There 
 are a number of stewards here present who 
 have been appointed to the agreeable duty of 
 ushering in the ladies who are in attendance 
 to hear this meeting. I request that those 
 gentlemen who have been selected for this 
 duty will now retire to the other end of the 
 room, that they may perform in a proper way 
 their agreeable functions. (Applause.) 
 
 The ladies' stewards accordingly retired, and in a 
 minute or two ushered in a most brilliant assemblage 
 of the fair sex, who, on taking theii' places in the gal- 
 leries, were greeted with loud and long-continued 
 cheers. 
 
 The Chairman then rose to give the usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts. 
 
 The Chairman (who was received with loud 
 cheers) said, — The first toast, gentlemen, of 
 this evening, and the first in all the numerous 
 assemblies who are met together on this occa- 
 sion, and a:t this hour, in honour of Burns, is 
 our mo^t gracious Sovereign, "The Queen." 
 (Hear, hear.) Reigning, as she does, in the 
 affections of all her subjects, and distinguished as 
 her rule has been by every public and private 
 virtue — (cheers) — there is no assembly of Britons 
 in any part of the world among whom her 
 name is not at all times received with enthusi- 
 asm. (Cheers.) But there are peculiar reasons 
 why in this country, and on this occasion, it 
 should be hailed with more than ordinary feel- 
 ings of loyalty. Viewing, indeed, with equal 
 eyes, as sovereign of all, her varied subjects 
 from the Equator to the Arctic circle, her con- 
 duet has always been distinguished by that 
 impartiality which was her first duty. Yet we 
 are entitled to hope that she views with peculiar 
 interest the country of her royal ancestors, 
 through whom she has ascended the throne of 
 Britain — (cheers) — that her heart is with the 
 land of the mountain and the flood, and that 
 she gladly escapes from the toils and the cares 
 of Royalty to seek refuge in the seclusion of 
 her Highland home, amidst the blue hills, and 
 dark forests, and sounding cataracts of Cale- 
 donia. (Cheers.) But in addition to this, 
 there is another and a still stronger reason 
 why, on this day, we should drink our Sov- 
 ereign's health with enthusiasm. We are as- 
 sembled to celebrate the centenary of the birth 
 of Burns, and you will soon show with what 
 feelings it will be hailed. (Cheers.) But, 
 coeval with his birth, there was another event 
 arising in a distant hemisphere — the birth of a 
 mighty Eastern empire — the growth of which 
 during an entire century has been commen- 
 surate with that of the fame of the Poet, and 
 which has, at its close, attained as colossal a 
 height among the nations of our earth as his 
 has done in the land of song. (Cheers.) And 
 now both have been accomplished on the cen- 
 tenary of our national bard, I have the happi- 
 ness to give, for the first time from this chair, 
 the health of " Queen Victoria, Sovereign of 
 Great Britain and the Indies." I cannot form 
 a warmer wish for the countless inhabitants of 
 those vast realms, than that the Government of 
 the Queen and her successors may be regulated 
 by tliis maxim, announced in her "noble address 
 on ascending the throne: "It is your prosperity 
 which is our strength ; it is your loyalty which 
 is our security ; it is your gratitude which is 
 our happmess." (Loud cljeering.) 
 
 The toast was drunk with the usual honours. 
 
 Queen's Anthem by vocalists. 
 
 The Chairman then proposed in succession 
 
GLASGOW.— CITY HALL. 
 
 41 
 
 " The Prince Consort and the rest of the Koyal 
 Family" and "Her Majesty's Ministers," which 
 were duly responded to. 
 
 The Chairman then said — The next toast 
 on the list is one not indeed immediately con- 
 nected with poetry, but to which no assembly 
 in this country will ever fail to respond with 
 enthusiasm — that of " The Navy and Army of 
 Great Britain." (Cheers.) I trust that the 
 cloud which has lately overspread the political 
 liorizon in Europe may be dispelled, and that 
 the peace of the world may be long undisturbed. 
 (Hear, hear.) But if it should prove otherwise, 
 and our warriors by sea and land are again 
 to be called into action, I feel assured that 
 they will uphold and extend the ancient mar- 
 tial fame of their country. (Cheers.) Those 
 who have within four years brought to a glori- 
 ous conclusion two mighty wars in far distant 
 hemispheres, need not fear any adversary ; and 
 the conquerors of the Alnfa, of Inkermann, of 
 Delhi and Lucknow, may safely be intrusted 
 with the honour of their country. (Applause.) 
 Nor let it be said that those sentiments are 
 foreign to this night's festivities — for who was 
 so intrepid and ardent a patriot as Burns? — 
 (cheers) — and who shall say what influence the 
 immortal lines " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace 
 bled," have had in rousing the heroic spirit of 
 his countrymen ? (Cheers.) His gallant son 
 — my friend, Colonel Burns, adorned with the 
 Burmese medal, is beside me, a living example 
 of their inspiring influence. (Cheers.) The 
 spirit elicited on the mountains of Scotland has 
 led his countrymen to victory amidst the snows 
 of the Himalaya. 1 trust that your reception 
 of this toast will animate our warriors by sea 
 and land to continued efforts in behalf of their 
 country — for glory is the soldier's idol— na- 
 tional gratitude is his best reward. (Cheers.) 
 And I know that words which have been spoken, 
 and cheers which have been heard in this place, 
 have resounded over the world — smoothed the 
 pillow of suffering in the hospitals of Scutari — 
 and lightened the bed of death in the charnel 
 house of Lucknow. (Loud and long-continued 
 cheering.) 
 
 The toast was drunk amid loud cheers. 
 
 Organ — Rule Britannia. 
 
 Colonel Mellish, in reply, said — On this 
 occasion, the fighting part of the community 
 is principally represented by the militia, and 
 therefore I have the honour of rising to return 
 thanks for the toast which you have just so 
 warmly received. With reference to the Poet, 
 in whose honour we are this day assembled, I 
 may remark that the countrymen of Robert 
 Burns have lately antl most brilliantly partici- 
 pated in the many gallant achievements of the 
 British navy and army, and have thus shown 
 
 that they are of the same stamp as those who 
 bled with Wallace, and were led on by Robert 
 Bruce, and ■whose spirit is still to be found 
 among their descendants, ready with strong 
 hands and with stout hearts to do their duty to 
 their country. (Applause.) 
 
 Song — " There was a lad was born in Kyle" — Mr. 
 Jolin Muir. 
 
 The Chairman then rose, amid loud cheer- 
 ing, and said — I have now to propose to you a 
 toast which I know will be received with en- 
 thusiasm, the toast of the evening — " The Im- 
 mortal Memory of Robert Burns." (Tremen- 
 dous cheering, continued for several minutes.) 
 In approaching this great subject I know not 
 whether to feel more impressed with the low- 
 liness of the origin from which our great na- 
 tional poet sprung, or the colossal magnitude 
 of the fame which he has since attained. 
 (Hear, hear.) On this day one hundred years 
 — 25tli Januarj', 1759 — a child was born in a 
 cottage near the now classic Kirk of Alloway, 
 in Ayrshire, intended apparently for a humble 
 lot, and to be gathered at length to his fathers 
 unknown, unsung, in this simple churchyard, 
 where "his rude forefathers of the hamlet 
 slept." (Cheers.) But this child was destined 
 to immortality — (continued cheering) — nature 
 had giv6n him the patent of true nobility, the 
 passport to eternal fame ; and while all, or 
 nearly all, cotemporary reputation have already 
 passed away, his alone is hourly on the increase, 
 and now shines like the fixed stars with imper- 
 ishable lustre. (Loud cheers.) It has come to 
 embrace not only his own countrymen but all 
 who can admire genius and venerate lofty feel- 
 ings in every country of the civilised globe. 
 In every city and village of Scotland, in not a 
 few in England and Ireland, multitudes are now 
 assembled to celebrate his genius, and wherever 
 the English language is spoken, in Europe, 
 Asia, or America, one universal chorus of ad- 
 miration is resounding in honour of our pea- 
 sant-son. (Cheers.) His fanie has been like 
 the swelling eddie, which rises round a pebble 
 thrown by a child — the child of nature — into a 
 stream ; but that stream has descended to the 
 ocean and become a mighty wave, which has 
 rolled across the Atlantic, and broke, and 
 will for ever break, on the American and 
 Australian shores. (Hear, hear.) • Vast as is 
 this assembly which I now address, it is but 
 the representative of millions in the East and 
 in the West, in the North and in the South, 
 who are now found together in the expression 
 of common feeling; and the pulse which now 
 throbs so violently at the very name of Burns 
 under this roof, is beating also at the same 
 moment in the extremities of the earth, afiir 
 off in Australian and Transatlantic wilds. 
 
42 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Whence is this moral prodigy in wliich we all 
 participate, yet at which we are still surprised? 
 It is to few men only, and those in ages far 
 distant from each other, that Nature has given 
 the passport to immortality, and when she has 
 done it, it is not on the great or the affluent 
 that she in general has bestowed the gift, but 
 on the most humble and suffering of the human 
 race. (Applause.) She gave it to the Bard 
 of Chios — as a blind and needy supplicant he 
 wandered through the isles of Greece. She 
 gave it to him of the Mantuan lake as he 
 mourned the loss of his little freehold under the 
 shadow of his wide-spreading beech-tree. She 
 gave it to the exile of Florence as by the waters 
 of the Po he sat down and wept. She gave it 
 to the prisoner of Ferrara as in the gloom of 
 his dungeon he mourned a hopeless love. She 
 gave it to the Republican of England, after he 
 had, poor and unbefriended, 
 
 " dazzled by excess of light, 
 
 Closed his eyes in endless night." 
 
 But where was she to find a worthy recipient 
 for such a gift among the aged civilisation and 
 national jealousies and political passions of 
 Europe in the close of the eighteenth century 1 
 She looked for him in the halls of princes, but 
 she found him not there. She looked for him 
 in the senates of nobles, but she found him not 
 thei-e. She looked for him in the forums of 
 commerce, but she found him not there. She 
 looked for him in the solitude of nature, and she 
 found him beside the plough, with his eye fixed 
 on the mountain daisy, which spread its humble 
 beauties beneath his feet. (Loud cheers.) It 
 was in this very circumstance — the lowliness of 
 his origin — that the secret of liis ultimate great- 
 ness is to be found. (Hear, bear.) The child 
 of nature, he told us, like Homer, or the He- 
 brew poet in the book of Job, what he saw 
 and what he felt, uninfluenced by the great- 
 ness, unbought by the wealth, undeterred by 
 the criticism of the world. Mr. Pitt said at 
 Lord Liverpool's table, shortly after Burns' 
 death, that "since the time of Shakspeare poetry 
 had never come so sweetly from the hand of 
 Nature as in his rhyme;" and that was literally 
 true, and true just because Nature had been 
 his only teacher. Self-taught, untutored, he 
 poured fortli in unpremeditated lays "the short 
 and simple annals of the poor," but in their 
 short and simple annals he found means to 
 descend to the inmost depths of the human 
 heart, to ascend to the loftiest heights of human 
 feeling. "The Cottar's Saturday Night" is the 
 most perfect picture that ever was drawn, not 
 merely of individual life, but of the race of 
 man, inferior to none in the world in virtue 
 and firmness — the peasantry of the land. (Cheers.) 
 
 " Auld Langsyno" has become the national air 
 of Scotland— the expression of the love of 
 home and of the scenes of infancy to the entire 
 civilised world. (Loud cheers.) " Scots wha 
 hae wi' Wallace bled" is already the war-song 
 of the bold and the patriotic in every country 
 of the earth— (hear, hear)— and the passion of 
 love in its purest form was never so finely ex- 
 pressed as in his immortal lines to Highland 
 " Mary in Heaven." 
 
 " That sacred hour can I forget? 
 Can I forget the hallowed giove, 
 "Where, on Ayr's winding banks we met, 
 To live one day of parting love? 
 
 Ayr gurgling kissed her pebbly shore 
 
 Beneath the wild wood's thickening green, 
 
 Where fragrant birch and hawthorn hoar 
 Twined amorous o'er th' enraptured scene. 
 
 The flowers sprang wanton to be prest, 
 The birds sang love on every spray, 
 
 Till too, too soon the glowing west 
 Proclaimed the speed of winged day. 
 
 Still o'er these scenes my mem'ry wakes, 
 And fondly broods with miser care; 
 
 Time but the impression deeper makes, 
 As streams their channels deeper wear." 
 
 (Loud cheering.) All the world has joined in 
 admiration of these exquisite lines; but our 
 wonder at them becomes greater when we 
 recollect that they were written by the poet on 
 the anniversary of Mary's death, after he had 
 concluded the labours of the harvest field, when 
 resting on some corn sheaves, with his eye fixed 
 on the evening star, whose growing light " pro- 
 claimed the speed of winged day." (Cheers.) 
 To us, and to Scotchmen in every part of the 
 world who can appreciate the fidelity of his 
 pictures, the poems of Burns possess a peculiar 
 and indescribable charm: they recall scenes of 
 early youth, long unseen, but still unforgotten, 
 and realize in waking hours the beautiful words 
 of the poet in the Soldier's Dream: — 
 
 " I flew to the pleasant fields traversed so oft 
 
 In life's morning march, when my bosom was 
 young; 
 I heard my own mountain goats bleating aloft, 
 And knew the sweet strains which the corn 
 reapers sung." 
 
 (Loud cheers.) But the universal admiration 
 with which the poems of Burns have been 
 hailed, not merely in his own country, but over 
 the whole civilized world, prove that, great as 
 his graphic powers were, they were the least of 
 his varied gifts. (Hear, hear.) It was the 
 depth of his feeling, his warm expansive love 
 for all mankind, the totiohing pathos which 
 shone forth in his pieces, which everywhere 
 went to the heart. His tenderness extended 
 
GLASGOW.— CITY HALL. 
 
 43 
 
 even to iuauimate objects. Tlie bares, the field 
 mouse, the mountain daisy have been celebrated 
 in his songs. Above all, he possessed in the 
 highest degree that great quality without which, 
 in the trial of Time, all others are but as tink- 
 ling brass — a due appreciation of the dignity of 
 human nature, and a firm determination to 
 assert it. (Loud cheers.) To him we owe 
 those noble lines now become as household 
 words in every land of freedom : — 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp; 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 (Cheers.) To this quality also he owed many 
 of the misfortunes with which his life was em- 
 bittered. Had he condescended to flatter the 
 great — to conciliate the affluent — to fawn upon 
 the multitude — he might have earned ease and 
 comfort in life ; but he disdained to do any of 
 the three. Therefore he was neglected by his 
 cotemporaries — therefore we are now raising 
 statues to his memory. (Cheers.) Gentle- 
 men, it is said that Burns was a Eadical. I 
 know he was; but I do not respect him the less 
 on that account. (Cheers.) I wish we had 
 more Kadicals like Burns. (Continued cheer- 
 ing.) Most men of his ardent and poetic tem- 
 perament are inclined to those opinions, espe- 
 cially early in life, and were so most of all in his 
 day. They see in others the generous feelings 
 of which they are conscious in themselves. It 
 is well they are so ; they would miss their mis- 
 sion if they were not. Genius is the moving 
 power of the moral world. Experience is the 
 fly-wheel which regulates the movements of the 
 mighty machine: without the first it would 
 stand still; without the second it would be torn 
 in pieces. It is by the counteracting influence 
 of the two, as by the antagonist action of fire 
 and water in the material world, that the equi- 
 librium of nature is preserved; and thus is 
 secured at once the life, the progress, and the 
 stability of nations. (Hear.) But if Burns 
 was a Radical, he was not less a patriot. He 
 was no advocate for domestic broils or foreign 
 interference, he respected every man in his own 
 position, but did not seek to change it; for 
 what said he to the Dumfries Volunteers, of 
 whom he was a member ? — 
 
 " Be Britain still to Britain true, 
 Araang oursels united ; 
 For never but by British hands 
 Maun British wrangs be righted." 
 
 (Loud cheers.) A more serious charge brought 
 against Burns is that his life was_ sometimes 
 irregular, some of his poems effusions which, 
 however admired at the moment, his warmest 
 friends must now lament. Gentlemen, in 
 reference to this charge I will not repeat the 
 
 common excuse that his frailties were those to 
 which men of ardent and poetic mind have in 
 all ages been most subject. I disdain any such 
 apology. I recognize no exemption from moral 
 responsibility in the sons of genius. I know 
 rather that from him to whom much is given 
 much also will be expected. But I say he was 
 a son of Adam, and let him that is without sin 
 among you throw the first stone. (Cheers.) I 
 would answer in the words of Bolingbroke, when 
 reminded of the faults of his great political an- 
 tagonist, Marlborough — " Yes, I know he had 
 faults ; but he was so great a man that I have 
 forgot what they were." (Loud cheers.) And 
 I would recommend his detractors to imitate 
 his example, to expiate passing faults by lasting 
 benefits to the species, and like him to cause 
 the spots on the sun to be forgotten in the 
 lustre of his rays. (Cheers.) But one great 
 moral truth I extract from the fate of Burns, 
 and that is that no lasting fame is to be acquired, 
 even by the brightest genius, save that which 
 is devoted to the purposes of Virtue; for the 
 few poems of Burns which we now lament have 
 long since passed into oblivion, and those on 
 which his immortal fame is rested are as pure 
 as the driven snow. And, as such, they will 
 form an unseen bond which will for ever unite 
 Britons and their children in every part of the 
 world — a bond which will survive the maturity 
 of colonies, the severance of empires ; and " Auld 
 Langsyne " will hold together the wide-spread 
 descendants of the British empire, when grown 
 into independent states — 
 
 " Tho' seas atween them since hae row'd." 
 
 Gentlemen, I have detained you too long ; and 
 I conclude in the words of the Poet — 
 
 " A last request permit me here 
 When yearly ye assemble a', 
 One round, I ask it with a tear, 
 To him the Bard that's far awa." 
 
 The learned Chairman then resumed his seat 
 amidst tremendous cheering. 
 
 The toast was drunk with all the honours, the 
 whole company rising to their feet; and ladies, as 
 well as gentlemen, waving their handkerchiefs, and 
 making every demonstration of enthusiasm. 
 
 Song — " Highland Mary " — Mr. Stembridge Eay. 
 
 Colonel James Glencaibn Burns, who was 
 received with enthusiastic applause, said — I 
 humbly thank my God that He has spared me 
 to live and see this glorious day, a day on which 
 so many thousands in almost every part of the 
 globe are paying homage to the genius of the 
 Bard of Scotia. (Cheers.) My mother told 
 the late Mr. M'Diarmid of Dumfries that my 
 father once said to her — " Jean, one hundred 
 
44 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 years hence they'll think mair o' me than they 
 do now." How trvily his prophecy has been 
 fulfilled the proceedings here and elsewhere 
 amply testify. I feel most grateful to you for 
 the opportunity you have afforded me of being 
 present at this, one of the most influential of 
 these gatherings, presided over, as it is, by the 
 celebrated and talented author of the History 
 of Europe — (applause) — supported by such 
 well-known and distinguished men as Judge 
 Haliburton, Principal Barclay, Sir David 
 Brewster, Mr. Monckton Milnes, and Mr. 
 Glassford Bell. In no place will the day be 
 hailed and celebrated with more enthusiasm 
 than in the far East, where I spent so many and 
 such happy years. In proof of , this I may quote 
 a few lines written by my old friend Colonel 
 George Anderson Vetch, the author of many a 
 Burns' birth-day ode. In a poem of his, entitled 
 " The Exile in India," he says: — 
 
 " The music of Scotia is sweet 'midst the scene, 
 But all! could you hear it when seas roll between! 
 'J'is then, and then only, the soul can divine 
 The rapture that dwells in the songs o' lang syne." 
 
 (Cheers.) As a leal and true Scot, and a warm 
 admirer of the genius of the Bard, I have joined 
 in doing honour to his memory. As his son, 
 permit me to return you my most sincere thanks 
 for the same. (Eenewed cheering.) 
 Band — " The Campbells are coming." 
 Mr. Dal&lish, M.P., proposed "Lord Clyde 
 and his Companions in Arms." He said — It is 
 fortunate for me that this toast requires not 
 the eloquence of the learned chairman io make 
 it come home to every heart. Sir Archibald 
 Alison has told us to-night that, in addition to 
 her title of Queen of England, her Majesty has 
 also to add that of Empress. of India. It is to 
 our gallant army in the East that the Queen 
 owes that proud addition to her title. (Cheers.) 
 I think, gentlemen, it would be wrong in me 
 to detain you with any detailed statement why 
 you should receive this toast with all the hon- 
 ours. It is enough to say that owing to the 
 undaunted bravery of our soldiers, and the 
 skill of their commanders, the most treacherous 
 mutiny has been suppressed, and India has 
 been retained for Britain. But, gentlemen, on 
 this occasion, I think there is a claim upon you 
 to drink this toast with redoubled enthusiasm, 
 for the gallant army which now fights our bat- 
 tles on the plains of Hindostan is commanded 
 by a man born in Glasgow — by a citizen of 
 Glasgow. You are all aware how, soon after 
 his arrival in India, he organized with great 
 care an army that has since done incomparable 
 deeds. I need not speak of his defence and 
 successful relief of Lucknow, of his return to 
 Cawnpore, where he retrieved the disasters of 
 
 the day before, of his final success and capture 
 of Lucknow, and the success which has attended 
 his combinations ever since. But we have also 
 other men connected with Glasgow who have 
 taken a share in the glories of our Indian cam- 
 paign. I need hardly allude to a gallant colo- 
 nel, son of our excellent chairman — (cheers) — 
 having lost an arm in the cause of his country, 
 and wjio has since been more successful in 
 another field of fight, and gained the hand of 
 one of our loveliest citizens. (Applause.) I 
 need hardly allude to the gallant Kerr, who, 
 almost the only European, and in command of 
 a body of native troops, alone with a regiment 
 of native troops achieved such deeds of heroism 
 and valour, that he has been decorated with the 
 Victoria Cross. (Cheers.) Our talented towns- 
 man, Mr. Macnee, has also a son who carried 
 ■the colours of his regiment at the capture of 
 Gwalior. These, gentlemen, Glasgow has a 
 right to be proud of, and I trust you will drink 
 this toast with all the honours. 
 
 The toast was drunk amid loud cheers. 
 
 Band — ^" See the Conquering Hero comes." 
 
 The Very Rev. Principal Baeclat was re- 
 ceived with loud cheers. He, in a few words, 
 gave both Houses of Parliament. 
 
 Walter Buchanan, Esq., M.P., replied. 
 
 Mr. Henrt Glassford Bell, in pro- 
 posing " The Poets of England," said — Every 
 one has felt that it is not always on those oc- 
 casions when he is most anxious to say some- 
 thing worthy of being listened to, that he is 
 best able to satisfy his own wishes. I confess 
 that to-night I feel my mind almost over- 
 powered when I reflect on the grandeur of the 
 devotion — not national only, but world-wide — 
 that is being paid to the memory of one man. 
 I question whether such an amount of grateful 
 and affectionate remembrance was ever before 
 so concentrated and so extended. The question 
 naturally occurs — Whence all this gratitude? — 
 honourable alike to him who occasions and him 
 who cherishes it ; surely no unworthy senti- 
 ment, since it ascends to the Creator through 
 the person of one of his created. Whence this 
 gratitude ? Simply because that Scottish peas- 
 ant added mor« than most men to the stock of 
 human happiness, by throwing wider open the 
 gate of human knowledge. (Cheers.) The 
 most valuable of all knowledge is knowledge 
 of ourselves, and it is that the poet teaches. 
 Great as the benefactor of his species is who 
 extends the confines of science, not less great 
 is he whose finer eye looks with a clearer percep- 
 tion into all the subtle mechanism of the human 
 heart. (Cheers.) Robert Burns invented no 
 steam engine, but he knew the secret source of 
 tears and smiles ; he discovered no new planet 
 but he called up thoughts that twinkled in the 
 
GLASGOW— CITY HALL. 
 
 45 
 
 soul like stars, for he touched, as with a fiery 
 finger, every latent emotion until it sparkled 
 into light; he made us no richer in -worldly 
 wealth, but he taught us how divine a thing 
 human love may be; he taught us the nobility 
 of earnest patriotism and unflinching manliness; 
 he taught us how these, or any of these, may 
 make the darkest life resplendent with a gleam 
 of inward lustre. (Cheers.) Hence comes it 
 that thousands of his fellow-men, who never 
 saw him in the flesh, have to-day met in every 
 quarter of the globe to do him honour ; hence 
 comes it that 
 
 " — the miprlit 
 
 Of the whole world's good wishes with him goes; 
 Blessings and prayers, in nobler retinue 
 Than sceptred king or laurelled conqueror knows, 
 Follow this wondrous potentate ! " 
 
 In Scotland all this feeling is intensified by the 
 consciousness that Burns was essentially, and, 
 from his cradle to his grav#, our countryman — 
 a Caledonian. The country to which other great 
 men have belonged seems often to have been 
 an accident of birth. There appears no reason 
 why Shakspeare might not have been born in 
 Scotland, and Beattie or Campbell in England. 
 But Burns never ! He was a concentration of 
 the genius of Scotland. His patriotism is 
 Scotch — 
 
 " Wha for Scotland's king and law 
 ITreedom's sword will strongly draw, 
 Freeman stand, or freeman fa', 
 Let him on wl' me ! " 
 
 (Loud cheers.) His delight in the beauties of 
 external nature was Scotch — 
 
 "Their f roves o' sweet myrtle let foreign lands 
 reckon, 
 Where bright beaming summers exalt the per- 
 fume ; 
 Far dearer to me yon lone glen o' green breokan, 
 Wi' the burn stealing under the lang yellow 
 broom." 
 
 His loves were Scotch, and his happiest mo- 
 ments with the objects of his love were in the 
 midst of Scottish scenery — 
 
 " Ye banks and braes and streams around 
 
 The Castle o' Montgomery, 
 Green be your woods and fair your flowers. 
 
 Your waters never drumlie ; 
 There summer first unfauld her robe, 
 
 An' there the langest tarry. 
 For there I took the last farewell 
 
 O' my dear Highland Mary." 
 
 (Applause.) His 'noble independence was 
 Scotch — 
 
 " Is there for honest poverty 
 
 Wha hangs his hea,d and a' that? 
 The coward-slave, we pass him by — 
 We dare be poor fur a' that." 
 
 (Loud cheers.) His earliest and his latest 
 aspirations were Scotch — 
 
 " E'en then a wish, — I mind its power, — 
 A wish that to my latest hour 
 
 Shall strongly heave my breast, — 
 That I for puir auld Scotland's sake 
 Some usefu' plan or beuk could make, 
 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 Shall Scotland not be proud of her peasant 
 poet — 
 
 " Who murmur'd to the running brooks 
 A music sweeter than their own ? " 
 
 (Cheers.) Show me a song-writer from the 
 days of Anacreon to the days of Beranger, who 
 comes within a thousand miles of him. (Im- 
 mense applause.) All social and friendly 
 gatherings do good to the hearts of care-worn 
 men ; but we have assembled here to-night 
 with a nobler motive than to eat and drink and 
 be merry. We have assembled to do justice to 
 the better parts of our own nature, by de- 
 claring our veneration for a true bard who died 
 in poverty, but who has made us heirs to the 
 priceless riches of his own effulgent mind. I 
 leave the theme with reluctance ; but it has 
 already been descanted on with an eloquence 
 that has charmed us all, with a copious grace 
 and beauty peculiar to the rich, genial, and re- 
 fined mind of an Alison. (Applause.) Tlie 
 toast I have the honour to propose is, " The 
 Poets of England." I do not know whether it 
 is meant to be limited to the living poets ; if so, 
 their number, I fear, is small, taking the word 
 poet in its true though stricter sense. But I 
 think it may be understood to comprehend all 
 those poets who shed, about five-and-twenty 
 years ago, so brilliant a light over the literary 
 horizon. Their bodily presence has been taken 
 from us, and it is a somewhat sad thought for 
 those who, like myself, have been privileged to 
 look upon their thoughtful foreheads, and to 
 hear their living voices, that nothing mortal 
 now remains of a Byron, a Coleridge, a Words- 
 worth, a Southey, a Shelley, a Eogers, a He- 
 mans, and a Landon, but the mouldering dust 
 in their graves. Yet, though dead, they still 
 speak to us solemnly and sweetly ; none with 
 more solemn . sweetness than Wordsworth, be- 
 cause none with a truer and purer human love 
 and understanding. The sacred key was in- 
 trusted to the keeping of them all, by which 
 the deeper heart of man is unlocked; and the 
 electric thrill emanating from them difiuses it- 
 self through all lands — 
 
 " One touch of nature makes the whole world kin !" 
 
 (Applause.) Of living poets I must not pre- 
 tend to speak; but, as Wordsworth, in his beau- 
 tiful sonnets on personal feelings, says he will 
 
46 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 mentioQ two female portraitures " pre-eminent- 
 ly dear" — 
 
 " The gentle lady wedded to the Moor, 
 And heavenly Una with her milk-white lamb," 
 
 so I shall venture to name two poets as stand- 
 ing conspicuously out among all our living 
 minstrels, and sending abroad from their re- 
 sounding lyres richer and nobler melodies than 
 any of their compeers. You will not doubt 
 that I mean Alfred Tennyson, and the high- 
 minded lady, Mrs. Barret Browning. (Cheers.) 
 Their styles are altogether different, each 
 marked by its own originality ; but in the works 
 of both there is a repertory of dignified and 
 graceful thoughts, of deep and glowing feelings, 
 of suggestive and lofty imaginings, which have 
 worthily won for them a place far up the 
 sacred mount. Of them, and of all who labour 
 at the same delightful tasks, we say with uni- 
 versal voice — 
 
 " Blessings he with them, and eternal praise. 
 Who gave us nobler loves, and nobler cares; 
 The poets who on earth have made us heirs 
 Of truth, and pure delight, by heavenly lays!" 
 
 (Loud applause.) Permit me to couple with 
 my toast the health of an English poet now 
 present, whose English heart is not the less 
 sound that it h,as in it some Scotch affections, 
 which inspired him with a poet's yearning to 
 do honour with us to Scotia's Bard. Mr. 
 Monckton Milnes — (applause) — so well known 
 for his more recent exertions in the cause of 
 legislative and social improvement, has written, 
 among other effusions of great energy and 
 beauty, "Memories of many Scenes." I hope 
 that to-night will enable him to add to them a 
 fresh memory which he may deem worthy of 
 cherishing, and that he will at least believe 
 that " poor auld Scotland," whilst it remem- 
 bers departed, welcomes living genius. (Pro- 
 longed applause.) 
 
 Band—" The Roast Beef of Old England." 
 Mr. Monckton Milnes was received with 
 cordial applause, and said — Nurtured in the 
 love and admiration of Burns, and accidentally 
 connected with the fortunes of his family, I 
 accepted the proposal to act as one of the arbi- 
 ters of the merits of the poems composed in 
 his honour, and for myself, the distinction of 
 being your guest to- day. Many of you will 
 have seen tlie poem to which the prize has been 
 adjudged, and have, I hope, not considered it 
 unworthy of the occasion ; but it becomes me 
 here to say a word respecting the unsuccessful 
 candidates for the crown, many of whom have 
 produced works of deep feeling and noble ex- 
 pression, and all of whom appeared impressed 
 with the real greatness of the character it was 
 
 proposed to them to celebrate. (Cheers.) In 
 the phrase of one, they all recognised 
 
 " The glorious and poetic peasant 
 Driving his laurelled plough." 
 
 In the words of another, they appreciated the 
 character of the people who read by turns 
 
 " The Psalms of David and the Songs of Burns." 
 
 (Cheers.) Two impressions, indeed, which seem 
 to me altogether erroneous, prevailed in many 
 of the poems — the neglect of the poet by his 
 contemporaries, and the connection between 
 his poetic gifts and the sorrows and discomforts 
 of his life. Now, I believe that the worth of a 
 poet never received a more rapid acknowledg- 
 ment from a nation than Scotland has given to 
 Burns, from the first letter of Dr. Blacklock to 
 the celebration of this hundredth anniversary. 
 I am equally conviriced that the poetry of 
 Burns was the joy and sustenance of an exist- 
 ence not otherwise favoured by fortune. True, 
 the lights of the poetic temperament cast their 
 shadows, as they will always do: true, there 
 was in him that earnest melancholy, which is 
 ever the reverse of the true metal of genuine 
 humour. But without his poetry. Burns must 
 have been as much an exile from his native 
 land as Dante, whereas, with it, he is identified 
 with his country as Shakspeare. With it, the 
 incidents of his common and private life have 
 become the events of a century; the songs 
 composed for the merriment of an obscure 
 tavern club liave set millions of tables ringing 
 with delight; the natural outpourings of his 
 affections have become the stimulus and the 
 interpreter of youthful passion in ten thousand 
 breasts; and the religious bickerings of a re- 
 mote province have been made vocal with the 
 most stirring trumpet-tones of civil and reli- 
 gious liberty. I remember being in Prussia 
 some fourteen years ago, when the Censor of 
 the Press condemned a spirited translation of 
 "A man's a man for a' that" as hostile to the 
 order of society, and calculated to set class 
 against class. I should be very glad to have that 
 censor here to-night, and to ask him whether 
 this, and the thousand other festivities now tak- 
 ing place, exhibited hostility and ill-will to 
 mankind? (Cheers.) You have done me the 
 honour of connecting my health with the poets 
 of England. When Burns was writing, the 
 poetry of England was mainly represented by 
 the languid grace of Cowper, and I do not know 
 how much of the great revival which fol- 
 lowed may be attributed to the influence of 
 your bard. I wish I could anticipate any such 
 phenomenon ni our days. VVe have, indeed a 
 laureate whom we can boldly match with any 
 of his predecessors, yet I am conscious that the 
 
GLASGOW.— CITY HALL. 
 
 47 
 
 tendency of the time is rather to enjoy and rest 
 upon the poetry that has gone before it than to 
 add to the imaginative store of the world. 
 Perchance it must be so. Few thoughts have 
 not ah'eady been expressed in as good music as 
 words can supply, and our business may be 
 rather to appreciate and apply them — just as 
 Burns took up the screed of some old ballad 
 that touched his fancy, and transformed it into 
 a poem for his own, and for all time. (Cheers.) 
 Those, indeed, who desire to combine the plea- 
 sures of the composition of verse witVi the 
 duties of active life will rejoice to remember 
 that Burns made an excellent and diligent ex- 
 ciseman, as Wordsworth an accurate stamp- 
 distributor; and instead of lamenting that such 
 men were so employed, they will delight in 
 every combination of rare talents and honest 
 toil. Who shall say whether, if the outward 
 circumstances of the life of Burns had been 
 those of comfort and rejjpse, his wonderful 
 powers might not have been obscured and con- 
 tracted? But be this as it may, I am sure that 
 the passionate admiration which brings together 
 the multitudes of this evening would not have 
 been excited. Tlie sorrows of the great have 
 ever been the aliment of the veneration of man- 
 kind ; and the victims of misfortune in high 
 places have even attained supernatural powers, 
 without any very close scrutiny into their char- 
 acter and conduct. But the time comes when 
 even the "sad stories of the deaths of kings" 
 fail to move the popular imagination; and yet, 
 even then, the heart of a nation is stirred to its 
 depths by the recollection of suffering genius, 
 and something of a sacred halo surrounds the 
 poet who has endured and striven like a man. 
 (Great applause.) 
 
 Song, "John Anderson, my jo," by Mr. Kobson. 
 
 Mr. A. Denniston, writer, Greenock, rose 
 and said — The toast I have the honour to pro- 
 pose, " The Scottish Peasantry," though at first 
 it may appear a very humble one, yet, on such 
 an occasion as this, it rises into dignity — I had 
 almost said sublimity — and is second only to 
 the toast of the evening. But it will take a 
 more ingenious man than I pretend to be to 
 define correctly what particular class of persons 
 is included in the subject of my toast ; and I 
 must be content to consider all those to be pea- 
 sants who live and labour on the soil^to whom 
 the plough is the chief instrument of industry, 
 much in the same way as the steam-engine is 
 the main instrument of the engineer. It was 
 in this relation that Burns said of himself, 
 " The genius of Poetry found me at the plough, 
 and threw her inspiring mantle around me." 
 And nothing can be more fitting in an assem- 
 bly like the present— met to do honour to the 
 memory of Burns — than to honour also the great 
 
 class to which he belonged. (Cheers.) It is 
 a chief glory of our country that we have sucli 
 a class of men among us. And whether we 
 look to our aristocracy, our merchants, our me- 
 chanics, or our ploughmen, we may well chal- 
 lenge a comparison with the whole civilized 
 world. The leading characteristics of our pea- 
 santry are the same now as in Burns' time, for 
 we see in them the same great features of char- 
 acter — the same intelligence, the same indepen- 
 dence, the same love of liberty, the same public 
 spirit and patriotism, the same respect for reli- 
 gion. Nor is it the least remarkable feature in 
 their character their high appreciation of the 
 character and works of Eobert Burns. Other 
 countries have great names and great works. 
 England has her Shakspeare and her Milton — 
 but as a poet of the people how deeply has our 
 national mind been impressed with the poetry 
 of Burns ! To that feeling I do not hesitate to 
 ascribe much of that lofty spirit of religion and 
 patriotism for which our peasantry are so re- 
 markable. Yet even in this assembly I may 
 be permitted to touch very gently a subject in 
 connexion with the peasantry of Scotland, 
 which I admit is somewhat tender. The time 
 is surely come when we have seen the last of 
 that process of extermination and expatriation 
 of our peasantry which has been going on for 
 half-a-century. (Applause.) We have room 
 enough indeed for all our population, and lot 
 me express a hope that our great landlords 
 have ceased to prefer sheep, and cattle, and 
 wild beasts, to an industrious and God-fearing 
 population. To the foreigner, as well as to the 
 native Scotchman, there is no sight in our be- 
 loved land half so melancholy as that seen from 
 the top of many a Highland glen, when one 
 gazes on the green pastures and still waters that 
 flow beside those roofless cottages and desolate 
 homesteads of our humble peasantiy who have 
 been shipped off like convicts to a foreign shore. 
 We may say with our poet — 
 
 "Man's inhumanity to man 
 Makes countless thousands mourn." 
 
 And with another poet we may add — 
 
 "Princes and peers may flourish and may fade, 
 A breath can make them, and a breath has made; 
 But a bold peasantry, their country's pride. 
 When once destroyed, can never be supplied." 
 
 The toast was drunk with great applause. 
 
 Mr. Muir gave, with most powerful effect, " A 
 man's a man for a' that," wliicli elicited a most en- 
 thusiastic encore, and was again sung even with re- 
 newed power and beauty, the audience standing and 
 joining in the chorus. 
 
 Mr. Blakchard Jerrold gave "The Poets 
 of Scotland." He said — ^Your committee have 
 confided a very difficult task to very weak 
 
THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 hands : still I must do my best to recommend 
 to you the propriety of filling a cup to "the 
 beaded brim," in honour of the poets of Scot- 
 land — in honour of your unacknowledged legis- 
 lators, who have set forth gentle laws in noblest 
 harmony. (Cheers,) To the great leader you 
 have already done honour : well, we must re- 
 member the Eamsays and Fergusons, whom 
 Burns, with unaffected modesty, declared he 
 had studied as his models. (Cheers.) But we 
 know that the south wind upon his cheek, the 
 daisy under his ploughshare, the rough burr 
 thistle at the point of his weeder-elips, were 
 his teachers. He was born to sing ; and model 
 or no model, music must have come from him. 
 (Cheers.) A rough ride over the wildest Gal- 
 loway moor stirs fine harmony in him. A com- 
 mon alehouse inspires the Jolly Beggars ; and 
 a common grief bursts into the plaintive notes 
 of Auld Langsyne. It was the ambition of 
 this great and stormy soul to sing at least — 
 and he sang it greatly. (Great cheering.) 
 And did he not give a braver national spirit to 
 your literature 1 Did he not give a new charm 
 to the purple heather? Did he not warm 
 anew the national heart, and inspire voices to 
 sing nationally ? In his wake come troops of 
 Scottish poets. Here are Scott, Hogg, and 
 Allan Cunningham, (whose worthy son is 
 amongst us this evening, and whose health we 
 drink,) — (cheers) — and Campbell, and Aytoun, 
 and Charles Mackay. These names call to our 
 minds utterances that have quickened the pulse, 
 and warmed the heart, and refined the soul of 
 thousands. (Immense cheering.) Nor may 
 we forget, this evening, the gentle lady who 
 has dimmed many eyes with the story of Auld 
 Eobin Gray. We drink to "a nest of singing 
 birds " — the memory of whose songs shall give 
 a zest to the grape, as we lift it to our grateful 
 lips: The Poets of Scotland, and my friend, 
 Mr. Peter Cunningham. (The toast was drunk 
 amid great applause.) 
 
 Mr. Petee Cunningham, who was received 
 with great cheering, said — My friend the Hon. 
 Member for Pontefract (Mr. Milnes), has told 
 you, in language such as I cannot imitate, why he 
 accepted the office of judge of the prize offered by 
 the Crystal Palace Company. I will tell you why 
 I refused that position ; it was because I felt I 
 was not competent to be a judge, and I felt that 
 if a proper committee had been constituted, a 
 lady should have been on the committee. 
 (Cheers.) I am sure that with woman on the 
 committee, we should have gained a Burns prize- 
 poem with a little more of the touch of feminine 
 beauty in it, beautiful as the poem is. I have 
 slender claim to return thanks for the poets of 
 Scotland. My father was a Scotch poet, and 
 was, moreover, a Scotch peasant. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 To him I owe everything; and my brothers, who 
 fought in the East, like the sons of your chair- 
 man — to him they owe everything. The des- 
 tiny of the children of Allan Cunningham has 
 been cast very much like the destiny of the 
 sons of Burns. My friend, Colonel James 
 Glencairn Burns, derives his name from a Cun- 
 ningham ; and my father has been one of the 
 best friends the poet had, for he wrote Burns' 
 life, and wrote it well. My dear friend. Colonel 
 Burns, left his native Dumfries, and became a 
 scholar in Christ's Hospital like myself. The 
 two sons of Burns went to India and came, back 
 with honour. Three of the sons of Allan Cun- 
 ningham wenttheretoo, and acquitted themselves 
 with honour to their country. (Loud cheers.) 
 I have this claim also to return thanks for the 
 poets of Scotland, that I have shaken hands 
 with Sir Walter Scott, and for twenty years I 
 sat with Archibald Hastie, and drank to the 
 immortal memory of Scotland's Poet out of 
 Burns' own punch-bowl. I have perhaps an- 
 other claim to reply to this toast. I have sat 
 with Thomas Campbell, the poet of Hope and 
 Hohenlinden, and drank whisky-toddy, very 
 well brewed, from that silver bowl given to the 
 great poet by the students of this university. 
 I have also sat and drank with the Ettrick 
 Shepherd from a silver bowl given to him by 
 a true-hearted Scot, and honoured and prized 
 by the Shepherd as it deserved to be. There 
 is a genealogy in song. Our friend, Mr. 
 Monckton Milnes, will recollect how beauti- 
 fully that idea is expressed by Dryden, who 
 says that Chaucer was the poetical father of 
 Spenser, and Spenser of Milton. There is 
 a hereditary descent in song as natural as 
 "Abraham begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob," 
 (Laughter and cheers.) Allan Eamsay was the 
 poetic father of Eobert Burns, and Eobert Burns 
 the poetic father of the Ettrick Shepherd, Allan 
 Cunningham of Edmondstone, Aytoun, and 
 Charles Mackay. In a belief that a genius for 
 poetry never dies, I return thanks, too imper- 
 fectly I feel, for the poets of Scotland. (Loud 
 cheers.) 
 
 Organ— "In the Garb of Old Gaul." 
 
 Mr. MoNTEiTH, in proposing " The City of 
 Glasgow and its Civic Eulers," said — After the 
 intellectual feast which we have enjoyed, the 
 merit at which I have to aim must be that of 
 brevity. This is the more incumbent on me, 
 because I suspect that not a few here partici- 
 pate in an impression experienced by myself, 
 both when I knew of the toast assigned to me, 
 and when just before our meeting I found that 
 I was to address you very much earlier than 
 was at first intended. My feeling was that my 
 toast, though one most interesting to the ma- 
 jority here— vitally interesting to myself— was 
 
GLASGOW— CITY HALL. 
 
 49 
 
 not at first sight in perfect harmony with the 
 high themes of this great festival, and, as al- 
 ready said, the feeling assailed me again on 
 finding myself suddenly advanced to a still 
 more prominent place in our proceedings. Yet 
 may I not plead something in mitigation of 
 such a judgment ? Is it not the fact that all of 
 us in this city are in the habit of holding our- 
 selves more bound up with Eobert Burns than 
 Scotland's capital, or most of the many places 
 rejoicing at this moment to do him honour ? 
 (Hear.) Burns was a Scotchman, and dear to 
 all Scotchmen ; but he was out and out a west- 
 country man. " O' a' the airts the wind could 
 blaw " he was bound dearly to " lo'e the west " 
 — and we are the west-country capital. (Cheers.) 
 And, gentlemen, if this is our feeling, shall we 
 suppose that there is nothing in this vast scene 
 of industry that would interest in turn such a 
 ■thinking brain and such a fervent heart as those 
 of Burns 1 Poet he . was ■,»but, I boldly assert 
 it, too much of the poet not to find themes to 
 crowd on his fancy, and stir his soul, amid this 
 world of human energy, this sea of human en- 
 terprise, these triumphs of human intelligence. 
 (Hear, hear.) True it is that " God made the 
 country, and man made the town." But man 
 himself is the work of God, and man is here 
 with all his being in intense development, with 
 all his passions, hopes, fears, and capacities. 
 Kobert Burns loved the face of nature, whether 
 mighty mountain or humble meadow ; his mind 
 could never long sever its musings from such 
 scenes as the braes of Doon or the birks of Aber- 
 feldy ; but wherever there is man, man's heart 
 with its joys and sorrows, there is the poet's 
 field. This truth has come out more and more 
 in those later times, and countless authors have 
 found that there is more genuine gold of poetry 
 to be found, by search, among the" haunts of 
 the living artizan, than among vague dreams of 
 Arcadia itself. Tennyson has not paused to 
 ask whether the melancholy wilderness of brick 
 called London were a poetic subject or not ; 
 but he has written of " the miles and leagues 
 of lights, and the roaring of the wheels," and, 
 when he had done so, was it not surely poetry? 
 Another has dared to put the cotton mill itself 
 into verse-^the subject of all subjects which 
 shallow pedants have thought the very type of 
 horror and of prose — and has told of its look, 
 its sounds, and its denizens : — 
 
 " From out the sombre wall come forth 
 Murmurings of wheel on wheel, 
 Like low winds muttering from the north — 
 
 There he toils with careful zeal. 
 Self-moved the vast machine rolls on — 
 Each hour an age's work is done ; 
 The myriad threads like one are wliirl'd, 
 And those faint fingers clothe the world." 
 
 (Loud cheers.) Yes, Robert Burns would have 
 found poetry in our streets, and poetry among our 
 people. The ploughman- poet of Ayr would have 
 found souls akin to his own among the skilled 
 mechanics of the Clyde. And was Burns only 
 the poet ? Was Robert Burns not a Scotchman ? 
 was he not a patriot ? Was it possible, then, that 
 he could have trod these streets without honest 
 pride in what " puir auld Scotland " has here 
 accomplished ? — accomplished in her ungenial 
 climate, beside this petty river of a far oS ster- 
 ile land ? (Cheers.) Well, then, my toast is 
 not so uncongenial as we might just at first 
 have feared. No — Burns, I repeat it, would 
 .have found himself at home here both as a poet 
 and patriot, and these made up nigh one-half 
 of his being. How vividly would not such a 
 mind have pictured the successive scenes which 
 make up our civic history — the old church and 
 straggling street overhanging not the Clyde, 
 but the humble Molendinar — when Glasgow 
 had as little dreamed of skirting and bridging 
 the Clyde, and swallowing up Broomielaw and 
 Partick, as she now does of including Greenock 
 and Ayr — then he would come down in mind 
 to the dawn of commerce such as it was, that is 
 to say, I fear, nothing more respectable than 
 the sturdy privateering in which we embarked 
 in the latter half of the seventeenth century — 
 then when viewing the pomp of architecture, the 
 public monuments, the not less dazzling contents 
 of warehouse and of shop, might he not recall 
 out of the odd corners of some of his reading 
 how old Wodrow groans in spirit over the year 
 1709, and tells how " the Lord hath been 
 frowning " — " remarkably frowning " is his phrase 
 — " over the city this year, in that Glasgow 
 has lost full .£10,000 by losses in the Dutch 
 trade." (Hear, hear.) Then he would recol- 
 lect the generation immediately preceding him- 
 self, and the first Glasgow vessel that crossed 
 the Atlantic, I think, in 1718, humble forerun- 
 ner of how many stately successors ! That was 
 the great tobacco epoch, the time of our West 
 India Princes, who trod the crown of the cause- 
 way at the Cross in those incredible scarlet 
 cloaks, and were monarehs of all they surveyed. 
 (Cheers.) But I have come down to Burns, 
 our time, this day a hundred years ago, with- 
 out thinking of dear old Bailie Nichol Jarvie. 
 What, is he not as real to us, at least, as any 
 bailie or provost that has ever walked amongst 
 us? Ah 1 what would the dear old man say could 
 he but see now all that lies around within a 
 radius of a mile or two from where our chair- 
 man is sitting ? Above all, what would he say 
 to the waters of far Loch Katrine, piercing hill 
 and crossing valley to reach his own Saltmar- 
 ket ? Those waters, distilled from the very 
 heaths and hills of his own " ne'er-do- weol " 
 
50 
 
 .THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 cousin, the M'Grregor ! (Loud cheers.) How 
 he would have invoked his honest conscience, 
 and turned for sympathetic wonder to the con- 
 fidential Matty. (Cheers.) We must close 
 the vista, only remembering that a hundred 
 years ago — the first year of Robert Burns — 
 Glasgow took the first step towards deepening 
 the Clyde, the first step in that long but trium- 
 phant course — how long and slow we may cal- 
 culate by the fact that many a man amongst us, 
 who would be much surprised to be called old, 
 has waded as a boy across our river where now 
 are crowded the tall ships which bring the 
 world's wealth from every climate to our doors. 
 I will only add one word to this historic sketch, 
 but it is one that brings vividly past and 
 present before us, and in conjunction with 
 what I have just stated regarding our naviga- 
 tion, suffices to make the time of Burns' birth 
 and boyhood a sort of centre to our career. 
 It was when he was just about five years of age 
 that Watt exhibited here to us his first model 
 of the steam engine. Think of that little won- 
 der ninety- five years ago, and all that surrounds 
 us now as its consequence. (Cheers.) But 
 enough of a tone of thought which may seem 
 to contain too many elements of an unprofita- 
 ble pride. If since then we have grown a 
 giant's growth, if it be, as is most assuredly 
 true, by our industry and enterprise more than 
 by any other cause that Scotland has reached 
 her present height of material success, that her 
 population has outgrown her bounds, and has 
 welled forth upon the world, carrying "Auld 
 langsyne," and the sweet name of Robert Burns 
 to earth's farthest shores — great and cheering 
 is the thought. But does nothing remain for 
 us to do ? Is there nothing which we have to 
 undertake, in a spirit of hope, indeed, but at 
 the same time of humility ? Are our literary, 
 our moral, our philanthropic triumphs on a par 
 with those of our practical science and our 
 commerce ? Dare we say that the physical or 
 intellectual condition of all this busy mass of 
 human life is as clear a triumph as are our 
 steamers and our mills ? Great indeed are the 
 strides which have been made under the auspi- 
 ces of enlightened wealth, and a municipal gov- 
 ernment at once intelligent and generous, and 
 a population readily stirred to honourable ef- 
 fort. Our university has for a long time linked 
 on to its own proper academic honours the fame 
 of the great men whom a generous youth have 
 known how to crown and to adopt as their own. 
 Art has opened her galleries in which the people 
 may enjoy the same feast with the richest and 
 the most accomplished. Our hoary Cathedral 
 begins again to glow with the hues of sacred 
 beauty. Our School of Design brings the skill 
 of pencil and of pallet within the reach of the 
 
 humblest grasp, and is among the foremost, if 
 not the foremost, of such institutions in Great 
 Britain. Public gardens afford the charms of 
 tree, and shrub, and glade, where but lately 
 there were none but waste places for the me- 
 chanic to stroll in with his family, or the school- 
 boy to sport. Material improvement begins to 
 invade the noisome dens of vice and disease ; 
 and long ago the cause of the school reformatory 
 was afiected here when almost unheard of else- 
 where. But we must advance. (Cheers.) 
 Our people must be made foremost in educa- 
 tion, in sobriety, in all virtue. The common 
 school must rise in character, our Alma Mater 
 must grow in honours, and embrace at once a 
 field of knowledge, and a proportion of the 
 population commensurate with the enlarged 
 horizon of human science, and the aspirations 
 of an active-minded people. She must become 
 to us what the famous universities of the mid- 
 dle ages were to their respective countries. 
 Thus we shall impel forward our native land in 
 higher things than the mere multiplication of 
 wealth. And at last when habits have univer- 
 sally refined, and knowledge has increased, and 
 laws have slowly ripened under the care of our 
 wisest and our best — if amid so many present 
 evils one can indulge in such varied hopes — 
 then, under these happier auspices, in these 
 circumstances of diminished sufiering and temp- 
 tation, of exasperations softened and healed, 
 and of innocent enjoyments multiplied, may 
 another Burns arise ! (Cheers.) May such 
 another hero of song appear among Scotia's 
 sons, whether among the peasants of her fields 
 or the artizans of her cities — (cheers)— to ex- 
 hibit all that the man whom we celebrate here 
 to-night was meant to have been. By that 
 time may the name of Robert Burns himself 
 have lost in men's memories much of that which 
 still hangs around it to obscure its lustre — may 
 the miserable detail of grievous error be for- 
 gotten — may some of those words which his 
 better self despised be dropped into oblivion 
 by an affectionate posterity. Thus time, the 
 healer, may do his beneficent work both for the 
 poet and his worshippers, and admiration, wiser 
 though not less ardent than that which now 
 prevails, perform the most graceful of duties to 
 an honoured name. Then will Burns, the frail 
 but noble son of genius, and that other of whose 
 advent I have dared to dream, whose brow will 
 bear on it the stamp of reason dominant over 
 passion, and a conscience unsullied by vice, will, 
 perchance, be handed down together to latest 
 
 times as one inheritance of glory to our land 
 
 an undying theme for love and sympathy and 
 wide acclaim, unmingled with that which now 
 must still be heard, the reluctant tone of sor- 
 row and rebuke. (Loud cheers.) 
 
GLASGOW.— CITY HALL. 
 
 .51 
 
 The toast was drunk with applause. 
 
 The Hon. the Lorb Provost, who was re- 
 ceived with cheers, said — I have to thank you 
 most heartily for tlie very cordial way in which 
 the toast now proposed has been received. As 
 chief magistrate of this city, I can assure this 
 meeting that all the various gentlemen who 
 take an interest in the management of the city 
 have only one object in view, and that is the 
 moral and religious improvement of the peo- 
 ple, along with the manufacturing and com- 
 mercial prosperity of the city. Mr. Monckton 
 Milnes referred to what Burns might have sup- 
 posed if he had seen Glasgow. I cannot follow 
 him in his beautiful poetical fancies, but I may 
 say that I have no doubt the poet would have 
 been proud of Glasgow for its great progress 
 not only in manufactures and commerce, but 
 in the arts and sciences. And I think that, to- 
 night, we have a strong proof that there is 
 something of a poetical fceMng still existing in 
 Glasgow. (Cheers.) Amid all our cares and 
 anxieties of business, we find time to commem- 
 orate to-night the birth of a man dear to us all, 
 and whose poetry often cheers us all in our 
 leisure hours. (Cheers.) It is often said that 
 the hearts of merchants are so seared, and so 
 set upon the acquiring of wealtlx and distinc- 
 tion, that they are apt to forget the nobler 
 feelings of human nature, and forget that they 
 have feelings to gratify of a higher kind than 
 any that are excited by honour and wealth. I 
 think that this night the citizens of Glasgow 
 have shown that they cultivate nobler feelings 
 than these; and as chief magistrate of the city, 
 I cannot help feeling gratified at the successful 
 issue of a meeting of this kind. And I am 
 perfectly sure that every one of my colleagues 
 has the same feeling as myself, when I say that 
 I rejoice in such a meeting as this. (Cheers.) 
 I just conclude by thanking you for the honour 
 you have done us ; and I can assure you that 
 all who have any charge of civic matters have 
 no other object in view than the prosperity and 
 improvement of the people. (Cheers.)' They 
 may, in many instances, not carry out their 
 views in the way that the masses expect them 
 to do, but I am quite sure they have an ardent 
 desire to do so, and I am quite satisfied that in 
 the course of a few years there will be such so- 
 cial improvements in our city as will astonish 
 many who now hear me. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Bailie Cochbane of Lamington, who 
 was received with loud cheers, said- — Ladies 
 and gentlemen, as you have so cordially re- 
 sponded to the toast of the "Poets of Eng- 
 land," and also of "The Poets of our own 
 Country," it is most suitable that on such an 
 occasion we should also drink to the poets of 
 Ireland ; and although, assuredly, I am not the 
 
 person capable of doing justice to such a toast, 
 still, if Irish traditions be correct, this toast 
 should at all times be proposed by a Scotch- 
 man ; for I find that in various works Ireland 
 not only asserts she bestowed sovereigns and 
 also the name of Scotia on our native land, but 
 also that we are indebted to her for all our 
 Highland airs. We are told that when the 
 inhabitants of Munster and of Leinster expelled 
 the Bretons, the legislative bards, as they were 
 called, then took shelter in the v/ilds and fast- 
 nesses of Scotland. A legislative bard is not a 
 position well defined in our constitution. We 
 possess poets ; we possess legislators ; and we 
 possess gentlemen who are both poets and 
 legislators, like my gifted friend Mr. Monckton 
 Milnes ; but, although I have heard him make 
 many admirable speeches, I have never heard 
 them set to music ; nor can I believe that he 
 will move his important amendment on the 
 Keform Bill in the Spencerian metre. (Cheers.) 
 But it does not require any assurance to per- 
 suade us of the extreme beauty of the Irish 
 melodies. The lyrical power has happily not 
 expired with Cormac and O'Carolan — the names 
 of Sheridan and of Moore, of Sheridan's illus- 
 trious granddaughters, of Goldsmith, of Lever, 
 of Morgan, of the author of the "Angel's 
 Whisper" and of "Kory O'More," our honoured 
 guest of this night, Samuel Lover — all these 
 testify that the cunning has not departed from 
 the land, and that the fire of Irish talent still 
 burns like the inextinguishable lamp of Kildare's 
 shrine. (Cheers.) But there is one bond of 
 union between the minstrelsy of the two coun- 
 tries — that is, the feeling of independence and 
 of patriotism that each awakens. Moore and 
 Lover are dear to Ireland, as Burns is to Scot- 
 land, and who shall say what an effect these 
 great men may have had on the destinies of 
 their respective countries ? For instance, there 
 w^as a time, a century ago, when our nationality 
 was endangered, when Scotland had been con- 
 verted into that battle-field "Where those who 
 conquer do not win, and they must lose who 
 gain," — (loud cheers) — the nation felt that a 
 stranger was in the land, and his cold hand 
 was laid on its heart. Ay, at that time there 
 was danger, not for our national, but for 
 our mental, independence, for a feeling sprung 
 up in the south hostile to our progress ; but in 
 spite of all jealousies and antipathies, Scotland 
 marched on England, not in military array, but 
 in the less dazzling march of mind and of intel- 
 ligence ; and this march — the echo of which is 
 still heard throughout the land — this march was 
 preceded by Kobert Burns. (Cheers.) Yes ; 
 and there is another point of sympathy between 
 the lyrical poets of the two countries. In most 
 cases we find that the poet is neglected during 
 
52 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 his lifetime. Mr. Lover has done a great and 
 a good work for Ireland in collecting those im- 
 mortal lyrics which, but for him, might in time 
 have been lost. What a long list of names is 
 there of those who, like Carolan, died neglected. 
 What shall we say of the last days of Richard 
 Brinsley Sheridan 1 Alas ! all nations can 
 testify, 
 
 " How nations, slowly wise and meanly just, 
 To buried merit raise the tardy bust." 
 
 (Cheers.) Who was it erected a monument to 
 Robert Ferguson many years after his death ? 
 Why, a brother poet — Robert Burns! The 
 band of~genius possesses its noble army of 
 martyrs. See Camoens dying in a garret ; 
 Tasso in a madhouse ; Milton in poverty ; 
 Otway choked with the morsel of food doled 
 out in charity ; Chatterton, always the melan- 
 choly Chatterton, most so in his death. Yes, 
 and afterwards justice is done to departed 
 genius. Tasso is crowned on his deathbed ; 
 Petrarch in the Capitol ; and now Burns is 
 crowned by the one unanimous ci^ of love and 
 admiration, which echoes far and wide. When 
 Mr. Lover returns to Ireland, if he is asked, as 
 Macduff asks Rosse, " Stands Scotland where 
 she did?" he will, in his own powerful lan- 
 guage, describe the grand scene he has wit- 
 nessed ; he will tell how 
 
 " The friends we have tried 
 Are by our side " 
 
 this night in the persons of the honoured sons 
 of our immortal poets, and how we may antici- 
 pate, as Robert Burns anticipated the day, 
 " When man to man, the wide world o'er, shall 
 brothers be." (Great applause.) 
 Band — " Eory O'More." 
 
 Mr. Samuel Lover, who was received with 
 loud and prolonged cheering, said — Sir Archi- 
 bald Alison, Ladies, and Gentlemen — Before I 
 attempt to allude to the subject matter of the 
 toast you have just heard, I must first give 
 expression to a feeling that has been struggling 
 at my heart all this night, increasing in warmth 
 and magnitude as the evening has progressed ; 
 and that feeling has been one of more than a 
 fulness of joy — ^an overflow of joy — at the glo- 
 rious sight I have seen to-night of a nation's 
 pride in her poet. (Cheers.) That I have 
 been invited to this banquet to-night, and for 
 such a purpose as to speak on the part of the 
 poets of Ireland, I look upon as the highest 
 honour of my life. (Cheers.) It is an honour 
 every man might be proud of, and this medal I 
 wear as steward of this meeting, I look upon 
 as an order of poetic merit which I shall 
 treasure as long as I live. I cannot but 
 remark upon the singularly handsome compli- 
 
 ment paid me by the tune which accompanied 
 the toasts— (the air was "Bori/ O'More") The 
 dying eagle, when he saw the arrow that struck 
 him, winged with one of his own feathers, felt 
 his death more' keenly; but I feel my life 
 stronger within me when I find a compliment 
 winged and pointed in a shaft of my own 
 quiver. (Cheers.) I look upon the union of 
 that air with that toast as very much after the 
 fashion of certain ready and rapid alliances 
 made upon this side of the border. Milton 
 talks of music married to immortal verse, but 
 now has music been married to a handsome 
 Scotch compliment; and I can assure you, 
 ladies and gentlemen, that Rory O'More is 
 not the man to object to a Scotch marriage. 
 (Laughter and great cheering.) Mr. Bailie 
 Cochrane has alluded to the legislative bards 
 of Ireland ; he repudiates them, and says that 
 he thinks there are no such thing as legislative 
 bards. Neither do I; but I do believe that 
 legislators have some regard for the bards, 
 because they constantly call upon us to pay the 
 piper. (Laughter and cheers.) With respect 
 to the poets, of Ireland, Ireland is as proud of 
 her poets as Scotland is, and Great Britain 
 ought to be well pleased and regard it as one 
 of the happiest circumstances attendant upon 
 the triumphal march of her language, when it 
 became the vehicle of thought and expression 
 for such men as Goldsmith, and Sheridan, and 
 Moore. (Cheers.) That the poets of Ireland 
 should be remembered here does not surprise 
 me, because there is much in common between 
 the people of the two countries. They are 
 both of Celtic origin, both gifted, as all the 
 Celtic races are, with the gift of song, both 
 clinging afiectionately to national observances, 
 both exulting in national glory, both rejoicing 
 in a generous and hilarious hospitality, both 
 sending round the shells of joy, often filled 
 with mountain dew^that dew that falls so 
 plentifully in the evening, but does not always 
 evaporate fast in the morning. (Great laughter 
 and cheers.) Ladies and gentlemen, there is 
 an old saying that states that an Irishman has 
 leave to speak twice for another man's once. 
 But the minutes are so precious that really I 
 feel that, though an Irishman with that privi- 
 lege, I must speak orjly once, and that as briefly 
 as possible. But before I sit down I wish to 
 express once more the feeling of delight this 
 evening has given me in its glorious celebration 
 of a glorious name, this grandest example I 
 have ever seen in my life of the pleasures of 
 memory. (Cheers.) It has been of late in 
 these utilitarian days common to ridicule na- 
 tionalities, to think lightly of those dear re- 
 membrances that every man of warm sympa- 
 thies must wish to cherish, and it has been too 
 
GLASGOW— CITY HALL. 
 
 53 
 
 miicli the fashion to look upon poets as merely 
 the ornamental appendages of society rather 
 than things to be honoured and remembered. 
 But if any man of so cold a nature will not 
 listen to a generous argument on the subject, 
 if they will accept of notliing less than an argu- 
 ment of stone walls, let me refer them back to 
 the history of Greece, and point to her decay. 
 The Acropolis has crumbled, the Parthenon is 
 in ruins, the domination of her heroic chiefs 
 has passed away, the conquests of Alexander 
 are but as dust, while Homer and Sophocles 
 hold their sway as strongly as ever in the 
 human mind? (Loud cheers,) No, let us 
 never give up our poetical memories. What 
 should we be without these endearing remem- 
 brances? Where is the man that has not some 
 sacred place in his heart for dear memories, and 
 who would not be solitary and desolate without 
 them ? The ship, in mid-ocean, without com- 
 pass, quadrant, or chronoiaeter, would not be 
 more utterly isolated and desolate than the 
 man without some tender recollections in his 
 heart. No, let us never give up our heart- 
 memories, or forget our poets. I hope and 
 believe the time is coming when those evil feel- 
 ings will be dispersed, and when poets will be 
 cherished as dear things, and if any are scepti- 
 cal, I should like to show them this meeting, 
 and I think that it, in the shape of an argu- 
 ment, would be what is called a clencher. 
 (Laughter and cheers.) Better times are com- 
 ing, and it is a good sign that in the present 
 Government of Great Britain, we find two 
 bright names in literature, the names of Mr. 
 Disraeli and Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton. In 
 your country you have had a charming example 
 lately of literary merit rewarded by a coronet. 
 And in what does Lord Macaulay excel ? In 
 history. And what is history but memory on 
 a grand scale? I say, then, in conclusion, 
 cherish your memories and love your poets : 
 and on the part of the poets of Ireland, with a 
 full heart and a brimming glass, ladies and 
 gentlemen, I salute you. (Great cheering.) 
 
 The Hon. Judge Halibubton proposed the 
 next toast — " The Scottish Clergy." In doing 
 so, he said — I have accepted the invitation to 
 appear here to-night with peculiar pleasure. A 
 hundred and fifty years have elapsed since my 
 family left the borders of Scotland to seek 
 their fortunes in the wilds of America, and I 
 am the first of that family that has made his 
 appearance in his fatherland — (cheers) — and 
 that you have been so good as to call me here 
 to-night, as your guest, overpowers me in a 
 way that I cannot well express. I have been 
 honoured by being requested to propose a toast, 
 which, I am sure, every one who hears me will 
 receive with a most cordial and affectionate re- 
 
 sponse, since it is the clergy of Scotland. When 
 it was first proposed to me to give this toast, I 
 confess that I was considerably embarrassed. 
 It did not appear to me particularly appropriate 
 that so venerable, so pious, so zealous, and so 
 learned a body as the Church of Scotland 
 should be given by the humble author of Sam 
 Slick. (Laughter and loud cheers.) I thought 
 perhaps that it might have been given more 
 appropriately by one nearer home and better 
 able to do justice to such a subject, but a mo- 
 ment's reflection taught me that nothing was 
 required of me but to propose it, because it 
 was a toast that spoke for itself, as the clergy 
 had their bond of union with the country in the 
 feelings, and sympathies, and hearts of the 
 people. Nothing, therefore, remained for me 
 to do but to propose it, for their eulogium is 
 like that beautiful inscription, sublime from its 
 simplicity, in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral 
 — the inscription to the immortal architect who 
 raised it — si monumenium quceris, circumspice. 
 (Cheers.) In like manner, the eulogium of 
 the clergy of Scotland is best found in the 
 character of its people, in the institutions they 
 have fostered, in .that comprehensive system of 
 education they have encouraged which has made 
 Scotland pre-eminent among the nations. Hav- 
 ing said thus much, I should feel that I have 
 done all that is required of me; but the clergy 
 of the Church of Scotland are not the whole 
 Scottish clergy, for there is a very large body 
 of Scottish clergymen whom they have sent 
 abroad, as learned, as pious, as laborious, as 
 self-denying, and as useful as any, in Brit- 
 ish North America. The Hon. Judge pro- 
 ceeded to describe the arduous labours and 
 trials of the Scottish clergy in the vast territory 
 of British North America, covering as it did a 
 ninth part of the surface of the globe, and pro- 
 ceeded to say — It is easy to draw delusive 
 pictures, as I saw one drawn the other day by 
 a skilful artist, who, addressing the working 
 classes of Glasgow, bade them go to the country 
 where they would have a vote in the representa- 
 tion, with the safe-guard of the ballot-box — 
 where there were no taxes, and where they 
 would have a happier home in the wilderness. 
 These are such very pretty pictures, that it is a 
 pity they are fancy sketches, and not realities. 
 (Laughter and cheers.) The poor settler that 
 goes to that country, you hear from when he 
 succeeds ; but do you ever hear from the hun- 
 dreds who perish by the way, who carry a 
 broken heart, broken hopes, and a broken con- 
 stitution to the grave? You hear not from 
 them ; all you know is that they have gone to 
 America, and that they have not written, or 
 that their letters have not reached. I am de- 
 lighted to see here the venerable and learned 
 
54 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 head of the University of Glasgow^-a uni- 
 versity so renowned through the world — which 
 has produced so many statesmen, poets, judges, 
 lawyers, and able men — and I am delighted 
 also to see the Eev. Dr. M'Leod, whose ac- 
 quaintance I had the honour and pleasure of 
 making on the other side of the Atlantic, 
 where the amenities of his manner, and the 
 eloquence of his pulpit oratory, will long be re- 
 membered by the population through whom he 
 passed. (Cheers.) I am delighted to see him 
 here, further, because he can bear witness that 
 wherever there are Scottish clergymen, you 
 And under their care a body of men dis- 
 tinguished for moral and religious feeling — for 
 frugality, industry, and general respectability. 
 (Cheers.) I am glad to see them, further, be- 
 cause it tells me that by the end of a century 
 there has been time enough to weave that 
 cloak of charity which we are told covers a 
 multitude of sins. (Cheers.) If that cloak 
 had not been woven by this time I would think 
 little of the clerical or lay weavers of Glasgow. 
 I beg leave to propose to you the Scottish 
 Clergy, present and absent, those here and 
 those in North America. 
 
 The toast was received with great approbation. 
 
 Organ — " Luther's Hymn." 
 
 Eev. Dr. M'Leod, of the Barony, in replying 
 to the toast, said — I have the honour to ac- 
 knowledge the toast which has been so kindly 
 proposed and accepted. The clergy qould not 
 have their merits tried by a more discriminating 
 judge than the honourable gentleman. Yet I 
 for one would not have objected had the duty 
 which he has so eloquently performed been as- 
 signed to an illustrious friend of his, who, if 
 less venerable, is, if possible, better known over 
 the world than himself, and is everywhere ad- 
 mired for his accurate knowledge of men and 
 manners — his keen perception of character — his 
 most excellent wit and genial humour ; and 
 who, if he could not, perhaps, spare the weak- 
 nesses of the clergy, would certainly not forget 
 their virtues — I mean his distinguished friend 
 the Clockmaker. (Laughter and cheers.) It is 
 now more than ten years since I enjoyed the hap- 
 piness, to which the Judge has so kindly alluded, 
 of receiving a shake of his hand in Halifax, and 
 a welcome to Nova Scotia. I now in Glasgow 
 reciprocate that welcome to old Scotia; and 
 where could Old and New Seotia more appro- 
 priately meet than when commemorating Eobert 
 Burns? (Cheers.) There are two things which 
 alone make Burns to me sufficiently memorable. 
 The one is — his noble protest for the indepen- 
 dence and dignity of humanity, as expressed, 
 for example, in that heroic song, "A man's a 
 man for a' that." The other is — his intense 
 nationality — a chivalrous sentiment, springing, 
 
 like a plant deeply rooted for ages in the soil, 
 and bearing fruit which nourishes the manliest 
 virtues of a people. (Cheers.) Few men in 
 this respect have done for any country what 
 Burns has done for Scotland. He has made 
 our Doric for ever poetical. He has saved for 
 us the exquisite old melodies of Scotland. His 
 lyrics gave their music life, and their music 
 gave his lyrics wings. Everything in our land 
 touched with the wand of his genius will for 
 ever retain the new interest and beauty which 
 he has imparted to it. Nobly has he redeemed 
 his early poetic pledge to " gar our streams an' 
 burnies shine." Never will the "banks and 
 braes of bonnie Doon " cease to be " fresh and 
 fair," nor the "birks of Aberfeldy" to hang 
 their tresses in the bright atmosphere of his 
 song. So possessed are even busy railway 
 directors and rough mechanics by his pre- 
 sence and power that they send. " Tarn o' 
 Shanter " and " Souter johnie " as locomotives 
 roaring and whistling through the land that is 
 called by his name and immortalised by his 
 genius ! (Cheers.) How marvellously has he 
 wielded the hearts of Scotchmen throughout 
 the world ! Without him, they would, no 
 doubt, be united by the ordinary bonds of a 
 common country that cannot anywhere be for- 
 gotten — a common tongue that cannot anywhere 
 be easily mistaken — and by mercantile pursuits 
 in which, we presume, Scotchmen cannot any- 
 where be wanted. But such ties alone would 
 be like the cold hard cable that connects the 
 Old and New World beneath the Atlantic. The 
 songs of Burns are the electric sparks which 
 flash along it ; and " though seas between lis 
 may be cast," these unite heart to heart, so 
 that as long as they exist Scotchmen can never 
 forget " auld acquaintance," nor the " days o' 
 langsyne." (Cheers.) And yet, Sir, how can 
 a clergyman, of all men, forget or fail to express 
 his deep sorrow on such an occasion as the 
 present for things that Burns has written, and 
 which deserve the uncompromising condemna- 
 tion of those who love him best. I am not 
 called upon to pass any judgment on him as a 
 man, but only as a writer ; and with reference 
 to some of his poems, from my heart I say it — 
 for his own sake, for the sake of my country, 
 for the sake of righteousness more than all- 
 would God they were never written, never 
 printed, and never read! (Hisses, answered 
 by loud cheers and renewed hisses, which were, 
 again silenced by cheering.) And I would 
 rejoice to see, as the result of our festivals in 
 honour of Burns, a centenary edition of his 
 poems from which every thing would be ex- 
 cluded which a Christian father could not read 
 aloud in his family circle, or the Christian cottar 
 on his " Saturday night " to his sons and daughters ! 
 
GLASGOW.— CITY HALL. 
 
 55 
 
 (Hisses, which were again drowned in cheers.) 
 Surely, Sir, thus righteously to condemn what- 
 ever is inconsistent with purity and piety, while 
 it cannot lessen one ray of his genius, is the best 
 proof we can afford of our regard for his memory, 
 and the best sacrifice we can offer to his departed 
 spirit. But whatever some of his admirers 
 here may say, yet of one thing I feel assured, 
 that the poet himself, if he heard my words, 
 would now agree with me — (cheers) — for if he 
 is cognizant of what is done upon earth, such 
 a judgment must be in accordance with his 
 most solemn convictions and most earnest 
 wishes. (Loud applause.) 
 
 Mr. J. P. Trotter, advocate, proposed 
 " Colonel Burns and other existing Relatives of 
 the Poet." In doing so, he said — I cannot 
 help remarking that it is a matter of much 
 congratulation to this assembly that, at a time 
 so far removed from that in which the poet 
 lived, we are still privilegell to honour him in 
 the person of his son. Two sons of Burns — 
 one of whom sits at this table — still live, to 
 witness to-night one of the most remarkable 
 tributes that since the world began has ever 
 yet been paid to genius — to listen to the simul- 
 taneous lifting up of the voice of a whole na- 
 tion to proclaim the glory of one man, and that 
 man their father. It has been said, and I think 
 with much truth, that when we hold inter- 
 course even with the remote descendants of 
 great men, we are carried back through the 
 links of a long chain of associations, until we 
 almost seem to hold intercourse with themselves; 
 but it is our privilege to-night to hold intercourse 
 not with one of the remote descendants of 
 the immortal bard, but with his own son, with 
 one whom he has often folded in his own living 
 arms, often gazed on with his own loving eyes. 
 (Applause.) In proposing the health of Colonel 
 Burns,*it is not my purpose to dilate on his 
 personal merits, though his honourable career 
 throughout Ufe affords ample materials for my 
 doing so ; but this at least I must be permitted 
 to say, that much of that fine geniality of dis- 
 position, that kindly warmth of heart, that 
 overflowing sympathy with all that concerns 
 the interests of humanity,, which so strongly 
 characterised the father, have been reproduced 
 in the son. (Applause.) And if there be one 
 feeling which more than any other throughout 
 life has marked the character of Colonel Burns 
 it is his love for the virtues and his admiration 
 for the genius of his glorious sire. To speak 
 of his father's memory, to sing his father's songs, 
 to listen to his father's praises, I know to be the 
 greatest delight of his heart. It has been my 
 privilege to visit our honoured guest and his no 
 less honoured brother, at their delightful resi- 
 dence in Cheltenham, — an abode over whose 
 
 portal might with much propriety be written the 
 words "Let brotherly love continue" — and I 
 have often thought how it would have glad- 
 dened the heart of their father if he had been 
 permitted to see his sons, after lives honourably 
 passed in the pursuit of an honourable profes- 
 sion, spending the evening of their days in the 
 enjoyment of each other's society, living under 
 the same roof, engaged in the same pursuits, 
 and devoted to each other with an affection so 
 warm as only to be transcended by that still 
 stronger love which they mutually bear to the 
 great name of their father. (Cheers.) Of the 
 other existing relatives of the Poet I shall only 
 say that they all bear about them that impress 
 of worth and of talent with which the poet him- 
 self was so strongly stamped, and which marks 
 and verifies their distinguished lineage. To 
 use a familiar Scottish phrase, they are all 
 come of a good kind ; and there is much mean- 
 ing in that phrase; there is much influence in 
 what we commonly call blood ; and that which 
 characterises the blood of Burns is strong intel- 
 lectual vigour and high moral integrity, or as 
 he himself so well expresses it, " The pith o' 
 sense and pride o' worth." This is the charac- 
 teristic of the whole race. It was this that 
 shone out so pre-eminently in that great pat- 
 tern of a Scottish peasant, that bright exem- 
 plar of a high-minded Christian man — William 
 Burns, the poet's father. It was this that 
 marked before an admiring world the bright 
 career of a man whose death in India some 
 years ago a whole nation united to deplore, as 
 a whole nation now unites to honour his illus- 
 trious relative — I mean. Sir Alexander Burns, 
 the poet's cousin ; and it is this which will con- 
 tinue to characterise all who have the honour 
 to spring from the same illustrious root. 
 (Cheers.) 
 Drunk with all the honours. 
 The Colonel was again received with great 
 applause. He said — I have to thank my friend 
 Trotter very heartily for the way in which he 
 has introduced the toast, and you for the 
 hearty manner in which you have responded to 
 the toast of " The Sons and Relatives of the 
 Bard." I may as well here enumerate them, 
 as far as my knowledge extends. There are 
 my brother William Nichol and myself; my 
 two daughters, Mrs. Hutchinson, with her two 
 children, in Australia, and Annie Burns, now 
 in Edinburgh; and my late brother Robert's 
 daughter, Mrs. Everett, with her daughter, in 
 Belfast. These are the direct descendants. 
 My uncle Gilbert left a large family, of whom 
 survives one daughter (Ann) and three sons 
 (William, Thomas, and Gilbert). The three 
 brothers have many olive branches. Eor the 
 survivors of my late dear aunt, Mrs. Begg, I 
 
56 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 leave my cousin Robert to thank you himself. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Mr. EoBEBT Burns Bbgg, nephew of the 
 poet, also responded to the toast, and said — I 
 did not expect to be called upon to speak just 
 now. I am unaccustomed to public speakings 
 and I cannot let my voice reach this immense 
 assembly. All I can say is, that I have met 
 with many kindnesses in the world, and I be- 
 lieve they are all owing to my connection with 
 Burns. I owe the honour of being here as a 
 guest to-night solely to that, and I believe to 
 an acquaintance many years ago with the late 
 Sheriff Steele. I may, however, be allowed to 
 say that I should like very much to live another 
 hundred years to see such a sight as this. 
 (Applause.) I would like to see the same beauty 
 assembled together, and the Same learned men 
 assembled here. I thank you kindly. (Cheers.) 
 
 The tand tlien played "Duncan Gray," and Mr. 
 Rotson sang " Behind yon hills." 
 
 Mr. William Burns said, — The toast which 
 I have the honour to propose — " The Centen- 
 ary Celebrations all over the world" — is one 
 that, standing by itself, and in the hands of an 
 accomplished speaker, might well form a theme 
 second only to the immortal memory itself. 
 Under present circumstances, however, the 
 duty imposed upon me is of a humble descrip- 
 tion, namely, to say a few words to you as to 
 the origin and progress, and the present posi- 
 tion of this movement for a general celebration 
 of the centenary of the birth-day of our great 
 national poet, and to call upon you to recog- 
 nise, in the warmest possible manner, kindred 
 meetings wherever these may be held, either at 
 home or abroad. When, not long ago, a few 
 humble admirers of the poet and lovers of the 
 man, met together for the pui'pose of concert- 
 ing a festival celebration in Glasgow on the 
 occasion of the centenary of Burns, I must con- 
 fess they had no conception of the result that 
 was to follow from their labours. They were 
 ignorant at that time of the deep fountain that 
 was to be opened in the heart of the public. 
 Their idea on the subject was that a great 
 meeting might be held in Glasgow, as a con- 
 venient locality, as had been done some years 
 before on the banks of the Doon, towards which 
 the worshippers of the poet — men eminent in 
 literature both in Scotland, Ireland, and else- 
 where, might congregate. Under that impres- 
 sion, they proposed to give the celebration in 
 the City Hall, Glasgow, the designation of na- 
 tional, a designation which, it may be observed, 
 it still retains. Probably that designation is 
 not now absolutely correct. Still, it may not 
 be thought altogether inappropriate, consider- 
 ing the magnitude of the meeting itself, and 
 keeping in view that, whether national or not, 
 
 it has been the mother of such a large project. 
 Strange as it may appear now, when we see the 
 dimensions to which this movement has attained, 
 it was stated that the people of Edinburgh 
 would look on the movement with a certain' 
 degree of disfavour. (Signs of impatience.)- 
 But these speculations were dissolved by a pro- 
 cess over which no individuals or set of indivi- 
 duals had any control, because a chord had been 
 struck in the heart of the people which very soon 
 vibrated, not only throughout Scotland, but 
 through England and Ireland, and far away over 
 the ocean, wherever the name or songs of Burns 
 were known. (Eenewed interruption.) Very 
 soon, in place of the people of Edinburgh meet- 
 ing the movement with opposition, they entered 
 into it with the utmost enthusiasm. (Con- 
 tinued signs of impatience.) Their example 
 was followed by every town and village in the 
 country. (Interruption and hisses.) I may 
 mention one circumstance which has been made 
 known to me since I entered the hall, and it is 
 that the idea of a centenary celebration was 
 first ventilated and brought under notice on the 
 very spot where the poet himself was born. 
 (Applause, and more signs of impatience.) I 
 shall at once propose the toast, which I am glad 
 to see you are all. so anxious to drink. (Drunk 
 with enthusiasm.) 
 
 Mr. Buchanan, M.P., then Said — The toast 
 which I have to propose is " Our guests," and 
 I am sure those gentlemen who have honoured 
 us with their presence to-night will not think 
 that I am behaving in the least degree unhand- 
 somely or disrespectfully to them, if I do not 
 make any remarks in proposing the toast. I 
 am warned of the lateness of the hour, and that 
 it will be necessary to get on as quickly as pos- 
 sible ; and, when it is considered that most of 
 those gentlemen whose names I am about to 
 mention, have already addressed you, it will be 
 seen that it would be quite unnecessary for 
 me to make any remarks. I will only say with 
 what pleasure I see present here to-night the 
 venerable Sir David Brewster. (Loud cheers.) 
 His fame as a man of science stands so high, 
 not only in Scotland, but throughout Europe, 
 that I need say no more, but only beg that you 
 will join with me in drinking the health of Sir 
 David Brewster, Judge Haliburton, Mr. Monck- 
 ton Milnes, Mr. Blanchard Jerrold, Mr. James 
 Lowe, the venerable Principal of the University, 
 Dr. Macleod, and Mr. Peter Cunningham. 
 
 The toast was drunk amid loud applause. 
 
 Song-^"The Eigs o' Barley"— Mr. Sti 
 
 Bailie Houldswohth said the toaSt he had 
 to propose was, " The Festival Committee." He 
 did not think it necessary at that late hour to 
 say much on the subject. They had worked 
 
 Stembridge 
 
GLASGOW.— CITY HALL. 
 
 57 
 
 hard to provide the audience with a most 
 splendid banquet; and whenever a public de- 
 monstration was required in the city of Glas- 
 gow, to pay honour to any man of genius, 
 whether poet, historian, man of letters, or man 
 of science, warrior or statesman, they should 
 only hope that they might find a good working 
 committee to carry out the arrangements as 
 successfully as on the present occasion. 
 
 Organ — " Here awa', there awa'." 
 
 Drunk with honoui'S. 
 
 Mr. C. E. Brown, in reply, said — Mr. Chair- 
 man, were I to use the ordinary, stereotyped 
 phraseology, and say that the committee of this 
 — the Inrtiatory Festival — never expected such 
 a pleasing recognition of their services, I would 
 simply be committing great itijustice. I have 
 been connected with many committees, but 
 never experienced such zealous and cordial co- 
 operation. (Applause.) But Sir, even though 
 the toast had been entirelj»overlooked in the 
 programme, the glorious success which has 
 crowned our efforts would, of itself, have been 
 esteemed a fitting reward. Being the first cen- 
 tenary festival, the correspondence which en- 
 sued may truly be characterised as immense ; 
 yet, all throughout, we indeed felt that " the 
 labour we delight in physics pain." (Loud 
 cheers.) So far as I am personally concerned, 
 I have been richly remunerated by being put 
 in possession of quite a treasure-trove of valu- 
 able letters froin some of the most distinguished 
 men of the time. In conclusion, Sir, the com- 
 mittee, through me, would venture to express 
 the hope that this great festival may not termi- 
 nate in a mere ovation to the memory of the 
 mighty dead, but that, sooner or later, the 
 embodiment of some svlch monumental struc- 
 ture, as is shadowed fol-th in the tableaux to my 
 right, may soon grace the metropolis of western 
 Scotland — a structure really worthy of the 
 Bard, of Glasgowj and of Scotland. (Pro- 
 longed cheering.) 
 
 Song^"Of a' the airts" — Mr. John Muir. 
 
 Dr. EoDGERS, after some preliminary obser- 
 vations, said — To Britain the periodical and 
 newspaper press has been very much what 
 Eobert Burns was to his native Scotland, it has 
 exposed practices, degraded error, and upheld 
 the truth. A grand popular educator — our 
 national printing press has done more for the 
 suppression of war and the promotion of peace, 
 on the strict principles of justice, than have 
 achieved all the standing armies in the world. 
 The iron steam-press and the leaden type are 
 more the emblems of Britain's greatness than 
 are the same materials converted into artillery, 
 or manufactured into rifle-balls. And if our 
 printing-press is preserved intact, and its liber- 
 ties unimpaired, then Britain and the world 
 
 shall only perish together. The periodical and 
 newspaper press of Britain has become a repo- 
 sitory of the national talent, and national en- 
 terprise. As in the army — here every man 
 finds his own level — the scribbler returns to 
 his original insignificance, while the man of 
 power is sure to obtain his proper place. Had 
 Burns lived in these days of press ascendency, 
 he too would have found better occupation than 
 that of expending his energies in gauging casks 
 at Dumfries, or wasting his burning words on 
 those who knew not how to appreciate his 
 greatness. Yet he has, with all his disadvan- 
 tages and misfortunes, played his part right 
 nobly, for while those things we would have 
 withdrawn shall be forgotten, the rich treasury 
 of virtuous patriotism and ennobling sentiment 
 of his songs, and many of his poems, shall be 
 put forth by the printing-press of every future 
 age. Within a few days hence, every news- 
 paper of the kingdom^ — ay and of Canada and 
 the United States too — shall contain narratives 
 of orations in honour of his memory, such as 
 never before were rendered to any other man. 
 Surely this is not infatuation nor idolatry, as it 
 has been termed ; but a tribute due to great 
 genius and a thank-offering to Providence for 
 the bestowal. I conclude by proposing " The 
 Press," and in the closing words of our bard's 
 dedication to his poems, I would add, " may 
 tyraimy in the ruler and licentiousness in the 
 people ever find it, as heretofore, an inexorable 
 ibe." (Loud applause.) 
 
 Band — " Annie Laurie." 
 
 Mr. Lowe (Editor of the Critic), said, that 
 an anecdote occurred to his memory as germane 
 to the present business, which was true, and 
 had the still greater advantage of having never 
 been related publicly before. When Her Ma- 
 jesty first took up her abode in what Sir A. 
 Alison has termed her "Hieland Home," the 
 conductors of the London Morning papers 
 deemed it to be consistent with their duty to 
 send a reporter after her to report her goings 
 out and her comings in. These gentlemen 
 were one morning engaged in following her 
 Majesty at a respectful and loyal distance, when 
 they became conscious that the Queen was 
 speaking about them to the factor of the Duke 
 of Athol, who happened to be in attendance 
 upon her. This person, a certain Captain Dal- 
 gliesh, was in the habit of meeting them of an 
 evening at a convenient bothie, where, over a 
 social tumbler, they were wont to solace the 
 cares of life, and on this evening they were not 
 a little curious to know what the Queen had 
 said about them. For a long time, the old gen- 
 tleman fenced the question; but, giving way at 
 length to their importunity, he replied, " Weel, 
 if ye maun ken, she was speeiing whilk was the 
 
58 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 lurnd mon for the Teems." (Laughter.) And 
 so it is, whatever is to be done. Whether our 
 military friends are fighting a battle, or our 
 clerical ones preaching a sermon; whether our 
 parliamentary friends are meeting their consti- 
 tuents, or you are holding a Burns festival, one 
 man is sure to be present, and that is "the 
 lurnd mon for the Teems." He is an institu- 
 tion among you. He is the chiel among you 
 taking notes — and faith he prents 'em. (Laugh- 
 ter.) Sometimes he is a very unwelcome guest, 
 on account of his habit of speaking the truth, 
 and sometimes, as to-night, he is a very wel- 
 come guest. With regard to the toast which 
 they had drunk at that late hour of the even- 
 ing, and after the eloquent speeches which had 
 been delivered, he should, in offering his grate- 
 ful thanks on behalf of himself and his brethren 
 of the press, confine himself to one observation. 
 It was impossible to pronounce absolutely as to 
 what might or might not have been the case 
 under a state of circumstances which had never 
 existed ; but, if the great man whose memory 
 they were met to celebrate had lived in a time 
 when a press flourished in any way analogous 
 to that which now existed, it might not be too 
 much to say that his lot in life would have 
 been far different. (Cheers.) The press, and 
 above all, the literary press, not only creates a 
 taste for reading, but points out what is best to 
 be read. (Applause.) To Scotland was un- 
 doubtedly due the credit of having created the 
 modern book-trade — (hear, hear) — but England 
 may justly claim the invention of the modern 
 press. (Cheers.) Busy men have no time to 
 judge for themselves, and are compelled to take 
 their opinions from the critics ; and yet, harshly 
 as those critics are ofttimes spoken of, it is not 
 to be denied that they have been instrumental 
 in raising the social position of the writer. 
 (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Where one copy of 
 a book was sold fifty years ago, a hundred are 
 now disposed of. ' Had journalism been in 
 Burns' time as it is now, it would not have been 
 to the "noblemen and gentlemen" of the Cale- 
 donian Hunt that he would have had to look 
 for patronage. (Loud cheers.) Borne upon 
 the wings of the presSj his name would have 
 gone forth to wherever the English language 
 was known — (renewed cheering) — and it might 
 have been that, with a better appreciation of 
 his genius, his grateful country would have 
 found some occupation for him more congenial 
 than that of an exciseman. (Vehement cheer- 
 ing.) With regard to the toast to which he 
 responded, it needed neither ghost from the 
 grave, nor journalist from London, to vindicate 
 the honour of the British press. The Scotch, 
 and above all, the Glasgow section of this press, 
 was second to none in the ability and intelli- 
 
 gence with which it dealt with the topics which 
 it handled — (cheers) — and he should have been 
 better pleased had the duty which he was per- 
 forming devolved upon one of his brethren in 
 that city. It had, however, pleased the Com- 
 mittee to lay it upon him, and in all sincerity 
 of spirit he thanked the company for the honour 
 which they had paid to the profession to which 
 he had the honour to belong. (Applause.) 
 
 Mr. Samuel Lotbb then said — At a very 
 short notice I am called upon to propose a 
 toast; but it is one that no man could possibly 
 be asked to propose without feeling that a great 
 compliment had been paid and a great privilege 
 granted to him. That toast is " The Lasses." 
 (Cheers.) Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems a 
 sort of practical pun that the lasses should be 
 proposed by a Lover. (Laughter.) But I 
 hope the ladies that are here will believe that 
 an Irish lover is never deficient in paying his 
 homage to what has well been called the most 
 beautiful half of the human race. (Cheers.) 
 Ladies, in your smile exists the poet's inspira- 
 tion, and in your smile exists the poet's reward. 
 There never was a poet yet that didn't worship 
 woman — (hear, hear) — and pre-eminently the 
 bard whose name we have met this day to 
 honour, worshipped " the lasses oh ! " (Loud 
 applause.) But the greatest poet in the world, 
 whatever might be his povrer-^and the power 
 of making love was very great in Robert Burns; 
 but no man can make love by himself. He 
 must have a lady to help him — (laughter) — and, 
 I must say, that from all my experience, very 
 good helps they are. (Renewed laughter.) 
 Shakspeare has comprised under one head 
 the lunatic, the lover, and the poet ; and when 
 I first became a lover, I felt convinced that 
 Shakspeare was right in saying that a lover 
 was a lunatic — (laughter) — ^for I was perfectly 
 mad. (Much laughter.) But that took place 
 a long time ago — about half a century — but I 
 began very young. (Roars of laughter.) And 
 Mr. Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen — for I 
 wish to call as many witnesses as I can to this 
 fact — I found madness so dfelightful that I 
 think I never have been right in my senses 
 since — (great laughter) — but if ever I have 
 had a lucid interval, it has only been to sigh for 
 Bedlam again, and call upon Cupid for my 
 keeper. (Cheers.) A very interesting docu- 
 ment has been placed in my hand to read to 
 you to-night. It is an additional verse to 
 "Green grow the rashes, O," composed by 
 Robert Burns, the son of the great Robert 
 Burns. The lines were presented by Mr. Alex- 
 ander Maclagan, author of ' Poems and Songs," 
 to be repeated. In reading it I shall give" as 
 much attention as I can to your Scottish dia- 
 lect, and if I make mistakes pray forgive a 
 
GLASGOW — MERCHANTS* HALL. 
 
 59 
 
 stranger. Mr. Lover then read the following 
 verse, which was received with applause; the 
 talented reader's manner in setting off the 
 Scotch words creating considerable amuse- 
 ment: — 
 
 " Frae man's aiii side God made his wark 
 That a' the lave surpasses, O ; 
 The man but lo'es his ain heart's liluid 
 Wha dearly lo'es the lasses, O ! " 
 
 Mr. Lover concluded by saying — After this, of 
 course, it would be trespassing on you to say 
 one word more than to give the toast, and I 
 hope that my fair hearers will believe me when 
 I say that never had they a truer, or a warmer, 
 or a more faithful lover than the one that ad- 
 dresses them. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Egbert Burns Begg said — The toast 
 which I am to propose to you, is the health of 
 our distinguished Chairman, Sir Archibald 
 Alison. (Cheers.) You all know the Chair- 
 man well. As a historian Jiis fame resounds 
 throughout all Europe. He writes a history of 
 heroes, and I understand he is the father of 
 heroes. (Loud applause.) And though last, 
 not least, he has been the excellent Chairman 
 of this splendid meeting. " Health and happi- 
 ness to Sir Archibald Alison." (Cheers.) 
 
 The band played " Soots wha hae." 
 
 The Chairman, in reply, said — At this late 
 hour of the night the first merit of speaking 
 will be brevity. I shall therefore only say that 
 I deeply feel the more than kindness with which 
 you have received the feeble efforts I have made 
 to-night to do honour to our immortal bard ; 
 and the recollection of this night will never be 
 erased from my mind. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. David M'Cubbin proposed " The Crou- 
 piers," which was drunk with enthusiasm. 
 
 The vocalists sang " Auld Langsyne," the chorus 
 being given by the company standing, accompanied 
 by the band and organ, which concluded the pro- 
 gramme. 
 
 The proceedings, which commenced a few minutes 
 past five o'clock, did not terminate till about half- 
 past eleven, by which time many persons had left the 
 hall, and many of those who remained had become 
 rather confused in their jollity. 
 
 [We may mention that in the course of the evening 
 there was handed round for inspection, the veritable 
 silver-mounted snuffbox which belonged to the bard 
 when he was in the Excise, the somewhat worn in- 
 scription being " Robert Burns, of the Excise." This 
 interesting relic is now the property of Mr. Eeid, of 
 Port-Grlasgow.] 
 
 THE MERCHANTS' HALL. 
 
 Tuesday evening — bringing the echoed cry, 
 " Ubique, et ah omnihut," of the great celebra- 
 tion of the birth of Scotland's noblest and im- 
 mortal bard — was characterised by a grand 
 
 festival got up under the auspices of the Ayr- 
 shire young men resident in Glasgow — who are 
 "jamais arriere," (never behind,) in any loyal 
 or patriotic demonstration — in the Merchants' 
 Hall, which was gaily decorated with flags and 
 wreathes of evergreens, and presented to the 
 eye a very animated aspect. The honest men 
 (as the immortal bard hath called them) have, 
 in a way worthy of all praise, celebrated the 
 Burns festival. The company present num- 
 bered nearly 600, and were, during their as- 
 sembling, welcomed with strains of music from 
 the band of Mr. M'Cann. 
 
 The chair was ably occupied by John M'Ga- 
 vin, Esq. ; and amongst the gentlemen on the 
 platform were Thomas Brown, Esq. ; George 
 Troup, Esq. (of the Daily Bulletin); Thomas 
 Bishop, Esq. (great-grandson of the poet) ; 
 Messrs. Robert Young, Wm. Roxburgh, Jas. 
 Forrester, Wm. Lockhart, Thornhill, John 
 M'Gregor, David M'Lure, James Young, John 
 Craig, Wm. Walker, jun., John Walker, Thomas 
 Arnot, Wm. Gilchrist, John M'Turk, William 
 Smith, John R. Wylie, J. R. Pickering, Gavin 
 Laurie, James Middleton," David Clure, jun., 
 &c. &c. 
 
 Divine blessing having been implored by Mr. 
 GUchrist, the company partook of an excellent 
 tea, and abundance of good creature comforts. 
 Thanks having been returned by singing two 
 verses of Burns' poetry appropriate for the oc- 
 casion. 
 
 The Chairman read a letter of congratula- 
 tion from the " Auld Langsyne Society of New 
 York," and proceeded to address the meeting : 
 Ladies and Gentlemen — Although I can boast 
 some experience in presiding over social meet- 
 ings, yet I wish some one else had occupied tlie 
 chair this evening. I make this statement with- 
 out any affected self-depreciation. On all ordi- 
 nary occasions I might deem myself quite able to 
 perform the requisite duties of a chairman; but 
 to-night, met as we are to celebrate the cen- 
 tenary of the birth of Scotland's greatest poet, 
 I feel that certain powers are required — powers 
 to which I lay little claim. For the last half- 
 century and more, some of the most eloquent 
 tongues have discoursed of Burns, and some of 
 the ablest writers have criticised his genius and 
 his life ; and for me, therefore, to attempt any- 
 thing more than what may simply suggest itself 
 to all of you, would be out of place. The first 
 thought which occurs to me in connection with 
 the present meeting is this — the impartiality 
 with which the inheritance of genius falls to 
 different classes of men. Not to the high and 
 noble alone is the award, but out of all classes 
 the sons of genius have been elected. The 
 structure of the world's greatness is the com- 
 bined contributions of every class, an arrange- 
 
60 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 meiit which only could give stability and com- 
 pactness to the whole. The loves, the -joys, the 
 sorrows, and the wrongs of the humblest grades 
 have found fervid utterance through the genius 
 of their own fellows; and the utterance of these 
 experiences have become in many instances the 
 brightest pages in the national literature. The 
 poorest amongst us, as well as the most exalted, 
 can thus claim a share in the nation's glory, and 
 find themselves affiliated by spiritual as well as 
 by material ties to th« true greatness of the 
 land of their birth. Another thought that 
 strikes me in connection with the meeting is — 
 what a solemn possession is that of poetical 
 genius ! How wide and deep-reaching in its 
 influence ; how permanent in its duration ! 
 Allied to no material wealth nor civic dignity 
 - — its possessor, it may be, poor and despised — 
 it yet breathes on the heart of a nation, and 
 directs and controls, to a large extent, its social 
 and political destinies. The poet himself may 
 be weak and wandering, but the children of 
 his brain are strong and immortal. Empires 
 pass away, but the songs of the bards remain. 
 We know little or nothing of old Troy, and the 
 glories of the Csesars have waned for long cen- 
 turies, but the works of Homer, of Virgil, and 
 of Horace are read in our schools, and have 
 operated on every succeeding civilized people. 
 And so will it be with our poets and their 
 works ; for whether our country continue to 
 rise or to fall, the works of our British bards will 
 be known in all ages. Our meeting this even- 
 ing, and Ijjie countless assemblies that are being 
 held throughout our own country, as well as in 
 other lands, in honour of Burns' birthday, be- 
 speak the powers of his genius — tell us how 
 deeply his writings have moved the heart of his 
 countrymen, and foreshadow their permanent 
 influence. How changed, in many respects, is 
 the state of Scotland since Burns was born; 
 how changed in its material resources, its agri- 
 culture, its manufacturing and commercial in- 
 dustry; how altered even in its social habits 
 and political status; and yet the writings of 
 the poet are ever young and ever fresh. We 
 listen to his songs with unwearied pleasure ; we 
 read his descriptions of Scottish life with the 
 delighted feeling of their beauty and their 
 truth; and though the interval has widened 
 our sympathies as a nation, we yet enter with 
 enthusiasm into his intense nationality. It 
 seems to me as if Burns had been born to be 
 the poetical historian, so to speak, of Scotland. 
 (Applause.) The old forms of Scottish life had 
 begun to fade, and a new dispensation of social 
 and political life had begun to dawn. In the 
 transition hour the ploughman of Ayrshire was 
 endowed with the power to paint the passing 
 figures, and make them live for ever. I ques- 
 
 tion if now such a poem as Hallowe'en or Tarn 
 o' Shanter could have been written, and I doubt 
 if Burns himself could now have penned Bruce's 
 address on the field of Bannockburn. Our 
 habits are altered to a great extent, our feel- 
 ings of nationality are modified ; like a dissolv- 
 ing view we only see the outlines of these old 
 pictures, but Burns saw them in more clear 
 light, felt them with poetic force, and has 
 imaged them before us in the real shapes and 
 colours of the very things themselves. There 
 is a distinctness, an individuality in the crea- 
 tions of Burns, about which there can be no 
 doubt ; the characters stand out from the pages, 
 full of life ; you see them, you fancy you have 
 been long familiar with them, you know their 
 look, their walk, their dress; they are the "old 
 familiar faces" of your boyhood, and they mingle 
 themselves with your intellectual being — an 
 unfading imagery. (Applause.) The beauti- 
 ful episode in the history of the poet that pro- 
 cured for him the notice and friendship of Mrs. 
 Dunlop, exhibits this very clearly. That lady, 
 the lineal descendant of Wallace, was one of 
 the first amongst the higher classes who recog- 
 nised the merits of Burns, and it was his natur- 
 alness that attracted her attention, and secured 
 for him one of the most valuable friendships 
 which he ever enjoyed. I do not pretend to 
 be a judge, but to me this power of writing, so 
 that you can see the object clearly and distinctly 
 before you, seems to be one of the highest ; I 
 confess that I cannot enjoy poetry of that mys- 
 tic kind that requires a great efibrt to guess at 
 its meaning, and which sometimes leaves you in 
 doubt even after you have done your best to 
 decipher it, whether you really understand it. 
 With the perusal of the pages of Burns there 
 mingles no such incertitude ; whatever chord he 
 strikes, it is with a bold steady hand, and the 
 response is free and spontaneous. He breathed 
 not a foreign atmosphere, but the air around 
 him ; he looked at the men and objects by 
 which he was surrounded ; and they were 
 mirrored back from his own soul with all the 
 realities of life, of form, and of figure. Besides, 
 through his writings there runs a strong vein 
 of common sense, evincing that the poet had 
 in him capacities of the most valuable kind, 
 that would have fitted him for the most impor- 
 tant positions in the world. (Applause.) His 
 conversational powers are known to have been 
 of the highest order, and his prose writings are 
 marvels of composition when looked at in the 
 light of his opportunities of culture. That 
 there are a few of the poet's writings which are 
 objectionable, I suppose few are prepared to 
 deny ; I, for my own part, would cut off un- 
 sparingly his praises of drink and his drinking 
 songs, and possibly one or two others ; but we 
 
GLASGOW.— MERCHANTS' HALL. 
 
 61 
 
 can look at these now as reflecting, not the 
 sober judgment of the man, but the colour of 
 the times in which he lived; and as time moves 
 on, these will be viewed more and more as 
 historical illustrations of Scottish life in the 
 eighteenth century, rather than incentives to 
 imitation; I have ventured these few observa- 
 tions on the poet ; I should wish your indul- 
 gence in making a remark or two about the 
 man. Burns has been a subject of study to 
 some of the highest intellects of the present 
 century ; the people have taken up their re- 
 spective sides in the controversy, and still the 
 fierce debate goes on. Whilst on one side the 
 fire of his genius, it may be, has blinded the 
 one party to his faults ; on the other, the very 
 same genius has tended to distort the vision 
 so as to exaggerate his failings. I think 
 that, in referring to the life of such a man as 
 Burns, we ought never to overlook the sin- 
 gular constitution of the «nan, and the pe- 
 culiar circumstances in which he was placed. 
 Take, for instance, that weakness which is most 
 frequently dwelt on, and which cost him so 
 much — his jovial habits — and say how far he was 
 the sinner, and how far he was sinned against. 
 I daresay no one in this meeting will accuse me 
 of leniency to the use or abuse of drink, but 
 ' to me it seems no marvel at all that Burns 
 should have sometimes fallen before such a 
 temptation. Consider his impulsive spirit, and 
 the occasional physical depression to which from 
 boyhood he was more or less subject ; take into 
 account the customs of the times in which he 
 lived, the imperiousness of those customs, re- 
 membering that drink was held to be the sym- 
 bol of friendship, having mingled itself with the 
 most pleasant experiences, as well as the most 
 solemn occurrences of life, and say what was the 
 likely result of such an ordeal operating on an 
 organism such as that of our national poet. I 
 do not know how you may conclude in your 
 judgment, but to me it would have seemed 
 more strange if Burns had escaped. I cannot 
 resist the temptation of saying that at least the 
 strong condemnation of Burns seems to me to 
 come with a bad grace from any man who now, 
 with clearer light and less temptation, supports 
 those customs which proved so disastrous to the 
 poet. (Applause.) Whilst we condemn any 
 habit in others, I think we should as far as pos- 
 sible mingle with our reproof the spirit contained 
 in Burns' own immortal lines: — 
 
 " Then gently scan your brither man, 
 
 Still gentler sister woman : 
 Though thejr may gang a kennin wiang. 
 
 To step aside is human. 
 One point must still be greatly dark. 
 
 The moving why they do it ; 
 And just as lamely can ye mark 
 
 How far perhaps they rue it." 
 
 (Applause.) I sometimes speculate what Burns 
 might have been if he had lived under better 
 influences. Had he lived, for example, in our 
 own times, when the facilities for physical and 
 intellectual enjoyment are so largely increased 
 compared with what they were sixty to one 
 hundred years ago, when his great powers would 
 have had more ample scope — ^flowing in chan- 
 nels more akin to his better nature. Had lie 
 had platforms from which to pour out the elo- 
 quence he possessed, or the field that the press 
 now offers to talent, there can be little doubt 
 that his life would have been a brighter and a 
 happier one. We know his aspirations were 
 after a higher order of enjoyment for his hum- 
 ble brethren— (applause) — and that in his best 
 days he evinced this by his connection with 
 that society in Tarbolton, of which he was the 
 founder and the principal support, and by the 
 use he made of the slender opportunities he 
 had. But all such speculations are idle, except 
 in so far as they may indicate our own duty. 
 No Scotchman can look back to the closing 
 years of our greatest national poet without feel- 
 ing that his country might have done better for 
 such a man — might have smoothed his rugged 
 fortune, and brightened his closing days. The 
 lesson speaks of the past, but it speaks also to 
 ourselves. It has been said that it requires a 
 century to produce such a man as Burns, and 
 so even now there may be born such another in 
 our native land ; and the question may be put 
 practically to us, how will you treat him ? 
 With the proud swell of independence in his 
 heart, will he be left in his days of weakness to 
 brood over the neglect of his countrymen ; or 
 will the kindly eye visit him, and the kindly 
 hand assist him? If we have not so learned, 
 then we have mistaken the lesson, and our pre- 
 sent meetings are but hollow show. (Applause.) 
 Songs were then sung by Miss O'Connor, Mr. 
 Locke, and Mr. Imrie. 
 
 Thomas N. Brown, Esq., next addressed 
 the meeting, and said — When the clouds which 
 hung lowering and portentous over the fortune 
 and the fate of our national bard burst asunder 
 in the blaze of his Edinburgh fame, we find 
 Burns writing to Gavin Hamilton in these 
 terms :— " I am in a fair way of becoming as 
 eminent as Thomas £i Kempis or John Bunyan, 
 and you may expect henceforth to see my birth- 
 day inscribed among the wonderful events in 
 the Poor Robin and Aberdeen almanacs along 
 with the Black Monday and the battle of Both- 
 well Bridge." The poet's earliest patron must 
 have been eminently gratified to learn the con- 
 quest Burns had made of the elite of Edin- 
 burgh society. What swift and sudden con- 
 trast of situation did that epistle disclose to the 
 warm-hearted Mauchline writer ! But a few 
 
62 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY, 
 
 months ago and the name now on all lips, 
 ■whether of the great, the learned, or the fair 
 in the Scottish capital, seemed likely to become 
 a name more intimately associated with a negro 
 plantation than a nation's minstrelsy. Few 
 better knew or better appreciated the powers 
 of the bard than Gavin Hamilton, yet it is pro-^ 
 bable even Gavin Hamilton inly smiled at the 
 half jest, half earnest association of his name 
 with the world-famous names of a Kempis and 
 Bunyan. Nor need we marvel that he should 
 have done so. Friendship veils faults and ex- 
 aggerates excellencies ; but the most compre- 
 hensive and far-reaching sagacity is needed 
 fully to appreciate genius ; — only to anointed 
 eyes does genius reveal itself. Over the me- 
 thods by which it works the common under- 
 standing is unable to cast a plummet. To 
 single out from among the mass of men all liv- 
 ing for their generation, and all destined to die 
 with their generation, the one man of whom it 
 may be truthfully predicted this man is not for 
 an age, but for all time, is a task to which few 
 are equal. The heart knoweth its own bitter- 
 ness, and often genius alone knoweth its own 
 greatness. In that seemingly random selection 
 of names by which to illustrate his future celeb- 
 rity, Burns very exactly foreshadowed the char- 
 acter of his renown. Thomas k Kempis and 
 John Bunyan, the mystic of the middle ages 
 and the marvellous dreamer of Elstow, are 
 found alike in the mansion of the noble and 
 the shelling of the peasant, but as the people's 
 prophets are they specially honoured. The 
 songs of Burns resound in castle and in hall, 
 but as the poet of the people the memory of 
 the bard is encircled with a wreath that shall 
 be green for ever. Since the day those three 
 ragged and straggling volleys from the carbines 
 of the gentlemen volunteers of Dumfries an- 
 nounced all that was mortal of Burns had been 
 committed to its kindred dust, the fame of the 
 bard has so grown and broadened on the po- 
 etical horizon, that all must feel how little such 
 assemblies as this, or even such a day as this, is 
 needed to diffuse or perpetuate his renown. 
 (Cheers.) That voice which, a hundred years 
 ago, rose in lowly cadence in yon auld clay 
 biggin' by the banks o' bonny Doon, is heard 
 on every wave and sounds on every sea. Fame 
 so universal can receive but little expansion. 
 Indeed all now left to even the most enthusi- 
 astic admirers of our national bard is simply 
 to cast a few insignificant pebbles on the migh- 
 ty cairn already towering to his glory from 
 out the rock of humanity. (Applause.) But 
 though the memory of the poet cannot possibly 
 ]}rofit, we may profit much by this centenary. 
 If the homage this night offered to his shade 
 be not a hollow mockery, it is impossible it 
 
 should fail to exert .at once a potent and salu- 
 tary influence upon modern society. The sin- 
 cerity of that homage will be best discovered by 
 interrogating ourselves whether it is simply a 
 fashionable idol we follow the multitude to hon- 
 our, or Eobert Burns as he lived, laboured, loved, 
 sung, and suffered, to whom the incense of our 
 admiration spontaneously arises. On the hon- 
 est answer to that question it depenTls whether 
 it is a star among the stars of mortal night, or 
 merely a wiUo' the wisp risen from out the 
 fens of death, to which we have surrendered 
 ourselves. I know there are those ready to 
 tell us that in doing honour to Burns we lift 
 our eyes rather to a baleful meteor than a light 
 from heaven. But on a night such as this we 
 have little taste for either quarrelling or argu- 
 ing with these good people. If it affords them 
 any gratification to think and speak as badly as 
 possible of their brother man, then by all means 
 let them cherish their antipathies. Only this 
 caution we give them, and give them in the 
 kindliest spirit — have a care not to confound 
 envy, malice, and uncharitableness with holy 
 zeal. (Cheers.) During the last few weeks 
 some things have been said and some things 
 have been written of our national bard which 
 indicate that malice with its mask, and venom 
 with its dart, are not yet wearied with assail- 
 ing his reputation. The tirade of one of the 
 most self-complacent of the clergy of the Scot- 
 tish metropolis — a report of which I presume 
 most of those I am now speaking to have seen 
 in the newspapers — is worthy of no serious an- 
 swer. It would be doing the Church of Scot- 
 land the grossest injustice to suppose that rev. 
 gentleman any representative of her sentiments 
 respecting this centenary. What motive 
 prompted his outburst of impotent spleen, it 
 would be difficult to determine. But in pres- 
 ence of such an ebullition of rage these words 
 of the wise man flow to our lips, and commend 
 themselves to our judgment — "Answer not a 
 fool according to his folly." (Cheers.) I 
 shall not disgust and outrage this audience by 
 any recapitulation of that rev. gentleman's 
 abuse. Even had the abuse been merited, we 
 might have anticipated a preacher of that char- 
 ity which covereth a multitude of sins, would 
 not have so rudely violated 
 
 "The spell by nature bound 
 Around the voiceless dead — 
 The spell that softens censure's sound, 
 And guards the dreamless bed." 
 
 (Cheers.) But this, it appears, would have 
 been expecting too much in such a quarter. 
 Very well. Be it so. We are, after all, not- 
 greatly alarmed at the reverend man being so 
 very irreverent as to lose his temper. The 
 
GLASGOW — MERCHANTS' HALL. 
 
 G3 
 
 city where, in otlier days, a Blair, a Blacldoeic, 
 and a Dugald Stewart did homage to Coila'3 
 bard, and where, in our own day, a Wilson, a 
 Miller, a Chambers, and an Aytoun, have been 
 prompt to oiFer him the profoundest homage, 
 whether of their genius or their toil, is not to 
 be disgraced by the diatribes of a Nisbet. 
 (Loud applause.) History tells how the temple 
 of Ephesus was fired to render a fool famous. 
 Has the Doctor of Divinity taken a hint from 
 the ancient incendiary ? (Laughter.) Pity it 
 is we cannot congratulate him on his success. 
 His utmost virulence is, after all, but a tooth- 
 less satire. The Bard of Eydal Mount sung of 
 Burns as him who walked in glory and in joy 
 behind his plough upon the mountain side. 
 " Nisbet's drunken ploughman " is but a poor 
 companion picture to that noble image of the 
 hierophant of Scottish song the genius of 
 Wordsworth has enshrined in all hearts. And 
 with your leave, friends, we ^hall turn the rev. 
 gentleman's picture to the wall, more in pity 
 tiian contempt for the bungling draftsman. 
 (Loud cheers.) It is difHcult for ordinary hu- 
 manity to comprehend the pleasure certain sple- 
 netic natures find in depreciating the good and 
 ■ great by evoking on every occasion, whether 
 in season or out of season, the foibles and. the 
 frailties with which that goodness or that great- 
 ness may have been associated. Once for all, 
 we tell these people they may save themselves 
 the trouble of setting the errors of Burns in 
 array before us. Little, very little, of the evil 
 he did was done in a corner. Quite as well as 
 these candid friends can reckon it, we know the 
 sum of his iniquity. But what then? Are 
 we, therefore, because Burns was no " faultless 
 monster," are we to refuse to mingle our voices 
 in a nation's anthem to incomparable genius, or 
 eye askance the spontaneous tribute of the 
 children of our people to his transcendent 
 worth ? (Cheers.) Verily, verily, we envy 
 not the men who offer us such counsel. And 
 before bidding these cynics a long good night, 
 we beg of them not to part company with us 
 under any misapprehension. Let them not sup- 
 pose, because we love and honour Burns that, 
 tlierefore, we are ready to call good evil and 
 evil good, put bitter for sweet and sweet for 
 bitter. No, no! The distinction between 
 right and wrong is still realizable by us. We 
 can therefore distinguish between the merits 
 and the shortcomings of the Bard so greatly 
 beloved. In honouring genius we offer no 
 tribute to vice. But while this is so, we have 
 no notion in laying our votive wreath on the 
 shrine of Burns that we are under any obliga- 
 tion to pause there to deliver a homily upon 
 human frailty simply to keep some moody soul ! 
 from becoming the victim of his own misan- ! 
 
 thropy. (Laughter and cheers.) The period 
 has not very long since gone by — its echo 
 rtngs through Scotland to this hour — when our 
 Scottish forefathers were inspired with an all 
 but universal passion for what they called " tes- 
 timony bearing." Few things were then done 
 or said that at all either ruffled their spirits, or 
 jarred with their preconceptions, against which 
 a testimony was not uplifted. To exonerate 
 their consciences, they deemed it necessary to 
 denounce nearly every shade of opinion not 
 found in exactest harmony with their own — 
 testimony not borne in most precise and specific 
 phrase, duty had not been done. Not until 
 the heresy had been raked fore and aft, with 
 all the force and formality of a modern indict- 
 ment, could the inward monitor rest in peace. 
 The passion for testimony bearing has passed 
 away. A man or a body of men is not now 
 supposed to have homologated a heresy, simply 
 because they have not been heard denouncing 
 it from the housetops. Cannot the same ra- 
 tional rule of action and the same temperate 
 mode of judging be extended to scenes and oc- 
 casions such as this ? The rule once fairly re- 
 cognized, none would have the hardihood to 
 assert that in honouring genius there was any 
 indifference to virtue. Until the world is a 
 much better world than it is now, there will 
 always be a sufficiently numerous class to re- 
 member the errors of those whom fame has 
 eternized in her long and lasting scroll. Small 
 harm, therefore, as we think, can come of it, if 
 to-night we agree to forget the spots in the 
 splendour of the luminary on which we gaze. 
 An age which seriously contemplated a statue 
 to King Hudson will not be the worse but the 
 better for having, on this 25th day of January, 
 paused in the mad whirl of business and of 
 pleasure to look for a little on a glory and a 
 success altogether sequestered from the mere- 
 ly material glory and material success after 
 which it wonders. In this stock-jobbing era, 
 with the tone of the eternal melodies all but 
 silenced in the din of the scramble for scrip, it 
 is for our souls' health that we should occasion- 
 ally look on other triumphs than the triumphs 
 of upholstery. There are so many circles in 
 which man is valued rather by what he has 
 than what he is, that some people have a very 
 great difficulty in recognizing any merit not 
 found enjoying a fortune of something like a 
 thousand a-year. (Laughter.) I hope I shall 
 not be so misunderstood by any present as to 
 have it supposed I either envied or was the 
 enemy of any man enjoying that modest com- 
 petency — quite the contrary. The assurance 
 of our bread and butter, which a thousand a 
 year brings with it, is not to be lightly esteemed. 
 But it is one thing not to undervalue wealth, 
 
64 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 and quite another thing to make of it the only 
 passport to honour. (Cheers.) Much of the 
 disquietude and unrest which the proud and 
 sensitive soul of Burns endured sprung from 
 the consciousness that to be poor was to be de- 
 spised. His own stern independence did much 
 to wipe away this reproach of the lot of the 
 lowly. " A man's a man for a' that" taught 
 the Scottish peasant to stand erect. That lay, 
 in the hearts and on the lips of our country- 
 men, the spaniel-like spirit of abject submission 
 to the behests of "their betters" which erewhile 
 had characterized them, was clean gone for 
 ever. (Cheers.) This revolution, methinks 
 not unfit to compare with the labours of a Wal- 
 lace and a Knox, was the work of Burns. 
 (Cheers.) How utterly unworthy of him should 
 we prove ourselves did we forget its worth. 
 Certain good but timid folks have a fear lest 
 this centenary should be found to foster a spirit 
 of man worship, and, dreading any services 
 that might even in the remotest degree be sup- 
 posed to develop that inverted religion, shrink 
 from offering to our national bard the homage 
 they inly cherish. I dread not the result those 
 timid friends contemplate with so much terror. 
 Even were it demonstrated that their alarm 
 was not wholly groundless there would remain 
 for me this consolation — man worship is at 
 least an improvement upon mammon worship. 
 (Loud applause.) A too enthusiastic admira- 
 tion of genius is not the sin that most easily 
 besets a great commercial city. A very appro- 
 priate illustration of the fallacy of such a fear 
 just occurs to me in connexion with an illustri- 
 ous countryman, whose name has only to be 
 mentioned to secure for it the warmest reception. 
 I refer to Dr. Livingstone. (Great cheering.) 
 When it was first proposed to honour the 
 quondam cotton spinner — (laughter)-T-with our 
 burgess ticket, official gentlemen looked grave, 
 shrugged their shoulders, shook their heads, 
 and went about during many days, living em- 
 bodiments of how not to do it. Do you ask 
 whence all this reluctance to confer honour 
 where honour was due ? Why, simply because 
 though the greatness of Dr. Livingstone's dis- 
 coveries could not be denied, the smallness of his 
 salary was equally indisputable. (Loud laughter.) 
 To give a burgess ticket to a man whose in- 
 come, it could be proved, had been little more 
 than £70 a-year, was to outrage the feelings of 
 the snob people. (Renewed laughter.) We 
 hope these gentlemen are not so ineffably dis- 
 gusted with the Burns centenary as to be unable 
 to forgive their countrymen and fellow-citizens 
 for this day's fuss about a man whose salary, 
 as an exciseman, never exceeded the salary of 
 Glasgow's youngest honorary burgess. (Cheers.) 
 Possibly even this centenary may do these 
 
 gentlemen a service by enabling them to dis- 
 cover that sometimes the " pith o' sense " and 
 " pride o' worth " are found with still less of 
 the world's gear than is represented by either 
 the ganger's income or the missionary's stipend. 
 (Cheers.) The celebration at which, in common 
 with our countrymen, we are this night assist- 
 ing, is a grave and solemn rebuke to that merely 
 material estimate of humanity, which forgets 
 " the rank is but the guinea stamp," or fails to 
 remember that in the eye of the veriest outcast 
 there is a spark struck from His light, of whom 
 the sun is but a beam. (Loud cheers.) Looked 
 at from this point of view, this centenary be- 
 comes rather the propagandist of a forgotten 
 truth than the herald of a baleful superstition. 
 It is altogether foreign to my intention now 
 either to attempt to analyze the character, or 
 moralize over the fate of Burns. But, perhaps, 
 you will pardon me one rapid glance at his brief 
 and brilliant, if also somewhat sadly tragic, 
 career. (Cheers.) Few lives in their every 
 vicissitude, whether of glory or of gloom, are 
 so transparent as is the life of Burns. His me- 
 moirs were written before the art of biography 
 had been made subservient to the theory of the 
 hero worshipper, and, in their perfect unreserve, 
 seem a page torn from the primitive records of 
 the race — a recovered echo of an earlier world. 
 The child, the youth, the man, are there before 
 us, and for all purposes, whether of guidance 
 or of warning, we have, or at least may have, 
 a perfect conception of the bard from the day 
 the glee of childhood was first turned to tears 
 by " a factor's snash," until the day when the 
 floodgates of life shut in eternal rest. His 
 biographers, thus spreading out before us in 
 minutest detail, the most trivial equally with 
 the most momentous incidents of his terrene 
 pilgrimage, what wonder if the passions of time 
 and of earth should be sometimes found stain- 
 ing the white radiance of eternity. (Cheers.) 
 Given the heaven -piercing imagination, the 
 penetrative intellectual glance, the heart a-glow 
 with the most celestial, yet the most seductive 
 of human passions — with a fatal weakness of 
 will quite unequal to grapple with the titanic 
 forces it had been its function to hold in check. 
 If to these there is added a total lack of any 
 pre-established harmony between circumstances 
 and character, we shall have some faint con- 
 ception of the secret of vicissitude, and the 
 source of the many -coloured splendour and 
 glooin which alternately irradiated and be- 
 clouded the brief day of Burns. The adverse 
 fortune of his sire brought with it to the bard 
 a heritage of woe. The severe depression of 
 circumstances in which life's morning was 
 passed, so disturbed the delicate sensibility of 
 his spirit that he never afterwards recovered the 
 
Glasgow.— MERCHANTS' hall. 
 
 65 
 
 natural elasticity and serenity of soul, wliicli, 
 had fate been more propitious, would inevitably 
 have been attained. As illustrating, better 
 than any words of mine can illustrate, this 
 gloomier phase of the poet's spirit, a letter 
 written from Irvine to his father, some seven 
 years before he was known to fame, may not 
 be unacceptable to you : — 
 
 " To Mb. William BDBNEsa — Loohlea. 
 " Honoured Sib, — I have purposely delayed 
 writing, in the hope that I should have the plea- 
 sure of seeing you on New-year's day; but work 
 comes so hard upon us that I do not choose to be 
 absent on that account, as well as for some other 
 little reasons, which I shall tell yon at meeting. 
 My health is nearly the same as when you were 
 here, only my sleep is a little sounder; and, on the 
 whole, I am rather better than otherwise, though 
 I mend by very slow degrees. The weakness of 
 my nerves has so debilitated my mind, that I dare 
 neither review past events, nor look forward into 
 futurity; for the least anxietjr or perturbation in 
 my breast produces most unhappy effects on my 
 whole frame. Sometimes, indeed, when for an 
 hour or two my spirits are alightened, I glimmer a 
 little into futurity ; but my principal, and indeed 
 my only pleasurable employment, is looking back- 
 wards and forwards m a moral and religious way. 
 1 am quite transported at the tliought, that ere 
 long, perhaps very soon, I shall bid an eternal 
 adieu to all the pains and un«asiness and disquie- 
 tudes of this weary life; for I assure you I am 
 heartily tired of it; and, if I do not very much 
 deceive myself, I could contentedly and gladly 
 resign it. 
 
 ' The soul, uneasy, and confined at home, 
 Eests and expatiates in a life to come." 
 
 " It is for this reason I am more pleased with 
 the 15th, 16th, and 17tli verses of the 7th chap- 
 ter of Revelation, tlian with any ten times as 
 many verses in the whole Bible, and would not ex- 
 change the noble enthusiasm with which they in- 
 spire me for all that this world has to offer. As 
 for this, world, I despair of ever making a figure in 
 it. I am not formed for the bustle of the busy, nor 
 the flutter of the gay. I shall never again be ca- 
 pable of entering into such scenes. Indeed, I am 
 altogether unconcerned at the thoughts of this life. 
 I foresee that poverty and obscurity probably await 
 me, and I am in some measure prepared, and daily 
 preparing to meet them. I have but just time and 
 paper to return you my grateful thanks for the 
 lessons of virtue and piety you have given me, 
 which were too much neglected at the time of giv- 
 ing them, but which I hope have been remembered 
 ere it is yet too late. Present my dutiful respects 
 to my mother, and my comphments to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Muir ; and, with wishing you a merry New- 
 year's day, I shall conclude. — I am, honoured Sir, 
 your dutiful Son, 
 
 Robert Burns." 
 
 And yet in the very midst of this moody mel- 
 ancholy, beneath whose torpedo touch his most 
 cherisiied aspirations withered, the master pas- 
 
 sion of his soul, like a great victorious summer's 
 sun emerged from the deep shadows of the 
 thunder cloud, bursts forth in supernal power 
 and splendour. (Cheers.) No circumstances, 
 however adverse, could quench the wish of 
 which he so grandly sung — 
 
 "A wisli, — I mind tis power, — 
 A wish that to my latest hour 
 
 Will strongly heave my breast, 
 That I, for pair auld Scotland's sake, 
 Some usefu' plan or beuk could make. 
 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 (Loud cheers.) It may be, as has been re- 
 marked by one who has cast a profounder 
 intellectual glance upon the works and the life 
 of Burns, than any contemporary critic; it. 
 may be, the "poems of Burns are but little 
 rhymed fragments scattered here and there in 
 the great unrhymed romance of his existence ; 
 for dear to us as are the poet's lays, it is im- 
 possible to deny that the man was greater than 
 his works. (Loud cheers.) Yet who among 
 us all can read or sing these incomparable lyrics 
 without feeling their soul elate, their bosom's 
 lord sit lightly on its throne, and a glory not 
 of earth shed over this mortal scene. (Applause.) 
 Whoever wishes to sound the depths of the 
 Scottish heart must give their days and nights 
 to Burns. A philosophy profounder than the 
 philosophy of the schools, and a poetry with 
 grace and beauty altogether beyond the reach of 
 art, are his — or, rather, we should say, are the 
 imperisliable legacy he has left us his country- 
 men. We hope we shall not be accused of any 
 desire to set class against class, when avowing 
 that the works of this solitary peasant bard 
 have done more for Scotland than all her coro- 
 nated nobles put together. (Applause.) While 
 teaching labour to forget its stoop. Burns knew 
 better than any of labour's modern mentors how 
 to rebuke the demagogue : — 
 
 " The wretch who would a tyrant own, 
 And the wretch, his true born brither, 
 Who would set the mob aboon the throne, 
 
 receive from him the same energetic denuncia- 
 tion. (Cheers.) Statesmen, we have some- 
 times thought, might do themselves a service by 
 occasionally devoting a leisure hour to the 
 productions of the Ayrshire Ploughman. Pos^ 
 sibly, the Duke of Argyle and Lord Panmure 
 had still been Cabinet Ministers, had they, in 
 the critical hour their chief was yet undecided 
 upon tinkering British law under Gallic inspi- 
 ration, only whispered in the ear of Lord Pal- 
 merston — 
 
 " The kettle o' the kirk and state, 
 
 E'en though a clout should fail in't, 
 Deil.a foreign tinkler loon 
 Shall ever ca' a nail in't." 
 E 
 
66 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 If, while the British Cabinet was deliberating 
 upon the answer to be given to that unlucky 
 French despatch, Lord Palmerston had for- 
 warded to the Foreign Office of France a copy 
 of the patriotic stanza, the reputations of States- 
 men on both sides the channel had probably 
 been less tarnished to-day. It is not the first 
 time the lays of Burns have startled European 
 absolutism. ■ A beautiful French translation of 
 "Is there for honest poverty," in Saturday's 
 Citizen, reminds us of the terror which seized 
 the House of Hapsburg, when Ferdinand Fried- 
 ligrath turned the soul-stirring lyric into the 
 language of Luther. "A Man's a Man for a' 
 that," done into German, was too much for the 
 Austrian Kaiser, and accordingly a dungeon 
 was the reward of the bard who' had dared to 
 give the sedition of the Scot a German tongue. 
 Some theologians, from whom we had expected 
 greater wisdom and better temper, have, it 
 appears, been inquiring, on Sabbath last, what 
 superlative fascination lay in Burns, that hon- 
 ours Milton, Dante, Goethe had never received 
 were so profusely lavished on his memory. A 
 genial English litterateur shall answer. The 
 philosophy of the universal love of Burns is 
 thus beautifully expounded by Leigh Hunt in 
 this week's Spectator. " What," he asks, " is 
 the reason of this diflference between the fond 
 love of the memory of such a man as Burns 
 and the no love at all for those other great 
 men, Shakspeare himself not excepted 1 for 
 personal regard mixes little with our astonish- 
 ment at Shakspeare's genius — ^perhaps because 
 of the very amount of the astonishment, and 
 because we know little personally about him. 
 The reason is, that Burns we do know ; that 
 we are astonished at him, but not enough to be 
 oppressed with the astonishment ; and that he 
 fulfils all the other conditions necessary to uni- 
 versal regard. He is allied to the greatest 
 minds by his genius, to the gravest by his 
 grave thoughts, to the gayest by his gay ones, 
 to the manliest by his independence, to the 
 frail by his frailties, to the conscientious by his 
 regrets, to the humblest ranks by his birth, to 
 the poorest among them by his struggles with 
 necessity ; above all, to the social by his com- 
 panionship, and to the whole world by his 
 being emphatically a human creature, 'relishing 
 all sharply, passioned as they.' " 
 
 Praise to the man ! — a nation stood 
 Beside his coffin with wet eyes, 
 
 Her brave, her beautiful, her good. 
 As when a loved one dies. 
 
 And still, as on his funeral day, 
 Men stand his cold earth-couch around, 
 
 With the mute homage that we pay 
 To consecrated ground. 
 
 And consecrated ground it is — 
 
 The last, the hallowed home of one 
 .Who lives upon all memories, 
 Though with tlie buried gone. 
 
 (Cheering, amid which Mr. Brown resumed his seat.) 
 
 George Tbotjp, Esq., of the Daily Bulletin, 
 afterwards addressed them, and rose amid much 
 cheering. He said — Mr. Chairman, ladies, and 
 gentlemen, — This meeting has been drawn to- 
 gether, I believe, under the auspices of the 
 Ayrshire Society; and though, like others, I 
 have seen "the banks and braes o' bonnie 
 Doon," and even "the streams around the 
 Castle o' Montgomery," still I cannot make 
 out any special claim to a connexion with Ayr- 
 shire; but when I was requested to take a part 
 in your proceedings, it occurred to me that I 
 might make some sort of plea for leaving the 
 more gigantic, though I don't say more attrac- 
 tive meeting in the City Hall, for a part of the 
 evening, on the ground that if I had not the 
 first, 1 have at least the second geographical 
 recommendation on this centenary of Robert 
 Burns. (Cheers.) I quite admit all the charms 
 of Ayrshire, but it cut one letter from the 
 poet's name, which really was not Burns, but 
 Burnes, and our eastern spelling is the better 
 of the two. His father was one of the men of 
 the Mearns, one of the many for whom the 
 Mearns has not found a home, though I some- 
 times think that our craggy clifis, Scotland's 
 walls against the German ocean, from which, in a 
 clear morning of summer, the sun seems to rise 
 from a sea of silver covered by crimson and 
 ruby tints, and shines down upon the thousand 
 happy and pleasant homesteads in the fertile 
 valley of Strathmore until he draws the purple 
 curtains of the Grampians around him as day 
 turns into evening — I think the Mearns might 
 have formed a very fitting home for the infancy 
 of a great poet, had not Ayrshire, by a mere 
 accident of course, turned out to be the birth- 
 place of Robert Burns. (Laughter and cheers.) 
 The Burneses were long ago farmers in Kin- 
 cardineshire, and some branches of the family 
 continued till lately; perhaps they continue 
 still to occupy large farms there. A vein of 
 genius runs through some families; and al- 
 though circumstances have led me to hear the 
 greatest orators of our age in their happiest 
 moods, yet I can remember none whose lan- 
 guage was more marked by all the character- 
 istics of genius, than the late provost Burnes of 
 Montrose — a genial, kind, and warm-hearted, 
 old gentleman when I knew him; but one 
 whose age was full of fire, and whose conversa- 
 tion soon turned into eloquence. He was a 
 cousin of Robert Burns, and one of his sons is 
 now, I believe, presiding at the Montrose 
 festival. We missed another in those dark 
 
GLASGOW.— MERCHANTS' HALL. 
 
 67 
 
 Jays when a fell revolt swept over' India — for 
 no more able diplomatist, no more gallant 
 soldier, has been produced in the Indian 
 service than Sir Alexander Burnes ; alike an 
 accomplished scholar, and a skilful warrior ; 
 brave, chivalrous, and daring, he fell the first in 
 the Cabul massacre, the victim of that wreck 
 which he had predicted, but could not prevent. 
 (Loud cheers.) Another brother, who has been 
 long in the Indian service, like Sir Alexander, 
 has given us some works that will continue to 
 be valued in Indian literature ; and the fate of 
 that gentleman's son formed one of the sad 
 incidents in the horrors of this Indian mutiny. 
 He carried with him for many weary miles 
 through Oude, a little English girl, whose pa- 
 rents were both killed in their flight. They 
 reached, as he thought, a place of safety, but 
 they were given up to the rebels. The child 
 died in Lucknow, and her guardian, the young 
 officer, was murdered during the siege of the 
 Residency at Lucknow, while Inglis was de- 
 fending his desperate post, and Havelock, and 
 Outram, and Campbell, and their men, were far 
 away beyond the Ganges. (Loud applause.) 
 There are remarkable circumstances in the 
 celebration of this evening. Try to go back in 
 thought a hundred years — back to the small 
 cottage on the roadside beyond Ayr. The 
 family then was very small, indeed, for Robert 
 was the eldest son, and he was very young. It 
 cannot be denied that the Mearns gave Ayr- 
 shire a good citizen in William Burnes — a 
 splendid specimen of the farmer class in Scot- 
 land during the last century; or that Ayrshire 
 gave William Burnes a good wife in Agnes 
 Brown ; and to these happy facts we are in- 
 debted for all that is good and noble in Burns' 
 poetry. (Loud cheers.) But a hundred years 
 ago when William Burnes was. a gardener, and 
 rented seven acres of land, that he thought to 
 make a nursery, how vividly' were the lines of 
 one ballad verified — 
 
 " Oh, little kenned my ain mother 
 That day when she cradled me, 
 The lands that I wad travel through, 
 Or the death that I wad dee." 
 
 Agnes Brown could not dream a hundred years 
 ago, this evening, that now, in all the parishes, 
 and towns, and villages of Scotland — in the 
 fairy temple more magnificent than the Cassars 
 ever owned, built for a home of art, and liter- 
 ature, and science in London — over the length 
 and breadth of all the Anglo-Saxon land of 
 America,- in cities densely peopled now that 
 then were nameless wilds — in the cities, and at 
 the diggings, and on the pasture-walks of the 
 then unknown Australia — on the farms of 
 Southern Africa, and in its rapidly rising towns 
 
 — above all we may now remember in the 
 camps beside the watch-fires on the Nerbudda, 
 the Jumna, the Gogra, and the Ganges — from 
 Victoria on the island that forms the gate of 
 China, to Victoria on the island that dominates 
 the western coast of America — wherever our 
 language is spoken, meetings without a parallel 
 before in number would be assembled to honour 
 the memory of th^helpless infant to whom she 
 fondly clung. (Loud applause.) Robert Burns 
 has been represented as a ploughman — the 
 peasant bard, and the poet of the agricultural 
 labourer; but no man toiled through greater 
 difficulties to keep his family around and with 
 him than William Burnes. It is one of our East- 
 ern customs ; and he had learned it and more 
 that was good and noble in his life on the farm 
 of Clachnahill, where the poet's grandfather 
 lived — a large farm, and now one of the best 
 cultivated in Scotland. As liis family grew up, 
 William Burnes became rather a large than a 
 small farmer, for it would seem that the small- 
 est of the farms he held in succession contains 
 nearly a hundred acres, although none of them 
 were good, and he wanted capital to make them 
 better. Robert Burns has been accused of in- 
 temperance. Well, it was not the crime of his 
 youth : £1 a-year bounded his expenditure for 
 clothes, and all else besides upon the farm of 
 Lochlea. A man who has his bed and board 
 free and confines all his other expenditure to 
 £1 a-year, will not be often intemperate. It 
 was not in Edinburgh, to an offensive extent, 
 that he earned this character, for we have the 
 testimony of Professor Dugald Stewart that he 
 met him often, and heard nothing of that. He 
 was fond of company — he was tortured by dis- 
 appointments — he was weighed down by trials 
 — he was weakened out, and he died soon per- 
 haps from those years of weary toil on Lochlea; 
 and he may have fallen a victim to the snares 
 that society had set, and society is often pleased 
 to retain yet, for the best and the most gifted of i ts 
 sons. He was taken from following the plough 
 to be the companion of divines and lawyers and 
 judges, the nobles and the literati of Edinburgh, 
 when that city was more brilliant than circum- 
 spect in its upper thousand. They kept him 
 there for a time, and then, according to their own 
 free and profiered testimony, when he was dead 
 and gone, and could make no reply, according 
 to their own volunteered testimony, they threw 
 him an excisemanship, and tossed him into the 
 midst of its temptations. I do not undervalue 
 the class who are honoured by the dying years 
 of the immortal bard being spent in the employ- 
 ment which they follow, but was an exciseman- 
 ship the place for Robert Burns? (Cheers.) 
 He was too independent — too outspoken — too 
 much a Radical, though ever a constitutional 
 
68 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Radical — to win the favour of the great. 
 (Cheers.) He could, not bow and cringe and 
 bend a supple knee to the guinea stamp, though 
 he honoured the gold ; so all that Scotland 
 could offer to its noblest poet was an excise- 
 manship — salary fifty pounds a-year, to keep a 
 man and horse, with a deduction of fifteen 
 pounds when the man grew sick. I do 
 not adopt, defend, and vin»lieate the reckless 
 satires of Burns. I ascribe them not to the 
 teaching in the honoured home of William 
 Burnes and Agnes Brown. (Cheers.) That 
 produced the Cottar's Saturday Night, and 
 much beside that the world will not let 
 die. (Renewed cheers.) I ascribe them 
 to the miserable opinions and practices then 
 springing up in the Church of Scotland — 
 notorious to us all — and let the Church take 
 some part of the blame — if her teachers set to 
 point the truth, pointed often to error's down- 
 ward path. And while I will not adopt, and 
 will not defend, all that Burns writes, I wish 
 here to say that he was no hypocrite. (Cheers.) 
 Old gentlemen should remember — old and very 
 particular gentlemen, who have lived through 
 life on four hundred a-year, without a will o' 
 the wisp gleam of genius ever sparkling on 
 their whitey-brown line of thought to lead them 
 astray — they should remember, while knowing 
 their need of the prayer — 
 
 " Let not the errors of my youth, 
 Nor sins remembered be," 
 
 (Cheers) — that Burns had no old age, — scarcely 
 a manhood — he died at 37. He left the world, 
 but left behind him traces of genius so brilliant 
 that they will never be forgot. The thousand 
 gems of songs he gave the world will sparkle 
 for ever, while language is needed on the earth. 
 His songs of the affections — the better class of 
 them — have never been excelled by the most 
 classical lyrist in any tongue. There are others 
 objectionable ; but let me say scarce so objec- 
 tionable as boys and young men read at high 
 class schools, and at College, as part of their 
 daily work. Surely we all know that " Grreen 
 grow the rashes?" Nobody here— the most 
 starched-up and proper bachelor in the world — 
 could safely deny that " bonny are the lasses " 
 — (laughter) — and I don't know that it could 
 be generally proved, upon a rigid inquiry, that 
 there may not have been periods, in many men's 
 lives, so bewitched, and stupid, and unpractical, 
 that 
 
 " Warly cares, au' warly men. 
 May a' gae tapsalteerie." 
 
 (Renewed laughter.) And I do not know that 
 there be many in the world who could tell you 
 well how truly he sung of smitten hearts when 
 
 his own was wrung in sorrow; for we have 
 not an uninspired composition that tells the 
 mourner's tale, when the coffin of her he loved 
 is on the tressel, like that which says — 
 
 " Oh I pale, pale now those rosy lips, 
 
 I aft hae kissed sae fondly ; 
 And closed for aye the sparkling glance 
 
 Tliat dwelt on me sae kindly. 
 And mouldering now in silent dust, 
 
 The heart that lo'ed me dearly; 
 But still within my bosom's core 
 
 Shall live my Highland Mary.". 
 
 (Cheers.) I have said elsewhere that Robert 
 Burns was an artist, and his pictures were 
 songs — a generous, gentle-hearted, kindly art- 
 ist, as all who read his poem with the lines — 
 
 " The best laid schemes o' mice and men 
 Gang aft agee ; " 
 
 his lines to the Mountain Daisy, his sorrow o'er 
 the Wounded Hare, his verses of the heart, the 
 weary heart tired of hope deferred, 
 
 " When wild war's deadly blast was blawn. 
 An' gentle peace returnin' " — 
 
 will testify. (Cheers.) His poetry is often 
 poetry because it is good-hearted and natural. 
 I admire the noble politics of the farmer, sitting 
 in the ben of Lochlea, whose penetrating eye 
 saw clearly and thoroughly the line of politics 
 that should actuate every British heart, if we 
 would wish those who come after us to be the 
 citizens of a great empire capable of saying to 
 the world, by its power and its strength, be at 
 peace, or capable of crushing the wrong-doer 
 and his wrong. 
 
 " Be Britain still to Britain true, 
 Amang oursels united ; 
 For never but by British hands 
 Maun British wrangs be righted." 
 
 (Cheers.) I admire his patriotism, and the 
 noble war hymn that has pealed o'er many a 
 red and well-fought, well-won field since then. 
 Dibdin had a pension for his naval songs ; Burns 
 had an excisemanship for Scots wha hae wi' 
 Wallace bled. But its spirit and its words 
 clung to bleeding men when this Roncesvalles 
 field was won — inspired weary men in the mar- 
 vellous charges of Waterloo ; and when our 93d 
 — the best regiment, morally and physically, in 
 any service, dashed through a narrow window, 
 man after man, into the fiery furnace of 
 Secunderbagh, and after hours of struggling, 
 took red retribution for the cruelties and the 
 wrongs of Cawnpore, be sure that glorious war- 
 song was like balm to the dying hearts whose 
 closing eyes were never to look again on the 
 hills they loved well. And I admire the proud 
 independence of the man. He deemed the song 
 
GLASGOW.— KOYAL HOTEL. 
 
 69 
 
 a trifle — a vive la bagatelle — ^that was to nerve 
 millions of sinking hearts. He found many of 
 his countrymen not like the rock from which 
 the prophet struck crystal streams, but bowing, 
 soft, and yielding, like the sand which the sea 
 sweeps o'er. He touched the bank of mud with 
 the wand of genius, and it was covered with 
 the holly bushes and the evergreens of a sturdy 
 independence. He taught his countrymen the 
 art of being independent, though poor, when he 
 sang — 
 
 " Is there for honest poverty, 
 
 Who hangs his head and a' that — 
 The coward slave we pass him hy, 
 And dare be poor for a' that." 
 
 (Applause.) And, sir, I dare not pronounce the 
 name, or breathe the word in this meeting, yet 
 when he told us " the rank is but the guinea 
 stamp," and added " the man's the gowd for a' 
 that," he founded for us pi^ceedings in other 
 places and at other times — that was one well- 
 spring of a movement that I should not name. I 
 shall never speak again at a centenary of Eobert 
 Burns' birth. We can never meet more for the 
 purpose we have met to-night. It will be 
 celebrated next time by our grandchildren and 
 our great-grandchildrerj, and we shall all be 
 forgotten on the earth. But we can go out 
 now again to our ^several duties in the world, 
 with a warmer love to the land he loved dearly; 
 and, in our hearts, a warmer wish for its pros- 
 perity and its social improvement and progress. 
 On our different ways we can have no better 
 guide than the poet's prayer: 
 
 " Stranger, go, Heaven be thy guide, 
 Quo' me bedesman of Nithside." 
 (Great applause.) 
 
 Mr. EoBEET Young then said — ^We have 
 now come to the conclusion of a long pro- 
 gramme, and, if I can judge aright, I am sure 
 we have all spent a very happy evening — 
 (cheers) — one, I am certain, we will aU be de- 
 lighted to designate as one of the most in- 
 tellectual and truly great meetings ever we 
 have had the pleasure of being at. All of us 
 must feel under a deep debt of gratitude to 
 those gentlemen who have addressed us. I 
 have, therefore, much pleasure in proposing 
 that we give them our warmest thanks for the 
 very excellent display of talent with which we 
 have been treated this evening. (Loud ap- 
 plause.) I am quite sure I express the senti- 
 ments of this meeting when I say we all wish 
 that they may be long spared to occupy the very 
 high position which their oratorical abilities 
 entitle them to. It may be considered quite 
 superfluous for me to utter any eulogium upon 
 the character of our chairman ; but I cannot re- 
 
 frain from congratulating this meeting upon 
 their having secured to preside at this celebra- 
 tion of Burns' Centenary the services of what 
 the Poet terras " the noblest work of God," an 
 honest man ; and I have not the slightest doubt 
 that the chairman, whose whole life has shown 
 disinterested effort to elevate the condition of 
 his fellow-men, will feel as much gratification 
 and pleasure in occupying his present position 
 here to-night as if the company had nunibered 
 amongst them at least a dozen titles, and the 
 tickets cost one guinea each. (Loud cheering.) 
 
 With the exception of Miss Aitken's renderings, 
 the remaining part of the programme was musical — 
 the vocalists being Miss O'Connor, Messrs. Loclie, 
 Muir, and Walker. The reading of tlie " Cottar's 
 Saturday night " was much admired, and loudly ap- 
 plauded. " Auld Langsyne " brouglit the programme 
 to a pleasant termination, after whicli the company 
 separated, to meet again in the " mystic mazes of the 
 dance " — festivities which were kept up to a suitable 
 hour. 
 
 THE EOYAL HOTEL. 
 
 A select party of between forty and fifty 
 gentlemen sat down to a sumptuous Scotch 
 dinner in Carrick's Ebyal Hotel, George-Square. 
 James Hedderwick, Esq., Editor of the Citizen, 
 and author of " Lays of Middle Age," occupied 
 the chair, supported by Bailie Harvey, Daniel 
 Macnee, Esq., E. S. A., Duncan Smith, Esq., 
 of Messrs. Charles Tennant & Co's., Eobert 
 Somers, Esq., Editor of the Morning Journal, 
 Thomas Davidson, Esq., Charles Griflin, Esq., 
 Dr. Johnstone, &c., &c. James B. Gartley, 
 Esq., officiated as croupier, supported by 
 Councillor Allan, Alexander Smith, Esq., 
 author of "A Life Drama," James Pagan, Esq., 
 of the Herald, Patrick Alexander, Esq., James 
 Beith, Esq., &c., &c. Among the company 
 were Walter Alexander, Esq., William Cross, 
 Esq., author of " The Disruption," &c., P. B. 
 Junor, Esq., George E. Ewing, Esq., sculptor, 
 David Kemp, Esq., &c., &c. The room was 
 festooned with laurel, and otherwise tastefully 
 decorated. A handsomely framed copy of the 
 engraving from Mr. Macnee's admirable por- 
 trait of Burns, graced the wall ; and in a 
 niche, relieved on a background of crimson 
 drapery, was a beautiful statuette of the 
 poet, prepared for the occasion by Mr. Ewing. 
 After the introductory toasts. 
 
 The Chairman (Mr. Hedderwick), who was 
 received with great applause, said — I have now 
 to ask you to do honour to the sentiment which 
 has brought us together this night. To pro- 
 pose in adequate terms " The Memory of Eobert 
 Burns" would, even under ordinary circum- 
 stances, be a difficult task. On this, however. 
 
70 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 his first centenary birthday, when so many 
 are assembled in this and in other cities, and 
 in this and in other countries, to commem- 
 orate his brief tragic life, and to do honour 
 to his immortal name — and in the face of the 
 solemn reflection, that not another centenary 
 birthday of the poet can occur until all, or 
 almost "all the breathers of this world are 
 dead,"— I feel that the duty I have undertaken 
 to discharge is greatly increased in magnitude. 
 Burns was himself peculiarly sensitive to anni- 
 versary impressions. It was on the anniversary 
 of their last parting on earth that he addressed, 
 in strains so fervid and memorable, the image 
 of his "Mary in Heaven." (Cheers.) This 
 tendency to connect past events with certain 
 periodic returns of time, has a deep foundation 
 in human nature, and is especially a character- 
 istic of Scotchmen. Indeed I'do not recollect 
 in the history of any other country or race so 
 universal a poetic revival as that which is tak- 
 ing place at this moment throughout Scotland, 
 and among Scotchmen throughout the world. 
 For months past city has been calling unto 
 city, and town answering unto town. The 
 manner in which this Burns' movement has 
 spread has reminded me of the time so vividly 
 depicted by another illustrious Scotchman, Sir 
 Walter Scott, when the "fiery cross" was borne 
 from village to village, and when everywhere a 
 cry was taken up, and a common enthusiasm 
 kindled. (Applause.) And what, in this mo- 
 dern instance, has been the object ? Why, the 
 sole object of this remarkable patriotic rising 
 has been to give expression to a memory and a 
 sentiment ! Surely, such a spectacle is not 
 without significance, or rather, I should say, is 
 not without some deep and beautiful meaning, 
 occurring, -as it does, in the midst of an in- 
 tensely industrial age. To my mind it shows 
 that, amid all the din of machinery, the ear of 
 mankind is still exquisitely awake to every 
 appeal of the affections. It shows that the 
 fresli and tender spirit which dwells in the 
 heart of the child never wholly dies within the 
 bosom of the man. It shows 'that all of us, 
 even the strongest-^-the most worldly^r-the 
 most money-seeking — have yet, if we would 
 but confess it, a certain soft warm something, 
 not always guessed by the world, beating under 
 our left waistcoat pockets. (Applause and 
 laughter.) How else could it be, that he who 
 has given the most delicate and earnest utter- 
 ance to the gentler and nobler feelings of our 
 nature, should have left behind him such a 
 name to conjure with? (Cheers.) "Spirits 
 are not thus finely touched but to fine issues ; " 
 and in the multitudinous meetings of this night, 
 I believe that some little is being done to expe- 
 dite the time 
 
 'When man to man the warld o'er, 
 Shall brithers be and a' that." 
 
 (Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, when I reflect that 
 wherever any half-dozen Scotchmen are as- 
 sembled, there this night must be a Burns' 
 festival, I find myself haunted by a fear that, 
 great as our national poet undoubtedly was, 
 the language of eulogy may reach such a pitch 
 as to defeat its end. Great reputations are at 
 all times liable to be assailed by the intellects 
 which they dwarf. (Hear.) Shakspeare himself 
 has not escaped. Some of you may remember 
 a lively sketch by John Leech, in which that 
 celebrated humorist represented a "young 
 hopeful " — one of those gents in peg-tops, who 
 put a cigar into their mouths to conceal their 
 lack of beard — (laughter) — exclaiming,, with the 
 air of a literary aspirant whose verses had ap- 
 peared in a provincial newspaper, " Haw ! it's 
 my opinion that Shakspeare is a very mifch over- 
 rated man." (Much laughter.) Now, what if 
 a reaction should ensue in connection with this 
 Burns' centenary, the resulii of a too exuberant 
 apotheosis ? (Hear, hear.) To be confidential 
 with you, I had some notion of trying to throw 
 a little shade into the picture. I began to muse 
 upon the weaknesses and the aberrations of 
 genius. Like Wordsworth — but in a more 
 critical mood — 
 
 " I thought of Chatterton, the marvellous bo)', 
 The sleepless soul that peiish'd in his pride ; 
 Of him who walked in glory and in joy, 
 Behind his plough upon the mountain side." 
 
 My purpose was to be calm, unimpassioned, 
 and somewhat more censorious than the Poet 
 of the Lakes ; but, I may as well confess to 
 you at once, that it melted before the fire of 
 Burns' genius. (Cheers.) I found that an 
 attempt had been made a long while ago to 
 tone down what was conceived to be a " Burns 
 mania." The example was not encouraging. 
 It began and ended with an old woman. 
 (Laughter.) Mrs. Dunlop, the early patroness 
 of Burns, had a venerable housekeeper — a kind 
 of female Caleb Balderstone, zealous for the 
 hoftour of the family, who ventured to remon- 
 strate with her mistress upon the impropriety of 
 her cultivating an acquaintance with a person 
 of so low a condition in life. In order to put 
 her respected domestic into a more charitable 
 frame of mind, Mrs. Dunlop handed her a 
 manuscript copy of "The Cottar's Saturday 
 Night," desiring that she should read it. 
 This she of course did, and her answer was one 
 which greatly delighted the author when it was 
 reported to him: — "Aweel," said she, "that's 
 verra weel, and I dinna wonder at folks o' 
 quality being astonished; but as for me, I've 
 
GLASGOW— ROYAL HOTEL. 
 
 71 
 
 seen the same thing in my ain faither's house 
 mony a time, and he couldna hae described it 
 ony ither gate." (Laughter and cheers.) Lilie 
 this worthy old Scotchwoman I completely 
 failed in my scheme of moderating the enthusi- 
 asm for Burns. I had, in fact, no alternative 
 but to blend what loyal voice I could in the 
 universal chorus. (Applause.) To say truth, 
 the time is past for attempting to lower the 
 position of Burns among the immortals. (Hear.) 
 At the outset I find myself confronted by a 
 success which I cannot gainsay, and for which 
 I dare only try to account. The enthusiasm 
 which now prevails is not a thing of yesterday. 
 It began during his life. It turned the heads 
 of the " Tarbolton lasses," and the " belles of 
 Mauchline." It shook the rafters of many a 
 masonic lodge and jovial howf in various parts 
 of Ayrshire. On the wings of the Kilmarnock 
 press it spread over all Scotland, penetrated the 
 high places of learning ii» classic Edinburgh 
 "throned on crags," and broke in tears and 
 penitence over the poet's grave at Dumfries. 
 (Loud cheers.) I say penitence, not because I 
 consider that the contemporaries of Burns were 
 particularly to blame for his life of struggle, 
 but because his countrymen, touched by his 
 early death, thought bitterly on what he had 
 suffered. It is not, I hold, the business of any 
 age to seek out and elevate its men of genius. 
 Such enterprise would be Quixotic, and liable 
 to all the errors of caprice and fashion. Genius 
 of the highest kind can never indeed be known 
 until proved by its own immortalness. (Cheers.) 
 But if, from inevitable causes, Barns found 
 Scotland a poor enough land to live in, it at 
 least proved for him a sufficiently glorious land 
 to die in. (Hear.) Ten thousand people 
 thronged to his funeral. Every scrap of his 
 burly hand-writing became a treasure. The 
 public sorrow took visible shape in stone and 
 marble. Not a favourite haunt of his but be- 
 came immediately and for ever classic. Why, 
 the very stool on which he had sat while cor- 
 recting his proof-sheets in Edinburgh was ele- 
 vated into an object of respect ! (Cheers.) I 
 suppose it has long since been broken up into 
 snuffboxes. (Laughter.) Thirty-eight years 
 after his death — a longer period than his whole 
 life had been — his mausoleum was opened to 
 admit the remains of his " bonnie Jean," and 
 forthwith the phrenologists were at his cranium, 
 to ascertain whether genius like his were in any 
 way measurable with callipers. (Laughter.) 
 When, in the doom which overtakes all things 
 human, his household goods came to be scattered, 
 how marvellously had their value risen ! An 
 old fender on which he had been accustomed 
 to toast his toes, while crooning, it might be, 
 his immortal " Vision " in the flickering hearth- 
 
 light, brought twentyfold its original cost. 
 The top of a superannuated shower-bath, which 
 had been employed to drench away a poetic 
 rheumatism, was run up to a fabulous sum. A 
 dilapidated coffee-pot, a pair of bellows sorely 
 afflicted with asthma, and other such lumber, 
 commanded prices which, had there only been 
 more of them — and they might easily have been 
 multiplied — might have supplied funds suffi- 
 cient to pension all his relations for life. 
 (Laughter and cheers.) But perhaps the piece 
 of household furniture which excited most at- 
 tention was an eight-day clock. As that article 
 was neither made in London nor in Paris, I 
 should not like myself to put a price upon it. 
 It was the production of a Mauchline artist. 
 I am not aware that Mauchline has been at any 
 time famous for clocks. (Laughter.) Perhaps 
 a liberal valuator might have been inclined to ap- 
 praise it at — say thirty shillings. But that clock 
 had been often wound up by the hand which 
 penned " The Jolly Beggars," " Tam o' Shan- 
 ter," « The Cottar's Saturday Night," " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled ! " " My Nannie O," 
 and " Auld Langsyne." (Cheers.) I will not 
 say, too, that it had not many a queer story to 
 tell about' " The wee short hour ayont the 
 twal ! " (Laughter.) At all events, it was 
 ultimately knocked down, not at thirty-shil- 
 lings, but at thirty-five pounds, the purchaser 
 considering himself fortunate, as the limit he 
 had fixed was sixty! (Loud cheers.) From 
 that time the Burns' furore has certainly not 
 abated. Fifteen years ago it exploded in the 
 vicinity of Ayr. On that occasion 80,000 of 
 his countrymen assembled in commemorative 
 festival. (Hear.) The object was to give a 
 national welcome to his three sons — then all 
 living, and in Scotland. At the head of that 
 mighty gathering was Lord Eglinton, the noble 
 representative of that house of Montgomerie, on 
 which the great peasant-poet had conferred im- 
 mortality in song. (Cheers.) There was the 
 stately and fervid Professor Wilson, who so long 
 occupied a brilliant place in the literature of 
 Scotland; and who, had he been alive, would 
 have been filling not the least conspicuous of 
 the Burns' chairs this night. (Cheers.) There, 
 too, although disabled by hoarseness, was that 
 Other John Wilson, who, through England and 
 America, had sung the songs of Scotland, in all 
 their uproarious humour and deep tearful pathos, 
 as no other man could; and who, had he been 
 spared, would have been enjoying, at this hour, 
 not the least glorious of his " Nichts wi' Burns." 
 (Great applause.) Vast, however, as was the 
 enthusiasm then displayed, how incalculably 
 is it at this moment eclipsed! What chance 
 should I have in attempting any nice balance of 
 the poet's merits, in the midst of such an out- 
 
72 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 burst of hero-worship ? With what face could 
 I hint at failings prompted and palliated by the 
 manners of the peasantry and people amongst 
 whom his lot was cast ? (Cheers.) How would 
 his own tender pleading rise up against me, 
 that, " to step aside is human 1 " (Hear, hear.) 
 Above all, might I not be stunned and shamed 
 with the argument that Bui-ns is in his grave — 
 that "after life's fitful fever he sleeps well," 
 and that the object of our meeting this night is 
 not to discuss the frailties of the man, but to do 
 honour to the genius of the bard ? (Immense 
 cheering.) The world, gentlemen, is not easily 
 moved. Its plaudits are what many sigh for, 
 and what not a few die for. (Hear.) As Sir 
 Walter Scott says, " I love a hackneyed quota- 
 tion." I may, therefore, be pardoned for quot- 
 ing the familiar lines of Beattie : — 
 
 " Ah, who can tell how hard it is to climb 
 The steep where Fame's proud temple shines afar ! " 
 
 .Yet one hundred years ago " there was a lad 
 was born in Kyle," whose circumstances were 
 humble — whose lot was one of hard labour — 
 who had not even the advantage of length of 
 life — and who yet, with matchless ease, and 
 merely, as it were, by letting out his broad and 
 massive nature upon the world, vaulted into 
 fame, and whom a grateful nation is proud, at 
 this day, to rank among its most illustrious 
 dead. (Applause.) What spell did this man 
 possess to exercise an influence so potent ? 
 Go into the fields, and observe any plough- 
 man at his toilful and monotonous occupation, 
 and ask what chances that man has of mak- 
 ing his name ring through the world, and 
 down through the '1 corridors of time?" Such 
 was the position of Burns, and yet what a tri- 
 umph has been his ! — a triumph infinitely ex- 
 ceeding that of all the alumni of all the uni- 
 versities of his time ! (Loud cheers.) The 
 "auld clay bigging" in which he was born 
 glows in the illumination of his childhood. 
 His " priestlike father," his schoolmaster Mur- 
 doch, the Annies and Nannies of his early love, 
 the " rough, rude, ready-witted Rankines " of 
 his jovial hours, the country gentry who courted, 
 and the few titled people who patronized him, 
 live in the light of his genius. If he even 
 paused to pity a poor horse, or hare, or mouse, 
 or daisy, or to spare " the symbol dear " of auld 
 Scotland by turning his weeder-clips aside, the 
 thing became from that time immortal. (Cheers.) 
 How poor now do the crowns of our dead kings, 
 and the glory- wreaths of our departed conquer- 
 ors, appear beside the holly with its " berries red " 
 which Coila bound around his brows ! (Cheers.) 
 How are the images of our great ones fading — 
 those who walked under triumphal arches, and 
 passed between houses " peopled to the chim- 
 
 ney-tops" — and how are the stalwart limbs, 
 the rounded shoulders, and the great dark lu- 
 minous eyes of the poor Ayrshire ploughman, 
 and despised Nithsdale gauger, enlarging upon 
 the canvas of the past ! (Lohd applause.) [ 
 cannot account for all this, except upon the 
 principle that Burns was made of finer clay 
 than falls to the ordinary lot of mortals. All 
 of you, I daresay, remember how, in his youth, 
 he picked the nettle-sting from the hand of a 
 " bonnie sweet sonsie lass " — how that nettle- 
 sting became a Cupid's dart in his fiery fancy 
 — and how love and song had a simultaneous 
 birth in his heart. The presence of my distin- 
 guished friend, Mr. Macnee, reminds me with 
 what charming grace and felicity he many 
 years ago transferred that romantic incident to 
 the canvas. (Great applause.) That, gentle- 
 men, was but the beginning of a susceptibility 
 which rendered him sometimes the slave and 
 sometimes the victim of all outward impressions. 
 But with all this exquisite tenderness Burns 
 was every inch a man. " He had misfortunes 
 great and sma', but aye a heart abune them a'." 
 What wonder that we should " a' be proud o' 
 Robin ! " (Cheers.) What wonder that we 
 should love the scenes hallowed by his song ! 
 (Hear, hear.) Never shall I forget the first 
 time I gazed upon the " banks and braes o' 
 bonny Doon." It was when all Ayrshire was 
 alive with the excitement and the splendours 
 of a great medieval pageant. How beautiful 
 to me was the quietude of that sylvan scene ! 
 The chivalrous procession is passed. The no- 
 ble jousters have " folded their tents like Ihe 
 Arabs ;" he who was the Lord of the Tourna- 
 ment occupies a vice-regal chair ; and one who 
 figured there in an humbler capacity is seated 
 on an imperial throne. (Hear, hear.) What a 
 change in the twenty years which have elapsed ! 
 Yet to this day that sweetly-wooded stream 
 wears the same aspect of tender beauty which 
 it did then, while its "little birds" chant forth 
 the same melodies of almost unutterable sad- 
 ness. So, too, will it be when those now high 
 in worldly position shall be only dimly known 
 in history, and when a new generation of 
 Scotchmen shall assemble in grander halls, and 
 with illustrations borrowed from a new race of 
 poets, to celebrate the second centenary of 
 Burns. (Cheers.) Let us not, however, on 
 so joyous an occasion as this, wax melancholy. 
 Our national poet was a man of divers moods ; 
 and when Professor Wilson tells us that he has 
 heard " O Willie brew'd a peck o' maut " sung 
 after a Presbytery dinner, with the deep bass' 
 of the moderator mingling in the chorus, shall 
 we be greatly to blame if, for a brief space, we 
 participate in the spirit of his more joyous mo- 
 ments? (Great merriment.) At the same 
 
GLASGOW.— ROYAL HOTEL. 
 
 73 
 
 time, if any of you should shout to the waiter, 
 " Go, fetch to me a pint o' wine," I trust it 
 will only be that he may drink " a service to 
 hia bonny lassie ;" or if, altogether, we should 
 agree to " tak a cup o' kindness yet," I trust it 
 will not be, any more than with Burns, for the 
 vulgar love of the liquor, but only " for auld 
 langsyne." (Cheers and laughter.) Gentle- 
 men, had it been possible to assemble all the 
 admirers of Burns under one roof, you would, 
 I daresay, have been listening at this moment 
 to higher eloquence than mine. There was, 
 however, no help for it but to break the mass 
 into sections. Here are we, then, as I said at 
 the outset, but one of a multitude of gather- 
 ings, all animated by a kindred emotion. I 
 have too lively a recollection of the fable of the 
 Frog and the Ox to seek to measure this meet- 
 ing with the colossal demonstrations taking 
 place elsewhere. Nevertheless, when I look 
 around this table, and see the select and choice 
 spirits whom I have the honour to address, I 
 do not, I confess, altogether despair of exciting 
 just the least possible sensation of envy on the 
 part of some of our friends who may perhaps 
 have soared higher and fared worse. (Hear, 
 hear, laughter, and cheers.) At the same time, 
 let us not be uncharitable: let us rather rejoice 
 that the unfortunates who could not by any 
 possibility gain admission here, have overflowed 
 until they have filled all our other public halls ! 
 (Great laughter and applause.) Nothing but 
 the intense humanity of Robert Burns could 
 have given such numbers to this movement. 
 (Hear.) But what need that I should attempt 
 to analyse his merits ? What are words when 
 overtopped by the majesty of circumstance? 
 How can I presume to add one stone to a cairn 
 already towering to the heavens ? In the uni- 
 versality of this commemoration there is an 
 eloquence which enfeebles all speech, and a 
 glory which dims all display. (Cheers.) Suf- 
 • fice it that we, as Scotchmen, feel a debt of 
 gratitude to him who was the first to popularize 
 the sentiment of " daring to be poor," the first 
 to cause tlie truth to be widely and proudly 
 recognized among his countrymen that, apart 
 from the accidents of fortune, " a man's a man 
 for a' that." (Cheers.) As our own Camp- 
 bell has said, 
 
 " His lines are mottoes of the heart." 
 
 Who, let me ask, has imparted such purity to 
 love, such warmth to friendship, such dignity 
 to labour, such courage to misfortune, such fire 
 to patriotism, such sovereignty to moral worth ? 
 (Great applause.) Even, too, in his first great 
 gush of poetry, when, at Mossgiel, he put forth 
 those racy and brilliant epistles to his brother 
 bards, and those scathing and merciless satires 
 
 on the "unco guid" which we are apt to con- 
 sider somewhat irreverent, we find him ex- 
 claiming — 
 
 "All hail, Eeligion 1 maid divine ! 
 Pardon a Muse sae mean as mine, 
 Who in her rough imperfect line, 
 
 Thus dares to name thee; 
 To stigmatize false friends of thine 
 
 Can ne'er defame thee 1 " 
 
 (Cheers.) Irrespectively of the floods of song 
 on which Burns has floated into all hearts for 
 ever, a certain halo of greatness surrounds his 
 name. Wonderful as his poems are, they ap- 
 pear only as broken lights of the man. All 
 who came in contact with him seem to have 
 been profoundly impressed with the force and 
 brilliancy of his intellect. The dashing Duchess 
 of Gordon had never met with a man whose 
 conversation " carried her so completely ofi" her 
 feet:" the clever Mrs. Riddell — herself an au- 
 thoress — declared that "poetry was actually not 
 his forte." (Hear.) Taking him, then, for all 
 in all — taking the influence of his life, and the 
 moral of his death — I believe that Scotland is 
 infinitely the better for Burns having lived. 
 (Cheers.) His ambition was to do something, 
 for his country, and, if he could do no better, 
 to " sing a sang at least." The effect of what 
 he actually achieved has been to make love 
 sweeter, integrity bolder, hypocrisy more abash- 
 ed. (Applause.) The effect has been to link 
 the Ayr, the Lugar, and the Doon, with the 
 Tweed and the Yarrow, as haunts of the Scot- 
 tish muses through all time. (Cheers.) The 
 effect has been to bind Scotchmen more to 
 Scotland, and to make the Scotch abroad more 
 intensely Scotch than even their countrymen 
 at home. Our Scottish nationality — there is 
 no use to deny it, or to struggle against it — is 
 becoming year by year merged in the common 
 nationality of England. (Hear.) As, however, 
 the waters of the Ohio retain their distinctive 
 colour for miles and miles after their junction 
 with the Mississippi, so, in like manner, must 
 the Scotch as a people continue to be tinctured 
 with their picturesque and heroic past. (Ap- 
 plause.) Burns stands, as it were, proud in 
 his peasant garb, at the confluence of the two 
 nations as, in many essential characteristics, our 
 noblest representative man. (Cheers.) Let 
 but Scotchmen continue to be nurtured in the 
 manly spirit of Burns — then, in his own lofty 
 words — 
 
 " Then, howe'er crowns and coronets be rent, 
 A virtuous populace may rise the while. 
 And stand a wall of fire around their much-loved isle." 
 
 (Loud applause.) Gentlemen, on this the hun- 
 dredth anniversary of our poet's birthday, let 
 
74 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 us rise up, and, with full hearts and full glasses, 
 do honour to his genius. Here, within these 
 walls, we are comparatively few in number, but 
 let us be great in enthusiasm. If, indeed, at 
 this moment the shade of the bard is hovering 
 over his beloved Scotland, let not ours be the 
 least audible of the myriad voices everywhere 
 swelling with the same burden. Let us, in a 
 word, drink as it deserves to be drunk — not 
 with the silence of a recent bereavement, but 
 with the enthusiasm due to a completed re- 
 nown, and to a glory which is still ours — " The 
 Immortal Memory of Burns." (The toast was 
 drank amidst cheering again and again re- 
 newed.) 
 
 The Cbottpier proposed " The Lord Provost 
 and Magistrates." 
 
 Bailie Harvey replied in neat terms. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Davidson then gave, in a very 
 able and eloquent address, " The Sister Arts of 
 Painting and Sculpture," to which Mr. Macnee 
 gave a brilliant response, relieved by a variety 
 of illustrative anecdotes which kept the company 
 " in a roar." 
 
 Councillor Allan proposed, in an effective 
 manner, " The members for the City." (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 Mr. James B. Gartlt then rose and said — 
 May I invite you now to extend somewhat 
 the sphere of your thought and sympathy, and, 
 in like manner as we are accustomed, in circles 
 perhaps more strictly social than even this one 
 — al^ comfortable and jolly as it is, and will be, 
 I hope, for some considerable length of time — 
 to drain a loving bumper to the well-known but 
 always acceptable toast — "Absent Friends" — 
 may I ask you now to send your thoughts 
 abroad over earth — to gather, as it were, into 
 the fold of your affections those who, though 
 not with us in body, are assuredly so in spirit. 
 (Cheers.) Por, upon such a night as this, I can 
 well imagine the existence of an electricity of 
 the soul, needing no instruments whereby to 
 disseminate its influence, asserting itself wher- 
 ever Scottish hearts beat — one universal feel- 
 ing, pulsing to a common centre — that centre, 
 this day of all the days in this or any year; 
 and this country, of all countries, placed, though 
 it be, on the very confines of what was once 
 " The World." In asking you to spare a 
 thought at this time to our "Brother Scots,!' 
 wherever they may be, I only ask you to show 
 that your admiration of the great man whose 
 praises have been so truly and so eloquently 
 pronounced this evening, is a real, a sincere ad- 
 miration, and that the teachings of his genius 
 have had due effect upon your hearts. If ever 
 man loved his kind, Burns was that man; but 
 in a most special manner did his large true 
 heart glow and yearn towards his own country 
 
 and his countrymen. (Clieers.) And so is it, 
 I am proud to say, with all true .Scotchmen. 
 Indeed, we are held rather notorious for our 
 tendency to band together — to give the "all 
 hail" with peculiar fervour to those of our own 
 soil, whether met here or elsewhere — our 
 "clanishness" as it is somewhat sarcastically 
 called, stinks in the offended nostrils of some 
 of those not within the favoured pale. Let the 
 reproach continue — I hail it as a badge of hon- 
 our ! (Cheers.) I wonder what character the 
 manifestation of an entirely opposite feeling 
 would confer upon us — of that genteel and , 
 polished indifference, for instance, that allows 
 no claim of country or of brotherhood ever to 
 ruffle the insipid surface of its prized equani- 
 mity; or, perhaps, of that exceedingly ener- 
 getic spirit of world-embracing humanity, to 
 which mere home interests are as nothing and 
 vanity. Those are, indeed, heart-thrilling lines 
 of our bard, and most delightedly do I agree 
 with the spirit of them, and with my whole, 
 heart 
 
 " Pray that come it may, 
 
 As come it will for a' that, 
 That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth, 
 
 May bear the gree an' a' that — 
 When man to man, the wavld o'er. 
 
 Shall brothers be an' a' that." 
 
 — (Cheers) — but let us, like Burns, begin at 
 the beginning — let us lay the foundation of this 
 general brotherhood, by cultivating, sincerely 
 and strenuously, the feelings of brotherhood 
 for those among whom heaven has placed us, 
 and to whom we are bound by a common pride 
 in a beloved country. I confess I have no faith 
 in that merely cosmopolitan spirit, that too 
 often leads men to overlook equally the means 
 of happiness lying in their imniediate vicinity, 
 and the misery clinging round their very knees, 
 and with straining eye — " distance lending en- 
 chantment to the view" — to look afar for ob- 
 jects upon which to lavish their ostentatious 
 cares. On the contrary, I believe that from 
 that heart only, whore the home affections burn 
 mpst brightly, purifying and elevating all else 
 within it, can the true spirit of an enlightened 
 patriotism take its rise — and, in like man- 
 ner, and in due gradation, only from a heart 
 thus wisely patriotic, can there issue forth that 
 genuine, self-sacrificing philanthropy, whose 
 gracious office it is to shed gradual light upon 
 the dark corners of the earth, and to substitute, 
 by virtue of a kindly continuity of effort, the 
 amenities and refinements of civilization for the 
 atrocities of barbaric life. (Cheers.) Most 
 right and natural do I therefore esteem it to be 
 that every leal Scottish heart should hold pecu- 
 liarly dear everything Scottish. Is the secret 
 of this love difficult to discover or to explain ? 
 
GLASGOW— ROYAL HOTEL. 
 
 75 
 
 Is it not to be found mainly in tlie fact of the 
 glorious heritage to which we all so proudly lay 
 claim — that heritage of grand, imperishable 
 memories, gained for us by the unstinted sacri- 
 fice of so much noble blood? Those, surely, 
 whose fathers, in days long past, foiled the 
 world-famous legions of Eome, held the field a 
 Bruce led them to, greatly died for their reli- 
 gion, when nought else would do, have some 
 cause, so long as they themselves blur not the 
 glowing scutcheon, to look proudly into each 
 other's eyes, while hand is laid in hand for the 
 strong grasp of manly affection. (Cheers.) 
 But if the far past gives ample reason for that 
 pride of country which so knits together Scot- 
 tish hearts, more recent, as well as present 
 times, give forth no contrary evidence. I need 
 not to call up before you any array of celebrated 
 names or celebrated deeds. I trust that, with- 
 out incurring the hateful charge of being vain- 
 glorious, I may safely say that Scotchmen have 
 never been behind when discoveries were to be 
 made, difficulties to be overcome, or dangers to 
 be dared. They have always been at least 
 fairly abreast — "shoulder to shoulder" — in the 
 generous rivalry of fame. That assertion leaves, 
 I trust, untouched all other just claims. My 
 toast has reference to our " Brother Scots" 
 both at home and abroad. As to those "at 
 home," the mere fact of their being so dwarfs 
 considerably their claim upon our sympathy as 
 compared with that of those who have 
 
 " Ta'en anithei- shore, 
 An' owre the sea." 
 
 Confessedly we are somewhat given to travel 
 — nay, are often severely twitted with being 
 unduly so. A love for the "sweet South" is 
 said to be sadly prevalent among us, and on 
 this score many a laborious joke has been crack- 
 ed at our expense. I do not know that we 
 should greatly grieve at this.' I think that, 
 wherever we go, we generally give at least as 
 good as we get ; and I do not find the North 
 to be wholly unattractive to those born nearer 
 the sun. One thing is certain, that, go we far 
 or near, we never ignore or become forgetful of 
 the country we have left. A Scotchman, un- 
 mindful of Scotland when in a for,eign land, is 
 a monster the world ne'er saw. Among what- 
 ever scenes he may find himself placed — ^how- 
 ever grand, however various in aJl the aspects 
 which beauty or sublimity may assume — 
 
 " Still dearer to him yon lone glen o' green bracken, 
 Wi' the burn stealing under the lang yellow broom " — 
 
 and often the weary sigh is heaved at the 
 thought that he may neither listen to the sweet 
 lulling murmurs of the one, nor refresh his 
 jaded spirit in the cool seclusion of the other. 
 
 To such, how dear the poetry of Burns ; and 
 how has that poetry kept alive, in exiled Scot- 
 tish hearts, Scottish loves and Scottish remem- 
 brances ! (Cheers.) Think of the lorn groups 
 who, on some such occasion as this — it may be 
 in the wild Australian bush — on the sultry 
 Indian plains — by the banks of a Zambesi, or 
 'mid the solemn hush of some great forest of 
 the western world — sing, with broken voice 
 and suffused eye, such strain as " Auld Lang- 
 syne," their affections all the while tremblingly 
 returning to the land and the friends left be- 
 hind, to whom they, too, for the time, feel as 
 if they would fain return. (Great applause.) 
 I feel very sure, therefore, that, in many a re- 
 mote nook of earth, this day is being celebrated 
 with a depth of feeling to which we cannot at- 
 tain. Exile alone can confer it. But one 
 thing we can and must do — we must now, in 
 all respect, in all affection bear upon our very 
 heart of hearts, a warm and loving thought of 
 those of our countrymen who, in distant lands, 
 maintain their country's renown, either by the 
 example of useful, honourable lives, or by the 
 sterner attestation of warlike deeds in hard- 
 fought fields. If ever Scotland had reason to 
 glory in her sons, and to know that they still 
 keep their proud position in the van of enter- 
 prise, she has that reason now. We have a 
 Livingstone — impersonation of heroic endu- 
 rance and generous self-sacrifice ! — at last un- 
 ravelling the long mystery of the great African 
 continent — (Cheers) — single - handed, doing 
 more to achieve the elevation of the African 
 race, and the final extinction of slavery, than 
 all the proud squadrons we have ever sent to 
 lie rotting off yon doleful coasts — an Elgin, 
 opening up to us a new world — penetrating, 
 laying bare, at last, all the secrets and the won- 
 ders of Zipangu and the " far Cathay;" and 
 last, though far, far from least — a Colin Camp- 
 bell — Baron Clyde — with iron grasp wresting 
 an empire from the ruthless and bloody hands 
 that had madly dared to seize it, and then, in 
 the calm dignity of a noble success, giving to 
 the again unruffled brow of a grateful sove- 
 reign the regained diadem ! once more un- 
 dimmed — lustrous with a new and priceless 
 glory ! (Loud cheers.) These three glorious 
 Scotchmen are the foremost men of all their 
 time — to them, and to their gallant companions, 
 Scotland willingly confides the preservation of 
 her fame. But it is for us now, while drinking 
 the toast I have the honour to propose, and by 
 no means forgetting those nearer to us, to 
 think — and let us do it with swelling hearts — 
 of those brave men away in the burning East- 
 ern climes ; and while we most willingly give 
 to each and all their due meed of praise, let it 
 not be thought shame, if, at this moment, we 
 
76 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAKY. 
 
 specially and fervently remember our beloved 
 countrymen, who, in this great warfare, have 
 borne so distinguished a part. Surely, surely, 
 you need no one to tell you their deeds — 
 through it all, 
 
 " Bold, soldier featured, undismayed, 
 They strode along ! " 
 
 In our own good Doric, then, let us drink with 
 special reference to Lord Clyde and the army 
 in India, 
 
 " Britlier Soots at hame an' far awa I " 
 
 The toast was drunk with every demonstration 
 of enthusiasm. 
 
 Mr. Egbert Somers rose amid applause, 
 and said — I have the honour to propose a toast 
 most congenial to the great object of this day's 
 celebration, and sure to be received with rap- 
 ture iu any company of Scotchmen, " The 
 Literature of Scotland." (Loud cheers.) To 
 say that the literature of a country is the flower 
 of its civilization would not be enough, for 
 when 
 
 " You seize the flower, its bloom is shed ;" 
 
 while literature is that better and glorious part 
 of national life which is immortal. (Cheers.) 
 I will say of the literature of Scotland — not as 
 an apology, for apology is unneeded, but as a 
 fact of its history worthy to be noted — that it 
 has had to contend against greater difficulties 
 than the literature of almost any country in the 
 world. Not only has it been cultivated for the 
 most part on a little oatmeal, not only has it 
 lacked the encouragement and facilities aiForded 
 to literary efforts in other lands, but it has had 
 the double task to perform of developing itself 
 in the language of a neighbouring kingdom, 
 whilst embalming in enduring characters its 
 native tongue. (Cheers.) Without the former 
 the literature of Scotland would have been 
 "bound in shallows;" without the latter it 
 would have lost its distinctive character as 
 a national literature. As a proof how the 
 countrymen of Burns — " the Scots wha hae wi' 
 Wallace bled" — have fought this two-handed 
 battle, I will merely mention two facts. The 
 highest models of English composition, by the 
 verdict of England herself, have been the writ- 
 ings of Scotchmen. (Hear, hear.) For more 
 than half a century the works of Hume and 
 Eobertson were the standard classics of the 
 English language, and in our own time " the 
 well of English undefiled" has been found in 
 the productions of a Macaulay and a Miller. 
 (Cheers.) Whilst the sons of Caledonia have 
 thus handled the English bow, how have they 
 wielded their own claymore? The novel of 
 Waverley, written for the most part in what 
 
 was the Court language of Scotland in days 
 when we had a king " at hame," and " Tam 
 O' Shanter," carved in the Doric of our peasan- 
 try, will live as long as any production of the 
 immortal genius of Shakspeare. (Loud cheers.) 
 Gentlemen, I have the best apology for being 
 brief in the remarks with which I introduce 
 to you the toast of " The Literature of Scot- 
 land." The subject is too extensive for ex- 
 position, and it speaks too eloquently to our 
 hearts for praise. If he, " the Bard that's now 
 awa'," and whose memory we have met to 
 honour, had been here amongst us this evening, 
 you can imagine the right good will with which 
 he would have responded to this patriotic and 
 inspiring toast. I will simply propose to you, 
 therefore, " The Literature of Scotland," and 
 permit me to connect with it the name of Mr. 
 Alexander Smith — a poet who in our day 
 worthily upholds the honour of the Scottish 
 muse, and sheds a renown on his native city. 
 
 The toast was received with great cordiality, 
 and Mr. Smith in a few words replied, and 
 urged subscriptions to the funds for the Misses 
 Begg and for Mrs. Thomson of PoUokshaws. 
 The hint was adopted in so far as the latter was 
 concerned, and upwards of £10 subscribed 
 around the table. 
 
 Mr. Cross, in an able address, gave the 
 " Other Demonstrations of the day." Mr. T. 
 Anderson gave "The Sons of Burns;" Mr. 
 Wemtss gave " The Ladies ; " and " the nicht 
 wi' Burns" at the ' Eoyal,' which had been 
 enlivened by amateur vocalisation of the most 
 exquisite kind, was brought to a happy and 
 successful termination. 
 
 TONTINE BEADING ROOM. 
 
 About 150 members and friends dined in the 
 Tontine Hall — Councillor Martin in the chair, 
 supported by David Smith, Esq. ; William 
 Eobertson, Esq., banker ; George Fleming, 
 Esq. ; William Millar, Esq. ; David Gilmour, 
 Esq. ; Thomas Eamsay, Esq. ; David Walker, 
 Esq.; Wm. M'Ewan, Esq.; and Thomas Ro- 
 bin, Esq. John Millar, Esq., croupier, sup- 
 ported by James Allan, Esq. ; Wm. Peat, Esq. ; 
 Captain Mackay ; J. King, Esq. ; Alexander 
 Osborne, Esq. ; John O'Neil, Esq. ; Wm. Mil- 
 lar, jun., Esq. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 The Chairman, in proposing " The memory 
 of Burns," said — In introducing this toast, it is 
 not necessary that I attempt anything like a 
 biographical notice of the poet; neither is it 
 necessary that I should stimulate the action of 
 your memories, or please your mental sight with 
 visions of the " Auld Clay Biggin'," near " Al- 
 
GLASGOW.— TONTINE READING EOOM. 
 
 loway's Haunted Kirk," of the Mossgiel farm, 
 of the Dumfries dwolling-place ; or of the poe- 
 tic ploughman, farmer, or gauger ehiel, in his 
 wanderings to and fro in the land. (Applause.) 
 For, thanks to the genius of the poet, and of 
 some of the ablest biographers, the facts of his 
 life, or at least the outlines of his history, are 
 universally known, especially in the land of his 
 birth. It needs not either that I tax your 
 patience with any elaborate criticism on the 
 genius or writings of Burns ; for in so doing I 
 might be guilty of the sin of presumption in 
 seeking to cope with the Chairmen of other and 
 greater centenary meetings than our humble 
 gathering. Yet, still, in offering our tribute of 
 respect and admiration, I must, in brief form, 
 show cause why we should delight to honour 
 our countryman after this manner. We delight 
 to honour Burns, for he is the representative 
 poet of Scotland. (Loud applause.) From the 
 age of Thomas the Rhymer and Blind Harry 
 the Minstrel, till these late days of James Hed- 
 derwick and Alex. Smith, no poet has occupied 
 so prominent a place in the national mind as 
 Eobert Burns. (Hear, hear.) Pre-eminently 
 has he displayed that highest attainment of 
 poetry — the power of imparting a sense of 
 reality to the scenes of imagination. Almost 
 at the first glance of the man, or of his writ- 
 ings, you see broadly imprinted all the charac- 
 teristics of the great poet. What breadth and 
 massiveness are manifested in his writings! 
 Indeed no quality of his mind compounded so 
 much with the stalwart mould of his frame as 
 the strength of his understanding. This quality 
 coloured and affected all his movements. His 
 most imaginative pieces have a breadth, a vi- 
 gour, and an intensity that place them in marked 
 contrast to the productions of, shall I say, all 
 our poets 1 For these qualities, what poem will 
 stand comparison with " Tarn o' Shanter," whose 
 characters, incidents, thoughts, sentiments, and 
 imagery are all vigorous and real 1 (Hear, 
 hear.) It is a poem, indeed, that bears the 
 impress of a genius, which, with length of days 
 and proper direction and development, might 
 have rivalled the Bard of Avon. (Cheers.) 
 Again, he has portrayed Scottish manners, 
 liabits, and customs with such marked indivi- 
 duality of character, and such intensely national 
 feeling, that though you search the world over 
 you shall find no poems or songs with such 
 pure and distinctive national characteristics as 
 are displayed in the writings of Burns. He is 
 intensely Scotch ; even what some call the bar- 
 barous Scotch dialect, he has immortalized. 
 Indeed, in his hands the capabilities of the 
 Scottish language seemed to increase and ex- 
 pand. It was known to be vigorous before, 
 and neither destitute of melody nor pathos. 
 
 But, with the master-touch of Burns, it assumed 
 a power and expressiveness, yet, withal, a 
 sweetness, tenderness, and beauty which it had 
 never evinced before. How the racy vigour of 
 his verses would be emasculated if the language 
 were changed ! Thus, then, for these reasons 
 Burns is our representative poet, and as the 
 representative poet of our country, shall we not 
 honour his memory 1 Again, Burns deserves a 
 nation's grateful homage, for, more than any 
 man has he been instrumental in nurturing the 
 love of country and maintaining the national 
 spirit and honour. (Applause.) Thoroughly 
 imbued with a patriotic and national spirit, and 
 with a high appreciation of all those great and 
 righteous qualities which exalt a nation, he 
 eagerly and earnestly, by the power of his 
 poetic might, sought to produce and maintain 
 the like feelings in the breasts of his country- 
 men. There is diffused all over his poetry a 
 yearning desire to influence for good the liberty, 
 prosperity, and greatness of the nation — to as- 
 sociate with the name of Caledonia every senti- 
 ment and feeling of admiration, respect, and 
 reverence — to give still deeper root to that 
 deep-seated and holy feeling, the love of coun- 
 try — and to kindle into still brighter glow the 
 sacred flame of patriotism, so that Scotland 
 might command — if so it could be — still greater 
 reverence and love, and at least maintain her 
 proud position amongst the nations. He knew 
 wherein consisted the glory and strength of 
 kingdoms, when, musing on the Cottar's Satur- 
 day night, he ejaculates — 
 
 " Oh, Scotia ! my dear, my native soil, 
 
 For whom my warmest wish to Heaven is sent ! 
 Long may thy hardy sons of rustic toil 
 
 Be blest with health, and peace, and sweet oo:i- 
 
 tent! 
 And, oh! may Heaven their simple lives prevent 
 From luxury's contagion, weak and vile ! 
 
 'J'hen, howe'er crowns and coronets be rent, 
 A virtuous populace may rise the while, 
 And stand a wall of fire around their mucli-lov'd 
 isle !" 
 
 (Loud applause.) But not only in the solemn 
 contemplation of such hallowed scenes as " The 
 Cottar's Saturday Night," but also in his hu- 
 morous sketches, is there a pith and power 
 that faileth not to quicken patriotic zeal. This 
 man, then, who has done so much to boil up the 
 Scottish blood into a spring-tide flood of free- 
 dom and patriotism, deserves well of his country, 
 and of the honours which are this day paid to 
 his memory. But it is in his songs that the 
 fame of Burns will chiefly rest, and in which ho 
 has exerted the greatest influence. He has 
 embalmed in immortal verse the various traits 
 of character and habits of the Scotch people, as 
 also the remarkable events of their history, 
 which are certainly suggestive of poetry and 
 
78 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 song. What are those characteristics ? There 
 is an exalted spirit of freedom and independence 
 — there is a native valour, which is oftentimes 
 evoked and displayed in deeds of dauntless 
 daring — ^there is a passion which young men 
 and maidens fondly designate love, with the 
 depth, the intensity, the sincerity, and the ten- 
 derness of its characteristics, as manifested in 
 the nature of Scotchmen — there is a geniality 
 and breadth of humour which cheers and glad- 
 dens the social circle — there is a love of truth 
 and high integrity of character deep-seated in 
 the Scottish heart — there is an earnest religious 
 spirit, which has not only been productive of 
 great events, but also renders sacred the hearths 
 and homes of even the lowest of the people, 
 and which brings contentment, and peace, and 
 joy, even to honest poverty, by a confident 
 trust in the kindness and wisdom of Provi- 
 dence ; all these Burns has embalmed in his im- 
 perishable lyrics. What Scotsman's spirit is not 
 roused by " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled ?" 
 Or what man of sense or sterling worth glows 
 not with noble pride at the rehearsal of •" A 
 man's a man for a' that ? " What sentimental 
 or right-hearted youth is not uplifted when that 
 glorious eulogy is sounded in his ears, — 
 
 " Green grow the rashes, ! 
 Green grow the rashes, ! 
 The sweetest hours that e'er I spend 
 Are spent amang the lasses, 0." 
 
 In geniality of spirit, also, and broad humour 
 — characteristic of the lyrics of Scotland — 
 what can surpass "Willie brew'd a peck o' 
 maut," or " Sic a wife as Willie had 1 " Often- 
 times has he breathed a religious spirit and 
 uttered forth sentiments of- the purest and most 
 elevating character, expressed with a dignity, a 
 sweetness, and beauty that is unsurpassed. 
 Doubtless we cannot say that in all things he 
 was perfect, and -that in all things he was pure. 
 His noble nature had frailties and stains of sin ; 
 and sometimes also he has led the muses 
 through scenes of an immoral and degrading 
 character. But let us deal gently with the 
 dead, for I make bold to say, that had Burns 
 foreseen that these questionable productions of 
 his that were thrown off in his thoughtless 
 moods, would be fraught with much mischief 
 to "Dear Auld Scotland," he would have 
 sought to burn them, as well as the grey goose 
 quill that penned them out. Nevertheless, 
 with all his faults, he is chief among the lyric 
 poets of Scotland, and has enabled Scotland 
 pre-eminently among the nations to assume the 
 title of the " Land of Song." Strange would it 
 be, if, with all these claims, his country should 
 have refused the tribute of her admiration and 
 love ; but it is not so. She loves him well. See 
 
 her quote his sayings in the midst of listening 
 senates, and crown him with unfading laurels 
 in the halls of literature. See her maidens 
 breathing their dearest, their warmest, their 
 loftiest emotions in his sympathetic strains — 
 and see her sons fanning the flames of indepen- 
 dence and patriotism to a more intense and 
 steadier ray by the inspiring tones of his im- 
 mortal song ; and see the innumerable gather- 
 ings which are this day being held throughout 
 the land in honour of his memory! Let us 
 then join, and reciprocate the feelings of " a 
 brither poet," when he said — 
 
 " For warld's gear I dinna care, 
 My stock o' that is unco sma' ; 
 Come, friend, we'll pree the barley bree 
 To his braid fame that's noo awa'." 
 
 The toast was dmnk with great enthusiasm. 
 Thomas Robin, Esq., in an eloquent speech, 
 proposed "The Poets of Scotland." Datid 
 Smith, Esq., in a speech of considerable length, 
 portrayed the beauties of English poetry in 
 proposing " The Poets of England." John , 
 O'Neil, Esq., did ample justice to " The Poets 
 of Ireland." 
 
 The following toasts were also proposed : — 
 "The Tontine Reading Room, coupled with 
 George Eleming, Esq., President," by Alexan- 
 der Osborne, Esq. ; " The City of Glasgow and 
 its Civic Rulers, coupled with Councillor Mar- 
 tin," by James Allan, Esq. ; " The Lassies," 
 by P. Rennie, Esq.; « The Genius of Burns," 
 by R. . Roberton, Esq. ; " The Relatives of 
 Burns," by Wm. Peat, Esq. ; " The Press," by 
 William Millar, Esq.; "The Strangers," by T. 
 Ramsay, Esq. ; " The Charitable Institutions 
 of our City," by William M'Ewan, Esq.; "The 
 Chairman," by W. Millar, jun., Esq.; "The 
 Croupier," by Captain Mackay. 
 
 Through the course of the evening many of Burns' 
 finest songs were sung by James Smith, Esq., D. 
 Walker, Esq., H. Morison, Esq., John Fulton, Esq., 
 Adam Letham, and other members of the company. 
 
 TRADES' HALL. 
 
 A masonic banquet (under the auspices of 
 the Provincial Grand Lodge of Glasgow) was 
 held in the Trades' Hall — Brother Donald 
 Campbell in the chair, ably supported on right 
 and left. After partaking of a substantial re- 
 past. 
 
 The Chairman then said — Right Worship- 
 ful Warden and worthy Brethren — In rising to 
 propose the toast of the evening, I feel the 
 diflacult and the arduous duty which devolves 
 upon me; and I trust you will extend to me 
 that fraternal indulgence which is so indicative 
 
GLASGOW— TEADES' HALL. 
 
 79 
 
 of our ci'aft, when I claim your deepest sym- 
 pathies for the peculiar position in which I am 
 placed this evening. (Cheers.) Although, 
 brethren, in the absence of Sir Archibald Ali- 
 son, as Substitute Provincial Grand Master of 
 Glasgow, I was requested to take the chair 
 and preside on this great and auspicious occa- 
 sion, still it was an understood arrangement 
 that this toast — the toast of the evening — 
 was to be given by some brother more distin- 
 guished in literature, poetry, and eloquence than 
 I am. But it was not until the last day that 
 I was made aware of the duty that was to 
 devolve upon me this night, the more especially 
 when I reflect that, at the present moment, the 
 first orators of the day are engaged ' in paying 
 a similar tribute to the genius of our departed 
 brother. (Applause.) The song ("There was 
 a lad was born in Kyle ") which has just pre- 
 ceded my toast was, as you no doubt are well 
 aware, one of the earliest* effusions of our 
 brotber, and "alludes to his birth, which took 
 place on the 25th of January, 1759, exactly 
 one hundred years ago. Born of poor, hum- 
 ble, but industrious, and honest parents, on the 
 banks of the Doon, closely adjacent to the 
 " Auld Kirk of Alloway," both of which places 
 have been rendered so famous by his poetical 
 descriptions, as to give the whole district the 
 hallowed appellation of the " Land of Burns." 
 It will, my brethren, I am sure, be considered 
 out of place were I to attempt any sketch of 
 his life, the more especially so when that has 
 been done so often, and by so many distin- 
 guished and able biographers. But, brethren, 
 there is no biographer, however exalted be his 
 position in literature, poetry, or eloquence, that 
 I will yield the palm to in honouring the name 
 of Brother Kobert Burns, alike distinguished 
 for the manliness of his sentiments, the richness 
 and elegance of his language, the minuteness 
 of his descriptions, and the glowing and excit- 
 ing enthusiasm with which he depicts the beau- 
 ty of the scenery of his native land. (Cheers.) 
 What words so thrilling as the song 
 
 "Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon, 
 
 How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair; 
 How can ye chant, ye little birds, 
 
 And I sae weary, fu' o' care ! 
 Thou'U break my heart, thou warbling bird, 
 
 That wantons thro' the flowering thorn, 
 Thou minds me o' departed joys, 
 
 Departed — never to return ! " 
 
 (Loud cheering.) Or the fine feeling and the 
 deep pathos of his other song — 
 
 " Ye banks and bi-aes and streams around 
 The castle o' Montgomery, 
 Green be your woods and fair your flowers, 
 Your waters never drumlie ! 
 
 There simmer first unfauld her robes, 
 
 And there the langeet tarry; 
 For there T took the last fareweel 
 
 0' my sweet Highland Mary." 
 
 (Renewed cheering.) Although our brother 
 was unfavoured by the fickle dame Fortune, 
 and had a hard ' struggle through the world, 
 and aware as he was that he could not boast of 
 high ancestral blood, yet still he was possessed 
 of a large share of honest and upright pride, 
 combined with a modest and unassuming man- 
 ner ; but he could not brook the insolence of 
 the haughty, as is displayed by the keen, the 
 cutting, the caustic weapons with which he 
 was armed, and which is so graphically illus- 
 trated in the song of 
 
 " A man's a man for a' that." 
 
 (Applause.) To the credulity and superstition 
 of Jenny Wilson, an old woman who resided in 
 tlie family, are we indebted for some of our 
 brother's best pieces. Her mind teemed with 
 stories of death-lights, spunkies, water-kclpies, 
 warlocks, and witches, and by their revelation 
 readily gave the turn to the youthful poet's 
 mind ; and our great regret is that he was pre- 
 maturely snatched by the hand of death fi-om 
 amongst his admirers, for had he been spared, 
 he would in all probability have greatly added 
 to his present rich collection, one of which — 
 " The Tale " of Tam o' Shanter — is most inim- 
 itable, and its recitation at the hour of mid- 
 night, in the precincts of the bridge, might 
 conjure up scenes of horror in the reciter's 
 mind. (Cheers.) Or, again, we find our 
 brother pursuing other strains, for what Scots- 
 man can hear the " address of Bruce " without 
 feeling a glow of pride mount his cheeks, the 
 words are so inspiring, and breathe so much 
 liberty and independence — 
 
 " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled; 
 Scots wham Bruce has aften led ; 
 Welcome to your gory bed, 
 Or to glorious viotorie ! " 
 
 (Cheering.) The theological controversies 
 which raged so fiercely about 1787 tempted 
 Burns to espouse the cause of his landlord, 
 who was opposed to the minister of Mauchline, 
 and so interested did he become that he brought 
 his genius to bear upon the point in his satires 
 the "Holy Fair," the "Ordination," and "Holy 
 Willie's Prayer," pieces alike distinguished for 
 their severity as for the bright genius which 
 they display ; but the publication of these 
 raised him up many opponents, who have with 
 unmerited perseverance held him' up as " the 
 most immoral -.nd dissolute of men;" but al- 
 though he was tempted to vent his wrath in 
 these satires — his mind was still virtuous ; for 
 
80 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 who can read " The Cottar's Saturday Night " 
 without being delighted at the beautiful pic- 
 ture there portrayed of the evening worship 
 by the ingleside of ihe venerable man at the 
 close of his week's labour and toil, surrounded 
 by his family, pouring forth his adorations to 
 the Most High. (Loud applause.) It is in 
 vain, brethren, that I attempt to delineate the 
 works of our_ departed brother ; they nobly 
 speak for themselves. It is not in this land, 
 hallowed by his name, or even over Britain's 
 wide fields alone, that his poems are respected 
 and admired, and his songs warbled by the finest 
 and the sweetest voices; nor over the scorching 
 and the burning plains of India — the confines 
 of the trackless forests of the Western World, 
 but wherever civilization has taken root, there 
 is re-echoed on the breeze the breathings of 
 his muse. (Loud cheers.) His merits as a 
 poet are universally acknowledged — his obe- 
 dience as a son was exemplary, his affection to 
 his family and those connected with him by the 
 nearest and dearest of ties most endearing. 
 And if, in the social circle, faults may be at- 
 tributed to him, let us, in the knowledge of his 
 undying fame, only remember that human na- 
 ture is not infallible, and that mankind are 
 liable to err. (Cheers.) And let us reflect 
 how much the world has been indebted to him 
 for the great and salutary influence which lie 
 exercised over the minds of all, and regenerated 
 the poetry of our country by the high-souled 
 genius which his writings displayed. (Renewed 
 cheering.) Having, brethren, thus made some 
 remarks on our departed brother, as a man and 
 a poet, I have now to advert to him as a brother 
 of the mystic tie. From the records of St. 
 David's Lodge of Tarbolton, we learn that 
 Brother Robert Burns first saw the light on 
 the 4th July, 1781, and was passed and raised 
 on the 1st October of the same year. He was 
 initiated by Mr. Alexander Wood of Tarbolton; 
 and, from the fact of his having been the means 
 of enlightening the poet, the probability is that 
 his name will live in the remembrance of the 
 craft, while others, possessing far higher titles, 
 honours, and' distinctions in the neutral world, 
 are alike forgotten and unremembered. (Loud 
 cheers.) Brother Burns has always been asso- 
 ciated in name with the St. James' Tarbolton 
 Lodge, and I think it necessary to explain how 
 it is. The Lodges St. James and St. David 
 were both held in Tarbolton, and the members 
 saw fit to make a junction of the two. Such 
 was accordingly done under the appellation of 
 the St. David's. Some years after Brother 
 Burns' admittance some matters in connection 
 with the . internal government caused them to 
 be disjoined, and Burns left it, and associated 
 himself with those who resuscitated the St. 
 
 James's, most probably from the circumstance 
 that those who seceded were his own personal 
 friends, and with whose opinions he coincided, 
 and with which, while resident in that part of 
 the country, he ever remained in close connec- 
 tion. He was, at the period of his initiation, 
 23 years of age, and took a warm interest in 
 everything relating to the craft ; he became 
 expert and zealous in the ceremonials of the 
 Lodge, and the first person brought by him 
 from the darkness of the neutral world into 
 masonic light, was Matthew Steel, a musician, 
 who was wont to accompany a noted character, 
 " James M'Lachlan," in his excursions over the 
 country. Burns never appeared to have at- 
 tained a higher rank in the Lodge than that of 
 depute-master — it being seemingly the practice 
 then, as it is now, of having one of the landed 
 proprietors as the nominal head. During his 
 sojourn at Edinburgh, while publishing his 
 poems, he made repeated visits to the Lodges 
 there, and was enthusiastically received ; and 
 in consequence of his rare attainments was 
 made poet laureate of the Canongate Kilwin- 
 ning Lodge — (cheers) — of which honour he 
 was very proud. Many of you must have seen 
 engravings from the beautiful picture painted 
 by Br. Stewart Watson, the present highly- 
 esteemed Secretary of that Lodge — the scene 
 of which is laid in the St. John's Chapel, and 
 is familiar to every mason. Burns is seen 
 standing on two of the steps in front of and 
 leading up to the altar, with his right hand 
 placed on his left breast, clothed with his 
 apron, on the flap of which is his fellow-ci'aft 
 mark, the Master, at that time Br. Alex. Fer- 
 guson, of Craigdarroch, being about to encircle 
 the wreath of laurel around his noble brow. 
 (Cheers.) The figures in the picture are beau- 
 tifully and chastely grouped, and it is the more 
 prized as almost the whole of the figures are 
 from warranted portraits. While lately at 
 Eyemouth in the discharge of a duty for the 
 Supreme Chapter of Scotland, I learned that 
 Burns had been made a Royal Arch Mason, 
 and communicated the same to that body in 
 my report of the visit. Since then more ample 
 information has been obtained by a zealous 
 brother in Edinburgh, the facts of which he has 
 now placed in the hands of the public. In his 
 own Lodge he was the able acting head ; and 
 from his wit, his intelligence, his zeal, and his 
 capability of expressing his ideas with elegance 
 and propriety, he was universally beloved and 
 admired by the craft. The cliairman concluded 
 by giving "The immortal memory of Robert 
 Burns," which was pledged as only brethren 
 can. 
 
 The remainder of the proceedings were spent very 
 pleasantly in toast, song, and sentiment. 
 
GLASGOW.— KING'S ARMS HALL. 
 
 81 
 
 KING'S ARMS HALL. 
 
 A grand celebration, under the auspices of 
 " Tlie Literary and Artistic Club," was held in 
 the King's Arms Hall, Trongate. Covers were 
 laid for upwards of 200 gentlemen — the hall 
 being taxed to the utmost extent of its capacity. 
 Tlie chair at the head of the table was one 
 which was at one time in possession of the 
 father of " Bonnie Jean," and many a time has 
 the jDoet sat in it in his courting days. It folds 
 up like a desk, and in it Burns is reported to 
 have written the song of " Corn Eigs." It 
 passed into possession of the poet's family, and 
 was ultimately raffled for £1, and gained by the 
 late Mr. Buchanan ; and was courteously placed 
 at the disposal of the committee by Mrs. Bu- 
 chanan. After the chair was placed an em- 
 blematical painting, presented by Mr. David 
 Haire, of Messrs. Hugh Bogle & Co., Gordon 
 Street, consisting of a bu^^ of Burns being 
 crowned by Britannia with a laurel wreath. 
 Behind is a figure emblematic of Time prevent- 
 ing the curtain of oblivion from falling over the 
 Poet. In the foreground, the figure of Fame 
 reclines, supported by Music, Agriculture, and 
 Poetry — the latter dedicating an " ode " to the 
 immortal genius of the Bard. Among the in- 
 teresting relics in the room was a song in the 
 poet's own handwriting, which he sung at the 
 Kilmarnock Kilwinning Lodge in 1786, and 
 presented by him to William Parker, E.W.M. 
 of the lodge. It is the property of Mr. Gabriel 
 Neil. There was also one of the original sub- 
 scription sheets for the Kilmarnock edition of 
 the poems, in which is written after one of the 
 names the expressive remark, "the blockhead 
 refused it." Mr. Hugh Macdonald, author of 
 " Rambles Round Glasgow," supported right 
 and left by Mr. Robert Burns Thomson, and Mr. 
 James Thomson, grandsons of the poet. Coun- 
 cillor James Taylor, Mr. William Simpson, "the 
 Crimean artist," Mr. John'Mossman, sculptor, 
 Mr. Robert Buchanan of the Sentinel, Mr. 
 Henry Andrews of the Theatre Royal, Mr. 
 David Howie of Messrs. Hugh Bogle & Co., 
 Mr. James Waterson of the Renfrewshire Inde- 
 pendent, Dr. M'Intyre, Mr. Duncan M'Alpine, 
 Mr. James Easton, Mr. Andrew Rutherglen, 
 and Dr. Eobb. Mr. William W. Scott of the 
 Daily Bulletin, ofiiciated as croupier, supported 
 by Mr. John Baird, architect, Mr. John Bal- 
 lardie, Mr. Lloyd Jones, Mr. George Webster 
 of the Theatre Royal ; Mr. Thomas Gildard, 
 architect ; Mr. Dobie Macleod of the Morning 
 Journal, Mr. James Chisholm, Mr. Thomas 
 Brown, and Mr. James Murphy. In the body 
 of the hall we observed Mr. Frederick Die- 
 trickson of the Mail, Mr. James Sutherland 
 of the Mail, Mr. William Syme of the Daily 
 
 Bulletin, Mr. Milne Donald, Mr. William Wal- 
 lace, Dr. E. Milner, Mr. William Skirving, Mr. 
 James Eadie, photographic artist ; Mr. William 
 Cowan, Mr. Mungo C. Graham, Mr. Duncan 
 M'Laurin, Mr. William Taylor, Mr. Gordon 
 Smith, Mr. William Gentles, Mr. William Kyle, 
 C.E. ; Mr. Robert Hutchison, Mr. William 
 Love, Mr. Wallace Russell, Mr. J. Pritchard, 
 sewed muslin manufacturer; Mr. B. Massev, 
 engraver; Mr. R. E. Westwood, Mr. John 
 Edgar, sculptor ; Mr, William M'Cormick, Mr. 
 A. C. Hunter, A. L. Dowie, Mr. David Adam 
 of the Guardian, Mr. Alexander M'Donald, 
 jeweller ; Mr. George Lawson, sculptor ; Mr. 
 J. W. Gatherall, Mr. William Swanston, Mr. S. 
 Barr, jun., Mr. James Buchanan, Mr. Stephen 
 E. Trought, Mr. Duncan Brown, Mr. William 
 Stevenson, Mr. John M'Intyre, Mr. F. D. 
 Duncan, Mr. William M'Lintock of Lochinch, 
 &c., &c. 
 
 Grace having been said, an elegant and re- 
 cherche dinner was provided by Mr. M'Rae, 
 and after the removal of the cloth, the Chair- 
 man gave the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 which were heartily responded to. Mr. Cahill 
 replied for " The Army and Navy." 
 
 The Croupier gave the Lord Provost, 
 Magistrates, and Council, coupled with the 
 name of Councillor' Taylor, who replied. 
 
 The Chairman then rose, amid loud applause, 
 to give " The Memory of Burns." He said : — 
 Mr. Croupier and Gentlemen — I must now crave 
 a special bumper to the toast of the evening 
 — "The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns," 
 on this the hundredth return of his natal day. 
 The celebration in which we are privileged this 
 night to share is one of the most remarkable 
 which the world has ever witnessed. Literary 
 history has no parallel to our ovation. Never 
 before was departed genius so enthusiastically, 
 so universally honoured. There is something 
 impressive, something positively sublime in the 
 contemplation of the wide-spread and far-ex- 
 tending series of social groups which are at 
 this moment doing homage to the memory of 
 our poet. Scotland, in all her towns and vil- 
 lages, ay, and in her most solitary farms and 
 shielings, is even now speaking with love and 
 pride of the minstrel who is gone ; while ten 
 thousand roofs are ringing with the music of 
 his matchless melodies. Nor is the homage 
 confined to our "auld respeckit mither." Eng- 
 land sends back a warm response, and from the 
 sister isle there is an echo of kindred tone. 
 The Atlantic cable is mute ; but this night the 
 eastern and the western worlds are united by 
 the golden chain of fellow-feeling, and "though 
 seas between us braid may roar," we can almost 
 fancy we hear the voices of our brethren beyond 
 the great deep re-echoing to our call the name 
 
82 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 of Robert Burns. In the far land of gold, also, 
 our countrymen will be gathered ; and amidst 
 the red fields of Ind the tartan'd heroes of old 
 Scotia will this night be singing with tearful 
 eyes the much-loved lays of Coila's bard, and 
 dreaming with weary hearts of their far-away 
 friends and the home they may never see again. 
 It has been said that the sun never sets upon 
 the dominions of our Queen, and if such be the 
 case, then the name and fame of Robert Burns 
 will this night roll in one continuous swell all 
 round this vast globe which we inhabit. 
 
 Why, it has been asked, is Robert Burns 
 thus popular — thus widely honoured above all 
 our country's other poets ? Why, for instance, 
 has the myriad-minded Shakspeare, the greatest 
 of all earthly poets, never i-eceived such popu- 
 lar demonstrations of homage as this which is 
 now being rendered to Burns ? Why has not 
 similar, nay, infinitely higher, honours been 
 paid to Milton, that old man eloquent, who has 
 so gloriously bodied forth the forms of things 
 unseen, and given to airy nothings a local habi- 
 tation and a name? The reason, I think, is 
 not far to seek. They win our highest admi- 
 ration — an admiration not unmixed with awe — 
 Burns commands our sympathy and love. 
 Shakspeare and Milton seem to us as semi- 
 deities, standing upon an eminence apai't from 
 ordinary mortals ; Burns comes amongst us 
 almost as a friend and companion — no matter 
 how humble or how poor we may be, he would 
 meet us over the table, or take our arm in a 
 country walk, and open his heart to us, and 
 tell us of his joys and his sorrows, his hopes 
 and his fears. He would let us into the 
 secret of his loves, and his very sins in his 
 hours of remorse would not be concealed, 
 lago said " he would not wear his heart upon 
 his sleeve for daws to peck at." Robert Burns 
 was not an lago. He dared to show his heart, 
 and, despite a few specks or flaws, a noble, 
 manly, and loving heart it was — we can see it 
 swelling at times with passions wild and strong, 
 again bursting with honest indignation, and anon, 
 at sight of woe to man or beast, melting as with 
 the tenderness of woman. Yes, Burns is the 
 most loving of all poets, and therefore the most 
 loveable. " Why is it," asked a father of his 
 little daughter, " Why is it, Mary, that every- 
 body loves you?" "Well, I do not know, 
 father," was the reply, " unless it is because I 
 love everybody." The child had caught the 
 real philosophy of the matter. Love and sym- 
 pathy begat kindred feelings. Love and sym- 
 pathy pervade the writings of Burns in a larger 
 measure than those of any other poet that I know 
 — and hence, in my opinion, one main cause of 
 his extreme popularity. To others we yield 
 respect and admiration — to him our kindliest 
 
 affections are surrendered. Nor are these feel- 
 ings confined to his fellowman. They overflow 
 even upon the flowers of the fields and the wild 
 denizens of nature. He has a tear for the daisy 
 which falls before his plough, a sigh for the 
 poor little mouse whose wee bit housie he has 
 unwillingly consigned to ruin. How beautiful 
 and how pathetic are some of the passages in 
 the poems which he composed while toiling 
 upon the furrowed lea : — 
 
 "Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower, 
 Thou'st met me in an evil hour, 
 For I maun crush amang the stour 
 Thy slender stem ; 
 To save thee now is past my power, 
 Thou bonnie gem. 
 
 Alas ! it's no thy neighbour meet, 
 The bonnie lark, companion sweet. 
 Bending thee 'mang the dewy weet, 
 
 Wi' spreckled breist. 
 While upward springing, blythe to greet 
 
 The purpling east." 
 
 But it is not the mere flower that the poet 
 mourns. In his mind's eye he sees in the 
 crushed daisy a type of the village maiden be- 
 trayed and lost, and also of his own sad des- 
 tiny :-— 
 
 "Even thou that mourn'st the daisy's fate — 
 That fate's thy own — no distant date — 
 Stem Ruin's ploughshare drives elate 
 
 Full on thy bloom. 
 Till thou beneath the furrow's weight 
 
 Sinks ti' the tomb." 
 
 The same human element pervades the lines to 
 the mouse. It is not a mere mouse, but a "fel- 
 low-mortal " that he is sympathizing with : — 
 
 "I'm truly sorry man's dominion 
 Has broken nature's social union, 
 And justifies the ill opinion 
 
 That mak's thee startle 
 At me, thy poor earth-born companion 
 And fellow-mortal." 
 
 And, again, a sort of prescient glimpse of his 
 own sad fate is associated with the " wee, Rant- 
 ing, timorous beastie," turned out to thole the 
 cranreuch cauld: — 
 
 "Still thou art blest, compared wi' me! 
 The present only toucheth thee : 
 But och ! I backward cast my e'e 
 
 On prospects drear ! 
 And forward, though I canna see, 
 
 I doubt and fear." 
 
 A similar feeling of sympathy with the lower 
 animals runs through many of his pieces, evinc- 
 ing, in the most striking manner, the subtle 
 tendernesses which mingled with the sterner 
 and more lofty emotions in the big burly bosom 
 of the peasant-bard. 
 
 Robert Burns is peculiarly the poet of the 
 people— the poet of the working-man. Born 
 to a life of poverty and toil, he knew by sad 
 
GLASGOW.— KING'S ARMS HALL. 
 
 83 
 
 experience the many woes and hardships which 
 are incident to a lowly condition of life. Other 
 poets have written about the poor — written as 
 from an elevation and down to them. His 
 voice ascended from the depths of society, from 
 the huts where poor men lie. He knew their 
 feelings, and he gave them earnest utterance; 
 he knew their virtues, and he boldly proclaimed 
 them to the world ; he knew their manners, 
 their customs, and their various modes of 
 thought, and he pictured them with a master 
 pen. He taught the working-man to respect 
 himself, and he compelled the worlds of rank 
 and fashion to regard the children of toil with 
 a more reverent and sympathizing spirit. There 
 are passages in Burns which none but a poor 
 man could have written — passages which none 
 but the hewers of wood and the drawers of 
 water can fully appreciate or comprehend. 
 Such passages are to be found in the "Twa 
 Dogs," "Man was made to Mpurn," in " The Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night," in several of the "epis- 
 les," and, above all, in that noblest and best of 
 songs, " A man's a man for a that" — a song 
 which makes the peasant proud of his hodden 
 grey, which lends him courage to look with a 
 dauntless front upon the arrogance of mere 
 rank and title — and which, even in the darkest 
 hour of adversity, sends a thrill of ecstasy 
 through his frame which makes the very bonnet 
 rise upon his brow. Had Robert Burns never 
 written another lay, he would have done much 
 to ennoble, much to encourage, much to con- 
 sole the peasantry of his native land — ay, and 
 of every land where its noble sentiments found 
 fitting utterance. "Well might Robert Nicol, a 
 kindred spirit, exclaim in an address to Burns — 
 
 " Before the proudest of the earth 
 We walk with an uplifted brow ; 
 Like us thou wert a toilwom man, 
 And we are noble now." 
 
 I have said that there are passages in • Burns 
 which only working-men can adequately com- 
 prehend, and which could only have sprung 
 from a heart which had known the iron crush 
 of adversity. Listen to the rich' man's dog : — 
 
 " I've noticed on our laird's court-day, 
 And mony a time my heart's been wae ; 
 Poor tenant bodies scant o' cash, 
 How they maun thole a factor's snash. 
 He'll stamp and threaten, curse and swear, 
 He'll apprehend them, poind their gear, 
 While they maun stand, wi' aspect humble. 
 And hear it a', and fear and tremble." 
 
 Such scenes the poet must often have witness- 
 ed ; and it is even said that his own noble- 
 minded father was on more than one occasion 
 subjected to the torture of such petty tyranny 
 as is here depicted. It is in " Man was made 
 
 to mourn," however, that the very gall of an 
 insulted and sorrowing son of poverty and toil 
 is poured forth. With how much of bitter em- 
 phasis have I not heard an " idle hand " read- 
 ing that saddest of all Burns' poems : — 
 
 " See yonder poor o'er-laboured wight, 
 
 So abject, mean, and vile, 
 Who begs a brother of the earth 
 
 To give him leave to toil ; 
 And see his lordly fellow- worm 
 
 The poor petition spurn ; 
 Unmindful tnough a weeping wife 
 
 And helpless offspring mourn." 
 
 It is indeed a sorry sight, and one scarcely 
 wonders that under such circumstances the un- 
 happy wight may almost be tempted to question 
 the decrees of Providence. Burns gives the 
 sentiments which in such circumstances might 
 be expected to burst from the over-strained 
 heart, with a powerful emphasis : — 
 
 " If I'm design'd yon lordling's slave — 
 
 By nature's law design'd, 
 Why was an independent wish 
 
 E'er planted in my mind ? 
 If not, why am I subject to 
 
 His cruelty and scorn ? 
 Or why has man the will and power 
 
 To make his fellow mourn ? " 
 
 Yes, Burns was indeed the poet of the poor. 
 In his writings, their sentiments, their feelings, 
 and it may be their prejudices, find the most 
 earnest utterance ; and therefore it is that his 
 volume — always a well-thumbed one — is ever 
 found in the poor man's scanty library. But 
 Burns had another mission — a mission requiring 
 the exercise of sterner qualities. In his days, 
 even as in our own, hypocrisy and cant abound- 
 ed in the land, while the genus ' quack' at the 
 same time imposed as grossly upon the credu- 
 lous and unsuspecting, and with as brazen an 
 effrontery as in our own day and genera- 
 tion. Burns set himself earnestly to the un- 
 masking of the pretenders, wherever they came 
 in his way. Gifted with strong capacities for 
 satire, and a broad side-shaking humoui', he 
 was peculiarly adapted for the task. He rent 
 their robes of seeming truth asunder, and 
 showed the rottenness within — the whited se- 
 pulchres collapsed under his well-aimed thrusts, 
 and revealed the uncleanness which they con- 
 tained. In " Holy Willie's Prayer," the " Ad- 
 dress to the unco gude," the " Holy Fair," and 
 " Dr. Hornbook," are embodied some of the 
 most telling — some of the most effective — 
 touches in modern satire. How he skinned the 
 wretches ! How he anatomised the contemptible 
 creatures, is only to be learned from a perusal 
 of his works. And yet there is a dash of kind- 
 ness — a genial spirit of fun — throughout his 
 most savage attacks. In " Hornbook" there is 
 
84 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 even more of humour than satire. A more 
 truthful description of an individual under the 
 influence of the " malt" never was penned than 
 that which is embodied in the introductory 
 verses : — 
 
 " The clachan yill liad made me canty, 
 I wasna fu', but just had plenty ; 
 I stacher'd whyles, but yet took tent aye 
 
 To free the ditches ; 
 And hillocks, stanes, and bushes kent aye 
 
 Frae ghaists and witches. 
 
 The rising moon began to glower 
 The distant Cumnock hills out-owre ; 
 To count her horns wi' a' my power, 
 
 I set mysel' ; 
 But whether she had three or four, 
 
 I couldna tell." 
 
 That Burns occasionally overstepped the bounds 
 of good taste in these satirical effusions must 
 be admitted. In satire, as in conversation, 
 people are often tempted to go farther than 
 they ought, or than they intended. That these 
 satires did good service, however, there is no 
 denying. The vices which he lashed — and 
 they are of the most hateful — cant and bigotry 
 and ignorant self-conceit, still exist amongst us, 
 and ever will, I am afraid ; but since his day 
 they talk as it were with abated voice, and 
 walk through society with a less presumptuous 
 presence. 
 
 Burns was a thorough patriot. To the back- 
 bone he was a Scotsman. Eor Scotland and 
 everything Scotch he entertained the deepest 
 affection. He loved his native land ; he revered 
 her poets, and he gloried in her heroes. Her 
 honest men and bonnie lasses were the favourite 
 theme of his song ; her banks and braes, her 
 woods and lakes and streams, were the scenes 
 which he best loved to paint. He waxes elo- 
 quent on " Scotch drink ; " of the parritch, 
 " Scotia's halesome food," he talks in kindliest 
 terms ; while he has thrown a halo around the 
 haggis which can never grow dim. He has 
 elevated it, indeed, almost to a regal dignity : — 
 
 " Fair fa' your honest sonsie face, 
 Great chieftain of the pudding race; 
 Abune them a' ye take your place, 
 
 Painch, tripe, or thairm ; 
 Weel are ye wordie o' a grace 
 
 As lang's my arm." 
 
 On the influence of the haggis, old Scotia's 
 favourite dish, he is equally emphatic: — 
 
 " But mark the rustic, haggis fed, 
 The trembling earth resounds his tread; 
 Clap in his walie nieve a blade. 
 
 He'll mak it whissle; 
 And legs and arms and heads will sned 
 
 Like taps o' thrissle." 
 
 But Burns was more than a mere Scotsman. 
 His love, it is true, began at home ; but it em- 
 
 braced all mankind in its far-stretching sym- 
 pathies. The cause of liberty all over the world 
 was his motto, and to his own worldly disad- 
 vantage he feared not to give it, expression. 
 When a poor dependent gauger at Dumfries, 
 he was even called to account for daring to 
 give voice to the liberality of his sentiments. 
 During the American war of independence. 
 Burns was at a party where the health of the 
 " heaven-born " minister, William Pitt, was 
 proposed. The poet refused to taste the cup, 
 and starting up, exclaimed, " I'll give you 
 the health of a nobler and better man, that of 
 George Washington, one of the noblest and best 
 of freedom's champions." On the breaking out 
 of the first French revolution, and when the 
 friends of liberty all over the earth were turn- 
 ing their eyes to the French capital, as towards 
 the dawn of a better day, Burns, in his capacity 
 of exciseman, was engaged in the capture of a 
 smuggling vessel. His portions of the prize 
 were four brass carronades, and these with a 
 letter of symjjathy he transmitted to the patriots 
 of France. That revolution, as we are all aware, 
 went down in blood, but in its origin it was 
 regarded as the herald of liberty to the Gallic 
 people, and the poet of liberty lent it his aid 
 accordingly. Afterwards, when the war broke 
 out between this country and France, Burns 
 had the boldness, I might even say the rash- 
 ness, to propose as a toast, at a public dinner — 
 " May our success in the war be equal to the 
 justice of our cause." For these and other 
 noble indiscretions Burns was called to account 
 by his superiors in the Excise, and his hopes of 
 promotion were for ever destroyed. I mention 
 them merely to show, that although a warm 
 lover of his country and his country's people, 
 Robert Burns had a heart of sympathy for the 
 patriots of every land, and that he was in solemn 
 earnest when he prayed that — 
 
 " Man to man the warld o'er 
 Might brithers be and a' that." 
 
 We have heard much of the errors of Burns, 
 and even in our own day he has been denounced 
 from the pulpit as a curse rather than a blessing 
 to his country. Now, I am prepared to main- 
 tain, that in his capacity as a song-writer he 
 has done more to refine and ennoble the Scottish 
 people than any reformer, lay or clerical, that 
 ever existed. In the very year that Robert 
 Burns was born, a collection of Scottish sono-s 
 was published by an assiduous gleaner, called 
 David Herd. Honest David gathered his songs 
 among the people in farm houses, and smiddies, 
 and taverns, and indeed wherever they were to 
 be obtained. His book may therefore be re- 
 garded as a reflex of Scottish taste at the period 
 
GLASGOW.— KING'S ARMS HALL. 
 
 85 
 
 when our poet entered upon the stage. One- 
 half of the contents are of the most impure, the 
 most gross, and, in many instances, of the most 
 silly and worthless description ; while the other 
 half is in a great measure composed of the 
 merest doggerel and trash. What a change has 
 been wrought by the lyre of Burns ! Now, we 
 have the noblest book of song which the world 
 can boast. Every shade of feeling and senti- 
 ment — from the deepest pathos to the broadest 
 humour — finds fit and musical expressions upon 
 its glowing pages. The gross and unwholesome 
 rubbish of other days has been superseded by 
 effusions of the truest genius — lays that are cal- 
 culated to refine and to elevate, and which have 
 refined and elevated the hearts and the souls 
 of the Scottish people to an extent which it is 
 difficult to estimate. For this we are in a great 
 measure indebted to the poor ploughman of 
 Coila — the depressed and heart-broken gauger 
 of Dumfries. In his lays *he motlier finds a 
 lullaby for her child, the lover a winning lilt for 
 the lassie of his heart; in them the poor man 
 finds consolation and strength, tlie soldier fresh 
 courage on the red field of death. When we 
 are merry we can revel in the mirth and hu- 
 mour of Burns ; when we are sad, his words of 
 sorrow and of pathos are ever at our command. 
 In every mood of mind, in every change of cir- 
 cumstance, the mighty master of the lyre affords 
 us either a solace or an enjoyment. 
 
 Of the life of Burns — ^that brief but glorious 
 span of smiles and tears — it needs not that I 
 should speak. Every one knows of his early 
 toils and struggles — of his early loves, and of 
 his early wooingss of the muse. Every one 
 knows of his first bold, venture into print — of 
 his lionizing visit to Edinburgh, the plaything 
 of a day to rank and fashion — and of his sub- 
 sequent disappointment and neglect. The last 
 sad scene of the tragedy — for every life is a 
 tragedy — and that of Burns was emphatically 
 so — is one of the most melancholy which it is 
 possible to contemplate. Neglected and poor, 
 and for his very independence of soul despised 
 by the rich and great, the curtain fell. In the 
 very noon of life, the sun of his genius was 
 darkened ; ere half his harvest was gathered, 
 the reaper was called hence. The angel they 
 entertained — so scurvily entertained — was not 
 appreciated until he had for ever departed. It 
 is now upwards of threescore years since all 
 that was mortal of Eobert Burns was consigned 
 to the dust. Since then his fame has continued, 
 and is continuing, to extend. With the gather- 
 ing years his honours continue to gather. With 
 the good and the true his name and his memory 
 are now more dearly cherished than at any 
 former period. So it is now, and so it will be 
 a century hence, when the myriads who are 
 
 this night doing honour to the poet are sleeping 
 in the narrow house. 
 
 " Time will the impression deeper malte, 
 As streams their channels deeper wear." 
 
 Tlie toast was drunk amid the greatest enthusiasm. 
 Band, in masterly style, Burns' " Song of Death." 
 Mr. Shiels then sung, " There was a lad was born in 
 Kyle," which was followed by " A man's a man for 
 a' that," from Mr. James Thomson, and "Tannahill's 
 Lament for Burns," by Mr. Gordon. 
 
 Mr. EoBEBT Buchanan having read origi- 
 nal Lines on the Centenary of Burns, Mr. 
 George Webster, of the Theatre Eoyal, read 
 " Tam o' Shanter " in a capital and character- 
 istic style, and was loudly and deservedly ap- 
 plauded. 
 
 Mr. John Baird gave " The Memory of the 
 Poetical Predecessors of Burns," which was 
 duly honoured. Band — " The flowers of the 
 forest." Mr. S. Barr, jun., then sung " The 
 Lass o' Patie's Mill," and Mr. James Caldwell, 
 " Here awa, there awa." 
 
 The Croupier, in proposing " The Poetical 
 followers of Burns," said — Mr. Chairman and 
 gentlemen, I observe that a great many of the 
 centenary programmes contain the general toast 
 of "the Poets of Scotland," without the dis- 
 tinction which we have drawn between those 
 who went before and those who have come after 
 the eia of Eobert Burns. I think that, upon 
 the whole, it is desirable that there should be 
 considerable variety in the programmes ; and I 
 am glad that ours is singular in this respect, as 
 I am inclined to believe that the division of the 
 toast into two is at once natural and appro- 
 priate. A great many Scotch poets flourished 
 before the birth of Burns, and a great many 
 have come after him, though he has been dead 
 for little more than sixty years. The older 
 poets merged in his advent, and from him the 
 recent ones have proceeded. (Applause.) Like 
 an isthmus of land uniting two continents^ — or 
 rather like a lake into which a river falls and 
 from whence it flows — ^he is the connecting 
 link between the toast given by Mr. Baird, and 
 that which is to be proposed by me. He stands 
 among the others a perfect giant, and Scotland 
 can never have another Burns. Therefore I 
 think that we acted wisely in drawing a line ot 
 distinction between the influence exerted on 
 our national bard himself by his poetical prede- 
 cessors, and the influence which he has exerted 
 upon those who have followed in his wake. 
 When Burns departed from this earthly scene, 
 a portion of his poetic spirit seems, like the 
 mantle of Elijah, to have fallen upon a few 
 noble men, who have since distinguished them- 
 selves as sweet singers in the region of Scottish 
 poesy. These men cannot be compared to their 
 great prototype, but they drank deeply at the 
 
86 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 inspiring well of his genius, and they walked in 
 the same path that he did, at however remote a 
 distance behind him. I do not refer to the 
 hundreds of drivelling poetasters who have 
 made the printing presses of Scotland groan 
 with the sheerest doggerel which they sacrile- 
 giously published in imitation of the glorious 
 poems of Burns, but to those sons of song 
 who possessed true genius, who were really and 
 truly imbued with 
 
 " The vision and the faculty divine," 
 
 whose utterances were encircled by a halo of 
 
 " The light that never was on sea or shore, 
 The_coiiseoration and the poet's dream." 
 
 (Cheers.) The undying fame which Burns 
 achieved stimulated hundreds to attempt to fol- 
 low in his footsteps, whose names have already 
 sunk into merited oblivion ; but his works in- 
 fused into others a portion of his spirit; and 
 there have been a few really entitled, from the 
 position they attained, to claim a special bum- 
 per on an occasion such as this. Even a man 
 who has no music in his soul, can hardly read 
 the songs of Robert Burns without attempting 
 to sing them ; how then could a man with a 
 single spark of the poetic element in his com- 
 position peruse his poems without feeling his 
 heart on fire as if ready to burst forth into the 
 gushing cadence of poetry. Can it be won- 
 dered at that such men as Robert Tannahill, 
 Hector M'Neil, Robert Nieoll, or Allan Cun- 
 ningham, should have experienced the divine 
 afflatus when they basked even in the reflected 
 rays of such a brilliant orb as the Ayrshire 
 Bard. All these men were native poets, and 
 to the manner born, and might have written 
 spontaneously as sweet effusiona as they did 
 even had Burns not preceded them, but it is 
 undeniable that his works went far to foster 
 their poetic tastes, and induce them to give 
 expression to their thoughts and feeling in the 
 ■ sublime language of verse. Burns towers a 
 mental giant above them all, but we must not 
 overlook the modest little fern, because it grows 
 beneath the wide-spreading branches of the 
 stately oak. The songs of Robert Tannahill 
 and Hector M'Neil, and the ballads of Allan 
 Cunningham, are as undying as the language ; 
 and it is no exaggeration to assert that " Jessie, 
 the flower o' Dunblane," and " My Boy Tam- 
 my," are fitted to be placed side by side, as 
 they are likely to be co-eternal with " Bonnie 
 Jean," and " John Anderson, my jo." While 
 we can never forget the bard who composed 
 his strains when following the plough in the 
 fields of Ayrshire, or galloping in search of 
 smugglers along the wild coasts of Galloway, 
 neither can we forget the pensive bard of 
 
 Paisley, who gave birth to so many tender 
 lyrics at the loom, or when wandering with his 
 flute at his lips on the " Braes o' Gleniffer," or 
 « Amang the Broom Bushes by Stanley Green 
 Shaw." (Cheers.) Alas! poor Tannahill! 
 How bitter his life, and how melancholy his 
 end! Scotland has been reproached for ne- 
 glecting Burns and leaving him in poverty. 
 Is Scotland not more culpable for her neglect 
 of her next greatest lyrist, although the crime 
 is seldomer laid to her charge ? Burns possessed 
 a manly, rollicking, independent spirit, and did 
 not covet the pity or sympathy of his country- 
 men so long as he compelled their admiration ; 
 but Tannahill was a flower grown upon a more 
 slender stem. His nature was soft and gentle, 
 and he was ill able to buffet the blows of 
 misfortune, or bear up against his country's 
 ingratitude. Now, then, that he has passed 
 away so sadly, let us affectionately cherish his 
 memory, for of all our Scottish song writers, 
 after Burns, Robert Tannahill is essentially and 
 assuredly the sweetest, the purest, and the best. 
 More prominent than he, however, among the 
 group comprised in my toast, bulks the broad, 
 burly form of the Ettrick Shepherd. (Ap- 
 plause.) With the exception of Burns and Sir 
 Walter Scott — whose memory is to be specially 
 drunk — I look upon James Hogg as the great- 
 est literary Scotchman of any age, and certainly 
 he was a more extraordinary and remarkable 
 man than either of the two I have named. I 
 certainly do not mean the shepherd of Profes- 
 sor Wilson's Noctes Ambrosianse, but the veri- 
 table Shepherd of Ettrick, as he lived and as he 
 wrote. His life forms one of the finest exam- 
 ples of the persevering, industrious, and ener- 
 getic student on record. Till he attained the 
 age of eighteen he had received no education, 
 and when he died, in his sixty-fifth year, he left 
 behind him almost a library of poems, tales, 
 romances, ballads, songs, and miscellaneous 
 writings. A pen so voluminous must have 
 written some things unworthy of the writer, 
 but his works contain many beautiful gems, and 
 some of the finest sentiments ever breathed. 
 Some of his compeers possessed more of the 
 reasoning faculty than the Shepherd, but in the 
 domain of fancy, or rather the imagination, he 
 stands unrivalled — his " Bonny Kilmeny " being 
 perhaps the finest thing of its- kind in any lan- 
 guage. As a song-writer, Hogg is also most 
 superior. A genial freshness pervades his pro- 
 ductions which is positively infectious. Where, 
 for example, will you find heartier and healthier 
 love songs than " The Kye comes hame" and 
 "Auld Joe Nicholson's Bonny Nannie," a 
 sweeter plaint than "Flora M'Donald's Fare- 
 well," or more inspiring war strains than' 
 "Donald M'Donald," "Cam' ye by Athol," or 
 
GLASGOW.— KING'S AKMS HALL. 
 
 87 
 
 " Come o'er the sti-eam, Charlie, and dine wi' 
 M'Lean." The writings of the Ettriek Shep- 
 herd are, I regret to say, a mine of undiscov- 
 ered treasure to many, but I believe that Scot- 
 land will yet do greater justice to his genial 
 and immortal memory. When he was alive he 
 was a kind and an amiable man. Once he 
 made a pilgrimage to Paisley expressly to visit 
 Tannahill. We can fancy the pleasure of this 
 meeting of the bards. It was an event in Tan- 
 nahill's life — a green spot which he remembered 
 with joy to the last. Had Kobert Burns not 
 previously mingled his strains with the life- 
 blood of the people of Scotland, my conviction 
 is that the creations of James Hogg would have 
 occupied the vacant place in the heart-history 
 of the nation, as the effusions of an inspired 
 peasant who had been chosen the representative 
 man of the literary genius of his country. And 
 that shepherd lad who was born in the forest 
 of Ettriek, and nursed amidst old legends and 
 fading superstitions, who battled his own way, 
 by the vigour of his genius, to fame and im- 
 mortality, would, after all, have been no feeble 
 substitute for the greater bard born on the 
 banks of Doon — 
 
 " He who walked in glory and in joy, 
 Following Ilia plough upon the mountain side." 
 
 (Loud cheers.) Of the other successors of 
 Burns, little need be said among so many of 
 their admirers to secure for my toast an enthu- 
 siastic reception. It is not altogether to the 
 memory of the departed that I ask you to 
 drink, but also to the health of those who are 
 still alive who may be embraced in my toast, — 
 to such men as Thomas Aird, James Ballantine, 
 Alexander Smith, and James M'Farlan, and 
 our own Hugh Macdonald. (Tremendous ap- 
 plause.) However, it is great and comprehen- 
 sive enough if it includes only the mighty dead 
 — if the men may be said to be dead who in 
 their writings still live and speak to us in 
 " thoughts that breathe and words that burn." 
 (Cheers.) Like the blood of Abel, which, 
 though he was dead, yet spoke — these intellec- 
 tual athletse hold daily converse with us when 
 we sing their songs or pore over their pages. 
 Their noble voices come ringing down the tide 
 of time like a swell of music on the wind; and 
 their grand and glorious thoughts commingle 
 with the rough asperities of our everyday life, 
 and smooth and enliven our journey through 
 this lower world. Their welcome words are as 
 those of an ever-true friend, whose familiar 
 tones always induce joy, while their ideas, so 
 far above ours, tend to elevate us nearer their 
 place in spirit-land. (Cheers.) This world is 
 bright and lovely — very lovely; and its beau- 
 ties are soothing to the care-worn spirit of man. 
 
 When the troubled and restless soul is con- 
 fronted with the everlasting hills, man's stormy 
 littleness is rebuked by their calm serenity. 
 The loveliness of a summer landscape, with its 
 trees and flowers, its rivulet and little cascade, 
 tends to produce a holy calm in the human 
 breast. 'These beauties, however, are material 
 and transient, and their influence is unendur- 
 ing, for 
 
 " This woi'ld is all a fleeting show, 
 For man's illusion given." 
 
 But in the works of the great spirits who have 
 penned our national poetry, we find the revela- 
 tion of a superior intelligence, and can hold 
 communion with the country beyond the grave. 
 In their intellectual society, the attractions of 
 nature to our mental eye fade away, and we 
 are lifted above the world to enjoy higher, holier 
 feelings, which confer a truer bliss. Well may 
 we meet to celebrate the memories of those 
 who are so dear to us, because they have raised 
 us above this earth, and well can we afford to 
 despise the detracting voice of the canting 
 hypocritical bigot. We care not though a few 
 members of the clerical profession may preach 
 against this centenary celebration, for we know 
 that more benefit is to be derived from the 
 sublime teachings of the poets than from the 
 meagre and inane ideas of those clergymen now 
 engaged in preaching against it, whose mental 
 calibre is far below mediocrity, poets though 
 some of them profess to be. (Great applause.) 
 The names of Bums, Tannahill, and the Ettriek 
 Shepherd, are immortal ; but the only chance 
 these men have of being remembered would be 
 to have their virtues carved on their tomb- 
 stones — (hear) — or their names ignominiously 
 enshrined in such works as those of Burns — side 
 by side with « The Calf," or « Daddy Auld." 
 Members of churches though we be, we can in 
 this instance treat the teachings of our spiritual 
 advisers with supreme contempt, and we will 
 not fail to place certain laymen in the same un- 
 enviable category. (Hear, hear.) Directors 
 of temperance societies have declared, I under- 
 stand, that they would be no parties to cele- 
 brating the centenary of a man whose " bac- 
 chanalian songs had sent more men to hell than 
 his 'Cottar's Saturday night' had sent to 
 heaven;" but we can well afford to hear the 
 censure of spirits such as these poor contemp- 
 tible worms of the dust — 
 
 " Wliose worthless nievfu' of a sowl, 
 May in some future carcase howl. 
 
 The forests fricbt ; 
 Or in some day-detesting owl. 
 
 May shun the licht," 
 
 (Loud cheers.) Let us hope that many more 
 poetic successors to Burns will arise to illustrate, 
 
88 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 in melting melody, the manners and customs 
 of our native land. It is unnecessary that we 
 should wish for immortality to the writers in- 
 cluded in my toast, for circling round the 
 grand central sun found in the works of Burns, 
 they will be lasting as this nether sphere, and 
 their hallowed influence will, I am sure, be 
 remembered with pleasure amid the bright 
 glories of eternity. (Hear, hear.) I ask you 
 then, while you cherish the name of Burns, to 
 drink to the memory of his departed, and the 
 health of his living, successors. 
 
 The toast was heartily drunk. Band — " Castles i' 
 the Air." Mr. James Waterston sung " Gloomy- 
 Winter's noo awa';" and Mr. Young, "Lock the 
 door, Lauriston." 
 
 Mr. R. E. Westwood proposed " The Me- 
 mory of Sir Walter Scott," which was warmly 
 received. Band — " Braw Lads o' Gala Water." 
 Mr. Thomas Brown sung in fine style " Jock o' 
 Hazeldean." 
 
 Mr. Robert Buchanan gave " The General 
 Literature of Scotland," which was duly drunk. 
 Band— "The Kail Brose o' Auld Scotland;" 
 after which Mr. Robert Burns Thomson, grand- 
 son of the Poet, sung " Scots wha hae." 
 
 Mr. Lloyd Jones gave " The Literature of 
 England," which was warmly responded to. 
 Band — " Black-eyed Susan." The Chairman 
 then sung " The Elower Gatherers," and the 
 glee party " Life's a Bumper." 
 
 The Rev. H. W. Crosskby proposed the 
 next toast — " The Literature of Ireland" — and 
 made a most eloquent speech in support of it ; 
 making special reference to the names of Oliver 
 Goldsmith and Dean Swift. During the de- 
 livery of his speech, which was imbued with 
 many noble and brilliant sentences, Mr. Cross- 
 key was loudly and repeatedly applauded. 
 
 The toast was drunk amid hearty cheering. Band 
 — " St. Patrick's Day." Mr. Wm. Henry then sung 
 "The Irish Emigrant;" and Mr. Jones, "Widow 
 Machree." 
 
 Mr. Gordon Smith proposed " Painting, 
 Sculpture, and Architecture," which, having 
 been drunk, the band played Mendelssohn's 
 "Wedding March;" after which, Mr. William 
 Simpson and Mr. John Mossman replied. Mr. 
 William Gentles then sung " Afton Water." 
 " The Surviving Members of Burns' Family" 
 was then given by the Croupier, and heartily 
 responded to. Band—" Bide ye yet." Mr. 
 Robert Burns Thomson replied. 
 
 The other toasts were : — " The Commercial 
 Interests of Glasgow," by Mr. David Haire. 
 Band—" The Rock and the Wee Pickle Tow." 
 Song — " I gaed a Waefu' Gate Yestreen," by 
 Mr. Sheils. " The Agricultural Interest," by 
 Councillor J. Taylor. Band — " Speed the 
 Plough." " Corn Rigs," by Mr. T. Brown. 
 
 " Music and the Drama," by Mr. J. Dobie 
 Macleod, to which Mr. George Webster and 
 Mr. S. Barr, jun., replied. Glee — "Willie 
 brewed a peck o' maut." " The Press and Mr. 
 James Waterston of Paisley," by Mr. Andrew 
 Rutherglen. Band— " Up in the morning 
 early." Song — " My tocher's the jewel," by 
 Mr. Barr. "The Ladies," by Mr. Thomas 
 Gildard. Band — " Here's a health to all good 
 lasses." Song — " The kye come hame," by the 
 croupier. " The Chairman," by *Mr. James 
 Easton. Band — " All good fellows." Song — 
 " Last May a braw wooer," by Mr. Thomas 
 Brown. " The Croupier," by Mr. Thomas 
 Brown. Band — " Willie was a wanton wag." 
 Song — " Duncan Gray," by Mr. William Pin- 
 don. The proceedings were concluded by 
 "Auld langsyne," from the company. The 
 services of the band, under the leadership of 
 Mr. M'Lewee, were most efficient. Mr. Glead- 
 hill presided at the pianoforte. The company 
 separated at a suitable hour. 
 
 STUDENTS' MEETING. 
 
 The students of the University of Glasgow 
 held a banquet to commemorate the Burns 
 centenary. Upwards of sixty gentlemen were 
 present ; and so great was the demand for 
 tickets, that three times that number could 
 easily have been disposed of, had sufficient 
 accommodation been found. W. E. Steven- 
 son, Esq., M. A., divinity student, presided, 
 and was supported right and left by Mr. Bruce 
 B. Begg, nephew of the poet, Messrs. Cameron, 
 Lang, John M'Leod, Norman M'Leod, and 
 John Gillespie, divinity. J. S. G. Coghill, 
 Esq., M.D., demonstrator of anatomy, officiated 
 as croupier, and on his right and left sat Messrs. 
 Taylor, Christie, Schmidle, Alston, J. Paul 
 Allan, E. L. Allan, Lennox, Robertson, and- 
 Kerr, medical. Grace having been said, supper 
 was served in first-rate style by Messrs. Fer- 
 guson & Forrester. After supper, the usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts having been disposed 
 of, the chairman proposed the toast of the 
 evening — " The Immortal Memory of Burns." 
 Burns had no education, and none of the ad- 
 vantages we now enjoy, and yet he had attained 
 the very highest pinnacle of fame as a poet. 
 (Cheers.) All honour to his memory ! (Drunk 
 in silence.) The Croupier, in giving " The 
 Lord Rector, Sir E. B. Lytton," remarked 
 that students of all political sections rejoiced 
 I that such a distinguished man as Sir Bulwer 
 Lytton occupied the Rectorial chair. (Ap- 
 plause.) Mr. George Paterson, of the Liberal 
 Association, replied. Mr. George Mather re- 
 cited Burns' " Address to the Haggis " in an 
 
GLASGOW.— VICTORIA ROOMS. 
 
 89 
 
 animated manner, and the company joined in 
 singing "Ye Banks and Braes." Mr. John 
 Cameron gave the "University," and Mr. J. 
 W. King read " Tam o' Shanter." Mr. James 
 P. Allan proposed "The Clergy," to which 
 Mr. H. M. M'Gill, who said that John Knox 
 was an ancestor of his, replied; and Mr. George 
 Mather, "The Sister Universities," to which 
 Mr. Maximilian Schmidle replied for the Uni- 
 versities of the Continent, Mr. John Ciieyne 
 for the other Universities of Scotland, and Mr. 
 James Bryce for the English Universities. The 
 Croupier, in giving " The Surviving Represen- 
 tatives of Burns," said that the descendants of 
 our national poet had done honour to their 
 great progenitor. (Cheers.) Mr. B. B. Begg 
 replied in appropriate terms. Mr. J. C. Bryce 
 sang, "Blythe and Merry was she," and Mr. J. 
 M'Leod gave "Poetry." "Literature, Art, and 
 Science," was ably proposed by Mr. Ralph 
 Abercromby ; Mr. J. B. Russeil responded. Mr. 
 N. M'Leod gave " The Colonies," Mr. Simon 
 M'Gregor responding, and Mr. R. L. Allan, 
 medical, " The Legal Profession," Mr. Alison 
 responding. Mr. James Christie, in giving 
 " The Societies of the University," referred in 
 complimentary terms to the political, literary, 
 missionary, medical, and temperance societies. 
 Mr. Gavin Lang, Secy, to the Conservative 
 Club, replied. Mr. H. M. M'Gill gave " The 
 Medical Profession." The Croupier, in re- 
 sponding, said all the three learned professions 
 arose from the frailties of human nature — the 
 lawyer from men's litigiousness, the doctor 
 from their ailments, and the clergyman from 
 their sins. (Laughter and applause.) Mr. 
 John Hadden proposed " The Press," and paid 
 a high compliment to Professors Allen and 
 William Thomson. Mr. N. S. Kerr replied, 
 and gave "The Ladies," or, as he preferred 
 calling it, " The Lasses," with which he begged 
 to couple the name of "Jean Armour Burns" — 
 "Bonnie Jean." The toasts of the " Chairman" 
 and "Croupier" having been given and warmly 
 responded to, the assembly broke up at an early 
 hour, after singing "Auld Langsyne." 
 
 VICTORIA ROOMS, BUCHANAN 
 STREET. 
 
 The centenary of Burns was celebrated in 
 the above rooms by the Committees of various 
 Temperance Societies and their friends, Mr. 
 Melvin presiding, supported by Mr. J. P. 
 Burns, Mr. Merrier, Mr. Thomas Smith, Mr. 
 M'Nab, and others. After a service of tea, the 
 company enjoyed a rich treat from the follow- 
 ing musical artistes, viz., Madml. Vaneri, Miss 
 Smith, Miss Gilles, and Mrs. Alexander (who 
 
 presided at the piano-forte), and by Mr. Kelly 
 and Mr. M'Nab, who was exceedingly humor- 
 ous. The enthusiasm of the meeting was kept 
 up till about half-past ten. In the course of 
 the evening Mr. Brown read an able paper on 
 the genius and character of Burns, which was 
 received with great applause. The meeting 
 separated highly pleased with the entertain- 
 ment, the company joining in chorus in " Auld 
 Langsyne." 
 
 MECHANICS' HALL, CALTON. 
 
 The members of the Calton, Mile-end, and 
 Bridgeton Mechanics' Institution, and their 
 friends, celebrated the occasion by a dinner in 
 the Mechanics' Hall. The chair was filled by 
 the president of the institution, William John- 
 stone, Esq., and the hall was filled to overflow- 
 ing. The usual loyal toasts over, the Chair- 
 man gave the toast of the evening. He dwelt 
 in appropriate and succinct terms upon the 
 genius of Burns, and the ray of glory he had 
 thrown around his native country. The toast 
 was drunk with all the honours. The follow- 
 ing toasts were also given and warmly re- 
 sponded to: — "The Surviving Members of 
 Burns' Family," by Mr. Fisher; "The Memory 
 of Burns' Friends," by Mr. Lithgow ; "The 
 Peasantry of Scotland," by Mr. Noble ; " The 
 Poets of Scotland," by Mr. R. Houston, &c., 
 &c. The meeting was highly successful, and 
 most creditable to the institution. 
 
 THE CROW HOTEL. 
 
 The Crow Hotel had a grand device over 
 the entrance, consisting of an illuminated arch, 
 based on the letters " R. B." and surmounted 
 by the figures " 1759," with a colossal crow in 
 the centre. In the background were a bust of 
 Burns, Tarn o' Shanter, Souter Johnny, and 
 various other figures, beautifully grouped, and 
 interspersed with variegated lamps, forming 
 altogether a novel and brilliant spectacle. We 
 understand there were nearly 100 gentlemen 
 dined in the Crow, in different companies, 
 where, amongst the other good things, the 
 " great chieftain o' the pudding race," made in 
 Mrs. Cranston's well-known style, was the most 
 prominent dish. 
 
 ALBION HOTEL. 
 
 A party of gentlemen, numbering about 40, met 
 in the Albion Hotel to celebrate the centenary 
 of Robert Burns. The chair was ably filled by 
 
90 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Mr. Walker, and Mr. Russell, jun., officiated 
 as croupier. After partaking of a sumptuous 
 dinner, served up in Mr. Ritchie's usual first- 
 olass manner, the cloth was removed, when the 
 Chairman, in a few neat and appropriate re- 
 marks, gave the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 which were heartily responded to. The Chair- 
 man then, in an eloquent and spirit-stirring 
 manner, gave "The Immortal Memory of 
 Robert Burns," which was enthusiastically 
 drunk. Song : " There was a lad was born in 
 Kyle," by Mr. Cairns. The company were 
 agreeably enlivened by appropriate music, 
 which was sung by several of the gentlemen. 
 The meeting separated at a seasonable hour, 
 highly delighted with the evening's entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 UNITED TRADES' FESTIVAL. 
 
 This festival, which took place in Mr. Bell's 
 large hall, Trongate, under the auspices of the 
 Council of United Trades, may- be taken as the 
 chief of those less aristocratic gatherings so 
 numerous in every district of the city. At 8 
 o'clock, P. M., nearly 300 working people had 
 assembled in the hall — one grand feature of 
 the entertainment being, that the fair sex were 
 admitted from the beginning. Mr. Adam 
 Mitchell, president of Council, having been 
 called to the chair, an excellent tea was served 
 up. The Chairman addressed the meeting. 
 Mr. Campbell next addressed the meeting, and 
 read an original poem on the Burns' Centenary, 
 which elicited the heartiest applause, when Miss 
 Grant followed with a song, and Mr. Bennet 
 with a recitation. After a service of fruit, Mr. 
 Little rose to propose the toast of the evening, 
 " The Memory of the Immortal Burns." Se- 
 veral songs were now sung in first-rate style, 
 and Mr. J. Little recited " Tarn o' Shanter," 
 amid the loudest plaudits ; when, as a finale, 
 the whole company sang "Auld Langsyne," 
 and then retired highly pleased with the night's 
 proceedings. 
 
 THE FRANKLIN HOTEL. 
 
 A soiree was held in the above hotel in hon- 
 our of Burns' Centenary, which was crowded 
 to excess — Mr. W. C. Cameron in the chair. 
 On the platform were Messrs. Faulds, Jeffrey, 
 Graham, Paterson, Dow, Campbell, and others. 
 After an excellent tea, the Cliairman, in a suit- 
 able and eloquent speech, proposed " The Me- 
 mory of Burns." An excellent staff of singers 
 was in attendance, and kept the meeting in a 
 liigh state of merriment and hilarity. Messrs. 
 
 Faulds, Stout, Woodside, Jeffrey, Campbell, 
 and Brown, addressed the meeting through the 
 course of the evening. Mr. Pigot, professor of 
 music, presided at the harmonium, and Master 
 C. Pigot performed a variety of Scottish airs 
 on the cornopean. — After three times three to 
 the memory of Burns, Tannahill, and Fergus- 
 son, and a hearty vote of thanks to the chair- 
 man, the meeting broke up at the " wee short 
 hour ayont the twal." 
 
 ANN STREET, BRIDGETON. 
 
 A grand banquet took place in Mr. Laird's 
 Hall, Ann Street, Bridgeton. George Miller, 
 Esq., presided, and Charles Wright, Esq., offi- 
 ciated as croupier. About two hundred and 
 fifty sat down to dinner, after which the Chair- 
 man gave the usual loyal toasts, and " The 
 Immortal Memory of Burns," which was warm- 
 ly applauded. The following toasts were af- 
 terwards given: — "The Surviving Members of 
 Burns' Family," " The Land of Burns," " The 
 Poets of Scotland," " The Town and Trade of 
 Glasgow," and "The Chairman." The pro- 
 ceedings, which were much enlivened by excel- 
 lent song -singing, passed off very pleasantlj'. 
 
 MAIN STREET, BRIDGETON. 
 
 The Main Street Total Abstinence Society 
 held their meeting in memory of the birth of 
 " Scotland's Ploughman Bard " in the New 
 Hall, John Street, Bridgeton. The hall was 
 well filled. After tea, the Chairman, Mr. A. 
 King, commenced the proceedings with a short 
 address. The meeting was afterwards ad- 
 dressed by Mr. James Mitchell, of the United 
 Eingdow Alliance, and Mr. George Mitchell, 
 and Mr. Robert Court. The proceedings were 
 varied by readings and songs. The speeches, 
 recitations, and songs had all of them special 
 reference to Burns. 
 
 BUCHANAN'S TEMPERANCE HOTEL. 
 
 A meeting of the members and friends of 
 the Glasgow Dumfries-shire Mutual Improve- 
 ment Society was held in Buchanan's Tem- 
 perance Hotel, Clyde Place, to celebrate 
 the Centenary of Burns. Mr. Brown, Presi- 
 dent of the Society, was in the chair. After 
 partaking of that excellent beverage "which 
 cheers but not inebriates," the chairman de- 
 livered a most excellent address, in which he 
 showed how becoming it was in the natives of 
 Dumfries-shire to celebrate the Centenary of 
 
GLASGOW.— DEUMMOND'S HOTEL. 
 
 91 
 
 the birth of him who was so closely associated 
 with Dumfries while in life, and whose dust 
 lies in St. Michael's churchyard. In the course 
 of the evening, Mr. Eobert Pattie read an able 
 paper on the Poetry of Scotland, dwelling more 
 particularly on Burns. He was received with 
 great applause. The evening was further 
 enlivened by admirable songs, speeches, and re- 
 citations from Messrs. Glencross, Eogerson, 
 Cameron, M'Kenzie, &c. Mr. Eeid recited an 
 original poem on Burns, composed expressly 
 for the occasion. The enthusiasm of the meet- 
 ing was kept up till half-past twelve, when the 
 company joined hands in chorus in "Auld 
 Langsyne," and then separated, highly pleased 
 with the entertainment of the evening. 
 
 DEUMMOND'S HOTEL. 
 
 A select party of friends asisembled in Drum- 
 mond's Hotel, to celebrate the Centenary of 
 Burns' birthday — Mr. Merry occupied the 
 chair. A blessing having been asked, the com- 
 pany busied themselves in discussing the very 
 substantial and excellent supper prepared by 
 their host. Among more recherche viands, the 
 national " haggis " had the foremost place ; and 
 on its " sonsie face " being presented the coun- 
 tenances of the audience wore the most happy 
 aspect imaginable. The Chairman gave an ad- 
 dress on the genius and writings of Burns, and 
 Messrs. Stewart, Holmes, Paterson, and Fer- 
 guson, addressed the company on kindred to- 
 pics throughout the evening. The vocal part 
 of the proceedings was well sustained by Messrs. 
 Phillips, J. Stewart, Howie, and Laing, while 
 several of the ladies sung some of Burns' sweet- 
 est songs, in excellent style. After spending 
 a most delightful evening, and singing " Auld 
 Langsyne," the company separated, not with- 
 
 FLAX-DEESSEES AND EOPE-MAKEES. 
 
 Above sixty of the flax-dressers and rope- 
 makers of Glasgow supped together in the 
 Eoyal Albert Hotel. The chair was filled by 
 Mr. Archibald Thomson, supported right and 
 left by Messrs. James Lindsay and Mr. Henry 
 Wales, jun. The duties of croupier were dis- 
 charged by Mr. James Carrick, supported by 
 Mr. Hugh M'Cormack and Mr. Peter Orr. 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts the 
 Chairman, in an eloquent speech, proposed the 
 memory of Burns, craving him as one of the 
 craft. Many excellent and appropriate toasts, 
 songs, and sentiments were given, and the 
 evening's enjoyments were brought to a close 
 
 by the whole company singing "Auld Lang- 
 syne." 
 
 MODEL FAEMEES' CLUB. 
 
 The Model Farmers' Club, determined not 
 to be behind their numerous neighbours in 
 devotion to the memory of Burns, celebrated 
 his centenary birthday by dining together in 
 the Tontine Hotel — Mr. William Crawford in 
 the chair, and Mr. Eobert Eamsay acted as 
 croupier. About forty gentlemen sat down to 
 an ample repast, which reflected credit on Mr. 
 Logan's taste as a purveyor. 
 
 TINPLATE WOEKEES. 
 
 A numerous party of the Glasgow Tinplate 
 Workers' Society celebrated the Centenary of 
 Scotland's Prince of Poets, Eobert Burns, in the 
 Thistle Hotel, 222 Buchanan Street. After a 
 splendid supper, including a real Scotch " hag- 
 gis," served up in grand style by mine host, 
 Mr. Dunn, and after the usual and other toasts, 
 song, sentiment, good feelings, and harmony, 
 were the order of the evening. All were highly 
 pleased with the evening's entertainment, and 
 each man parted with the idea that " a man's a 
 man for a' that." 
 
 WAVEELEY HOTEL. 
 
 A number of friends met at supper in the 
 Waverley Hotel, George Square, to celebrate 
 the Centenary of Burns. The duties of chair- 
 man and croupier were ably discharged by 
 Messrs. Caldwell and Moffat. After the usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts, the chairman pro- 
 posed the toast of the evening — " The Immor- 
 tal Memory of Burns." Appropriate addresses 
 were also delivered by Messrs. Honeyman, 
 Milne, and Harkness, and the evening was en- 
 livened by songs from Messrs. Mackay, Spence, 
 Millman, Campbell, and Clark. Other toasts 
 followed. 
 
 EOYAL GALLEEY. 
 
 A most enthusiastic meeting was held in the 
 above place to celebrate the Centenary of Eo- 
 bert Burns. In the absence of Mr. Chisholm, 
 Mr. Eobert Ferguson was called to the chair, 
 being supported right and left by the following 
 gentlemen — J. Gait, Esq., James Law, Esq., J. 
 TurnbuU, Esq., J. Greenlees, Esq., T. Ferguson, 
 Esq., W. Eankin, Esq., J. M'Glashan, Esq., 
 
92 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 ■with Messrs. Ewing and J. M'Adam, jun. The 
 most favourite songs of Burns were tastefully 
 executed by Messrs. Haddow, M'Adam, and 
 Ewing, while readings of "Mary in Heaven" 
 and " The Twa Dogs " were given in excellent 
 style by Messrs. Rankin and M'Glashan. The 
 usual good things of life were done justice to 
 by the assembly, and song and sentiment flowed 
 on till an early hour in the morning, the whole 
 winding up with dancing by a select party, an 
 excellent quadrille band being in attendance. 
 
 During the evening the usual loyal and pat- 
 riotic toasts were given, with " The Memory of 
 Robert Burns," by Mr. Ferguson, chairman. 
 
 GORBALS TOTAL ABSTINENCE 
 SOCIETY. 
 
 The hall of this Abstinence Society was most 
 tastefully adorned, — no fewer than four coun- 
 ties — Dumfries, Ayr, Renfrew, and Lanark — 
 
 contributing to its adornment with flowers, 
 shrubs, and evergreens. Behind the chair was 
 a large portrait of the Bard, wreathed with 
 laurel ; and the walls were covered with apt 
 quotations from his works. 
 
 Archibald Livingston, Esq., President of the 
 Society, occupied the chair, and was surround- 
 ed on the platform by the staff" of office-bearers. 
 The meeting was exceedingly select, and tickets 
 of admission to the hall were obliged to be re- 
 fused to hundreds. The chairman ably des- 
 canted on the occasion of the centenary meet- 
 ing, whilst Mr. J. P. Crawford and Mr. James 
 Nicholson gave addresses on the poetical genius 
 and manly character of Burns, replete with 
 feeling, poetic fire, and generous enthusiasm 
 towards the peasant-prince and poet-king of 
 Scotland. The great feature of the evening 
 was the appearance of Miss Aitken, whose re- 
 ception was most warm and enthusiastic, and 
 great was the delight with which all seemed to 
 enjoy her reading of " The Cottar's Saturday 
 Night." 
 
 AYE. 
 
 The " Auld Toun " has seldom witnessed such 
 a day as the twenty-fifth. From a very early 
 hour of the morning flags were displayed on 
 all the most prominent buildings in the town. 
 From the Fort, from the Wallace Tower, from 
 the harbour, and from many private residences, 
 the bravery of bunting was not awanting ; and 
 the occasional booming of a cannon broke the 
 stillness which pervaded the streets till about 
 ten o'clock. After that the town began to 
 waken up in earnest ; an occasional band of 
 music brought thousands out of doors, and sent 
 hundreds to every available window in High 
 Street, Sandgate Street, and Cathcart Street, 
 where a view of the procession could be had. 
 About twelve o'clock, the lodges — Royal Arch, 
 Ayr Kilwinning, Ayr Operatives, and Ayr St. 
 Paul's — proceeded to the rendezvous at the 
 Academy, where they were met by a deputa- 
 tion from Mother Kilwinning, and representa- 
 tives from some of the trades. The brethren 
 present must have numbered from three to four 
 hundred, their appearance being in every way 
 worthy the occasion, and reflected credit on the 
 masters and wardens of the several lodges. We 
 do not remember ever seeing so much taste 
 displayed on Freemasons' aprons, or so univer- 
 sal an adoption of masonic jewels — many of the 
 former showing an elaboration of n6edlew;ork 
 
 in masonic emblems that would not have dis- 
 graced the fair artistes' "samplers." After 
 being properly arranged, they proceeded by 
 Cathcart Street, Sandgate Street, and High 
 Street, to the Old Church. On reaching the 
 Kirk Port the junior lodge halted and took 
 open order, and the lodges entered the church 
 according to seniority. Br. the Rev. Francis 
 Rae, Assistant-Chaplain of Ayr St. Paul's, and 
 Minister of Wallacetown Church, opened the 
 proceedings of the day by public worship, thus 
 most appropriately inaugurating the Centenary 
 of Scotia's Poet. Br. Rae was accompanied to 
 the pulpit by the Rev. Brs. Crawford of Cross- 
 hill, Buchanan of Ayr, and Thomson, Edin- 
 burgh, — and in conducting the devotions of the 
 day employed language most eloquent and ap- 
 propriate. Br. Nicol, of the Lodge Operative, 
 officiated in the precentor's desk. The Breth- 
 ren occupied the area of the church, the gal- 
 leries being filled by the public, whose anxiety 
 to get admission had to be checked, the con- 
 course being so immense that no building could 
 have contained a tolerable fraction of them. 
 A considerable number, however, secured their 
 seats ; and after singing a few verses of the 
 90th Psalm, the whole congregation joined in a 
 most solemn and appropriate prayer, which ex- 
 pressed in fervent, beautiful, and most apposite 
 
AYR. —MASONIC LODGES. 
 
 93 
 
 language, the feelings suitable to the day, and 
 tlie purpose for which they were assembled. 
 The prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the 
 Temple was then read from 1 Kings viii. 22, 
 two veises of the 5Sth Paraphrase were sung, 
 and the benediction closed the service. On 
 leaving the church, the procession, accompanied 
 by an immense concourse of people, proceeded, 
 with bands playing and colours flying, along 
 High Street, AUoway Street, and by the 
 High Road to Burns' Monument, where it was 
 met by the Provincial Grand Master for Ayr- 
 shire, Sir James Fergusson of Kilkerran, Bart., 
 who had only an hour before arrived from Ed- 
 inburgh. On passing the Poet's birthplace the 
 procession walked uncovered, and when they 
 arrived at the Monument they defiled into the 
 grounds. It was a matter of great regret that 
 the arrangements did not admit of the many 
 thousands outside being allowed to join the 
 masons within the ground, or that there had 
 not been a jjlatform erected in the square before 
 the Inn. Thousands who had assembled were 
 thus prevented from hearing the address to the 
 masonic body ; but the unsettled condition of 
 the weather previously, and the high wind at 
 the time, rendered it impossible to accommodate 
 the great crowd, whose presence was hardly to 
 have been calculated upon. 
 
 On arriving at the Monument, the different 
 lodges marched round it uncovered, headed by 
 the Provincial Grand Master, Sir James Per- 
 gusson, Baronet. Having formed on the side 
 of the Monument looking towards the Cottage, 
 Brother the 
 
 Rev. William Buchanan, Chaplain of Ayr 
 St. Paul's Lodge, ascended to one of the niches 
 in the building, from which he spoke as fol- 
 lows : — Right Worshipful Sir, and Brother 
 Masons, — I should have been much better 
 pleased to have taken a silent part in your public 
 proceedings to-day, and left it to some older 
 and better known member of the brotherhood 
 to address you ; but as I have been desired by 
 the united lodges of Ayr to speak a few words, 
 it would ill manifest my good feeling, and be a 
 poor example of the obedience which one of 
 the youngest of the fraternity should pay to 
 his seniors were I to decline. (Cheers.) I am 
 sure I very much wish that I could say some- 
 thing at all worthy of this great occasion ; that 
 I could give expression in any degree to that 
 profound enthusiasm which now holds you in 
 subject silence — an enthusiasm which you this 
 day share with countless thousands of our own 
 and other lands — an enthusiasm which, borne 
 on the wings of the wind from the far woods 
 of Canada, from the distant mines of Australia, 
 from the burning plains of India — from North, 
 from South, from East and West — seems to 
 
 concentrate around the spot where now we 
 stand — a spot which for full fifty years has ex- 
 cited the interest and deeply moved the inten- 
 sest feelings of some of the best and noblest of 
 their species — and wliich for centuries to come 
 shall continue to be a place of thoughtful pil- 
 grimage to voyagers from every shore as the 
 native seat and chosen shrine of Sentiment 
 and Song. His would be an impassive heart 
 indeed which did not kindle now with the 
 glow of an honest and irrepressible emotion, 
 which did not open up to all the inspiration of 
 this place and time. For what is the spec- 
 tacle which we see presented ? Is it empty 
 honour paid to a mere empty name? Or is 
 it Idolatrous homage given to a mortal like 
 ourselves — the abject servility with which 
 the degraded satellites of some intellectual 
 despot worship the errors and the frailties, or, 
 if you will, the follies and the crimes, which 
 they dare not question, and may not whisper ? 
 I deny it. I believe that Robert Burns, if he 
 himself were here, would be the first to reject 
 such odious homage, even if it were offered. He 
 who saw so clearly and sung so boldly was not 
 the man to bend in ignoble sycophancy before 
 any, and he too would be the last to exact 
 from others the fulsome flattery which he never 
 himself could have stooped to pay. (Applause.) 
 But I deny that any such flattery is offered by 
 tlie crowds of civilized men who meet every- 
 where this day to celebrate his birth. It is 
 true we have no sympathy with those odious 
 reptiles that delight to batten on the corrup- 
 tion of the sepulchre, and find pleasure only in 
 raking the ashes of the dead. We love the 
 memory of Burns, and do not think it neces- 
 sary, or becoming, or profitable, or even good 
 and wise, to drag from the kindly oblivion of 
 the tomb what it is the regret of all men, and 
 would not have been the least regret, I am sure, 
 of himself, if he had been here to speak it, ever 
 should have had a being. But never on that 
 account the more do we presume to impugn the 
 eternal and immutable principles of Righteous- 
 ness and Truth, or pretend to say that his evil 
 was good, or that any vice changed its nature 
 and became a virtue merely because it hup- 
 pened to have belonged to him. (Applause.) 
 God forbid it ; and God forgive the men, if 
 such there be, who thus unjustly and unwar- 
 rantably accuse us. I will not here question 
 their motives or their courage ; but I must take 
 leave to tell them that their abounding zeal 
 might find far fitter objects of attack than the 
 unreturning tenants of the grave ; and that if 
 they wished to signalize their prowess, they 
 could far more usefully work off a portion of their 
 superfluous energy in assailing the cunning and 
 deceit, the cruelty and wrong, whose living im- 
 
94 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 personations desecrate now as they once did 
 before, as, alas, they desecrate always, the very 
 temples of the living Grod Himself! (Great 
 cheers.) As to all the other unmeaning charges 
 brought against us they are scarcely worth a 
 reference. Impiety! Is admiration a crime? 
 Is gratitude a sin ? I look around me on this 
 scene ; I have gazed upon it at every season 
 and in every mood — wlien spring was clothing 
 it in budding beauty, when summer had arrayed 
 it in flowery pride, when autumn threw over it 
 its sober vestment, and when, as now, winter 
 muffles it in weeds of sorrow! At every time 
 my heart has throbbed with overmastering 
 feelings as I thought on the wondrous wisdom 
 of Him who made it as it is, and whose power 
 and goodness it so declares. But must I, in 
 deference to any dull or churlish materialist 
 who may choose for the occasion to ape the 
 airs of superior wisdom or assume the garb of 
 superior sanctity, forget the noblest work of 
 all — more evidence of wisdom and of power 
 than rock, or hill, or wood, or river — the 
 wonderful and subtle Thought of that single 
 Man, which, going forth upon the landscape, 
 can change of a sudden to my vision all these 
 sights themselves — with a lay of sorrow sud- 
 denly fling the pensive sadness of decaying 
 years over the brightest scenes of life's young 
 spring, or anon by a note of love and ecstasy 
 ti'ansform the very weird wilderness of Winter's 
 desolation till it rejoices and blossoms like the 
 rose? (Cheers.) Impiety! — No, no. If there 
 be room for such a charge at all, it must lie 
 against those who keep all their admiration and 
 thanksgiving for the inanimate and insentient 
 portion of the Creator's works, and studiously 
 exclude from their contemplation and regard 
 his last, and best, and most glorious produc- 
 tion — the thinking, being, living spirit he has 
 breathed in man. (Cheers.) It was that spi- 
 rit, freer than those winds, fuller than those 
 waters, more regal than those woods, ay, and 
 grander than those hills, which we admire in 
 Burns — that spirit which asserted its superior- 
 ity to all the hindrances of accident and cir- 
 cumstance and time — which, beginning its 
 course in yonder humble hamlet, continued it 
 long enough to raise a memorial in this classic 
 pile beside which we stand ; ay, and which has 
 achieved for itself in the hearts and affections 
 of the Scottish nation — of the civilized world — 
 a testimony and a title that shall continue 
 long after yon hamlet and this mausoleum, true 
 to the perishable materials which form them, 
 shall have crumbled into ruins, and been swept 
 away by Time's resistless tide. (Cheers.) God 
 gives many wonderful blessings, but he confers 
 none greater upon a people or an age than a 
 man of genius, a true poet of nature — one 
 
 whose light, shone in upon our inner being or 
 diffusing over external nature of its own beauty 
 and beneficence, awakens us to ecstasy or thrills 
 us with delight, as we are told the ancient 
 statue of Memnon was wont to become vocal 
 and responsive when struck by the beams of the 
 rising sun. (Cheers.) Such a man was given 
 to the world this day one hundred years ago, 
 and we rejoice gratefully in the boon. (Cheers.) 
 He was no Godhead or Infallibility before 
 whom we are to bow down and worship. He 
 was no Prophet, flashing awful radiance on the 
 secrets of the Eternal Mind, or holding up his 
 flery torch against the future's dark and 
 troubled sky. He was no Apostle commis- 
 sioned to guide us into unknown truth, and 
 competent, therefore, to assert, and authorised 
 to assert, a superiority to all human plans, and 
 pursuits, and passions, and things. It was of 
 the very essence of his mission that he should 
 appeal to nature — to our nature — not that our 
 nature should appeal to him. It was by pro- 
 found submission to that nature, and entire sym- 
 pathy with it in its every mood, and even whim, 
 and frailty, too, that he acquired such power 
 to sway it. (Cheers.) He had no special re- 
 velation, no extraordinary communing with the 
 Almighty ; but as a delineator of human pas- 
 sion — as an utterer of human sentiment — as a 
 sharer of human vicissitudes — of hopes — of fears 
 — of joys and sorrows — and as an accurate expo- 
 nent of each varying phase — he may have had his 
 equals, but, as far as he goes, I know no mere 
 man that has ever surpassed him. (Cheers.) He 
 spoke and wrote as he thought and felt himself; 
 and because he thought and felt like a man, he 
 is received as a true impersonation and re- 
 presentative of our erring but still noble nature. 
 (Cheers.) He speaks its speech — ^lie rejoices 
 with it when it rejoices — and gives winged 
 words to its gladness — he weeps with it when 
 it weeps, and in sorrowful measures he bids its 
 tears to flow. While' one victim on earth shall 
 have to sigh repentant over a villain's treachery, 
 never can be forgotten that mournful cadence 
 which these very banks and braes o' bonnie 
 Doon have for long and for ever made their 
 own. While old married love owns a happy 
 fireside, " John Anderson, my jo " will be the 
 chosen jubilee ditty of many an aged pair; or 
 while young married ardour half repines at 
 temporary absence, it shall soothe itself to 
 patience with that croon which seems to 
 breathe the very balmy softness of the zephyr 
 which it celebrates : — 
 
 " Of a' tlie aii-ts the wind can blaw, 
 I dearly lo'e the west." 
 
 While the fears of superstition live to be 
 laughed at as they deserve, " Tam o' Shanter " 
 
AYR.— COUNTY HALL. 
 
 95 
 
 must continue a masterpiece of raillery and a 
 mine of humour ; and while devotion burns its 
 holy fire upon that grandest, purest, and best 
 of altars— the household hearth— men shall 
 listen with bared head or on bended knee to the 
 all but seraphic fervour of the Cottar's prayer, 
 and drink in with a holy joy the all but angelic 
 music of the Cottar's evening hymn. (Cheers.) 
 Now, brothers, to conclude, it was this intensely 
 human element in Burns which made hun such 
 an enthusiastic Mason. (Cheers.) For what 
 after all is Masonry but a formal recognition 
 of the great brotherhood that should unite 
 mankind ? (Cheers.) We carry out the idea 
 as far as we can to all who will acknowledge 
 such a bond — to them we feel peculiarly at- 
 tached : — 
 
 " With seoresy round for the mystical bound, 
 And brotherly love for the centre." 
 
 (Cheers.) Burns loved our ^Brotherhood, and 
 shed on it immortal honour. We look back 
 with pride to that year 1781 when he was 
 made in the lodge St. David, Tarbolton, and 
 this day we are proud to hail his as a noble 
 name "to Masonry and Scotia dear." (Cheers.) 
 May we all be enabled to learn the lessons 
 which his life is so fitted to teach — to kindle 
 with the same noble efforts and aims, which, 
 amid all his errors, kept his heart unsophisti- 
 cated, his purpose lofty, his integrity unsullied 
 — to avoid those evils which, in his own repen- 
 tant words, "laid him low and stained his name" 
 — and here passing the sign of silent recogni- 
 tion and sympathy to every craftsman, join in 
 those noble words of his which every true 
 Mason and every right man may so cordially 
 repeat : — 
 
 " That Freedom, Harmony, and Love, 
 
 Unite us in the Grand Design, 
 Beneath the Omniscient Eye above. 
 
 The glorious Architect Divine. 
 That we may keep the unerring line. 
 
 Still rising by the plummet's law. 
 Till order bright completely shine, 
 
 Should be the prayer — o' ane an a' ! " 
 
 (Enthusiastic and prolonged cheering.) 
 
 P. Ot. M. Sir Jambs Fergusson, in a few 
 words, which were loudly cheered, then ex- 
 pressed his satisfaction at having had this op- 
 portunity of meeting that day with his Brethren 
 of the Craft — an opportunity of which, along 
 with Professor Aytoun, he hoped to avail him- 
 self more loyal at their festive celebration in the 
 evening, when he intended joining them after 
 the dinner in the County hall. 
 
 The Lodges then proceeded to their several 
 halls, and the chaplains having been . escorted 
 home, this part of the day's proceedings ter- 
 
 minated. We cannot but compliment the 
 town's people on the perfect orderliness and 
 cordial good humour which seemed to reign 
 throughout. We never saw such harmony and 
 glee, as well as such politeness and propriety 
 everywhere. Drunkenness, swearing, or brawl- 
 ing w^ere out of the question — there were no 
 such things. And we may here add, that such 
 continued to be the characteristics of the day 
 up to the very last ; the Captain of Police in- 
 forming us, that he has usually twice the num- 
 ber of cases on an ordinary market day, which 
 falls here on Tuesdays, which he had on Tues- 
 day last. We rejoice to chronicle such a fact, 
 which is not the least gratifying circumstance 
 connected with our Poet's ovation, in the town 
 and neighbourhood which are proud to claim 
 him for their own. 
 
 THE COUNTY HALL. 
 
 The banquet in the County Hall commenced 
 about half-past 4 o'clock, and came off with 
 much eclat. The chair was taken by Sir James 
 Fergusson, Bart., of Kilkerran, who was sup- 
 ported on his right by Rev. Mr. Wallace, 
 Newton ; Mr. Cathcart, of Auchendrane ; Mr. 
 Cooper, of Failford ; Major Campbell, of Nether - 
 place ; Mr. A. Finnic, Newfield ; Mr. Dal- 
 rymple, of New Hailes ; Mr. Boswell, of Gar- 
 allan ; Mr. Gemmell, Frankville ; and on the 
 left by Sir Edward Hunter Blair, of Blairquhan, 
 Bart. ; Bailie Fullarton, Ayr ; Mr. Somervell, 
 of Sorn ; Mr. Baird, of Cambusdoon ; Mr. 
 Shaw Kennedy, of Kirkmichael ; Mr. Baird, of 
 Rosemount ; and Mr. Dixon, Belleisle. 
 
 Professor Aytoun, Croupier, was supported 
 on the right by Professor Trail, of Edinburgh ; 
 Mr. Finnic, of Newfield ; Mr. Begg, Dundyvau 
 (grandson of the late Mrs. Begg) ; Dr. Graham, 
 Girvan ; Captain Graham, 9th Foot ; Mr. 
 Dunlop of Doonside ; Captain Calvert, Ayr ; 
 Mr. Lade, Rozelle ; and Mr. Brown, Glasgow ; 
 and on his left by Evan Allan Hunter, Esq., 
 W.S., Sheriff" Clerk of Ayrshire ; Rev. Mr. 
 Charteris of St. Evox; Sheriff' Robison, Ayr; 
 Mr. George Baird of Strichen ; Bailie Pater- 
 son, Ayr ; Dr. Hunter, Rector Ayr Academy ; 
 Rev. Dr. Hume, Incumbent of All Souls, Liver- 
 pool ; and Dr. W. Rankine, of Glenlogan. 
 
 In the body of the room were a large 
 proportion of our most influential townsmen ; 
 representatives from almost every district of the 
 county ; gentlemen from various parts of Scot- 
 land, and a few from across the Border. The 
 accommodation being insufficient to admit of 
 the entire company taking their places at the 
 tables during dinner, the members of committee 
 magnanimously gave up their seats to the 
 
96 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 strangers and adjourned from the robing-rootn 
 to the hall when the cloth was drawn. This, and 
 indeed aJl the arrangements were highly credit- 
 able to those actively interested in the organisa- 
 tion of tlie festival, whose promoters are deeply 
 indebted to Messrs. Bone and M'Neight the 
 Secretaries, and Mr. Gavin Gemmell the Trea- 
 surer — three gentlemen who have devoted more 
 time and expended more labour in maturing 
 the details than can well be conceived by any 
 but those who have had practical experience of 
 the difficulties inseparable from the carrying 
 out of such undertakings. Busts of Burns, 
 Scott, Byron, and Mrs. Begg, were displayed 
 in niches in the walls, but were too highly placed 
 to be seen to advantage. Eespecting the latter, 
 fresh from Mr. D. Harvey's studio, a companion 
 bust was sent for exhibition in St. George's 
 Hall, Liverpool, on Tuesday, and in alluding to 
 it, the Liverpool Mercury says — " It has been 
 pronounced by the Misses Begg, and by all 
 who knew the deceased, to be perfect, so far as 
 likeness is concerned ; and as a work of art it 
 recommends itself favourably to the notice of 
 all." A band of eight performers, under the 
 efficient leadership of Mr. Adams, Glasgow, 
 discoursed appropriate music in excellent style. 
 The only vocalist present was Mr. Scotland, 
 also from Glasgow. Although unknown here 
 previously, we only echo the opinion of all who 
 heard his spirited rendering of some of our 
 standard national songs, when we say that he 
 deserves a wider reputation. All his pieces were 
 enthusiastically re-demanded. The appoint- 
 ments of the table did every credit to the re- 
 nowned host of the Ayr King's Arms, who, 
 notwithstanding the awkwardness of serving up 
 dinner in a building so far from his own pre- 
 mises, succeeded to admiration in having every- 
 thing in the best season and first style. The 
 chair occupied by Sir James Fergusson, was 
 recently manufactured by Messrs. Wilson & 
 Co., from the remains of the old oak printing- 
 press which gave the first edition of Burns' 
 poems to the world, in Kalmarnock, and which 
 has long been in the possession of Mr. T. M. 
 Gemmell, who handsomely placed it at the dis- 
 posal of the committee on this occasion. ' 
 
 The Chairman having proposed the loyal 
 toasts, and the health of the Lord-Lieutenant of 
 Ireland, which was drunk with all the honours, 
 and one hearty cheer, in addition, for Lady 
 Eglinton, and several letters of apology for 
 non-attendance having been read, 
 
 The Chairman then rose and said: — It is 
 my duty and ray privilege to-day to occupy 
 the foremost place, and to be in some sense the 
 spokesman amongst those who have assembled 
 in the County town of Ayrshire to commemo- 
 rate on this its hundredth anniversary, the birth 
 
 of Egbert Burns. (Cheers.) It may seem 
 affectation on my part to say, although I do so ' 
 in -very truth, that I am oppressed by the sense 
 of the importance of the occasion, by the con- 
 sciousness that in this great central meeting 
 here, hard by the place of his birth, to us it 
 belongs to give words to the sentiments with 
 which the heart of every Scotsman who loves 
 his country at this hour is full, which are find- 
 ing utterance in one great swelling voice 
 throughout our country, from sea to sea, re- 
 echoed and answered by our kindred from afar, 
 even from the ends of the earth. (Cheering.) 
 For it is no small thing that in our lifetime, 
 within the scope of our opportunities, it has 
 fallen to our lot to be intrusted with the cele- 
 bration of him by whose voice spoke the soul 
 of Scottish poetry, and whose name is enshrined 
 everlastingly in that national love which his 
 genius and pathos have awakened. But wholly 
 unequal as I am to do justice to this occasion, 
 I have felt that to shrink from the proud and 
 enviable office that has been offered to me, 
 would be to confess my inability to unite with 
 my fellow-countrymen in their great unanimous 
 rejoicing. (Cheers.) I know that I speak in 
 the presence of the living poet of Scotland — 
 (loud cheers) — whose glorious lines cause every 
 cheek to glow with pride and pleasure — of him 
 who has drunk deep at the fountain whence 
 Burns derived his inspiration — who has restored 
 to us so many of those noble old Scottish lays 
 from the perusal of which Burns imbibed no 
 little of his genius. I speak also to many upon 
 whose ears must linger the burning words of 
 the panegyrics of Eglinton, of Wilson, and -of 
 Aytoun, delivered on the banks of the Doon at 
 the first great celebration in honour of the poet's 
 memory, and whose hearts must have been struck 
 in their tenderest chord by the written praises 
 of Wilson, of Jeffrey, of Carlyle, of Wordsworth, 
 and of Montgomery. I know, however, that 
 the memory of Burns is not the property of 
 poets or of men of literature alone, — his name 
 is a heritage of all the natives of the country 
 which gave him birth. (Cheers.) Uncultivated 
 as I am in the study of poetry, and coming here 
 simply as a country gentleman, to join in the 
 celebration in which my countrymen take so 
 much interest, I know that the few sentences, 
 plain and prosaic perhaps, yet sincere and ear- 
 nest, in which I shall mark our grateful task of 
 to-day, will find a response which they have 
 not excited,, because it will be the offspring of 
 that undying gratitude which is laid up for the 
 name of Burns to all generations. (Cheers.) 
 I think that this centenary celebration is greater 
 than any which has taken place before. The 
 meeting which I now address is not so large as 
 that which assembled on the banks of the Doon. 
 
AYR.— COUNTY HALL. 
 
 97 
 
 It is not even graced by so many men who liave 
 rendered themselves famous by their success in 
 science, in poetry, or in art. But it is the great 
 central meeting of a vast number of meetings, 
 held in every town, and village, and hamlet, 
 throughout the country, and in different parts 
 of the world. The demonstration of to-day 
 makes me feel proud of being a Scotchman. 
 (Cheers.) There are two ways in which love 
 of country can be shown. One is productive 
 of evil — that which leads us to look with envj' 
 and jealousy on our neighbours, and grudge to 
 sister countries that honour and fame which 
 justly belongs to them ; which leads us to look 
 only to Scotland, and to forget that Scotland 
 is only one of a confederacy of nations, with 
 common interests and common glories. This 
 is not the sentiment which is foremost in the 
 breasts of Scotchmen to-day. It is a love of 
 country which would only show itself in a de- 
 sire that Scotland should e^r be foremost in 
 the race of honour and glory ; a sentiment 
 which would lead Scotchmen to be proud of 
 tlieir native land; a sentiment which led Burns 
 to breathe a wish — 
 
 " That I for puir auld Scotland's sake 
 Soine usefu' plan or beuk could make, 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 If we pay homage, then, as well we may, to his 
 genius as our National Poet, it should be in no 
 narrow-minded spirit; but with a feeling which, 
 while leading us to recognise and celebrate his 
 transcendent genius, should not make us blind 
 to the merits of others. It is as the poet of 
 Scotland that I call upon you to do honour to 
 Burns this da}'; and let not our children's chil- 
 dren, to whom Burns' songs will be as dear as 
 to us, have cause to wonSer at the littleness of 
 the minds of those who, while regarding the 
 shell in which the pearl was hidden, forgot the 
 brightness of the jewel. (Cheers.) What, 
 then, are the characteristics of Burns which- 
 are to be treasured and preserved ? It is pre- 
 eminently as the poet of Scotland that we have 
 to celebrate him, as the man through whose 
 native genius and minstrelsy the glories of her 
 scenery — the brightest pages of her history — 
 the resources of her language— 'but above all, 
 the humble, lowly virtues that "bloom unseen," 
 the massive, yet sterling qualities of her sons, 
 have been chiefly known and appreciated. To 
 him, from his earliest aspirations for fame to his 
 last dying strain, love of his country was ever 
 foremost : — 
 
 " Oh, Scotia ! my dear, my native land. 
 For whom my warmest wish to Heaven is sent ! " 
 
 That sentiment, from iirst to last, pervaded 
 everything he wrote. Hence it is that he is 
 
 loved above all Scottish poets — more than 
 Scott, whose reputation is more world-wide 
 than Scotch ; and more than Campbell, who is 
 more of a national poet. Burns is the poet of 
 Scotland, leaving all competitors far behind in 
 the noble race. (Cheers.) Why is it that he 
 is so dear to us ? Because there is no man in 
 this country — be he high or low, be he simple 
 or educated — to whom the words of Burns do 
 not come home, and touch his heart in its in- 
 most core. The place of his birth ; the scenes 
 of infancy he loves to dwell on ; the associations 
 of home, that strike a kindred chord in all our 
 breasts; — these, which inspired his noblest lays, 
 link our hearts to our country. (Cheers.) It 
 is this tie to our soil that gave music, even 
 voice, to Burns' muse — as it has nerved the 
 arm and steeled the heart of many a Scotch 
 soldier. I believe that in none is attachment 
 to their native soil more deeply implanted than 
 among Ayrshire men ; and how much of this 
 feeling do we owe to Burns 1 Many a Scotch 
 soldier has been heard in his last moments 
 crooning over some song of the national bard ; 
 and I have heard one Scottish soldier — whose 
 name will not soon die in Ayrshire — breathe 
 out his one sole sigh of regret almost in his 
 parting hour — "I shall never see Ayrshire 
 again." As the old Roman poet has described 
 the dying Greek, even in death, looking back 
 upon fair Argos, so has Campbell said : — 
 
 " Encamped by Indian I'ivers wild. 
 The soldier resting on his arms. 
 
 In Burns' carol sweet recalls 
 
 The songs that blest him as a child, 
 
 And flows and gladdens at the charm 
 Of Scotia's woods and waterfalls." 
 
 (Cheers.) It has been well said by a Scottish 
 statesman that " to record the names and pre- 
 serve the memory of those whose past achieve- 
 ments in science, in arts, and in arms, had con- 
 ferred benefits and lustre upon our kind, has in 
 all ages been regarded as a gratification and a 
 duty by wise and reflecting men." And even 
 in cases where matchless genius excludes the 
 possibility of imitation, and we wonder while 
 we admire, by the thought of what others have 
 accomplished, the effort may be awakened 
 through which, though in humbler measure, 
 the path of success and honour may be trod- 
 den. If this be true in the profession of arts 
 and arms, it is equally true in poetry. Burns 
 by his touching strains has awakened a poetic 
 chord in many humble bosoms. I have been 
 much gratified to-day by having put into my 
 hands some lines written by an humble work- 
 ing man in Ayrshire — lines which show how 
 deeply he is imbued with the spirit which ani- 
 mated Burns. I will read a few stanzas in 
 illustration : — 
 
98 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 "We meet to oonsocvate that day, 
 Before it disappears, 
 To fill a niche within the aisle, 
 Where sleep the buried years. 
 
 " Auld Scotland rear'd him 'mong the homes 
 Of honest, toiling swains. 
 By sounding woods and winding streams, 
 And flower-enamelled plains. 
 
 ''There Nature's hand first stirr'd the chords 
 Of music in his soul, 
 And taught him from his ' moorland harp ' 
 To make that music roll. 
 
 "In life, his worth was little prized — 
 A thoughtless race forgive — 
 The man of genius had to die 
 That he might truly live. 
 
 "Like childless mothers crusli'd with grief, 
 The muses droop'd their head. 
 When they beheld their noblest son, 
 The Prince of Song, was dead, 
 
 "In vain they look through all the years 
 To see if one returns : 
 The Fates declare they cannot give 
 A second Robert Burns. 
 
 "Then let us hail the hundredth time 
 That sacred day returns, 
 Tliat gave to Scotland and to man 
 Their Hero Poet — Bukns." 
 
 (Cheers.) From such feelings as animate that 
 man — from such feelings as animate us to-day 
 — I contend that nought but good can spring; 
 and thus the great movement to-day, and the 
 desire to celebrate the memory of Burns, is not 
 confined to the soil whei-e he dwelt and was 
 known, but is celebrated wherever Scotchmen 
 cherish the tongue and the traditions of their 
 race. (Cheers.) There is one thing which 
 should not fail to be remembered, and that is 
 what Burns owed to Scotland. Selfish politi- 
 cal agitators have of late attempted to sow dis- 
 content between the various classes of our fel- 
 low-countrymen, and reference is often made 
 to the neglect which Burns suffered in his life- 
 time. But it should be remembered that in no 
 country could a man of Burns' humble position 
 have been sure of that education, without which 
 the fire of his genius would have burned in 
 vain. Let it be remembered — what is too 
 often forgotten — that in this country for three 
 hundred years the means of education have 
 been within the reach of the poorest of our 
 fellow-countrymen. This is a boast which 
 Scotland can fairly make; and although the 
 task before us of suiting national education to 
 the wants of the day is still attended with 
 great difficulties, let the fact be known, that 
 one who rose from the humblest position in the 
 country to be the great poet of Scotland, owed 
 his education to that system to which I have 
 referred. (Cheers.) The great attraction 
 
 which Burns has for his fellow-men — for all 
 who can read and have souls to appreciate the 
 spirit of true genius — is the manner in which 
 he is enabled to draw from the humblest ob- 
 jects in nature strains of the highest poetry. 
 The simplest rustic knows that from the moun- 
 tain daisy Burns drew inspired strains; that in 
 the meanest of animals he saw the marvellous 
 hand of Providence ; that he has celebrated in 
 his noblest lines the humble, honest life of a 
 Scotch countryman; and has sung in verses 
 that can never be forgotten the praise of hon- 
 esty and domestic worth. (Cheers.) And it 
 is precisely because he has written in words 
 that none can fail to understand, that he is so 
 deservedly popular and so justly beloved. 
 (Cheers.) Unlike Tennyson, the poet-laureate 
 of England ; unlike Shakspeare, whose pages 
 are a well of English undefiled, and whom I do 
 not seek, were it possible, to depreciate, for he 
 is the classic of his country, to whom all men 
 come for wisdom and information ; but unlike 
 the poet of any other country, who is intelligi- 
 ble only to the wise, and cultivated, and learned. 
 Burns appeals to the simplest heart that beats 
 in the breast of man. (Loud cheers.) While 
 he writes in strains which may bear comparison 
 with the noblest poets of other lands, his words 
 strike a chord of music in the breast of the 
 most simple and unlettered. I feel, then, that 
 while all that is worthless or perhaps idle in 
 his poems is fast forgotten, those glorious effu- 
 sions of which no one can ever tire are only 
 now becoming known and thoroughly appreci- 
 ated. (Cheers.) I marvel much at the idle 
 malignity of some who have set themselves 
 against the feelings of the great mass of their 
 fellow-countrymen on this auspicious occasion. 
 I have read of sentiments as expressed by them 
 which I am certain will find no audience here. 
 I have read such remarks by ministers of the 
 gospel, who of all men are those who should 
 look upon their brethren's failings with charity 
 — (hear, hear) — who would depreciate if it were 
 possible the outburst of enthusiasm which has 
 reached its climax this day. I saw in a news- 
 paper only this morning the words of a minister 
 in Edinburgh, spoken from his pulpit, in which 
 he says he considers the homage about to be 
 paid to Burns both foolish and wrong, and then 
 he proceeds — "England would not do so for 
 her Milton — Germany would not do so for her 
 Goethe — Italy would not do so for Tasso or 
 Dante; but Scotchmen are about to do this for 
 a man who was far beneath any of these sons 
 of genius. I cannot but regard this conduct, 
 in every view of it, as both foolish and wicked." 
 (Disapprobation.) I shall only say that I hope 
 I know the clergy of Scotland too well to think 
 that this sentiment can be held by many of 
 
AYR.— COUNTY HALL. 
 
 99 
 
 them. (Cheers.) The clergy are well repre- 
 sented among us to-day ; and I know that 
 others would be here were they not engaged to 
 take the chairs at the dinners in their own par- 
 ishes. (Renewed cheering.) Therefore, I do 
 not fear to be misunderstood, when I say that 
 I am ashamed that a Scotch clergyman should 
 have so misunderstood the feelings of his coun- 
 trymen ; and merely to show the ignorance 
 which has dictated these unfortunate words, I 
 would only remind you that there have been 
 celebrations like these before — that in the last 
 century at Stratford-on-Avon there was a cele- 
 bration, at which the wise and talented met to 
 do honour to the memory of Shakspeare ; and 
 if the gentleman who spoke these words had 
 read such a common book as "Boswell's Life of 
 Johnson," he would have known what I have 
 stated. He might have known, also, that all 
 Germany assembled at Mayence to inaugurate 
 a noble statue to the memoi^ of Schiller. Had 
 they not done so — ^had they not appreciated 
 the genius of their countrymen, it would even 
 then have remained for Scotland to show that 
 she could better appreciate the genius of her 
 sons — (cheers) — and had England and Ger- 
 many been behind in honouring Shakspeare 
 and Schiller, Scotland nevertheless must have 
 shown that she would not be behind hand in 
 paying her debt to Robert Burns. It is our 
 peculiar right and privilege in Ayrshire to show 
 how much we value the poet. What Stratford 
 was to Shakspeare — what Weimar was to Schil- 
 ler find to Goethe— that is Ayrshire to Burns. 
 This is a spot dear to us, and beautiful indeed, 
 yet, but for the genius of Burns it would have 
 been comparatively unknown ; but now it has 
 gained world-wide fame. (Cheers.) It may 
 be objected that this tribute has come too late. 
 Late it has come, but it has come with hearti- 
 ness and power. In our own time, extended 
 education, increased facilities for circulation, 
 and a more cultivated state of society, have of- 
 fered to the author a wider field than writers 
 of other days enjoyed, and hence many a poet 
 and romancer has reaped the laurels of a world- 
 wide fame, which came but as a posthumous 
 honour to his predecessors. We have yet many 
 instalments of honour to pay to our peasant- 
 poet, little noticed and rewarded as he was by 
 our grandsires ; but now that his and their 
 generation have passed away, and the exact 
 position of Burns among our poets is recognised 
 and defined, we may well remember how strong 
 are his claims upon the admiration and grati- 
 tude of his countrymen. He holds the first 
 place in popular favour — in the estimation of 
 all who have a heart and a soul to value and 
 appreciate him — of the scholar and the critic — 
 of the simple and unlettered. His memory 
 
 lives and shall live with us ; and to-day we 
 bring an ofiering to his shrine — a nation's gra- 
 titude and love. (Loud and long-continued 
 cheering.) 
 
 The Croupier, who was most enthusiasti- 
 cally received, then said — ^"Twas a wild night 
 like this, a hundred years ago, when the wind 
 howled as it does now, and the sleet was beat- 
 ing as it has done this evening, on the casement 
 of the cottage within which was heard the 
 feeble cry of a babe just brought into the 
 world wherein it was to find so much fame, and 
 to suffer so much misfortune. (Cheers.) It is 
 with unmingled satisfaction that I have joined 
 the demonstrations that are being made, not 
 only in this his native district, but all over 
 Scotland, beyond the Border, in America, I 
 know, and in Australia I believe, in honour of 
 our greatest, of our self-reared, of our most 
 popular poet. (Cheers.) The universality of 
 these demonstrations is, in itself, quite suflScient 
 justification for our being here this evening. It 
 is the verdict — I cannot say the universal ver- 
 dict of mankind — but still that of the immense 
 majority, with comparatively few dissentients, 
 that we ought to be here now — (hear, hear) — 
 and I may say it is well that there is a common 
 ground upon which men of all sorts, men of all 
 shades of opinion, can come together to inter- 
 change kindly sentiments, and warm, mutual 
 good feelings, if it were only over the grave of 
 the illustrious dead. (Cheers.) I have heard 
 it said— and you have alluded to it well, Sir — 
 that in meeting together in this way we are 
 perpetrating idolatry and man-worship, and that 
 we are attempting to pass over, or rather to 
 varnish, frailty in the person of an individual 
 man. Sir, I am no idolater. I am no man- 
 wOrshipper. I am not here to varnish over 
 frailty. I am not here to defend it ; but I say 
 to those men who have made the accusation, 
 that if they would judge him in a more kindly 
 spirit they would act more in accordance with 
 the dictates of Christianity. (Hear, hear.) 
 Should they not remember that all of us, even 
 the best, in the eyes of the Creator are but 
 sinners — that "in the course of justice none of 
 us should see salvation " — (hear, hear) — and have 
 we not the highest authority for saying that 
 he who breaks even the least of the command- 
 ments breaks the whole of them? If Burns 
 was frail, and no one attempts to deny it, do 
 we not know what penitence he showed before 
 his death ; and where penitence exists, who 
 shall dare to say "that the evil he has done 
 lives after him ?" (Cheers.) We are here, Sir, 
 to-night, specially to pay honour to the dead, 
 thereby paying honour to ourselves and the 
 country which has produced this illustrious 
 man ; and although it may be that speaking of 
 
100 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 those who are no more, we might assume some- 
 what of a melancholy tone, yet we must remem- 
 ber that in their works these great men yet 
 live and speak to us — 
 
 " Even in their ashes burn their wonted fiies:" 
 
 therefore, we need not hesitate on this occasion, 
 when we are all met here cordially and kindly, 
 to cherish a feeling of gratification, nay even, I 
 may say, of glory that our land has produced 
 such men, without supposing that we are 
 mingling the dark foliage of the yew and the 
 cypress with the wreaths of the amaranthus 
 and the rose. (Cheers.) And now. Sir, I 
 must address myself to the more immediate 
 subject of my toast. It is now, as nearly as I 
 can remember, about seventy-five years ago 
 that Burns, then in the zenith of his fame, when 
 in Edinburgh, whither he had come from Ayr, 
 was regarded as a phenomenon ; for since the 
 death of Allan Ramsay true poetry had perished, 
 and his was the first breath that revived it. It 
 was at a meeting in Edinburgh, at the house of 
 an eminent and accomplished citizen, that Burns, 
 attracted by some lines written at the foot of a 
 picture, asked who was the author of them, 
 when he was told by a boy who was then pre- 
 sent that they were composed by Langhorne, a 
 poet who is now nearly forgotten. The poet 
 rewarded his youthful informant with a cordial 
 smile ; and this is the sol6 record of the only 
 interview between Burns, then in his prime, 
 and the youthful Walter Scott. (Cheers.) The 
 anecdote has been told more than once, and it 
 is to be found in some of the biographies of the 
 poet; but I confess to you. Sir James, that it 
 has for me a deeper interest than tradition, 
 from the fact that it was told to me by one still 
 living, who well remembers being present at 
 that interview — one who was then very young, 
 and was staying in the family of Scott, but 
 is now far advanced down the vale of lifCj 
 one near and dear to me, — I mean my own 
 mother. (Cheers.) Well, Sir, Burns passed 
 away ; these things remind lis of the rapid 
 flow of years. For a time that boy who had 
 so spoken with Burns was studying the bal- 
 lads of his native country, and collecting 
 the many traditions that were afloat at that 
 period on the Border : — the same studies that 
 had engrossed the mind of the youthful Burns. 
 Scott was in a different station of life and had 
 received more direct educational advantages 
 than Burns ; but a long period elapsed before 
 he produced anything original of merit ; for he 
 was one of those great men, and possessed that 
 attribute which the great alone possess — ^that 
 they do not gonsider themselves from the very 
 first as being prodigies of genius. It is late 
 before that revelation dawns upon them ; others 
 
 perceive it before they themselves are aware of 
 it. (Applause.) They are like Aladdin in the 
 cave, who did not know that the fruit that was 
 hanging on the fairy trees, and which he could 
 pluck and handle at will, were the richest of 
 jewels, but thought they were common glass ; 
 and so it was with Scott for a long time. _ His 
 dreams, his aspirations, and all that burnt within 
 him he thought common and plain. He was 
 not aware for a long time of the inestimable 
 value of the treasures t^iat he bore within him. 
 Master of a mine more rich than that of Gol- 
 conda, he knew pot of his precious heritage.. 
 At last he discovered the secret, and then, one 
 by one, came forth those wonderful poems that 
 for a long time entranced the public, and won 
 for him such unrivalled fame. I need say 
 nothing of these. I need not describe the 
 headlong ride of William of Deloraine, in the 
 " Lay of the Last Minstrel," or that magnificent 
 picture of Melrose Abbey by night, or the 
 opening of the Wizard's Tomb. Neither need 
 I recall the celebrated scene in the magnificent 
 romantic poem of Marmion, wherein he paints 
 that most heroic, noble, and chivalrous period 
 of Scottish history, when a favourite king led 
 forth the assembled nobles to die for their 
 country at Flodden. (Applause.) At a later 
 period appeared that wonderful representation, 
 " The Lady of the Lake," that has made that 
 district of country a place of pilgrimage to 
 strangers from afar, and has attracted them to 
 the Highland hills even from the shores of the 
 sunny Mediterranean. All these, and many 
 more such works, he produced, and the world still 
 wondered and still asked for more ; until, all at 
 once, he changed his note, and became the 
 prose poet of the day, and in simple prose gave 
 to us such a series of wonderful representations 
 as the world never yet had seen. (Cheers.) 
 Not Cornelius Agrippa, if he had the gift, 
 could have shown in the magic mirror scenes 
 more life-like or truthful than those which the 
 great magician gave forth to the admiring- 
 world. Look at his characters ; see how true 
 they are — how truthful and faithful to nature, 
 and how loveable in every feature. Look at 
 those depictions of Edie Ochiltree, of Dandle 
 Dinmont, of David Deans, and of his sweet, 
 patient, kind, loveable Jeanie. (Cheers.) Saw 
 you ever such characters, unless perhaps in the 
 pages of the imrnortal Shakspeare ? And fur- 
 ther, throwing back the clouds which hang 
 between us and centuries that have long 
 gone by, he brought up before us phantoms 
 as realities from ages long gone by — pic- 
 tures from under an Eastern sim — the palm- 
 tree, the fountain in the desert, and the 
 generous Saladin resting at noonday by the 
 side of the Scottish Crusader, the valiant 
 
AYR.— COUNTY HALL. 
 
 101 
 
 Knight of tlie Leopard. Or lie took us, most 
 willing spectators, to the lists of Ashby-de-la- 
 Zouche, and gave to our vision, in his swart 
 panoply of mail, the gigantic form of Richard 
 of the Lion-heart. (Cheers.) But I will not 
 detain you longer with these remarks. I must 
 apologise, for I find that the subject has almost 
 carried me away. (No, no.) Well, we had this 
 great man among us^ very faintly in my own 
 recollection ; for I had but once the honour of 
 speaking with him, and of feeling the pre.ssure 
 of his hand. But he became the darling of the 
 nation, not only the honour of Scotland, but 
 the glory of all Great Britain. A princely for- 
 tune appeared to be his. Everything went 
 well with him. He reared a splendid mansion 
 on the banks of the Tweed, which he loved so 
 well. When his Sovereign came down to 
 Edinburgh, the first of his dynasty who had 
 visited Scotland, Sir Walter Scott was the 
 chosen representative mart of the nation to 
 welcome and receive him. That was, perhaps, 
 the culmination of his fortune ; and then came 
 reverse. At once, as if by some tremendous 
 blow — by a commercial disaster as great and as 
 fatal as any of those we have had the misfor- 
 tune lately to witness, and which passed like a 
 hurricane across the land; — Sir Walter Scott was 
 hurled from the proud worldly position he oc- 
 cupied. He became a bankrupt. Then disease 
 and ill-health came ; and his wife, the long 
 partner of his cares and joys, died. His family 
 were dispersed — his sons were parted from his 
 side, — and his best-beloved daughter had left 
 the land of her birth; and he, the great man, 
 now becoming an old man, was left in solitude 
 and in sorrow. Yet did his heart not break. 
 What had been his delight in the days of his 
 prosperity, became his duty in the days of his 
 adversity. Nobly he faced misfortune, — nobly 
 he set himself down to the work, resolved that 
 he would do his duty to the last, and maintain 
 unstained that honour which had been trans- 
 mitted to him through so many ancestors. He 
 worked on to the last — overworked that noble 
 brain — yet, with such success, that before he 
 laid his head down on his death pillow he knew 
 that his debts would all be paid ; and then he 
 turned his face to the wall and died — as great 
 if not as liajipy in his death as ever he was in 
 his^life. (Hear, hear.) And so they laid him 
 in Dryburgh Abbey, by the banks of that 
 Tweed, the murmur of whose waters was ever 
 so delightful to his ear. There we have a new 
 place of pilgrimage, which, as soon as the turf 
 was grown over his head, has attracted the feet 
 of many pilgrims from all parts of the world, 
 and which will attract the feet of many thou- 
 sands more. (Cheers.) So lived and died the 
 great man of whom 1 have spoken — the man 
 
 whose name will rank the highest among the 
 many who have created the literature of this 
 our century. Transcendant as a poet — unri- 
 valled in the field of romance — a patriot with 
 as warm a heart as ever beat for its country — 
 honourable, true, upright, sympathetic endur- 
 ing — is it any wonder that the Scottish people 
 should revere and cherish his memory? He 
 needed no monument, for he has raised for him- 
 self a monument of glory and renown beyond 
 the power of architecture to counterfeit — a 
 monument which can only fall into ruin 
 when the British language has disappeared — 
 nay, not even then, for although we undoubt- 
 edly have the best right to congratulate our- 
 selves that such a man was reared and moved 
 among us, his works are the property of the 
 whole world, for they have been translated into 
 every European speech ; and the memory of 
 Scott is as safe from decay and oblivion as is 
 that of Homer or Shakspeare, which will last 
 till language is no more. (The accomplished 
 Professor sat down amid plaudits again and 
 again renewed.) 
 
 The Chairman, in the absence of Mr. Stir- 
 ling, M.P., gave " The Memory of Professor 
 Wilson." 
 
 Sheriff Eobison, in proposing " The Peas- 
 antry of Scotland, from whom Burns sprung," 
 said — Gentlemen, the three last toasts have had 
 reference to the memory of three individuals 
 who were all great in their time, and whose 
 names their literary productions have crowned 
 with immortal fame. (Cheers.) The toast 
 which I have now to propose relates both to the 
 past and to the present, to a bygone as well as 
 to a living generation, and comprehends a not 
 insignificant portion of the people of Scotland, 
 even if mere numbers are only considered ; but 
 far more, when regard is had to those qualities 
 or traits of character which have ever eminently 
 distinguished it as a class — a staid and solid 
 cast of thought, uprightness of personal deport- 
 ment, an honest industry in the pursuits of life, 
 and, pervading all, a deep-seatfed sense of re- 
 ligion — (cheers) — which, if it has sometimes 
 merged into severity, and darkened as it were 
 with a cloud, although only in detached patches, 
 the fair landscape of the social picture, has 
 nevertheless, on the whole, and in its grand re- 
 sults, been favourable to virtue, and to the 
 maturation of those principles and feelings which 
 hiive conduced to a quiet, peaceful, contented, 
 and happy life, thrifty and frugal habits, the 
 desire of independence, a submissive obedience 
 to civil rule withal, but not incompatible also, 
 when circumstances have required, with a vigor- 
 ous resistance to oppression, and the exhibition 
 of heroism in the defence of civil and religi- 
 ous liberty. (Long and continued cheering.) 
 
102 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 Burns, the son of a peasant, Scott, born of more 
 gentle blood, were thus so much distanced in 
 respect of their social condition, that apparently, 
 except for the link of literary brotherhood, they 
 could never have been brought together, and 
 must have remained for ever apart as they were 
 born, the peasant and the gentleman still. But 
 how beautiful is the picture of their union, and 
 how impressively does it enforce the truth of 
 the moral aphorism, that literature dissolves all 
 the coveted distinctions of rank and wealth, and 
 confers a distinction nobler far than either — 
 which neither the one can purchase nor the 
 other bestow. (Cheers.) So that these our 
 countrymen, Burns and Scott, the peasant's son 
 and the well-born gentleman, although separ- 
 ated widely in the social distinctions of the 
 world, by reason of their literary eminence, 
 stand shoulder to shoulder on the pedestal of 
 fame— the object of their country's admiration 
 and pride; and, like twin stars, seem destined 
 to shine for ever clear, bright, and dazzling in 
 the firmament of literary glory. (Continued 
 cheering.) Gentlemen, the reflective mind is 
 disposed to pause awhile for contemplation be- 
 neath the blaze of such refulgent light, and the 
 sentiment inspired even by the briefest medita- 
 tion is an exalted sense of the worth and value 
 of our Peasantry and Gentry, whose ranks have 
 contributed to literature two such immortal 
 names as those of Burns and Scott. The toast 
 I have to propose is " The Peasantry of Scot- 
 land." (Tlie toast was received with loud and 
 enthusiastic cheering.) 
 
 Songs — " A man's a man for a' that," followed by 
 " Tam Glen "—Mr. Scotland. 
 
 Professor Traill, in proposing " Alfred 
 Tennyson and the Poets of England," spoke 
 as follows: — This large assembly of the ad- 
 mirers of the genius of Burns will, I trust, 
 pardon me for calling their attention to this 
 small manuscript — the original of his admirable 
 song " Wilt thou be my dearie," It was given 
 by the Poet's own hand, on the morning after 
 its composition, to his intimate friend, Mr. 
 James Watson, then a mercantile man at Dum- 
 fries, from whom it came into my possession. 
 It is not merely as an autograph of our great 
 National Bard that I novr produce it; but be- 
 cause it contains a variation from the printed 
 song, that appears very creditable to the muse 
 of Burns ; as it proves that after years of con- 
 nubial life, our Poet's "ain Jeanie" inspired 
 one of the most impassioned and exquisite of 
 his love songs. The stanza to which I allude 
 stands thus in the manuscript: — 
 
 " Lassie, say thou lo'es me ; 
 Or if tliou wilt na be my aIn ; 
 Say na tliou'lt refuse me : 
 If it wiuna, canna be, 
 
 Thou for thine may chuse me, 
 Let me, Jeanie. quickly die, 
 Trusting that thou lo'es me, — 
 Jeanie let me quickly die, 
 Trasting that thou lo'es me." 
 
 I, for one, shall ever regret that this allusion, 
 which gives a fine individuality to the song, 
 appears not in the printed copies. 
 
 As to the toast — Where Scotland's sons meet 
 this day to celebrate the Hundredth birthday of 
 our immortal Bard, the poetic genius of Eng- 
 land will not I am sure be forgotten. It is but 
 justice to own the high intellectual luxury we 
 have derived from the splendid creations of a 
 Chaucer, a Shakspeare, a Spencer, a Milton, a 
 Dryden, and a Pope ; and although we do not 
 presume to state that any living Poet rivals 
 those mighty masters of English verse, yet there 
 exist Poets in England who have delighted the 
 present generation, and who will please genera- 
 tions yet imborn. In the toast committed to 
 me, the name of one of the most popular of them 
 is prefixed to the general tribute to his contem- 
 poraries. We therefore dedicate this bumper 
 to "Alfred Tennyson and the living Poets of 
 England." (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Dr. HuMB, in proposing " The Poets of Scot- 
 landj" said — ^I feel extreme gratification at 
 being present with you on this great occasion. 
 To-day is the day of a hundred years; and of 
 all those present, not one will see this anni- 
 versary again ; — but no matter — we have done 
 our duty. (Cheers.) If any other place in 
 the world had held this commemoration, and 
 Ayr had not done so, the part of Hamlet would 
 have been omitted, and your town would have 
 been disgraced for ever. (Laughter and cheers.) 
 The Poet, whose fertile muse has immortalised 
 your hills and streams, your castles and your 
 cottages, is remembered with great propriety in 
 the scenes which he has made classic ; yet, I am 
 one of those who think there is a frequent and 
 very needless narrowing of Burns' fame, by 
 calling him merely an "Ayrshire Poet." In 
 England, we distinguish between " Kentish 
 men," and " men of Kent;" and in like manner 
 everj' poet of Scotland is not necessarily a 
 Scottish poet. Burns was both; and the uni- 
 versal appreciation of his ability warns us that 
 we should not to a county " give up what was 
 meant for mankind." (Cheers.) The com- 
 mittee have paid me a high compliment in in- 
 trusting to me a subject so interesting and so 
 important as that announced on your list, either 
 part of which, — the sentiment or the associated 
 name — stirs me, as Sir Philip Sidney would 
 have said, " like the sound of a trumpet." 
 (Laughter.) Professor Traill, a Scotchman by 
 birth and residence, has proposed to you the 
 Poets of England. And he is well fitted to do 
 
AYR.— COUNTY HALL. 
 
 103 
 
 so; for he resided long on our side of tlie 
 Border, and, as the Irish say, has left many a 
 hearty welcome behind him. (Cheers and 
 laughter.) I, from England, have to speak of 
 your Scottish poets; and I' first determined to 
 say little or nothing on the Shakspearian prin- 
 ciple — that " good wine needs no bush." But 
 I beg to assure you that I am not unacquainted 
 with the literature and poetry of " the North 
 Countrie." (Cheers.) I am Scottish in name 
 and lineage, and early associations; and I knew, 
 literally, hundreds of Scottish poems before I 
 had numbered eight years. (Applause.) It is 
 not a little remarkable that while no men are 
 more matter-of-fact than the natives of Scotland 
 — I -dare hardly say prosaic — (Laughter) — no 
 corner of the British Empire possesses a larger 
 selection of popular poetry. Only a por- 
 tion of it has been gathered, though there 
 have been many industrious gleaners in the 
 field : yet, such as it is, it*challenges a com- 
 parison with the rich stores of Germany and 
 Spain. Of the writers of some of the most 
 popular pieces nothing is known. They ex- 
 pressed the ideas and emotions of a whole 
 community rather than their own ; and while 
 the verses were handed down by oral recita- 
 tion, the minstrels themselves were forgotten. 
 (Hear, hear.) But there are Scottish poets, 
 not a few, who have left names, and these im- 
 perishable ones, behind them. The ancient 
 Wyntoun, and Barbour, and Blind Harry, 
 made poetry the vehicle of history ; and it is a 
 pity that their quaint and suggestive lines are 
 not more extensively known. Dunbar, who 
 wrote more than three centuries and a-half ago, 
 claims a very high place ; and so does another, 
 a century later, the elegant and accomplished 
 Drummond of Hawthornden. The beauty and 
 interest of many of their writings are concealed 
 from the multitude by the nature of their lan- 
 guage. Much of it is wholly obsolete ; and it 
 has been thought necessary to translate some 
 of the older Scottish poems into Latin, which 
 is a fixed language, that we might not altogether 
 forget the former condition of our own lan- 
 guage. (Hear, hear.) For about a century a 
 cloud enveloped the Scottish muse ; but she 
 emerged from it, leading the humorous Allan 
 Ramsay, with his " Evergreen" in the one hand, 
 and his " Gentle Shepherd" in the other. His 
 writings were current during the infancy of 
 Burns, and those of Fergusson during his boy- 
 hood and youth, and upon models like these 
 his taste was formed. It is the privilege of 
 kings to create dignities, but none of them can 
 create a man of genius. The Latins are right 
 — j>oeta nascitur nonfit. But royalty in Scot- 
 land has more than that to boast of. More 
 than one who occupied the throne of this an- 
 
 cient kingdom has written respectable verses ; 
 and James I. has recorded in detail his impres- 
 sions of an English noble lady who afterwards 
 shared his throne. The King's Quhair is a 
 monument more durable than brass or marble, 
 and contrasts favourably with the acts of those 
 of whom we can only say — 
 
 " Their bones are dust, 
 Their swords are rast, 
 Their souls are with the saints- 
 
 -wc trust.' 
 
 (Laughter.) The dialect in which the Scot- 
 tish poets of last century wrote is not so for- 
 bidding as some of our southern friends imagine. 
 It is substantially the English language in an 
 older form. It carries us back one or two 
 stages towards the primitive Saxon forms ; for 
 in the eleventh century Scotland was Saxonised 
 by fugitives, as England was Normanised by 
 conquerors. But it presents a great sirriilarity 
 to. the language of the northern shires of Eng- 
 land ; and here, as well as in parts of the 
 United States and the north of Ireland, Scot- 
 tish verses are written almost as readily as in 
 this country. (Cheers.) It is sometimes said, 
 both with truth and delicacy, that the elder 
 Scottish muse " wears her kilt too high ;" — 
 (laughter) — but the generous critic remembers 
 that she learned the fashions of a less fastidious 
 time than ours ; and, like the postdiluvian 
 fathers of mankind, he casts the mantle of 
 charity and oblivion over her defects. (Cheers.) 
 We are occasionally told, too, in high places, 
 that the whole of a man's writings must be re- 
 pudiated, because he or they sometimes fall short 
 of the standard of high morality. I need not 
 strike. Sir James, where your own trenchant 
 blade has demolished the enemy. (Applause.) 
 I would merely say that this is confounding of 
 the general and the special ; it is the establish- 
 ment of a Draconic code in literary criticism. 
 Shall we reject the wheat because it is found 
 only in connection with chaif ? Shall we refuse 
 to gather the golden ore because it is mingled 
 with dross and alloy ? No ! no ! During the 
 last three centuries We have learned the im- 
 portant lesson that ' destruction' is not quite 
 synonymous with ' reformation.' It was the 
 business of the poets, or ' makers' as they were 
 called, to produce ; let it be ours not only to 
 appreciate but to winnow and to purify. 
 (Cheers.) But, in speaking of the poets of 
 Scotland, I am impelled this day to makp a 
 claim, and to offer an explanation. The claim 
 is that the men of England were among the 
 first to appreciate the bard whom you are de- 
 lighted to honour ; that the first collected edi- 
 tion of his works was edited in what is jocularly 
 called " Our Village" on the banks of the Mer- 
 sey ; — (laughter) — and that several of our local 
 
104 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Liverpool poets sung his requiem. It is true 
 that 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that:" 
 
 yet it is something that, though you in Scotland 
 knew the ring of the genuine metal, we in Eng- 
 land assisted in placing the mint mark upon it, 
 and sending it current throughout the civilized 
 world. (Cheers.) And my explanation is, 
 that a prophecy, like a great many other pro- 
 phecies, has failed in fulfilment. In Roscoe's 
 beautiful lament, which was published with 
 Currie's memoir, the following is the closing 
 stanza : — 
 
 " Rear high thy bleak majestic hills, 
 
 Thy sheltered valleys proudly spread. 
 And, Scotia, pour thy thousand rills, 
 
 And wave thy heath with blossoms red ; 
 But, never more shall poet tread 
 
 Thy airy heights, thy woodland reign, 
 Since he, the sweetest bard is fled. 
 
 That ever breathed the Scottish strain." 
 
 (Cheers.) What! no poet in Scotland after 
 1796 ! Even in the presence of the genma loci, 
 and almost under the poet's paternal roof-tree, 
 we cancel the sentiment. Of all such finality 
 articles of faith we read our recantation. In 
 saying that for the last sixty years the Scottish 
 muse has never been silent, and that seldom has 
 she sung more sweetly, " I tell you that which 
 you yourselves do know." Instead of a single 
 star, however brilliant, we can point to a glori- 
 ous constellation, to a perfect galaxy, in pre- 
 sence of which the light even of Burns is paled 
 but not extinguished. In lyrical composition, 
 and in the painting of popular customs and 
 popular feelings in common language, he stands 
 foremost still ; but in other departments which 
 he cultivated little, he has been passed by. 
 (Cheers.) Since Burns passed from the scene, 
 the mighty wizard has given forth his enchant- 
 ments both in poetry and prose ; — Campbell 
 has nourished and described the " Pleasures of 
 Hope ; " Wilson has sung of the " Isle of 
 Palms;" and the Ettrick Shepherd has tuned 
 his reed. But time would fail me to tell of all 
 the poets, minor only by contrast with major 
 ones ; like the lesser prophets, they are not in- 
 ferior in quality — the only objection is that 
 they have not written enough. (Cheers.) Let 
 me, however, come nearer to you still. It has 
 been said that the poet of Scotland is present ; 
 and there is a volume of panegyric contained 
 in that short sentence. I have never seen him 
 before ; but I am delighted to find that, like 
 the Jewish lawgiver, " his eye is not dim, nor 
 is his natural force abated." In short, he looks 
 like a man who has work in him yet. (Cheers 
 and laughter.) He is a delightful companion, 
 
 either in prose or in verse ; but on his shoulders 
 the mantle of poesy sits with peculiar grace. 
 Like old Timotheus, he has touched the lyre in 
 every mood, and has carried his hearers, with 
 bounding pulse, along with him. He has sung 
 the beautiful lays of your own heroic ages, 
 and has stereotyped the glories of your Scot- 
 tish cavaliers. (Cheers.) He has told once 
 more the sorrowful tale of Elodden : and has 
 shown the mother city of your nation covered 
 with glory by her greatness of soul under un- 
 paralleled disaster. He has had the manliness, 
 the bold honesty, to brave popular prejudice, 
 and to tell it to tread lightly on the ashes of 
 the illustrious dead. He has rescued from the 
 embers of party feeling the memory of two of 
 " the gallant Grahams," the chivalrous Mon- 
 trose and " Bonny Dundee," and he has de- 
 monstrated to Scotland that she is richer in 
 valour and virtue than even she herself be- 
 lieved. Who, I ask, has done all this, and far 
 more than this ? Your own Aytoun ! (Cheers.) 
 No ! the lyre is not yet silent either in city 
 or in field. The poetic vein is not yet worked 
 out. No man can affirm with truth that in 
 this respect 
 
 " The flowers of the forest are a' wede away." 
 
 (Loud cheers.) And as we are here to-day 
 to show that a prophet is not always without 
 honour even on his natal soil, and also to la- 
 ment, if not remedy, the errors of the past, I 
 call upon you to crown the goblet once more. 
 Let us unite with enthusiasm the memory of 
 the dead and the merits of the living. In one 
 word, let our pledge be " The Poets of Scot- 
 land, and Professor Aytoun." (Loud cheering,) 
 
 The Croupier replied in a felicitous man- 
 ner. 
 
 Mr. Baird of Cambusdoon then proposed 
 " The Convener of the County" — Col. Perrier 
 Hamilton — whose gentlemanly deportment and 
 urbanity of manners well qualified him for the 
 honourable office which he held. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Somervell of Sorn proposed " The 
 Clergy," coupled with the name of the Rev. 
 Mr. Charteris. (Cheers.) 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Charteris returned thanks. 
 He said — I thank you, in name of the clerical 
 profession, for this expression of your regard. 
 That it devolves upon me to return thanks for 
 " The Clergy," is due, I presume, to respect for 
 the old adage — the Latin of which I need not 
 quote — " Honour to the old, and work to the 
 young!" With many obvious disadvantages, 
 the application of this adage in the present in- 
 stance has at least one good effect, for it gives 
 to a young member of the body an opportunity 
 of thanking you for honours which older and 
 abler men have won. (Cheers.) As I can 
 
AYR.— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 105 
 
 claim no share in the good deeds of which Mr. 
 Somervell has spoken, I may therefore be per- 
 mitted, without breach of modesty, to accept 
 as deserved your tribute to my profession. 
 The toast has been said by its proposer to in- 
 clude " all denominations ;" and I believe that 
 all Protestant clergymen are actuated by sin- 
 cere desire of doing good ; and are as willing 
 to stand by the bed of the afflicted poor, as to 
 sit at the tables of the rich and titled. (Cheers.) 
 With reference to Mr. Somervell's last remark 
 on my presence here this evening, I would only 
 say one word. I do not soil my admiration of 
 the genius with approval of the erring man ; 
 but as it is the work of our profession to note 
 the weaknesses of humanity in ourselves and 
 others, we need not live long to learn that if 
 all of us had his sometimes fatal facility of ex- 
 pression, there would be many words not less 
 reckless than those we condemn in Burns ; 
 and that it would go hard "with the character 
 of the best, if all the changing impulses, the 
 light and shade of our human heart, were 
 daguerreotyped like his ! (Long and continued 
 cheering.) 
 
 Mr. Elias Cathcart proposed " The health 
 of the Chairman," which was very enthusiasti- 
 cally pledged, to which Sir James, in eloquent 
 terms, replied. 
 
 After other additional toasts had been given, 
 the meeting separated. 
 
 THE ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 In the evening a Centenary Soiree took 
 place in the Town Buildings. Long before 
 the hour of meeting the rooms were crowded 
 with a large assemblage, among whom were 
 some of the most influential townsmen. The 
 Ayr Musical Association (led by their old con- 
 ductor, Mr. William Shaw), had volunteered 
 their services, and a musical programme — 
 thanks to the zealous diligence of Mr. Harvey, 
 painter, whose exertions, and those of his 
 brother amateurs, deserve all praise — was an- 
 nounced of a highly inviting description, which, 
 it is but justice to say, was executed in a man- 
 ner superior even to the high expectations that 
 were formed. Altogether, the various musical 
 performances were of a very superior descrip- 
 tion, and most appropriate to the occasion. 
 The services consisted only of confectionaries 
 — of the best kind, however — provided by Mr. 
 Girdwood, and fruit, but a more jolly and 
 boisterously good-humoured company never 
 " met and never parted " within the walls of 
 the Town Assembly Rooms, or any other. 
 
 The Rev. William Buchanan took the chair 
 at half -past seven o'clock, and was accom- 
 
 panied to the platform by the Rev. Robert 
 Pollok, Kingston Church, Glasgow ; Rev. Mr. 
 Markland, Gratmore; and the Rev. Mr. Barker. 
 The Rev. Mr. Crawford of Crosshill joined 
 them in the course of the evening in full 
 Masonic costume, having left for a little the 
 Masonic dinner in the Corn Exchange Hall, 
 and an apology was read from Rev. Mr. Wal- 
 lace, Newton-on-Ayr, regretting that a sudden 
 illness which had prevented his officiating on 
 the preceding Sunday did not admit of his being 
 present to address them. The Band having 
 played the " Old Hundred " while the company 
 stood, the Rev. Mr. Barker opened the proceed- 
 ings with a brief and most appropriate prayer. 
 
 The Chairman, on rising to give a brief 
 introductory address, was loudly cheered. He 
 said — Any man might be proud of presiding on 
 such an occasion over such a company. I 
 should, indeed, have been glad that some other 
 of your townsmen, better known, had occupied 
 the chair, and left me to take only a subordinate 
 part in your proceedings, but if I have no other 
 qualification I have this at least, that 1 give 
 place to no man living in sincere and hearty 
 admiration of the many noble qualities, and 
 the transcendent genius of the gifted being 
 who was ushered into life this day one hundred 
 years ago. (Great cheering.) My honourable 
 friend, Sir James Fergusson, said to-day at the 
 Monument, that a man should be careful how 
 he appeared in print on the same subject twice 
 in the same day. I have, already, appeared 
 to-day in print upon the centenary in the 
 newspaper leader ; and I will appear a second 
 time, in connection with the Masonic demon- 
 stration : were I to speak at great length now, 
 therefore, I should incur even a worse danger 
 than the popular young Baronet was afraid of, 
 for I should have to run the gauntlet of criti- 
 cism a third time. (Laughter and cheers.) If 
 I decline to do so, it is from no great appre- 
 hension of being betrayed into sameness and 
 self-repetition, for the subject is one susceptible 
 of great variety of treatment, and almost end- 
 less diversity of view. (Cheers.) But previous 
 public exertions to-day already, and previous 
 exertions which are not so public, have con- 
 siderably taxed my strength, and you do not 
 need to be told that though my spirit is very 
 willing, my flesh is rather weak. (Hear and 
 cheers.) I mean at ar later stage of the even- 
 ing to read a metrical eloge upon the Bard, 
 which comprises what I have to say respecting 
 his poetry, in language more terse, and in a 
 style more appropriate to the occasion and the 
 theme, than any prose I could use would be. 
 (Cheers.) I may, however, just in a sentence, 
 say how wonderful has been the sight most of 
 us have recently come from witnessing — a sight 
 
106 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 remarkable, indeed, in itself, as being an ova- 
 tion to the memory of a poet, such as the me- 
 mory of a poet never before received ; but a 
 sight scarcely less remarkable for the absence 
 of all those drawbacks which too often, unfor- 
 tunately, accompany great gatherings of the 
 people. (Cheers.) Not only was there an 
 absence among the thousands through whom, 
 with my brother- Masons, I processed to-day, of 
 all that could offend the ear of the most delicate, 
 or the sight of the most fastidious, but there was 
 the presence of such cordial good humour, such 
 frank, manly, agreeable openness among men of 
 every class of life, that, upon my honour, I never, 
 among all the gatherings I have seen, witnessed 
 anything to resemble it. (Great cheering.) 
 And you, to-night, my friends, are only re- 
 flecting in your own pleased looks and happy 
 demeanour, the same unanimity and fervour, 
 and friendly feeling which marked the larger 
 and more miscellaneous concourse elsewhere. 
 (Cheers.) Most delightedly do I state the 
 fact ; most delightedly do I declare that it 
 would not, in my belief, have been the least 
 pleasing part of the day's ceremonial to the 
 Bard himself, if he could but have seen it — the 
 Bard whose ardent wish it was to promote 
 good- will and kindness amongst mankind, whose 
 lays have done so much to knit more closely 
 the ties of friendsliip, of country, and of kin- 
 dred, and whose sentiment points to a happy 
 future, which we all most fervently hope to see 
 daily more and more realized — 
 
 " Wlien man to man, the warld o'er, 
 Shall bi'itliers be, and a' that." 
 
 (Loud cheering.) 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Pollok said — You are all 
 aware that this is a very great night in the 
 course of the growing fame of the departed, 
 yet living. Bard of Ayrshire. This is truly the 
 most interesting of all the nights, for a hundred 
 years past, which have been enjoyed by thou- 
 sands of his ardent and devoted admirers, who 
 have so often met to revere his memory and 
 celebrate his praises. It is also the greatest 
 night in the whole history of old Ayr herself, a 
 town which shall ever form the bright and re- 
 nowned centre of the vast undefinable circle of 
 countless friends now everywhere assembled, on 
 land, and even on sea, over all the regions of 
 civilized humanity, to do justice and homage to 
 true departed worth. (Cheers.) What mental 
 eyes are now turned to Ayr and its environs ! 
 The eyes of thousands who would fondly be here 
 and enjoy the charms and feelings of our present 
 associations ! What thousands of tongues now 
 quote the immortal stanzas in which Auld Allo- 
 way, the banks of the Doon, the Stinchar, the 
 Girvan, the Ayr, and the Lugar, occupy the first 
 
 place? (Cheers.) Wethereforeoccupy thisnighta 
 most honourable and enviable position ; and cold, 
 insensible and unfeeling must his dull heart be 
 who can pass through Ayr and its environs and 
 never feel the awakening and tender emotions of 
 poetic Are, even though a poesy-inspired infant 
 had never cried at Auld Alloway on the morn- 
 ing of the 25th of January, 1759, or the lad 
 born in Kyle had never sung the " banks and 
 braes o' bonnie Doon," for here nature herself 
 has given so much richness and variety to her 
 works that every rightly formed heart must 
 feel her charms. (Cheers.) It has been my 
 privilege and delight to visit and revisit these 
 spots for forty years past, and if every time 
 recalls old embalmed associations, fancy, ever 
 playful and inventive, awakens some new and 
 enchanting reflections. What visitant can pass 
 over the old time-worn brig, which under the 
 fostering care of future admirers may yet see 
 another centenary, but Burns and his " Twa 
 Brigs" rush not into his memory ? I never pass 
 the head of the High Street but the parting of 
 Tam o' Shanter and Souter Johnny is delineated 
 before my fancy, even though there were no 
 interested sign-board there recalling the scene. 
 (Cheers and laughter.) Every sacred place 
 here forms its own images and puts forth its 
 acts of homage, and though your eyes cannot 
 see the man who has immortalized it, you see 
 the spot where he moved and spoke, laughed 
 and wept, toiled and half-starved, and at other 
 times rejoiced in nature's blessings — in a word, 
 they realize, as far as possible, him whom from 
 our hearts we would fondly wish to see. 
 (Cheers.) How highly privileged, therefore, 
 are you folk of Ayr, ever dwelling amidst such 
 associated scenes ! And yet, my friends, there 
 is a spot still more dear to me — a verdant, fair, 
 and poetic region embalmed in the pure and 
 early recollections of my childhood and youth, 
 which also lies within the Land of Burns. 
 There first my mind and heart studied and felt 
 the simple attractions of the unadorned beau- 
 ties of nature, whose impressions can never 
 leave me to the latest period of my life. I 
 spent the days of my childhood and youth on 
 the banks of the Ayr, whose lofty rocks, dark 
 shadowy woods, rapid meandering streams, and 
 deep banks, none can surpass for a combination 
 of the wild and the beautiful, the romantic and 
 the sublime. If nature has given you an eye 
 to scan the beautiful, go there and gaze on her 
 fair unaffected features. You will find her 
 simple and alluring, pure and perfect — true fo 
 herself and true to you ; and there often the 
 Bard of old Coila sat enchanted and enthralled 
 under the power of her charms; and, therefore, 
 he says in his letter to the Bonnie Lass o' Bal- 
 lochmyle: — "I had roved out, as chance di- 
 
AYR.— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 107 
 
 rected, iu the favourite haunts of my muse on 
 the banks of the Ayr, to view nature in all the 
 gaiety of the vernal year : not a breath stirred 
 the opening crimson blossom or the verdant 
 spreading leaf ; it was a golden moment for a 
 poetic heart ; " and in his Mary in heaven : — 
 
 " That sacred hour can I forget? 
 Can I forget the sacred grove, 
 Where by the winding Ayr we met 
 To live one day of parting love?" (Cheers.) 
 
 I have seen and conversed with Mrs. Burns, 
 formerly Jane Armour, when on a visit to her 
 relations in Mauchline. I have talked and 
 " blethered" with the noisy polemic Jamie 
 Humphrey, I have discussed religion and poli- 
 tics and joked with Adam Armour, Jean's bro- 
 ther, and I have seen the man reputed to be 
 holy Willie, and I attached no importance to 
 these incidents at the time. (Cheers.) They 
 were merely the passing events of my thought- 
 less youth ; but now, when every scrap of an 
 old letter that has any connexion with Burns 
 or his posterity is printed and circulated through 
 the wide world, I am beginning to feel myself 
 a man of some importance ; important to you 
 and important in the eyes of a kind Providence 
 who has connected such events with my early 
 history. (Cheers.) Of holy Willie I can tell 
 you very little, for very few were at that time 
 disposed to wear the solemn but unenvied title ; 
 but my young fancy pictured him as a tallish, 
 lank, reserved man. (Cheers.) Jamie Hum- 
 phrey I knew better as the keeper of a small 
 toll above Failford, which I often passed. He 
 was at this time an old worn-down man, but 
 kindly and affable, ready to speak and be spoken 
 to by a passing traveller, to give and to get the 
 news of the day, very much corresponding to 
 Burns' epitaph : — 
 
 " Under these stanes 
 Lie Jamie's banes ; 
 O death, it's my opinion. 
 Thou ne'er took suon a bletherin' " — 
 
 I add no more. (Laughter and cheers.) I 
 think as far as my memory serves me it would 
 be in the summer of the year 1817, Mrs. Burns 
 was on a visit to Mauchline and called at 
 Haughholm, where I was residing then. She 
 was then a stoutish, gausie woman, of darkish 
 complexion, affable and easy in manners, and 
 although Burns' fertile and enamoured fancy 
 has arrayed her in all the charms of the singu- 
 lar beauties of the West, it did not appear that 
 she would ever have had such charms for me. 
 (Laughter and cheering.) Her visit was, how- 
 ever, most interesting to me, as I was then 
 reading Burns and other poetical works with 
 very great avidity. I viewed her as a most 
 
 singular being, whose history and close relation 
 was entwined with the development of a man 
 of true and singular genius. I knew much 
 more of Adam Armour than of any of these. 
 He was Jean's brother. They had a striking 
 family likeness, as all the Armours had. He 
 was rather a little man, at least not above 
 middle size, a flush of red sat on his cheeks, 
 his eyes and complexion were dark, what we 
 usually call a " black-aviced" man. As he had 
 occasion to call sometimes on Mr. Ingram at 
 Haughholm, I got acquainted with him, for he 
 was then the builder of an extension of Barskim- 
 ming house. I found him very fond of discus- 
 sion on knotty points of Calvinism, the politics 
 of the day, and Burns himself was a favourite 
 theme. There was one point on which he felt 
 not a little, and I once teazed him on it. The 
 Cumnock boxes came at this time into great 
 reputation, and those made of the wood of Al- 
 loway Kirk were most popular, and brought the 
 highest price, and every effort was made to get 
 that wood, which was soon exhausted. It was 
 supposed by some wiseacres about Mauchline that 
 the wood of a certain piece of furniture in their 
 own auld Kirk might be equally popular, asso- 
 ciated as it had been with a solemn event in 
 the history of the Poet ; that if any one could 
 get it, it might turn out a very profitable spec. 
 (Laughter.) It was reported at the time that 
 Adam had put himself, by some means, in pos- 
 session of the repen ting-stool; but, alas! he 
 had soon cause to repent that he had ever built 
 his hopes on that foundation, for he found that 
 his brother-in-law had told the truth in his 
 poetic strains when he says, " The best laid 
 schemes of men and mice gang aft agee." The 
 stool was all worm-eaten, and good for nothing ; 
 and I told him he might have foreseen that, 
 since so much corruption had sat on it. (Great 
 laughter.) I am happy to say his contract at 
 Barskimming turned out better. It was an ex- 
 cellent paying job, with which he was highly 
 pleased, and he used to say jocularly to Mrs. 
 Ingram that by the time it was finished he would 
 be ready to die. And it was rather remarkable 
 that he did die suddenly and unexpectedly about 
 that time. Adam was a most devoted admirer of 
 the Poet. I shall add only one other contempo- 
 rary and friend of Burns, which I do foraparticu- 
 lar reason. Your worthy and talented chairman 
 has introduced me as the bosom friend of the 
 author of the " Course of Time," which leads 
 me to express an opinion of Burns and his 
 works. I have spent many nights at Moor- 
 house, slept with Robert PoUok, and at times 
 talked the half of the night away, and I knew 
 well his opinion of Burns. I may mention that 
 when students there were six of us formed a 
 society for criticising authors, reading essays, 
 
108 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY, 
 
 and engaging in literary discussions. We 
 could not at first agree what should be the 
 name of this society, when it was agreed to 
 take a letter from the name of each of the six 
 members — three Polloks, and Williamson, Marr, 
 and Wright — ^and of these was formed Polwat, 
 and we called ourselves " The Polwat Society." 
 I recollect the opinion that was then formed of 
 Burns. That Shakspeare, the prince of Na- 
 ture's poets, draws a perfect picture, which he 
 never sullies by one single touch of his own 
 finger. He can be a witch or a monarch, an 
 lago or a Moor, a Desdemona or a Shrew, and 
 you never see the man himself. Byron must 
 ever be the hero of his piece. He is Childe 
 Harold, Don Juan, and his loves and domestic 
 adversity must mingle their sombre features in 
 almost every portion of his works. Burns pos- 
 sesses the power of telling a transaction as if 
 he saw it. His descriptions are true to life, 
 clothed in words familiar to all, which secures 
 his works universal esteem. Take the descrip- 
 tion of Csesar with his braw brass-lettered col- 
 lar, or Luath with his honest, sonsie, baws'nt 
 face, his white breast, his black glossy back, 
 and his gausie tail swirled o'er his hurdles, and 
 you think you see them. About twelve years 
 ago, a very severe stricture was made on Burns 
 and his works by an old friend of mine, the 
 Rev. George GrilflUan of Dundee, and in that 
 philippic he drew a horrific picture of the clos- 
 ing scene of the last days of Burns, in which 
 he did, as I then supposed, great injustice to 
 departed worth. The whole matter appeared 
 to me to be a most reckless, heartless, unfeel- 
 ing, and unmanly attack on moral character, 
 quite uncalled for even though it had been 
 substantiated ; and it was so far met and re- 
 pelled at the time by the friends and admirers 
 of the poet. I do hold that the works of Burns 
 are public property : a man may speak of them 
 and him as he pleases, responsible, however, to 
 the tribunal of public opinion. Every human 
 production has its blemishes, but an unsubstan- 
 tiated attack on moral character none can jus- 
 tify. I am happy to find, however, that Mr. 
 Gilflllan has lately announced a change of opin- 
 ion. (Hear, and cheers.) It was the misfor- 
 tune of Burns to live in an age and among 
 society who spoke with pleasantry and levity 
 of solemn things, perhaps in some cases with 
 no ill intention, as when he said to a lady 
 whom he visited, when very unwell, toward 
 the end of his days^" Madam, have you any 
 commands for the other world ? " On that oc- 
 casion he spoke also seriously in the prospect 
 of his death. I mention in connexion with 
 these things that about five years ago, when 
 preaching in Dumfries, I met with a lady who 
 was a contemporary and intimate friend in 
 
 Burns' family'. She was a hearer of mine on 
 that occasion. I was introduced to her on re- 
 tiring from church, and called on her after. 
 The following reference is made to her by 
 Burns, recently before his death, in one of his 
 last letters to Mrs. Burns : — " I am happy to 
 hear by Miss Jess Lewars that you are well. 
 My very best and kindest compliments to her 
 and all the children. I will see you on Sun- 
 day. Your affectionate husband, Robert 
 Burns." Jess Lewars was at this time about 
 eighteen years of age. When I saw her she 
 was a fine-looking old woman, in the perfect 
 use of all her faculties, and of active, lively 
 mind, the widow of a respectable lawyer, sur- 
 rounded by a daughter, and a son following 
 the same profession. Her name was then Mrs. 
 Thomson. She showed me some interesting 
 manuscripts which she had had in her posses- 
 sion from before the time of Burns' death. 
 They were written on herself. She was often 
 in the family, and was present at his death. I 
 embraced this opportunity to ascertain, so far 
 as possible, from this eye-witness, who was 
 well educated, intelligent, and had moved in a 
 very respectable circle of society, what was her 
 opinion of Burns' views and feelings on the 
 prospect of death, and in his last moments ; 
 and I found that though Burns was grievously 
 tortured by rheumatism, pale and emaciated by 
 indigestion, and agitated by palpitation of tlie 
 heart, though he was deeply concerned about 
 leaving his wife, with five young children, in 
 poverty, and about to add a sixth to the num- 
 ber, — though all these and other cares pressed 
 hard on the peace of his last moments — yet she 
 maintained that he was calm and resigned ; 
 and that it was her own ardent wish to die 
 with the like fortitude and triumph. In a 
 word, he seems to have died in the character 
 and spirit of these beautiful lines, which he has 
 embodied in one of his last epistles to Mrs. 
 Dunlop, his earliest patroness : — 
 
 "When pleasure fascinates the mental sight, 
 Affliction purifies tlie visual ray, 
 Eeligion hails the drear, the untried night 
 That shuts, for ever shuts, life's doubtful day." 
 
 When I lool?, Sir, to the Rev. Dr. Lawrie, the 
 Rev. Mr. Skinner, Dr. Moore, Dr. Blacklock, 
 Professor Dugald Stewart, and others, the early 
 friends and patrons of Burns, I certainly do 
 not think myself out of place this night, but I 
 esteem it an honour and privilege to support 
 your worthy chairman in conducting this large 
 and respectable meeting. (The Reverend Gen- 
 tleman sat down amidst great applause.) 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Markland said : — I do not 
 rise up to make a formal speech, — I had a 
 speech ready had it been needed, but your 
 
AYR.— MASONIC DINNER. 
 
 109 
 
 programme has been so well filled up as not to 
 admit of the insertion of my name, so you 
 must accept of the will for the deed. Three 
 points have been adverted to to-night in rela- 
 tion to tiie poet Burns, on each of which I 
 would make one remark. In the first place, 
 whilst his poems only brought to himself ^900, 
 large sums have been realized from them since. 
 In the second place, Shakspeare is unrivalled 
 in tragedy — perhaps Burns would not have 
 equalled liim in that walk — ^but it is hardly 
 fair to institute a comparison between them, as 
 Burns was not spared to write a tragedy. In 
 the third place, the expression, "Madam, have 
 you any commands for the other world," ad- 
 dressed by the poet to a lady — an invalid, like 
 himself, seeking health — upon entering her 
 room, was, in my opinion, a beautiful sally of 
 wit, uttered in all seriousness at the time, with 
 a mind conscious that it was approaching the 
 portals of the other world. 1(Cheers.) Having 
 read a few verses composed for the occasion, 
 the Rev. gentleman concluded by saying, — I 
 now proceed to discharge the duty which has 
 devolved upon me — that of proposing a vote of 
 thanks to our Chairman for his worthy conduct 
 in the chair. (Loud and prolonged cheering.) 
 
 The Chairman briefly thanked Mr. Mark- 
 land and the audience. His friend had spoken 
 very kindly, and they had received their Chair- 
 man's name very cordially. Whatever some 
 might think of his (the chairman's) politics, and 
 whatever he (the chairman) might think of 
 tlieirs, he could say very sincerely to them all 
 — Whigs, Radicals, and Tories — that if they 
 were half as well as their Chairman wished, 
 God knows, they would not be ill off. (Re- 
 newed cheering.) 
 
 Mr, Clarke then proposed a vote of thanks 
 to the Strangers, which was briefly acknow- 
 ledged by Rev. Mr. PoUok, who expressed the 
 high delight which he had enjoyed that evening. 
 
 Tiie Chairman, in the course of the even- 
 ing, read an Ode, which was much applauded 
 during recital, and followed by prolonged and 
 enthusiastic cheering. 
 
 Mr. Wight, in neat and appropriate terms, 
 expressed the delight of the company for the 
 great pleasure they received from the efforts of 
 the Ayr Musical Association, and called for a 
 vote of thanks, which was given in repeated 
 rounds of applause. The Association played 
 their acknowledgments in a fine selection of 
 Scotch airs. The Chairman then called for the 
 gentlemen of the meeting to give three cheers 
 for the Ladies who had honoured them with 
 their company— a duty which they performed 
 in sucli a truly enthusiastic style, as showed 
 that they were tremendously in earnest ; and 
 after singing "Auld Langsyne," one of the 
 
 merriest companies broke up shortly after eleven 
 o'clock, the band playing " God save the Queen." 
 
 MASONIC DINNER. 
 
 The Freemasons dined together in the Corn 
 Exchange at 5 o'clock. The Hall was deco- 
 rated with large and tastefully-arranged arches 
 of evergreens, banners, &c. Br. the Rev. 
 Robert Tliomson, Edinburgh, officiated as chair- 
 man; and Brs. the Rev. Francis Rae, Ayr, and 
 the Rev. James Crawford, Crosshill, officiated 
 as croupiers. The company was honoured for 
 a time with the presence of Brs. Sir James 
 Fergusson, Bart., and Professor W. E. Aytoun, 
 who were received with full masonic honours, 
 and cordially harmonised with the brethren. 
 
 The Chairman having given " The Queen ; " 
 " The Grand Lodges of England, Ireland, and 
 Scotland;" the "Army and Navy;" the Crou- 
 pier (Rae) proposed " The British Legislature " 
 in a very neat speech. 
 
 The Chairman then rose and proposed the 
 toast of the evening, in a long and eloquent 
 speech, in which he referred to the important 
 subject in language at once poetical and philo- 
 sophical. When in yonder lonely, homely cot, 
 there was born a peasant's son, little did his 
 mother or the fond father think, as they saw 
 the young stranger for the first time, when the 
 gossip keekit in his loof, and said — 
 
 " This waly boy will prove nae coof, 
 I think we'll ca' him Robin " — 
 
 little did his parents think what honours were 
 in store for their son Robin — little did they 
 think what would be done that day one 
 hundred years after, in honour of the illustrious 
 memory of their infant son, whose genius was 
 to become the boast and renown of not only his 
 beloved native land, but of all lands whose 
 freedom had not found a grave, and even there 
 the liberty-inspiring sentiments of his patriotic 
 songs would cause again liberty, though dead, 
 to spring to life and vigour, as strong as his 
 own native instincts and impassioned soul. 
 (Cheers.) At the singing of his sublime and 
 bold national hymn, " Scots wha hae wi' Wal- 
 lace bled," do we ever think that there could be 
 found men who would not feel as if inspired by 
 some spirit of resistless power, which would 
 make them, in the cause of their country, rights, 
 and liberties, as strong as the resistless tides of 
 the raging sea, in defence of all that is held 
 holy, sacred, good, and great in Britain. (Loud 
 cheers.) Though the prince of Scottish poets, 
 we offer him neither incense, flattery, nor sacri- 
 fice ; that is only the work of the heathen 
 philosophical world, of the poor selfish wor- 
 
110 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 shippers of the Goddess of Reason. But our 
 proceedings here this day, as we believe it is 
 the same everywhere else, is to pay a debt of 
 honour, a tribute of respect and gratitude, to 
 the memory of the greatest of our Scottish 
 poets, and in doing so we above all give God 
 all the thanks and praise, that he gave us not 
 only freedom, but it was doubly given, when, 
 in language which will last as long as any 
 literature was written in characters of Are, the 
 scintillations of a bright and burning patriotism 
 which has given us the fame of great patriots, 
 Wallace and Bruce, to be a theme of admiration 
 and imitation to all the noble youth, of not only 
 Scotland but of the world, who are the base, 
 because they are the strength of the land as 
 bold peasantry, and as Xenophon said, that he 
 ■was worthy of as much honour as those whose 
 great deeds and battles he recorded — for if the 
 hero had none to record his feats of arms, what 
 would it signify to posterity, for they would 
 be all in a state of ignorance if they were left, 
 unnoticed and unknown, to " waste their fra- 
 grance on the desert air." Not only did Burns 
 immortalise by his verse the glorious memory 
 of our greatest patriots, but he has attained in 
 his simple but sublime Muse the true tone and 
 feeling of a great and free people ; and if the 
 remark of a certain philosopher is to be held as 
 worth anything, we must see him in a yet 
 stronger and more enduring light. If the 
 power to make the songs of a country be de- 
 clared to be equal, if not superior, to the 
 power to make that country's laws, then see 
 what a power Robert Burns has had, and still 
 has, and will have, on each and every system of 
 legislation in this country. And wherever his 
 songs are known they will be admired, as they 
 are most deservedly in the wide dominions of 
 Britain, and in many other lands whose greatest 
 minds are, with us, united in paying a tribute 
 to the renown and memory of a poor but honest 
 poet, who held the plough with the one hand 
 while he held the pen of poetic inspiration with 
 the other. While he wrought on the earth he 
 was led by a power seldom given to mortal man. 
 Burns was no hypocrite. He was a really 
 honest man. He gave the true photograph of 
 his soul in his poems. He hid nothing. He 
 told fearlessly his hopes, his fears, his griefs, 
 his joys, his loves and hatreds, his faith and his 
 follies. But if he had been a crafty, ambitious, 
 worldly man, he would have adopted more 
 closely his own advice in one of his poems, to 
 
 " Keep something to yevsel' 
 Ye wadna tell to onj'." 
 
 Tills he did not. He gave, because he was 
 both able and willing, the workings and the 
 waywardness of his heart; yet, in doing so, it 
 
 was more from the result of unhappy circum- 
 stances than of designed mischief or intended 
 evil. But it is the fact of his inborn indepen- 
 dence of character that is the key to that com- 
 plexion of poetry which alike gives the tone to 
 the good and the bad of his poetry. We need 
 not enter into any string of quotations of the 
 sentiments from the poems and letters of Burns. 
 They are no doubt better known to you than 
 myself, and I will conclude by calling on you 
 to drink a flowing bumper to the honoured 
 memory of our greatest National Bard, Robert 
 Burns. 
 
 Br. D. Anderson proposed the health of the 
 Clergy, to which the Croupier replied. 
 
 Br. J. Davidson gave "The Provincial 
 Grand Master for Ayrshire, Br. Sir James 
 Fergusson." 
 
 Air, " Will ye no come back again ? " Song by Br. 
 Livingston. 
 
 Sir James Ferkusson acknowledged the 
 compliment. 
 
 Br. William Prain gave "The Living 
 Poets," which was replied to by Professor 
 Aytoun. 
 
 The Rev. Br. Rae proposed the Ladies. 
 
 Air, " Ayrshire Lasses." Song, " Duncan Gray." 
 • — Br. Dunlop fittingly replied. 
 
 Other toasts followed ; and having proposed 
 the Chairman, that gentleman replied, giving 
 the health of Brs. Rae and Crawford. 
 
 Br. Watson, R.W.M., of the Ayr Royal Arch 
 Lodge, in the course of the evening read an 
 Original Ode to the memory of Burns. 
 
 "THE COTTAGE" DEMONSTRATION 
 
 Was a great success, and must have been 
 highly gratifying to those members of the 
 Burns Club who agreed to hold a commemora- 
 tive festival in the "auld clay biggin." The 
 Hall (which was beautifully decorated with 
 evergreens, and quotations from Burns' works, 
 painted on calico) was crowded in every part, 
 but such was the enthusiasm of the company, 
 numbering upwards of eighty, that the too 
 limited accommodation was forgotten in the 
 feelings of pride with which all were animated 
 in having had the privilege of participating in 
 the Centenary celebration on the spot of the 
 Poet's birth. Let men say what they will, 
 there is such a thing as the spirit of the spot. 
 Where the memories and associations of a hun- 
 dred years thicken and cluster, there miist be 
 additional vitality. By this very circumstance, 
 unquestionably, must the celebration at Al- 
 loway have been rendered peculiarly sacred 
 and absorbing. The Rev. P. H. Waddell, 
 Girvan, presided, supported on either side \y 
 
AYR — "THE COTTAGE" DEMONSTEATION. 
 
 Ill 
 
 Messrs. George GilfiUan, George Morton, John 
 Struthers, H. Girvan, D. Campbell, Walter 
 Stewart, C. B. Kowan, T. Gray, Dr. Burns, 
 &e. Eobert Story, Esq., of the Audit office, 
 Somerset House, London, " the Northumber- 
 land Poet," discharged the duties of croupier, 
 supported by Messrs. R. Goudie, sen., Geo. 
 Tod, Wm. Brown, A. Weir, Wm. Ibbetson, 
 
 Sheffield ; Little, Edinburgh ; T. Duncan, 
 
 Glasgow ; Dr. Wield, &c. &c. 
 
 Apologies for non-attendance were read from 
 Dr. Chas. M'Kay, Illustrated London News ; 
 Dr. Waller, Dublin; Kenny Meadows, Esq., 
 artist ; Wm. Maccall, Esq., of the London 
 Critic ; and Mr. Carruthers, editor of the In- 
 verness Courier. 
 
 The orchestra was ably occupied by Mr. 
 Harvey's band. The company, at six o'clock, 
 Greenwich time, pledged a bumper to the me- 
 mory of Burns — a similar mark of respect hav- 
 ing been paid at the same hffur in the London 
 Tavern, and other festive meetings throughout 
 the country. 
 
 On the removal of the cloth, the usual loyal 
 toasts were given. 
 
 The Chairman, who was greeted with im- 
 mense applause, then rose and said : — Mr. 
 Croupier and Gentlemen — In other circum- 
 stances some apology would have been required 
 for the brevity with which the preceding toasts 
 of this evening have been proposed : but not a 
 man nor gentleman, I am sure, in her Majesty's 
 service ; not a lord, nor an earl, nor a prince of 
 whatsoever degree in the empire, but will ex- 
 cuse that brevity ; her Majesty herself, if she 
 were present, would understand it, for she is 
 too much a woman, and too much a Queen, not 
 to know that the royalty of genius cannot be 
 kept too long waiting. The truth is, gentle- 
 men, that in the company and presence of men 
 like Shakspeare and Burns, all ranks, all dis- 
 tinctions, all orders whatsoever vanish. For my 
 own part, I see nor hear for the moment any 
 earthly conventional intrusion. The bodies of 
 men themselves seem to disappear, and be ab- 
 sorbed in that universal, peerless, pervading 
 sovereignty of the human soul ! Before that 
 alone I stand ; with that alone I hold commu- 
 nion. Yet for the very recognition of that 
 sovereignty, bodies themselves are required. 
 It is now one hundred years ago since the wife 
 of a peasant, on this very spot, was made happy 
 in the birth of a son, blessed beyond many a 
 mother in Israel, triumphed at the behest of 
 nature, and remembered no more the anguish 
 for joy that a man was born into the world — 
 with clouds of glory, of inspiration, and of 
 poetry wrapped thick about his head, uncon- 
 sciously to her — who was destined to be known 
 thereafter to his country, to the world, and to 
 
 mankind, as Robert Burns. (Cheers.) To 
 commemorate that birth, gentlemen, and on the 
 very spot where it was accomplished, in storm 
 and uproar, with pain and difficulty, are we 
 this night, in grateful wonder and with fraternal 
 sympathy, assembled. To myself it seems the 
 wonderful event in my own life, wonderful and 
 gratifying, as the birth of a first-born, that I 
 should have the honour of presiding among 
 you ; but the fact that I believe in a gospel 
 which teaches the revelation of the Deity — 
 which teaches myself, at least, to recognise and 
 venerate the likeness of the Deity in all His 
 rational creatures — to recognise, ay almost to 
 adore it in a man like Robert Burns, with what- 
 ever imperfections may adhere to the tabernacle 
 of clay ; and the fact that I have been honestly 
 preaching that, both in Ayrshire and elsewhere, 
 may have something to do with it ; certainly, 
 gentlemen, in the faith of such a gospel I live, 
 and the faith of such a gospel I preach, and the 
 honour of such a gospel, transforming and in- 
 spiring, I believe to be as safe this night in 
 your hands, and under the sha,dow of this roof, 
 as in the hands of the most solemn assembly of 
 divines, or in any pulpit in Christendom — 
 (cheers) — here, where we have met, with bro- 
 therly accord, by the vei-y threshold where he 
 came into existence, to make the night for ever 
 sacred to ourselves, and to thank the Everlast- 
 ing Father, for having made such a man. 
 (Cheers.) I have been charged of late with 
 being out of my senses about Robert Burns, 
 and of exceeding the limits of propriety and 
 truth in my eulogies of him. Be it so. I am 
 not more out of my senses than all Ayrshire— 
 than all Scotland — than the world ; and, as for 
 eulogies, gentlemen, what eulogy could I pro- 
 nounce — could you, or I, or all of us pronounce, 
 that would have half the eloquence of that 
 ecstatic homage which a whole nation is now 
 paying, with reverently bared brow and defer- 
 ential attitude, to the outline of his spirit in the 
 clouds ? Scotland, gentlemen, was never more 
 in her senses than at this moment: after a 
 slumberous dream of fifty years, incredulous 
 admiration has awoke this day to realise the 
 fact of her own divinity. Eulogy, my friends! 
 the uttermost of eulogy that we could speak 
 would be but as the voices of children in a 
 chorus of the winds. The universe of our 
 nationality^the intensest nationality that ever 
 existed — is now full of him. Every man now 
 breathes, every man now sees and hears him ; 
 and we are all but the individual pipes that 
 send up the harmonious acclaim of love and 
 admiration of his genius to the stars. It is not 
 to pronounce eulogy, gentlemen, nor to do any 
 other idle or merely gratuitous work, that I 
 am before you to-night — no ! but to look into 
 
112 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 the very face of Burns, and tell you how I love 
 liim ; to ask you to look into his face, and lov- 
 ingly and truly understand him ; to look 
 gratefully and affectionately in his face, and 
 thank God for having made him. (Cheers.) 
 Yes, gentlemen, I say to thank God for having 
 made him ! (Cheers.) It is said of LinnsBus, 
 the great high-priest of the floral world, that 
 when he first saw a field of British whins in 
 bloom, he fell fast upon his knees to thank God 
 for having made anything so beautiful : and 
 well he might, for, common as it is, it is the 
 most perfect combination of fragrance, of gold, 
 and of verdure in the world, and for ever in 
 season. " Love," they say, " and the whin, 
 are never out of season ; winter and summer 
 they are always true ! " (Cheers.) And when 
 or where is Burns out of season 1 From Cali- 
 fornia to Japan, from Australia to the wilds of 
 Canada, wherever Scotchmen are — that is ev- 
 erywhere — and to-night, on the 25th of Janu- 
 ary, 1859, he is as much in season, nay, a thou- 
 sand times more, than he ever was since his 
 name was known. To himself belongs the 
 perpetual green, to him the perennial gold ; 
 to himself the pervading sweetness — a sweet- 
 ness richer than whin or the blossom'd rose 
 can boast ; to him the bonnet-load, the headful 
 of golden melodies — where the bee may sit and 
 suck, which the humming-bird with burnished 
 plumage may toy and kiss, and the butterfly 
 with quaking wings and luxurious eyes may 
 settle on and inhale; under whose strong hand 
 the woodlark and the linnet, the blackbird and 
 thrush, may sing, safe and melodious, till the 
 whole land seems musically bewitched; to him, 
 also, belong the lances and the thorns, of which 
 let all fools and intermeddling dunces beware ! 
 (Cheers.) Yes, gentlemen, he is for ever in 
 season, for ever fresh, for ever golden, for ever 
 true and strong. Thank God, will you not ; 
 or let me thank him for having made such a 
 man ! (Cheers.) But how, in reality, my 
 friends, does God make such men — men like 
 Moses, like Homer, like Shakspeave, like Burns? 
 Of common dust ? Yes ! but of the concen- 
 trated essence of common dust, sublimed and 
 purified for five hundred or a thousand years. 
 These are not stray births, nor mere accidental 
 creations. (Cheers.) They are grand, because 
 they represent the grandeur of generations — 
 they are great, because the vital element of a 
 whole people is concentrated in their veins. 
 Hebrew, Greek, or Anglo-Saxon, they were 
 great first as the representatives of their own 
 people, before they were great as typos of man- 
 kind. All the most characteristic elements of 
 national greatness are accumulated in them, 
 heaped upon their heads, or intensified in their 
 constitutions ; and so they become wonders to 
 
 the world as the incarnate spiritual essence of 
 immortal millions. Of the adamant and crystal 
 of the Jewish mind God made Moses with that 
 eye of his, where was the very body of heaven 
 in its clearness ; of the lustrous marbles of the 
 Archipelago he fashioned the head of Homer ; 
 the fictile clay of England, the finest, the best, 
 the most impressible and retentive, he set upon 
 his potter's wheel, and off came the mask of 
 the myriad-minded Shakspeare ; and from the 
 unmolten iron of the northern hemisphere, full 
 of heat and fire, full of rage and love, full 
 of music and electricity, he selected the most 
 precious portion, and cast into the furnace of 
 human passion seven times heated, ay, with the 
 concentrated heat of five hundred years, and 
 out came Eobert Burns — (cheers) — glowing, 
 flashing, blazing hot— (cheers) — ringing, echo- 
 ing, reverberating with song, glancing and co- 
 ruscating with wit and humour — (cheers) — as 
 musical as the bells of Moscow, as clear as a 
 jubilee trumpet, as divinely authoritative as the 
 horns of the priests at the downfall of Jericho ! 
 (Great cheering.) Yet there are mortals, in 
 /Other respects reasonable enough, and entitled 
 to respect from qualities in themselves that 
 constitute respectability, who cavil at this work- 
 manship of the Deity ; who are not satisfied 
 with his performance — who would like to ope- 
 rate on the eye of Moses, to remodel the bust 
 of Homer, to cancel the mask of Shakspeare, to 
 touch the heart of Eobert Burns ! What, sir, 
 would these insatiable intermeddlers have ? 
 No Moses, no Homer, no Shakspeare, and no 
 Burns at all ! That would be the practical re- 
 sult of their intrusive labours. For Moses, 
 Homer, and Shakspeare we have less concern 
 to-night. They hitherto have spoken, and will 
 for ever speak for themselves. But how of 
 Burns? In what respect would such inter- 
 meddlers with the divine workmanship improve 
 him ? The sum of their objections and their 
 regret seems to be that he was not a Covenant- 
 er or a Puritan ; and this they would have 
 rectified by some addition to his constitution 
 which the Almighty Maker himself did not see 
 necessary. We may grant this, and do grant 
 it. He was not a Covenanter, had not the ele- 
 ment of religious zeal, self-sacrificing, in his 
 constitution ; but he had another element, 
 equally valuable in its own place, for whose 
 divine excess he was no more responsible than 
 a Leyden jar is for an overcharge of electricity. 
 (Cheers.) All honour to our covenanting fore- 
 fathers — men of whom the world was not 
 worthy — heroes of liberty and martyrs of the 
 faith, who knew botli how to live and die. 
 (Loud cheers.) But, with all the elements of 
 heroism and self-sacrifice which were in them, 
 and by which they became world-famous as 
 
AYR.— "THE COTTAGE" DEMONSTRATIOX. 
 
 113 
 
 types of tlieir race, they were, not precisely 
 what we call poets — prophets and martyrs they 
 might be — but poets they were not. Now, 
 you cannot have everything at once ; God, I 
 perceive, does not accord that, either to men 
 or angels, in life or history. Nay, in the crea- 
 tion of a man like Burns, he does not even 
 consult our wishes or listen to our prayers at 
 all. To the elements of genius, intellect, in- 
 telligence, imagination in him, God added the 
 vehemence of passion and the distraction of de- 
 sire, and the man became a Poet — not a Cove- 
 nanter, not a Puritan ; no ! but an impassioned 
 psalmist, headlong, almost ungovernable — 
 snatching up the aifections of a whole nation, 
 and hurrying on with them to immortality. 
 (Cheers.) And such a man was needed, I say; 
 as much needed in the Divine economy of the 
 universe as any hero, any prophet, any martyr, 
 any Puritan that ever lived — and specially 
 needed at the very crisis whan God was pleased 
 to call him into existence. Scotchmen before 
 that were known to be patriots and covenant- 
 ers, self-devoters, self-sacrificers for liberty and 
 conscience ; Wallace, Bruce, Knox, and Cam- 
 eron had already lived ; and such a band of heroes 
 tlie world had never seen spring from the soil of 
 any one country before, — Judea alone excepted. 
 But they were never known to be the deposi- 
 tories of a passion that was almost self-destroy- 
 ing, as reckless and vehement, as musical and 
 profound as a tornado, till Burns appeared — 
 nay, the world itself was not supposed to be 
 capable of producing a phenomenon of intensity 
 and power like him. Till ho was born, no such 
 man was known ; and since his disappearance, 
 no other such for a thousand years need be 
 expected ; and do you wonder that he should 
 have shot like a meteor through our hemisphere? 
 or do you quarrel with the trifling aberrations 
 or fiery coruscations of his path? Understand, 
 then, that such things are attendant on the 
 passage of the Deity among mortals! The 
 nations must look for electric shocks when 
 God makes his way amongst them ! (Repeated 
 cheering.) On the same small field of criti- 
 cism, regrets are often heard that he did not 
 employ his gifts to some sacred purpose, such 
 as writing prose poems, elegies, and hymns — 
 like Montgomery, Watts, or Hemans. — All 
 honour to them in their places. But on the 
 same principle men may wonder and complain 
 that the boiling springs of Iceland are not tile 
 drains — (cheers) — or that the sea of Galilee is 
 not a fish pond — (cheers) — or that the river 
 Jordan is not a canal. (Cheers.) You cannot 
 have both in the same personality. God made 
 the Geysers, Smith of Deanston made the tile 
 drains ; God made Galilee, Solomon made 
 Heshbon ; God made the Jordan, the Earl of 
 
 Bridgewater made the canals ! That is tlie 
 difference ! (Cheers.) You cannot alter it, 
 and you would not exchange it. Even if you 
 would, God will not permit you. In his divine 
 liberality he gives you the Geysers, gives you 
 Galilee, gives you the Jordan ; which you must 
 gratefully accept at his own hands, and be 
 silent. The song-writer and tlie psalmist are 
 equally divine ; and your cavilling or objecting 
 on that score is only a ]3roof of ignorance or 
 inexperience. (Loud cheers.) But what, after 
 all, it is exclaimed, is this Burns in reality? A 
 song-writer ! Yes, a song-writer ! as if that 
 were nothing. Why, gentlemen, what is a 
 song ? 'Tis the very coining of the heart in 
 love or rage, in joy or sorrow, into links of 
 golden melody, to reach and bind all other 
 souls of men together — such and no less — the 
 breathing of ecstatic ether on the world, — 
 handicraft for a god ! (Cheers.) The man 
 that has written one good song is immortal — 
 has contributed an inheritance to the world. 
 Sappho lives in virtue of a single song — has 
 made herself immortal by one such outpouring. 
 What then shall we say of him who, besides all 
 other glorious doings, bequeathed some 260 of 
 these imperishable breatliings to his country 
 and the world without fee, without reward ; 
 who coined himself away in melody, and died 
 of song? Why, gentlemen, he swallows up 
 poor Sappho, lyre and all — (cheers) — like the 
 amorous sea; and having dedicated this im- 
 mortal gift to the honour of his country — I 
 may say to the very redemption of his country 
 — he is just as much entitled to the gratitude, 
 to the love, and to the worship of his country, 
 as any martyr, any prophet, any lawgiver, or 
 philosopher, that ever existed. (Cheers.) But, 
 gentlemen, he was more than a song-writer — 
 great as such distinction is ; he was the philo- 
 sopher, the prophet, and the martyr too. The 
 philosopher he was, in the highest sense, of 
 humanity itself with all its passions ; the pro- 
 phet he was of a higher faith arid a truer life 
 for his countrymen and for mankind, than any 
 they had hitherto known ; and a martyr he was to 
 the independence of intellect and the lofty pre- 
 rogatives of genius, sacrificing himself for the 
 great truth of man's inherent nobility — (cheers) 
 — and in these respects, gentlemen, he was as 
 much entitled to our veneration and our grati- 
 tude as Knox, Cameron, or Chalmers. (Cheers.) 
 As a minister of the gospel, when on this topic, 
 I have yet another word to say: — Robert 
 Buriis was not a clergyman. No, Sirs; but he 
 was the reformer of the clergy — (cheers) — the 
 sternest rebuker of their ignorance and profli- 
 gacy ; for this, I, at least, will always thank 
 and honour him. (Cheers.) But it was in a 
 still higher sense that I regard him as the pro- 
 
114 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 phet of his generation. At the time of his 
 appearance what was the moral condition of 
 Europe? Our religious friends forget tiiis. 
 Why, all Europe was sunk in atheism, flooded 
 with tlie shallow and abominable irreligion 
 of Voltaire, or shaken with the profounder and 
 moie potent scepticism of Hume. Against this 
 flood, by God's all-wise inscrutable appoint- 
 ment, a standard was unconsciously, almost 
 heedlessly lifted by a peasant lad. Drawing 
 his inspiration from the trees, and the rocks, 
 and the rivers, and the lakes, and mountains 
 of his native land, but chiefly from the heart 
 itself that was burning and yearning for utter- 
 ance like a volcano within him, and fashioning 
 such inspiration into musical words, he rolled 
 back the deluge of unbelief with songs and 
 fables such as men had never before heard, 
 saying, in the name of God, " Hitherto shalt 
 thou come, and no farther!" (Cheers.) Why, 
 gentlemen, as believers in Christianity, and as 
 ministers of the gospel, we owe infinite obliga- 
 tions to him. (Cheers.) And now for his 
 personality — What was he? What like was 
 he? How did he live? And how did he die ? 
 God is no respecter of persons, gentlemen, and 
 I have no right to be ; neither do I speak it 
 as in the spirit of senseless or illiberal boasting 
 against any class ; but I confess honestly that 
 a thrill of gratitude to God pervades me when 
 I remember he was a son of the common people, 
 and of no exclusive rank — (cheers) — that he 
 was in fact born a peasant ; that God took him 
 with all the elements of his existence out of the 
 bosom of the people — (cheers) — that he was theirs, 
 and drew the very inspiration that glorified him 
 from the soil on which he trod and laboured. 
 (Cheers.) Yes, gentlemen, he was one of our- 
 selves ; but, like the fabled demigod of old, 
 when he touched his mother earth again, he 
 became instinct with vitality and strength. 
 (Cheers.) The fire of poetry in him shot up- 
 wards from his very feet out of the ground ; 
 and from head to foot he was full of it ! As 
 for his look, his noble brow, his deep, dark, 
 eloquent eye, and sweet melodious lips — these 
 were his own inalienable characteristics ; but 
 in other matters he was like the rest of us — a 
 brother man and mortal. (Cheers.) " In a 
 licht blue coat o' his mither's making and . dye- 
 ing, ay, and o' his mither's sewing in thae days; 
 and his bonnie black hair hinging doon and 
 curling o'er the neck o't ; a bulk in his han' — 
 ay, a buik in his ban' an whiles his bonnet 
 aneath his tither ockster, and didna ken that 
 he was bare-headed ; gaun about the dykesides 
 and hedges ; an idler, ye ken — an idler just, 
 that did little but read ; and even on the 
 hairst-rig, it was soup and soup, and then the 
 buik — (cheers) — soup and soup and then the 
 
 biiik ! (Prolonged cheers.) He wasna to. 
 ca' a very bonnie man ; dark and strong ; 
 but uncommon invitin' in his speech, uncom- 
 mon. (Cheers.) Ye couldna liae cracked 
 wi' him for ae minute, but ye wad hae 
 stooden' four or five!" (Cheers.) So have I 
 heard him described by an aged eye-witness— 
 (now no more) — of the first reading of his 
 " Holy Fair," across a chair-back at Mauchline, 
 when he was in ' great glee' — and I doubt not 
 it is as true as any photograph. (Cheers.) 
 And how did he live, gentlemen ? On this - 
 most delicate, painful, and sadly controverted 
 topic, if you consult his enemies, those who 
 hated or did not understand him, whom he had 
 chastised and who smarted under his inflictions, 
 you will be told that he was a reprobate and 
 dangerous man ; and eavesdroppers about Dum- 
 fries and elsewhere will strive to corroborate 
 this, for miserable notoriety — perhaps for gain 
 — that he was a slave to drink, a slave to pas- 
 sion, and a slave to profanity. If you consult 
 those on the other hand who did know, and did 
 love, and did understand him, they will not 
 deny some errors ; for the beloved of their re- 
 collections was a man ; but they will assure 
 you at the same time, perhaps with tears of 
 afiection, that he was a second father to his 
 father's orphan family, that he taught younger 
 brothers and sisters to read and write, that he 
 prayed night and morning for them with a 
 devotion and fervency they never elsewhere 
 heard ; that he was a kind master, a true 
 friend, a compas"sionate man, a loving husband, 
 and most indulgent father. (Cheers.) This 
 you will hear on the other side, and can judge 
 for yourselves between them : both accounts 
 cannot be true ; and I know to which account 
 my own faith unhesitatingly, instinctively in- 
 clines ; and for the other, let it go down, as it 
 deserves, into perpetual oblivion ! (Cheers.) 
 And now, gentlemen — How did he die ? Ah, 
 sirs, there lies the question and the mystery I 
 He did not die — he is not dead — he scarcely^ 
 sleepeth^ — he is at this moment as much, and 
 perhaps more, a vital essence and living power, 
 than when he was with us in the flesh ! 
 (Cheers.) No, gentlemen, he is not dead, and 
 cannot die. The ague fit that freed him from 
 the bonds of clay, let loose his spirit on the, 
 world, and gave it wings of fire that will bear 
 it triumphant wherever there are sympathetic 
 souls in the universe. (Cheers.) Not dead is 
 he, but only disembodied and difinsed; and 
 the gift of life that was then concentrated in 
 himself has since become the inheritance of 
 mankind ! (Cheers.) To the great and good, 
 my friends, there is no death ; for them that 
 love, and for them that think, there is only 
 immortality, and perpetual, honoured remem- 
 
AYR.— REFORM MEETING. 
 
 llo 
 
 brance. Nor is this an apotheosis, or mere 
 heathen deifieation of some deceased brother 
 mortal, and the raising of his imago for idola- 
 trous worship to the clouds : no, sirs, it is a 
 spiritual resurrection, a rising again from the 
 dead of a soul as deathless as our own, and the 
 breatliing again of its own undying life among 
 the men that remain and wonder. (Cheers.) 
 To your feet, gentlemen, — to your feet; and 
 observe the toast we pledge. To Burns, to 
 Robert Burns, the illustrious, the immortal ! 
 (The delivery of this speech was received with 
 a vehemence of appreciatory enthusiasm, and 
 the toast itself pledged with a sort of rapture 
 that cannot be described. The cheering was 
 lusty and long continued, and the toast was 
 drunk with all the honours.) 
 
 Song — " Theie was a lad was bora in Kyle" — Mr. 
 Giivan. 
 
 The Croupier here recited with great effect 
 and amid loud cheering, some Commemorative 
 Stanzas, especially written for the occasion. 
 
 Mr. OiLPiLLAN gave "The Poets of Eng- 
 land," in connection with the health and pros- 
 perity of Mr. Story. 
 
 .Song — " Ever of Theo I'm fondly dreaming" — Mr. 
 Sfafford, teacher, AUoway. 
 
 Mr. Story returned thanks, 
 
 Mr. George Morton proposed " The Me- 
 mory of Professor Wilson." — About fourteen 
 or fifteen years ago, on the banks of yon clas- 
 sic river, and within a stone-east or two of the 
 place where they were assembled, a great and 
 glorious demonstration had taken place in hon- 
 our of him, the centenary of whose birth they 
 were met to celebrate. Up to that day Scot- 
 land had remained indifferent to the claims of 
 her poetic genius. But at length she had nobly 
 roused herself to wipe away the stinging sar- 
 casm that she was hardly just to the merits of 
 her bard. Upon that occasion men of all ranks, 
 classes, and distinctions had congregated in one 
 great living mass to worship at the shrine of 
 genius. (Cheers.) In a pavilion suitably erect- 
 ed for the purpose, a great meeting had been 
 held which was presided over by a nobleman 
 who was an honour to their county, as well as 
 country — who was foremost in every patriotic 
 work, and was now reaping the reward of his 
 labour and philanthropy in being chosen to 
 rule over thousands. He (Mr. Morton) was 
 not present upon that occasion, but he could 
 well conceive the enthusiastic burst of applause 
 which greeted the announcement from the 
 chair — " Christopher himself is here." So, Sir, 
 Christopher was there in all the dignity of his 
 person — in all the nobility of his soul — in all 
 the wai-mth of his feeling — in all the beauty of 
 expression which ever characterised him, and 
 hundreds that day had the delightful privilege 
 
 of listening with rapture to the noble senti- 
 ments to which he gave utterance. 
 
 " How like a lion in quiescent might 
 
 Tlie noble-souled old Christdpher appears ; 
 The martial glory of internal light 
 Smiles beautiful amid his ripening years." 
 
 (Cheers.) He is not here now, however, neither 
 does his presence grace the festive board on 
 this day of general rejoicing over the land. 
 He has passed awaj'. But all of hira is not 
 gone. We have still left behind the essence of 
 his mighty mind. Although his noble lion- 
 like form has been cut down, and we shall see 
 him no more, he lives, ay, lives. He lives in 
 the grateful recollection of his country — he 
 lives in his contributions, many and varied, to 
 the pages of Blackwood — he lives as a Poet- 
 he was great as a critic, — he excelled as a Pro- 
 fessor of Ethics ; — he lives, as one has facetious- 
 ly said, as a rollicking writer of chastened fun 
 and frolick, — he lives, especially in his Noctes 
 his fame is in)perishable. 
 
 " Thou art a monument without a tomb, 
 And art alive still while thy booli doth live, 
 And we have wits to read and praise to give." 
 
 (Great cheering.) 
 
 Song—" The Flowers of the Forest"— Mr. GilfiUan. 
 
 The Croupier gave " The Poets of Scot- 
 land." (Rapturous applause.) 
 
 Song — " Gae, bring my gude auld harp ance mair" 
 — Mr. Girvan. (Admirably sung.) 
 
 Other toasts, prefaced by excellent speeches, 
 followed, and the proceedings terminated by 
 singing " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 REFORM MEETING. 
 
 The soiree of the Ayr Working Men's Re- 
 form Association came oflF in the Theatre, with 
 Colonel Shaw, of the Queen's Indian Army, in 
 the chair. In beginning his address, the Chair- 
 man requested the audience to note the fact 
 that his name appeared upon the bills as the 
 " President of the Ayr Reform Association." 
 This circumstance, said the speaker, gives you 
 the point and pith of this commemorative effort: 
 it is as the Reformers of Ayr that we have met 
 together to-night. We have not come together 
 for the purpose of doing homage to Burns' 
 private character, no, nor even to his genius: 
 we have assembled for the purpose of do- 
 ing justice to the reformer who, more than 
 seventy years ago, went for "manhood suf- 
 frage" — singing "a man's a man for a' that." 
 Permit me, at the hazard of seeming somewhat 
 tedious, yet, in justice to myself and to the 
 noble-minded, virtuous, and honourable work- 
 
116 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENAKY. 
 
 ing men with whom I stand associated, to be 
 distinctly clear and very unmistakable upon this 
 point. I say, was Burns a Mormon, or was he 
 an angel of purity ? We have nothing to do 
 M'ith these questions. Was he a sybarite of in- 
 temperance, or was he a model of sobriety ? 
 We have nothing to do with these questions. 
 Did he abase — not to say profane — his God- 
 given genius, or were his poems, every one of 
 them, the effusions of a seraph ? I repeat it, 
 we have nothing earthly to do with these ques- 
 tions; we are commemorating the great Re- 
 former who, more than seventy years ago, went 
 for " manhood suffrage " — singing " a man's a 
 man for a' that." In Burns' day the times were 
 dismally dark. Socially, politically, and morally 
 speaking, our country was at that time in a low 
 and very melancholy condition. Why, it was 
 then thought the only real and right hospitality 
 to make a guest dead-drunk; and no one with 
 the least pretension to the name of gentleman 
 ever went to bed sober. The song of the poet 
 — inexpressibly sweet and beautiful when, like 
 the bird in the morning, it soared towards 
 heaven — became steeped in the predominant 
 rage. But we may not enter on this topic; I 
 
 I repeat it once more; we are assembled to do 
 justice to the mighty genius who, in so dark an 
 age, sang the glorious song, " A man's a man 
 for a' that ; " and as it will now be sung. — The 
 chairman sat down amidst a burst of applause, 
 and the song indicated by him was then sung. 
 A glee party and a pianist were in attendance. 
 No fewer than thirty songs were sung ; and, 
 these being contributed by both male and 
 female reformers gratuitously, were highly cal- 
 culated to evince the possibility of the working- 
 classes deriving enjoyment from chaste, refined 
 and elevated poetry, when married to music by 
 a high style of vocal proficiency. — A working 
 man of Ayr (indeed the Secretary of the Eeform 
 Association) delivered an address upon Scot- 
 land's sons, in which Livingstone, Hugh Miller, 
 and Watt were happily and effectively men- 
 tioned. — The whole of the proceedings were of 
 a character to show that, if others are offering 
 an idolatrous homage to the shade of departed 
 genius, the sons of toil are able to enter upon 
 the subject in a spirit of l)igh moral discrimina- 
 tion. There is no danger to any country where- 
 in such is the case. 
 
 DUMFEIES. 
 
 The centenary of Burns was celebrated in 
 Dumfries with demonstrations of the most im- 
 posing character, and with an enthusiasm 
 which, for extent and intensity, is quite unex- 
 ampled in the history of the town. 
 
 The Burns Club had taken the initiative by 
 resolving to hold a public dinner on the cen- 
 tenary of the poet, and to make such arrange- 
 ments suitable to the character of the festival 
 as would ensure its complete success. The 
 general public speedily followed the movement. 
 The Mechanics' Institution agreed to lay the 
 foundation-stone of their new hall on the 25th 
 of January. A most imposing and majestic 
 series of triumphal arches, twelve in number, 
 were designed by a townsman, Mr. Mein, joiner, 
 and well executed. The day was universally 
 observed as a holiday in the town and neigh- 
 bourhood, large numbers being present from 
 the country. 
 
 At twelve o'clock the procession, which was 
 of extraordinary extent, and presented an ex- 
 ceedingly brilliant and imposing appearance, 
 left the Academy grounds, where it had been 
 marshalled four abreast, and, accompanied by 
 seven bands of music, passed through the 
 
 principal streets of Dumfries and Maxwelltown. 
 It was headed by the Magistrates and Town 
 Council of Dumfries, followed by the Magis- 
 trates and Town Council of Maxwelltown, the 
 water commissioners, the merchants and trad- 
 ers, the various incorporated and other trades, 
 the Celtic Society in Highland costume, the 
 operatives in Nithsdale and Kingholm Mills, 
 railway labourers, drapers' assistants. Early Clos- 
 ing Association, members of Mechanics' Insti- 
 tute, and Freemasons — the whole being brought 
 up by a body of carters on horseback. Almost 
 all the bands played Scotch music; and all 
 along the route the windows were crowded 
 with interested and enthusiastic spectators. 
 All the trades carried their appropriate em- 
 blems and insignia, and the " siller gun," gifted 
 to the Seven Incorporated Trades by James 
 VI., was borne by their oldest freem"an. In 
 passing the house in Bank Street, where Burn.s 
 once resided, and the house in Burns Street 
 where he died, solemn and appropriate music 
 was played. The foundation-stone of the new 
 hall was laid with all due masonic honours by 
 E. W. G. M. Stewart, Provincial Grand Master ; 
 and an appropriate address was afterwards de- 
 
DUMFRIES.— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 117 
 
 livered by Dr. W. A. F. Browne, President of 
 the Institute. The procession then returned 
 to the Academy grounds, whore an address on 
 Burns was delivered by Mr. Washington Wilks, 
 of the Carlisle Examiner. 
 
 THE ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 At four o'clock on Tuesday, fully 220 gen- 
 tlemen dined together under the auspices of 
 the Burns Club, in the large hall of the Assem- 
 bly Rooms, which was very neatly decorated 
 with wreaths of evergreens, the large windows 
 being hung with pink curtains. At the upper 
 end of the hall were placed the two fine club 
 portraits of Burns and his Bonny Jean. The 
 hall has undergone a marked improvement by 
 the introduction of gas. The three large crys- 
 tal chandeliers have been removed, and beauti- 
 ful gilt branches placed «t each end of the 
 room ; and all round are handsome gilt brackets, 
 with gas jets. Below the orchestra a row of 
 ten gas lights has been placed, which has a good 
 effect. The tables for the dinner were laid out 
 by Mr. Clark of the Commercial Hotel with 
 great taste. 
 
 The chair was occupied, in the unavoidable 
 absence of Sheriff Napier from the sudden 
 death of his son, by Dr. W. A. E. Browne, one 
 of Her Majesty's Commissioners in Lunacy for 
 Scotland. J. M. Leny, Esq. of Dalswinton, 
 James Maekie, Esq. of Bargaly, M.P., Thomas 
 Aird, Esq., of the Dumfries Herald, and W. 
 Bell Macdonald, Esq. of Rammerscales, dis- 
 charged the duties of croupiers. The Chairman 
 had on his right hand Colonel Burns, the eldest 
 surviving son of the poet ; Colonel M'Murdo of 
 Mavisgrove ; Dr. Ramage of Wallacehall ; Mr. 
 William Gordon of Castlehill ; Mr. Robert 
 Scott of Castledykes ; Mr. Walter Scott of 
 Manchester ; and on his left Provost Leighton, 
 Dumfries; Rev. David Hogg of Kirkmahoe ; 
 Mr. A. Barrie, Dumfries; Mr. John Thorburn, 
 Dumfries ; Mr. H. Fuller, Editor of the New 
 York Mirror ; M. George Francis Train, New 
 York ; Col. Hyslop of Lotus. Supporting the 
 croupiers were — Captain Noake, Dumfries ; Dr. 
 Adam, late of Dumfries, now of Boston, Lin- 
 colnshire ; Mr. Strachan of the National Bank, 
 Dumfries; Mr. Jeffray, Braehead ; Mr. Smith, 
 junior, Dalfibble; Mr. Dudgeon of Cargen; 
 Mr. Johnston, Bank of Scotland; Sir Wm. 
 Broun ; Dr. Grieve, Dumfries. The Rev. Mr. 
 Hogg acted as Chaplain. 
 
 The cloth having been withdrawn, the punch 
 bowl and jugs of the Club were placed before 
 the Chairman, who mellowed the national 
 beverage into a perfect whole. 
 
 The Chairman then rose and said : — I think 
 
 before proceeding to the ordinary business of 
 the evening, it is incumbent upon me to ex- 
 plain why I am here — why so humble an indi- 
 vidual .should attempt to act as a substitute for 
 our respected Sheriff, — for one whose name in h is- 
 torical literature as well as his hereditary name 
 recommends him to you. (Cheers.) He has 
 been visited bj' severe affliction — so severe as to 
 render it impossible that he should attend here 
 on this occasion, or think of any such duty. I 
 heard this with consternation, and I did not 
 consent to the proposal so kindly made to me 
 by the Burns Club, that I should take the chair 
 here, until all other resources had failed, and 
 until the other three gentlemen who had been 
 appointed croupiers had been appealed to, and 
 in the hour of need were, I am sorry to say, 
 found wanting. I believe Mr. Leny will have 
 some explanation to offer on the subject of 
 Sheriff Napier's absence; and for myself, I 
 trust that, under the circumstances, you will 
 extend to me such support and forbearance as 
 you can. (Loud cheers). 
 
 The Chairman, after a brief pause, then rose 
 and said : — Gentlemen, I have to propose the 
 Queen. Three sovereigns chiefly occupy my 
 mind at the present moment. One is James I. 
 of Scotland, the captive of Windsor, the author 
 of the King's Quair, one of our first poets in 
 point of time, though in some respects also first in 
 merit. The second is James IV. of Scotland, 
 the patron of poets, and minstrels, and luters, and 
 of whom it was said that he was a sore patron 
 to the crown, like his predecessor David, who 
 was a sore saint to the crown. An anecdote of 
 some local interest has lately come to light re- 
 garding this prince. Professor Aytoun, in 
 illustration of James IV.'s musical propensities, 
 has made known that on the 7th September, 
 1503, the crooked vicar of Dumfries sang before 
 this gracious monarch at Lochmaben. (Laugh- 
 ter.) The third sovereign at once suggests 
 itself to you — I mean our gracious Queen — 
 (loud cheers) — one who has shown her love for 
 Scotland by preferring it as a place of peace, 
 repose, and relaxation, and who is said to love 
 its music and its scenery. (Cheers.) She is 
 not only the sovereign of a dominion on which 
 the sun never sets, but of a realm in which the 
 sound of song and minstrelsy never ceases — the 
 sovereign of the most loyal and contented peo- 
 ple that ever the sun shone upon — not only the 
 mother of princes, but may we not also say the 
 mother of poets ? The toast was received with 
 loud cheers, and all the honours. — Band — 
 " The National Anthem." 
 
 The Chairman then gave the Prince Con- 
 sort, the Prince of Wales, and the rest of the 
 Royal Family. AH the honours. — Band — 
 " Rule Britannia." 
 
118 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 The Chairman then proposed the Army 
 and Navy, and said : — There was a time 
 when every army had not only its harper 
 — that they have yet — but its bard, whose 
 function it was to sing their high achievements. 
 Then there came a time when even bards and 
 harpers thought it incumbent on them to wear 
 the sword and shoulder the musket, and tradi- 
 tion says that when our poet (Burns) walked 
 up the High Street of Dumfries, wearing the 
 grey kerseymere breeches, the coat of blue 
 turned up with red, and the great bear-skin 
 cap of that celebrated corps, the Dumfries 
 Volunteers, he looked very unlike a poet, and 
 even very unsoldier-like. (Great laughter and 
 cheers.) There has now come a period when 
 our bards are more disposed to turn the sword 
 into the reaping-hook, or into the strings of the 
 lyre. I think this is to be regretted. There is 
 no time at which the poet should despise our 
 brave defenders by sea and by land, and cer- 
 tainly not at the present time. (Loud cheers.) 
 At all times, let us be assured, the best way to 
 enjoy the blessings of peace is to be ready, aye 
 ready for war. I beg to associate with this 
 toast the name of Colonel M'Murdo, a name 
 that is dear in the annals of Burns. The toast 
 was drunk with all the honovu's. 
 
 Colonel M'Mdrdo : — I rise on behalf of the 
 united services, to respond to the toast which 
 has been just now given. (Cheers.) The 
 affairs of Europe are at present in an unsettled 
 state, and there is no knowing, from time to 
 time, what may arise. The smallest collision 
 between the great European Powers at present 
 may lead to a war the termination of which no 
 one can foresee. It is becoming a received 
 opinion in some quarters that we should abstain 
 from all liostilities, and have no connection with 
 the quarrels of continental nations, that, in 
 fact, we must maintain peace at all hazards. 
 That, gentlemen, may or may not be correct, 
 but for my own part, I do not think it is pos- 
 sible, that, standing as we do a nation the 
 first in Europe, we can abstain from entering 
 into war should circumstances arise to demand 
 it. I think it is simply impossible, and I hope 
 that the Government of this country will keep 
 our army and navy in a most efficient state, 
 prepared for all emergencies, and should we be 
 drawn into the vortex and obliged, to mix in 
 the quarrels of Europe, then, with a clear con- 
 science, and trusting in God for the result, we 
 may go at it, and look forward to the result 
 with confidence. (Cheers.) With respect to 
 our army I have no doubt at all tliat it will 
 continue to maintain the high character that it 
 has done on other occasions, and particularly in 
 the war so successfully brought to a close in 
 .India, where the British character has stood 
 
 out in bright relief to the admiration of tlie 
 whole world. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Lee sung herewith great beauty of expression, 
 "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." The effect on 
 the audience was quite electrifying, and the song was 
 unanimously redemanded. 
 
 The Chairman then said: — The meeting 
 would notice the presence on this occasion of a 
 number of gentlemen whom they must all re- 
 joice to see. He would speedily speak to them 
 of the aspirations of the poet, of his being raised 
 to a heaven of his own creation, of his living in 
 an ideal state of existence. Let them recollect, 
 however, that there was a higher and holier 
 state than any represented in the dream of the 
 poet, — that there was a real heaven, — that 
 there were laws and conditions upon which it 
 was to be reached, — and that the pointing out 
 of those laws was intrusted to a class of men 
 who were set for that dignified office. There 
 were ministers he rejoiced to say of various 
 denominations who, in the case of Burns, could 
 see glory through a cloud — (cheers) — and could 
 see those qualities that dignified the man, even 
 though he were a fallible man. (Cheers.) The 
 presence of clergymen on that occasion showed 
 how much they sympathised in a national cele- 
 bration like this, arid though, so far as he could 
 see, those clergymen now present chiefly be- 
 longed to the Established Church, homage to 
 Burns, he was glad to say, was not confined to 
 any particular sect or form of faith. In proof 
 of this he would mention an incident of recent 
 occurrence, which showed that the spirit now 
 abroad had penetrated even to the altar. Last 
 Sunday week in the town of Dundee a clergy- 
 man had spoken to his congregation to the fol- 
 lowing effect : " They were about to celebrate 
 the anniversary of a great and illustrious man, 
 to pay respect to those qualities which raised 
 him above the rank of ordinary men and en- 
 dowed him with powers that were certainly 
 intended for the benefit of mankind, and he 
 thought they were right in so doing." The 
 individual so speaking was said to be the Rev. 
 G. Gilfillan — (cheers) — a name intimately con- 
 nected with the literature of Scotland, and who 
 was now engaged in an enterprise which would 
 have done credit to Samuel Johnson, and which 
 in extent exceeded all Samuel Johnson's works, 
 — he referred to his publication in a form ac- 
 cessible to all classes of an edition of the poets 
 of Great Britain. (Cheers.) He begged now 
 to give "The Clergy," coupled with the name 
 of the Rev. Mr. Hogg. (Cheers.) 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Hogg : — I was not aware till 
 this moment that the toast now proposed was 
 to be given, and I frankly state that I am not 
 at all prepared to reply to it. If, however 
 you will accept the will for the deed, I beg to 
 
DUMFRIES.— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 iia 
 
 return you my sincere thanks for tlie honour 
 you have conferred upon us. And if you will 
 permit me to say a single word in reference to 
 our meeting to-day, I would here observe that 
 the time has, in a great measure, gone past 
 when prejudice was manifested with regard to 
 our great national bard. (Cheers.) I firmly 
 believe that, with reference to many ministers 
 in the Church of Scotland, and indeed the 
 clergy of Scotland of all denominations, there 
 at one time existed much prejudice, much mis- 
 representation, and much misunderstanding in 
 regard to Burns. (Loud cheers.) I think 
 that we of the present day have great cause to 
 rejoice that that prejudice is being removed, 
 although at the time to which I refer it would 
 have been considered anything but a subject of 
 rejoicing. Many have accused the national 
 bard of want of religion. I do not think he 
 was an irreligious man at heart ; but we must 
 remember the character of the times in which 
 he livedj and the style of Scottish poetry which 
 immediately preceded him. (Loud cheers.) 
 And I rejoiced to see the other day in a news- 
 paper a letter from one who had been an old 
 servant with Burns at Mossgiel, in which he 
 says that the much maligned Poet had family 
 worship morning and evening while he was 
 there. . (Cheers.) Now, Sir, I will venture to 
 say that is more than can be said of many who 
 have accused Burns of a want of religion. 
 (Loud cheers and laughter.) There is one 
 point to which I will refer for which the clergy 
 are much indebted tj Burns, and it will be in 
 the minds of every one present. It has refer- 
 ence to matters connected with the most sacred 
 solemnities of our fihurch. There is a certain 
 weed which amateur gardeners find very trou- 
 blesome ; it is no sooner eradicated than it al- 
 most reappears to laugh in your face again. It 
 is called the bishop-weed. (Laughter.) Burns 
 found a bishop-weed in the church: he found 
 it in such scenes us those which are described 
 in his Holy Fair — (cheers) — and in that poem 
 he levelled a shaft against it — the shaft of sa- 
 tire — which put an end for ever to scenes that 
 were a disgrace to humanity— a shaft which, 
 though then levelled at a particular quarter, 
 has been pointed throughout the whole world, 
 and has produced such an effect that I may say 
 nothing even analogous to the same scenes can 
 now be found in this country. For this, I, for 
 one, hereby acknowledge my obligation to 
 Burns. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 The Chairman: — We have been honoured 
 with the presence of the Chief Magistrate of 
 Dumfries, and I have now the honour to pro- 
 pose J)is health. I. have also to congratulate 
 him, as I have already done to-day, on the 
 splendid spectacle which the town over which 
 
 he presides has this day presented, and, so far 
 as I could see, the orderly, happy, and con- 
 tented aspect of all the people. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 The Provost returned thanks, alluding 
 briefly to the pleasure he felt in having taken 
 part in the inauguration of the Mechanics' In- 
 stitute Hall and the drinking fountains, and 
 remarking that it would be his proudest ambi- 
 tion, as he was sure it was that of his brother 
 magistrates, to do everything in the future, as 
 they had endeavoured to do in the past, that 
 would tend to maintain the prosperity of Dum- 
 fries. 
 
 The Chairman then rose and said — May I 
 now request your calm and serious attention 
 for a moment. I have to draw your attention 
 to what may be called — not the toast — but the 
 commemoration of the evening. There have 
 been in Great Britain three great anniversary 
 meetings or celebrations such as this. One 
 thousand years after the good and great Alfred 
 died — the "truth-teller" as he was called — 
 who founded schools and universities that still 
 remain, — who commenced the translation of 
 the scriptures, — who established trial by jury, 
 — who gave a principality for a book, — who be- 
 moaned the ignorance of his people, — and gave 
 honours and place and power to those of them 
 only who could read (the anticipation or fore- 
 shadowing, you will observe, of our own com- 
 petitive examinations) — and who, lastly, spent 
 much of his time in the composition of works 
 of history and poesy, which have descended to 
 us, and were intended to ameliorate the condi- 
 tion of the people — in regard to this man a 
 few of the descendants, of the race he had en- 
 deavoured to enlighten testified their acknow- 
 ledgment and their gratitude in a jubilee. 
 They cared little that he was a king, and had 
 fought and conquered in fifty battles; they re- 
 membered chiefly that he was a poet and phi- 
 losopher, who had spent and been spent and 
 did the utmost he could do for the good of his 
 people. And they had their stately proces- 
 sions, they met in festivity, and they founded a 
 noble school in the town of his birth. Two 
 hundred years after William Shakspeare went 
 " with shining morning face," I doubt not 
 " unwillingly," to the grammar-school of Strat- 
 ford-upon-Avon, after he had raised our lan- 
 guage to the rank of a classic tongue, partly 
 by developing its powers, but chiefly by mak- 
 ing it the vehicle of the noblest thoughts man's 
 mind ever conceived, after he had given poetry 
 the dignity of history and ethics, and spoken 
 to all nien in all time through the highest and 
 holiest sympathies of our nature, some of his 
 countrymen renewed the expression of their 
 admiration in pageants and song, and banquets, 
 and ultimately in the purchase of the house in 
 
120 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 ■wliicli he was boi-n, as a museum for relics of 
 his life, as a national monument of his genius. 
 (Cheers.) And now, a hundred years after the 
 birth of the greatest poet, the most manly na- 
 ture that Scotland ever bore, whose genial and 
 fervid utterance has embalmed our land's lan- 
 guage — not as a vulgar idiom, but as a copious 
 tongue — who has given expression to all that 
 is earnest and impassioned, hearty and home- 
 like and social in our lives and customs — whose 
 fame, tried by time and criticism, remains a 
 boast and a glory in our history — to him now 
 we offer homage. (Cheers.) You will observe 
 the resemblance which subsists between these 
 events. Three men love and labour for and 
 elevate their fellow-men. Long ages after they 
 have fallen asleep, when the mist of prejudice 
 has cleared away, and we stand in the sunshine 
 of truth, their work 'is acknowledged; atone- 
 ment, perhaps, is made for neglect and injus- 
 tice, edifices arise as monuments, the hom- 
 age of grateful hearts is recorded. (Cheers.) 
 But you will remark the difference in these 
 events. While the royal poet's requiem was 
 sung in his native village only, while, alas, the 
 commemoration of William Shakspeare was left 
 in the hands of his brethren of the buskin, an- 
 tiquarians, and literary men, the Centenary of 
 Eobert Burns is national — (cheers) — it is uni- 
 versal— (renewed cheering) — for in every land 
 where his native tongue is spoken, his lyrics 
 sung, his genius appreciated, from Indus to 
 the Pole, there is this day expressed in various 
 fashion, but I verily believe earnestly and cor- 
 dially, honour to his immortal name. (Enthu- 
 siastic cheering.) Why, gentlemen, do we do 
 this? Why is it that an excitement prevails 
 unheard of, almost inexplicable — that our halls 
 will not contain those who press forward to 
 offer homage, that not only Scotsmen, but all, 
 wherever they may be, who have Scottish 
 hearts, or understand Scottish feelings, who 
 sympathize with the best feelings common to 
 mankind, participate in this impulse ? 
 
 It is not that he was perfect, that he was a 
 man of vigorous unbending will, of high-toned 
 prudence, or that he was exempt from the fail- 
 ings of our race, that we do this, but, in our 
 appreciation of human character, we under- 
 stand best, and approach nearest, and we love 
 most those natures that are most like our own. 
 (Loud cheers.) There is, and there ought to 
 be, the sympathies and relations of weakness 
 as well as of strength. (Renewed cheering.) 
 Upon one side of his character, Burns was the 
 reflection of the manners and habits of the time, 
 of those with whom he associated, of those 
 whom he naturally imitated ; but upon the 
 other side we find bold and gentle and gener- 
 ous aspirations, deep feeling, and intense sus- 
 
 ceptibility, and that broad humour which so 
 often accompanies these qualities. Burns' 
 range of poetic vision was around him, it was 
 essentially humane, it might be called practical, 
 it concerned itself with the doings, the joys, 
 the sorrows, the sins, and the destinies of man, 
 but it penetrated into the deepest recesses of 
 the soul, "the native feelings strong, the guile- 
 less ways." (Cheers.) 
 
 It is not because this man was a peasant that 
 we regard him as a great poet: had he been of 
 that royal and poetic line which so long ruled 
 this mountain land, and which he loved so well 
 — had he been nurtured in academic groves, 
 and imbued with science and philosophy — had 
 his genius awoke and seen the Vision amid the 
 glories of art, the fairest scenes, the brightest 
 skies, instead of at the plough and in the "auld 
 clay bigging," as it did, he would still have 
 been what he was — a master. (Loud cheers.) 
 Whoever examines his correspondence with 
 Thomson, will be astonished at the prolificness 
 of his mind; but beyond this, there is evidence 
 in his letters, in his correspondence, in his Tarn 
 o' Shanter, of an unexhausted capacity, not the 
 result of taste and criticism, but of powers of 
 which he was evidently conscious, greater than 
 any he ever manifested, and which, had his life 
 been spared, would have asserted supremacy. 
 (Loud cheers.) Had he produced nothing but 
 the " Cottar's Saturday Night," which I trust 
 is not a picture of the past, he would have taken 
 place in the same rank with Chaucer and 
 Spencer, and his fame would have rested upon 
 a narrower, although as elevated a basis. (Loud 
 cheering.) 
 
 It is because this peastat-poet — I love to 
 dwell upon the name, though he belongs to all 
 classes — rose up amid great difficulties, yet I 
 think in circumstances favourable to elevation 
 of sentiment — not as a parish wonder, not as 
 seeking fame in a limited and unlettered circle, 
 but towering above his companions in the gran- 
 deur of innate strength and of self-culture, sud- 
 denly becoming the compeer of the wise, and 
 the learned, and the polished ; and, as suddenly, 
 by that marvellous adaptation which he pos- 
 sessed, assuming their habits of thought as well 
 as their manners — displaying with great sensi- 
 tiveness, perfect simplicity and naturalness, and 
 deep originality of thought — teaching in the 
 high places, and among the noble and the 
 mighty, the rights and privileges as well as the 
 powers of genius, the brotherhood of man, and 
 the virtues and the beauty of lowly things. 
 (Cheers.) He was not merely the guest — he 
 was, and was felt to be, the equal of Erskine, 
 Blair, Home, and Gregory. (Cheers.) 
 
 And again, we do this homage to 'Burns 
 because he was a man who stood forth in bold 
 
DUMFRIES.— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 121 
 
 outline, in diversity of gifts, in nobleness of 
 purpose, the representative of the most charac- 
 teristic and best qualities of the national mind. 
 He gave expression in our common language, 
 and in exquisite beauty, to sentiments which 
 every man feels burning within him, crying for 
 utterance, and moulding his whole nature. He 
 has given us words in which to woo our brides, 
 to vindicate our patriotism, to cheer the social 
 hour, to cement our friendships — hymns to 
 proclaim the love, and peace, and beauty of our 
 liomes. (Prolonged cheering.) Burns' songs 
 are the speech of the human heart. We think 
 his thoughts, we speak his words, in our stern- 
 est as well as in our tenderest moods, and these 
 now household words elevate and sanctify what 
 would otherwise be rude and common. Songs 
 live longer than history, are mightier than wis- 
 dom ; and we believe this grand recognition of 
 Burns' power is attributable chiefly to his lyrics. 
 (Cheers.) • 
 
 Lastly, we do this because this man, bold, 
 independent in a critical time, at painful sacri- 
 fices, was the defender of rights, perhaps too 
 zealously, then little understood — of that free- 
 dom of thought and opinion which was dreaded 
 and discouraged — sometimes punished — and of 
 that universal participation in the blessings of 
 knowledge, which was regarded, but is no 
 longer regarded, and will never again be re- 
 garded, as subversive of the peace and order 
 of society. As poet— -patriot— ^as one of the 
 worthiest sons that Scotland ever produced — I 
 propose the Immortal Memory of Burns. (The 
 toast was drunk in solemn silence.) 
 
 The Band played " Farewell, thou Fair Day," and 
 Mr. Stewart sung with much expression and feeling, 
 " There was a Lad was born in Kyle." 
 
 Colonel Burns, who, on rising to reply, 
 was received with deafening cheers, and spoke 
 under much emotion, returned thanks for the 
 very gratifying manner in which the name of 
 his father had been received, and in particular 
 to their Chaii'man for the most eloquent eulo- 
 gium he had made on his chiiracter. When the 
 poet once told his wife in a state of despon- 
 dency that he would be more thought of a 
 hundred years hence than then, little could he 
 have thought that such a celebration should 
 have taken place as Scotland had that day wit- 
 nessed. Even before the lapse of fifty years 
 after that saying, a festival was held at Ayr in 
 commemoration of his memory, but that de- 
 monstration was limited in its nature, while 
 this, as their Chairman had truly said, was 
 universal. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 The Chaibmas rose to propose The Memory 
 of the Widow and of the eldest Son of Burns. 
 In doing so he said : — Let us picture a quiet 
 comfortable parlour in a modest house in Dum- 
 
 fries ; let the time be the gloamin' of a pensive 
 autumn night; there is a cheerful fireside; a 
 stalwart, massive man is balancing himself upon 
 the hind legs of his chair at a folding-desk be- 
 tween the fire and the window ; and there flits 
 a matronly figure, not so busied in domestic 
 matters but that she can pause amid the minis- 
 trations which made that home so happy and 
 cheerful, and sing sweetly, artlessly, the fervid 
 or pathetic words fresh from the mint of fancy, 
 and pronounce whether the words were "rough" 
 or pleasing to her sense of melody. Beside tiie 
 rapt dreamer who rocks to and fro, there is a 
 boy of keen and intelligent aspect, who is proud 
 to grasp the hand of his companion in walks of 
 business or hours of inspiration, on the Dock or 
 at far ofi" Lincluden, and who questions liis sire 
 about lessons in Csesar. That boy of promise 
 ripened into manliood and displayed great 
 mental power. His voice is but now silent. 
 This is the wife and eldest son of the poet — 
 " the lass that he lo'ed best " — that " bonnie 
 Jean," who loved and venerated her noble 
 partner, who never saw fault nor foible in him ; 
 who, when he died, gathered her children 
 around her, refused aggrandisement that they 
 might grow up amid home memories and under 
 the shadow and shelter of her influence — who 
 preserved his room and small library — oh, 
 beautiful superstition of love ! — as he left them 
 — who during the evening of a calm and happy 
 and creditable life " never changed nor wished 
 to change her place." (Loud cheers.) Poets 
 love and marry abstractions. They endow fair 
 forms with all the grace of virtue and excellence, 
 and worship their own creations. It is certain, 
 however, that they often secure as suitable com- 
 panions as those who are no poets. Words- 
 worth's " phantom of delight " proved to be a 
 prudent, plain housewife; and she who was 
 " seen in the dewy flower and heard in tuneful 
 birds," proved a gentle and considerate help- 
 meet, who shared the burdens, worshipped the 
 genius, and wept the fate of Burns. (Great 
 applause — ^Duly honoured.) 
 
 " Of a' the airts the wind can blaw," by Mr. Wilson 
 — sung with exquisite feeling. 
 
 Colonel Burns briefly returned thanks. 
 
 The Chairman thereafter gave The Health 
 of the Sons of Burns. He said : Let us turn to 
 those whom this banquet has brought from those 
 it could not bring. We have with us one who 
 bears the name of Burns, whose veins are filled 
 with the same noble blood, whose heart throbs 
 with hereditary geniality of feeling, who has 
 heard him, seen him, lain in his bosom, and 
 who, though he may retain no vivid recollection 
 of his sire, must have felt the magic and mystery 
 of that light-giving eye which seems to have 
 sunk once and for ever into the memory of 
 
122 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Walter Scott, giving him, in tlie words of one 
 of tlie biographers of Burns, " his ordina- 
 tion." We have William Nicol Burns with us. 
 James Glencairn Burns has consented, as was 
 naturally his duty, to appear elsewhere, at 
 another demonstration. (Cheers.) These, I 
 may call them, twin sons of the poet, stimulated, 
 it may be, by the fame of their father, but in 
 the strength of their own integrity and talent, 
 have successfully fought the battle of life, 
 cheered in distant lands by the songs of their 
 father, meeting everywhere his fame, his friends ; 
 have acquired rank and position in the service 
 of their country ; have added honour, if possible, 
 to the name of Burns. (Cheers.) Let us re- 
 collect the solicitude of Burns as to his family 
 — and what father has not felt it ? — let us re- 
 mark that, in writing as to the illustration of 
 one of his songs, he says, " There's a wee, ill- 
 deedie, rumble-gairie urchin of mine now mak- 
 ing a felonious attack upon the cat's tail, whom 
 I have named Willie Nicol," — (great laughter 
 and cheers) — and let us remark that the "wee 
 ill-deedie laddie" is beside me — (cheers) — has 
 lived to see a whole people rise this day with a 
 unanimity never before witnessed, to proclaim 
 his father their national poet, their greatest 
 countryman; and you may understand, ay, 
 and envy the feelings of exultation which are 
 now his. I know you will drin|£ with me to 
 his and his brother's long life and happiness ! 
 (Cheers.) May they live — I was about to 
 quote Shakspeare, but I will quote myself — to 
 see another centenary ! (Great laughter and 
 prolonged applause, in the midst of which the 
 toast was received with all the honours.) — The 
 Chairman added to the amusement by observ- 
 ing : A kind friend of mine, I suppose in grati- 
 tude for something I have done to-night, has 
 proposed that I should be chairman at next 
 centenary. (Renewed laughter and cheers.) 
 I can only say, gentlemen, that I shall be so 
 with less reluctance than on the present oc- 
 casion, and I shall then come, I faithfully 
 promise, perfectly prepared. (Laughter and 
 cheers.) 
 
 The band — " Wanclering Willie." 
 Colonel Burns said — I beg to thank you 
 very sincerely for the honour you have done 
 us in drinking so cordially my brother's health 
 and mine. We were brought up in humble 
 life, but we have attained in our profession the 
 rank of field officers. (Cheers.) I would ask 
 what is the cause of this ? I do not hesitate 
 to reply, the genius of Robert Burns. (Cheers.) 
 Two distinguished Scotsmen, Sir James Shaw, 
 London, and Sir John Reid, one of the direct- 
 ors of the East India Company, and at one 
 time governor of the Bank of England, gave 
 my brother and myself our cadetships in the 
 
 Lidian army. We went out to India, and the 
 fame of our father pursued us in good fortune. 
 (Loud cheers.) While I was only an ensign 
 the adjutancy of my regiment became vacant, 
 and the Highland Society of Madras asked of 
 the commander-in-chief the appointment for 
 me. His Excellency could not then accede to 
 the request, and the appointment was given to 
 an officer much my senior. On the appoint- 
 menty however, of the army of the Deccan at 
 the time of the Pindaree war, Sir Thomas Hys- 
 lop conferred on me the temporary appointment 
 of Field-assistant-quartermaster-general. The 
 fame of Burns did still more for us. I was 
 afterwards placed on the general staff in the 
 commissariat, to which my brother had been 
 appointed some time previously by the Marquis 
 of Hastings. After a long residence in India 
 we have been spared in the providence of God 
 to come to spend the evening of our days in 
 our native land. (Tremendous cheers.) And 
 I can say this, that wherever the sons of Burns 
 have appeared — even at this late period — 
 whether in England, in Scotland, oi' in Ire- 
 land, they have always been received with the 
 most affectionate enthusiasm as the sons of 
 Burns ; and even Americans, wherever we have 
 met them, have exhibited almost as much en- 
 thusiasm in responding to the names of the 
 sons of Burns as our own countrymen. (Loud 
 cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Lee sung "Willie brew'd a peck o' maut," 
 which was warmly applauded. 
 
 At this stage of the proceedings, the Chair- 
 man intimated that a deputation had been ap- 
 pointed to propeed to the great meeting in the 
 Nithsdale Mills to show that meeting that, 
 though separated by place, they were one in 
 sentiment, and to express the best wishes for 
 their enjoyment. The deputation, consisting 
 of ColonelBurns, and Messrs. William Gordon, 
 Robert Scott, and W. R. M'Diarmid, thereupon 
 left amid loud applause. 
 
 Dr. Adam then proposed " The Literature of 
 Scotland." He felt much difficulty, he said, in 
 rising to propose the toast, inasmuch as it was 
 only that afternoon, after a journey of nearly 
 four hundred miles, undertaken on purpose 
 that he might be present at this meeting, that 
 he was asked to propose the toast. At a large 
 meeting like this, intended to do honour to the 
 memory and genius of Scotland's national Bard, 
 it seemed to him that, as Scotchmen, we should 
 all feel proud of our nationality. The lapse of 
 time, the rise and fall of kings, the wars of fac- 
 tions, the clashing of rival sects of religionists, 
 and even the Treaty of Union itself, — all had 
 failed to deprive Scotland of her distinctive 
 nationality. And why was this ? It was bo- 
 cause our nationality was not a myth, it was 
 
DUMFRIES.— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 123 
 
 no mere idle whim, or passing fancy. It was 
 stamped on the aspect of our soil ; it was in- 
 terwoven with our manners and customs ; it 
 lent a tinge to our superstitions and traditions ; 
 it gave a character to our music ; and was 
 based on all the tenderest emotions and deepest 
 affections of the human heart. Possessing such 
 elements of undying vitality, it was indestruc- 
 tible and imperishable. But we should, on the 
 present occasion, feel specially proud and grate- 
 ful that we possessed a National Literature, 
 and also a language of our own in which its 
 masterpieces were written. Our dear Doric 
 was no provincial patois, no vulgar corruption 
 of the English tongue ; but it was a distinct 
 language by itself — made up of several of the 
 great dialects of Europe — for in it the Celtic 
 and Teutonic had blended their rugged force 
 and picturesque charm with the softer sounds 
 of the Norman. Ramsay, Tannahill, and Fer- 
 guson had elevated it by their lyrics ; but 
 among the creators of our national literature, 
 there were two names which shone pre-eminent 
 far above all other names — those of Robert 
 Burns and Walter Scott. (Applause.) Burns 
 came, in his burly peasant strength, like a pro- 
 phet of old, with a message to deliver, and with 
 a heart longing to give utterance to its thoughts. 
 From the fulness of his inspiration he sang his 
 "wood-notes wild," and the tones thrilled a 
 chord in every breast where our language is 
 spoken, and have made his fame world-wide — 
 as is testified by the great assemblages which 
 have met this evening in all parts of Britain 
 and America. He sang, in that dear mother- 
 tongue of ours, of friendship, love, and war, 
 giving a voice to all the subtle emotions of the 
 heart, which had never before found vent in 
 speech. Thus he ennobled our Doric, and em- 
 balmed it against decay — 
 
 " First the banks of Doon beheld it; 
 Then his own land formed its span ; 
 Now the wide world was its empire, 
 And its home, the heart of man." 
 
 (Applause.) The streets of this town, which 
 he trod so often, and the lovely scenes around 
 us where he loved to wander, have been ren- 
 dered classic by his genius; and prouder far 
 should you be of that little nook of ground in 
 St. Michael's churchyard, wherein rest his re- 
 vered ashes, than of all the wealth of your 
 town and all the beauties of your shire. 
 (Great cheering.) It was unnecessary to speak 
 at length of Scottish literature, or to run 
 over the long and brilliant bead-roll of the 
 philosophers, metaphysicians, theologians, and 
 poets who had helped to create it. The lyrical 
 and heroic poetry of Scotland was unequalled 
 for its tenderness and force. Scotland had 
 
 still bards ; and this evening there was present 
 one of the greatest of her living poets — one in 
 whose works the deepest pathos was found 
 united to the loftiest imagination and the sub- 
 limest imagery. He alluded to Mr. Thomas 
 Aird, — a gentleman whose high standing and 
 character rendered him a fitting representative 
 of Scottish Literature. He begged to propose 
 " Scottish Literature, coupled with the name of 
 Mr. Thomas Aird." (Great cheering. Drunk 
 with all the honours.) 
 
 Mr. Aird — I may well say, gentlemen, that 
 you have done me too high an honour, but 
 since it is your pleasure to be generous, it 
 would ill become me to bandy words with you. 
 I appreciate your kind compliment, and accept 
 it most gratefully. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Wilson sung with touching pathos " My Nan- 
 nie's awa'." 
 
 Dr. Ramage of Wallace-hall proposed the 
 " Biographers of Burns." He said — It is only 
 right on an occasion such as this, when we are 
 met to do honour to the memory of Burns, that 
 his biographers should not be forgotten ; for, 
 however imperfectly we may consider them to 
 have performed the important task they under- 
 took, still I think that you will agree with me 
 when I say that we owe them a debt of grati- 
 tude for the zealous efforts they have made to 
 place before us a fair and honest representation 
 of Burns as a poet and as a man. We must 
 recollect that it is no easy matter to write the 
 life of such an individual, and to bring him 
 before us in, his unity or individuality. To do 
 so successfully, it is not merely necessary that 
 we should have a narrative of those leading 
 events in his history which are patent to the 
 whole world — even though they may have ex- 
 ercised an important influence in the formation 
 and development of his character — nor yet must 
 we have merely a dry catalogue of his virtues 
 and of his vices drawn up in regular order, and 
 as in the per contra of a ledger. All this may 
 be done with care, with accuracy, nay, even 
 with perfect truthfulness, and yet I venture to 
 affirm that, as it was once proposed in the play 
 of Hamlet, Hamlet might be left out. Some- 
 thing very different from this is required in 
 writing the life of an individual. Every one 
 here present is conscious to himself that there 
 is an inner life within him, hidden deep within 
 the recesses of his breast, covered over care- 
 fully with the crust of the world, jealously 
 guarded from the pryings of the curious ; and 
 till this inner life is laid bare, thoroughly under- 
 stood and explained, it is impossible that the 
 life of any individual can be truthfully delin- 
 eated. It is only occasionally that you can 
 catch a glimpse of the true lineaments of char- 
 acter. The wind does not always enable even 
 
124 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 the straw to point the direction that it is set- 
 ting. The fire may smoulder in dull and lan- 
 guid embers ; it is only when the passing 
 breeze sweeps across them that they begin to 
 glow, to sparkle, and to indicate the vital ele- 
 ments within. So it is with the life of man ; 
 and the difficulty with which the biographer 
 has to contend is to catch and interpret rightly, 
 the passing glimpses which reveal the real char- 
 acter and the real workings of the human mind. 
 He must photograph or daguerreotype the ever- 
 changing phases of character as they appeared 
 in the individual while he lived, and moved, 
 and had his being among us. When this is 
 done successfully, it is then, and not till then, 
 that we have a true representation of the man 
 as he strutted and fretted his little hour upon 
 the stage of life. It is his success in this life- 
 like drawing of character that makes us forget 
 whatever of mannerism or affectation may be 
 found to mar the beauties of our great country- 
 man Carlyle. Tacitus and Thucydides paint to 
 the life, by one or two characteristic strokes, 
 the individual whom they wish to place before 
 the mind's eye. To what then may we liken 
 a biographer? He is like to a skilful artist, 
 who places a picture in such a light as brings 
 out all its beauties, some of which may never 
 have been observed before; or he may be com- 
 pared to a diamond-cutter, who cuts and sets a 
 diamond with such artistic skill that, when the 
 sun shines upon it, new beauties flash upon the 
 eye — beauties which were equally there in its 
 crude and unpolished state, but which the cun- 
 ning hand of the artist alone has enabled us to 
 see. Am I then speaking paradoxically when 
 I affirm that every new biographer may place 
 Burns in some new light, every commentator 
 and every illustrator may point out new beauties 
 in his poems, and discover new traits of char- 
 acter which never caught the eye before? 
 (Cheers.) Why, even since we entered these 
 walls, have we not had a beautiful example of 
 the correctness of the views which I have been 
 attempting thus imperfectly to bring before 
 you in the happy, nay, brilliant illustrations 
 which our Chairman has given us of Burns and 
 his poems? (Loud cheers.) How many new 
 points has he hit upon which never caught our 
 attention before ! What striking views of the 
 Poet's character ! What graphic pictures has 
 he held up before our eyes ! But so it ever 
 will be when a man of genius and of talent — 
 he will forgive me for so characterizing him in 
 his presence; but I know that I am only giving 
 expression to the feelings that pervaded the 
 breast of every one who listened to his elo- 
 quent and heart-stirring address — when a man 
 of talent turns his attention to any subject, 
 however hackneyed, and liowever much the 
 
 world may think it exhausted. There is no- 
 tliing which he touches that he does not adorn. 
 But, in continuance, I beg you to consider how 
 much has been done for Shakspeare in this 
 respect. How many new beauties and how 
 many new points have been hit upon, in these 
 latter times, which escaped the notice of those 
 who first directed their attention to his works. 
 Even at the present moment a noble Lord — 
 whom Scotland is proud to recognise as one of 
 her sons, who, like Lord Clyde and the Lord 
 Bishop of London, has raised himself by his 
 talents and by his industry from a comparatively 
 humble position to rank with the noblest of the 
 land, I mean Lord Chief-Justice Campbell, — is 
 now employed in bringing out a small work to 
 prove, from the numerous allusions to legal 
 customs in Shakspeare's works, that he must 
 have in his early years belonged to the legal 
 profession. Here is then an apt example of 
 the truthfulness of the views which I have been 
 attempting to press upon your attention. Some 
 of the more ardent admirers here of that great 
 poet may smile that I should venture to even 
 (if you will allow me to use a Scotch word) 
 Burns to Shakspeare. Nay, I do Shakspeare 
 no wrong ; they are twin-brothers — ^alike, but 
 not the same. Are they not both of them 
 what Thucydides calls a xriifia s; »ei — a pos- 
 session, not for one age, but for all time. Burns, 
 however, labours under disadvantages, from 
 which others are free. Burns was cut off ere 
 he had almost reached his prime. He died 
 before he had time given him to correct and 
 to make a selection of such portions of his 
 works as his mature judgment and ■ his more 
 serious thoughts might have led him to con- 
 sider worthy of being handed down to perpet- 
 uate his name. His works, without the last 
 finish, must now remain for ever as they are. 
 They are imperfect, but the imperfection which 
 attaches to them is the same that attaches to 
 some mighty masterpiece of ancient sculpture 
 — the Torso of Hercules for instance. Maimed, 
 mutilated, imperfect, but matchless, it has been 
 the wonder of past ages, and will continue to 
 be an object of admiration for ages to come. 
 (Loud cheers.) For any one to think that he 
 could improve such a piece of work, would be 
 the same as 
 
 "To gild refined gold, to pahit the lily, 
 To throw a peifume on the violet, 
 To smooth the ice, or add another hue 
 Unto the rainbow." 
 
 (Cheers.) Such is the nature of the imperfec- 
 tion that attaches to the works of Burns. No 
 one would dare to add to, or to take away from, 
 the words which are known to be the genuine 
 expression of the mind of Burns. After your 
 
DUMFBIES.— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 125 
 
 indulgent patience, I should consider myself un- 
 pardonable if I did more than indicate, in the 
 most general terms, one or two of the principal 
 biographers who have written the life of Burns. 
 All of you have read, I doubt not, more than 
 one life of Burns. Mackenzie, the Man of 
 Feeling, was the first to set the stone a-roUing, 
 by a paper in the Lounger, written with great 
 feeling and truth. It struck the right note, 
 and with prophetic vision claimed the title for 
 Burns of ' National Poet,' an honour which his 
 country has since fully ratified. Dr. Currie 
 writes his life with great simplicity, and with a 
 kindly feeling which wins every heart. Though 
 he may not have penetrated much beneath the 
 surface, he, as well as Walker, has collected 
 ample materials to enable us to form our own 
 judgment respecting the character of the poet. 
 I confess that I am old-fashioned enough to like 
 the simple, unaffected style of Currie, who 
 makes no pretensions, but wh« loves the Poet 
 as a man, and who touches with tender hand 
 upon his failings. Allan Cunningham's life is 
 more pretentious, enters more minutely into his 
 history ; but I do not know that he has been 
 more successful than Currie in giving us an in- 
 sight into the true character of Burns. It is, 
 however, very pleasantly written. But of all 
 his biographers, I consider Lockhart to have 
 been the most successful. He has aimed at 
 reaching the inner man by catching character- 
 istic features, sayings, actions, and habits. 
 Without these, biography is a mere abstraction 
 of qualities and results, not a picture of the in- 
 dividual man. I cannot close this short state- 
 ment respecting the biographers of Burns with- 
 out alluding to the papers of Wilson and Car- 
 lyle, which, it is needless to say, will amply 
 repay your perusal. Chambers has written a 
 popular work, which is very pleasant reading, 
 and he has gathered up a considerable quantity 
 of gleanings which had been omitted by pre- 
 vious writers. (Cheers.) 
 
 Song — " My Nannie, 0," — Mr. Thomson. 
 
 Mr. Carbuthers of Inverness then gave 
 the next toast, " English Literature," — a sub- 
 ject, he said, so vast and comprehensive, that 
 he was not only startled when he saw that the 
 committee had assigned it to him, but he felt, 
 as they all must do, that on an occasion of that 
 kind, it could only be dealt with in a very 
 vague and desultory manner. Dr. Adam ap- 
 peared to feel restrained in treating even of 
 Scottish literature; but if they crossed the 
 Border, and called up the long file of immor- 
 tals from Geoffrey Chaucer tq Alfred Tenny- 
 son, — if they attempted to separate them into 
 classes, — the poets, the historians, the divines, 
 the philosophers — those who deal in truth, and 
 those who deal in fiction — it would be obvious 
 
 that the slightest effort at a critical estimate or 
 analysis would that evening be utterly impos- 
 sible. Tiiey could, however, make known their 
 reverence and affection for them all ! (Cheers.) 
 He remembered that at one of those morning 
 parties which the late Mr. Samuel Eogers so 
 bountifully and gracefully threw open to the 
 humblest lovers of literature and art, some dis- 
 cussion arose on the subject of English litera- 
 ture. Colonel James Burns was present ; and 
 he would recollect, as he (Mr. C.) did, the 
 alacrity with which the old poet hastened up 
 stairs to his library, and bringing down a vol- 
 ume of Hume's history, read aloud words like 
 these, " Such a superiority do the pursuits of 
 literature possess over every other occupation, 
 that he who attains but a mediocrity in them, 
 merits the pre-eminence above those that excel 
 the most in the common professions." The 
 enthusiasm of the retired student and devoted 
 man of letters was seen in this declaration ; 
 and it was made by Hume at a time when the 
 literary character stood low, when patronage 
 had been withdrawn, or only extended to politi- 
 cal partisans and pamphleteers, and when there 
 was not a public numerous and enlightened 
 enough to compensate or reward authors. 
 Hume might have carried the parallel farther : 
 he might have ascended from the " common pro- 
 fessions" to the heights of science, and con- 
 trasted these with the heights of literary 
 genius. " Shakspeare is wonderful," said Dr. 
 Chalmers, " greater even than Newton." And 
 why ? Because, as he (Mr. C.) conceived, 
 science was rather the careful induction of 
 facts than the display of individual creative 
 power. (Cheers.) One man builds upon the 
 discoveries of others, carries them a step high- 
 er, — and perhaps, as in the cases of Galileo and 
 Newton, achieves some great result. Literary 
 genius of the first order is creative, self-operat- 
 ing. All that Newton discovered we should 
 probably have known ere this had he never ex- 
 isted. The grand theory of gravitation had 
 been indicated by Halley, though it required 
 the higher geometrical knowledge of Newton 
 to demonstrate the great truth. But if Shak- 
 speare had not existed, there would have been 
 no Hamlet, no Lear, Othello, or Macbeth ; all 
 that teeming world of his creation, with whicli 
 they were so familiar, would have been lost for 
 ever. The intuitive wisdom, the weighty truths, 
 the felicitous phrases which had come to be 
 part of the daily speech of almost all people, 
 could have been produced by no other brain. 
 We can take up, continue, and improve upon 
 the fruits of Newton's genius, as had been done 
 by Sir David Brewster and others in optics ; 
 but who could take up, continue, or improve 
 upon the genius of Shakspeare or Milton? 
 
126 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 (Cheers!) Mr. C. then gave a brief survey of 
 the progress of English literature, from the 
 brilliant Elizabethan period to the present day. 
 It was generally found, he said, that any great 
 course of public events — any commotion or ex- 
 citement which lifts the hearts of a whole peo- 
 ple, stirs the national genius and permeates its 
 literature. In the reign of Elizabeth there 
 was a combination of such causes. There was 
 the Reformation awakening all minds. Truth 
 propagates truth : puts light to light. The 
 mantle of mystery was removed not only from 
 religion, but from literature. The classics 
 were diligently studied. Italian literature was 
 imported, and translated. The sentiments of 
 chivalry still lingered in the country — " high 
 thoughts seated in a heart of courtesy," as de- 
 fined by Sir Philip Sidney, himself the beau- 
 ideal of courtesy and chivalrous honour. There 
 was also the spirit of mercantile enterprise and 
 curiosity, excited by the discovery in the pre- 
 vious century of America and the West Indies. 
 Our seamen had ceased to feel alarm for what 
 the poet called " the stormy spirit of the Cape." 
 Drake and Cavendish had circumnavigated the 
 globe, the English flag was seen on all seas, the 
 Spanish Armada was scattered. The whole 
 rose up before the imagination like a brilliant 
 panorama ; and from the middle of the reign 
 of Elizabeth to the close of the Protectorate, 
 we had the masters of literature and philosophy 
 — Shakspeare, Bacon, Spenser, Raleigh, Hooker, 
 and Milton. Having shortly characterised these, 
 Mr. 0. traced the declension of imaginative 
 literature after the period of the restoration. 
 The drama became inextricably associated with 
 sensuality and profanity, partly caused by the 
 reaction from the gloomy austerity of the Pro- 
 tectorate, and partly by the character and 
 tastes of the Court. This license and disorder 
 did not, however, aflFect Milton in his retire- 
 ment, irradiated by visions of Paradise ; it did 
 not deprive England of divines like Jeremy 
 Taylor, Barrow, and Tillotson, or historians like 
 Clarendon or Burnet ; it did not check the 
 physical science of Newton, or the speculative 
 philosophy of Locke. There was no lack of wit, 
 with something higher, in Cowley and Butler ; 
 tliere was little original invention, but old 
 jiatriotic Daniel De Foe, having tried innumer- 
 able schemes — a true-born Englishman, never 
 giving in — embodied that happy conception of 
 the shipwrecked Crusoe and his solitary island, 
 and made his name immortal. Bishop Butler 
 propounded his ethical system, still one of our 
 best barriers against infidelity, and Steele and 
 Addison by their charming essays corrected 
 the grossness and follies of society. Careless, 
 happy Dick Steele, whom Mr. Thackeray has 
 drawn so admirably! — he with his light touch 
 
 and airy grace charmed all i-eaders. He drew 
 outlines and suggested plans — such as the 
 Spectator Club — and told pathetic and roman- 
 tic little stories; and Addison followed with 
 his inimitable pencil, filling up Steele's outlines, 
 adding serious reflection, sentiment and criti- 
 cism — now a hymn and now an Eastern apologue 
 — and thus ins'ensibly, as it were, reforming the 
 public taste and morals. But the greatest 
 name of the age was that of Swift. While 
 Pope was condensing and polishing his coup- 
 lets, Swift flung himself into the stream of 
 public affairs, buiFeting about on all sides. The 
 character and writings of the famous Dean had 
 been made the subject of mucli controversy of 
 late. Mr. Thackeray had passed a severe judg- 
 ment on him, while their townsman, Mr. Janies 
 Hannay, an able scholastic critic, had taken the 
 other side. Having dwelt on the striking 
 peculiarities of Swift's character and genius, 
 Mr. C. pointed to the sceptical but profound 
 David Hume, who threw out dogmas for the 
 learned, while rough, imperious, kindly old 
 Samuel Johnson sat as literary dictator, and 
 James Boswell penned notes for his mar- 
 vellous biography. Johnson was greater, as 
 Burke said, in the pages of Boswell than in his 
 own 'works. The dwarf, according to Bacon, 
 can see farther than the giant when mounted 
 on the giant's shoulders, but here we have the 
 giant on the shoulders of the dwarf, and, when 
 let down appearing no bigger than some of his 
 contemporaries — nay less, in the eyes of the 
 present generation, than even Goldsmith, who 
 looked up to Johnson as a schoolboy on the 
 fourth or fifth form looked up to his master. 
 But Boswell merited the gratitude of them all. 
 What a gallery of living portraits he had 
 drawn ! — each presented not only in his habit 
 as he lived, but as he spoke and acted, loved or 
 hated. And Johnson was great also in lis 
 own strong sense, and his manly, noble nature. 
 Ill his sonorous sentences are bursts of fine feel- 
 ing and imagination, and sound principles of 
 criticism which, though occasionally narrow in 
 spirit, are clearly and forcibly enunciated. He 
 (Mr. C.) dare not venture on the quaternion of 
 novelists — Richardson, Fielding, Smollett, and 
 Sterne. They have not been surpassed, but 
 they have been superseded in popularity by the 
 glorious fictions of Scott and other works of a 
 pure character and tendency. The poetry of 
 that period illustrated the fact that true genius 
 is never imitative. Notwithstanding the in- 
 fluence of the Pope school, Thomson, Young, 
 Akenside, and Gray, struck out paths of their 
 own, and there were other names. Travellers 
 entering Italy by the Pass of the Simplon, with 
 all their admiration of the magnificent Alpine 
 scenery, confessed to a secret pleasure in de- 
 
DUMFRIES— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 127 
 
 scending to the sunny plains, the regions of the 
 vine and fig-tree ; and most readers liad felt a 
 similar sensation on exchanging the epic ma- 
 jesty of Milton, the higher dramas of Shak- 
 speare, or the page of the philosophical liistorian 
 foi- the gentle description, the quiet pathos, and 
 moral beauty of the poetry of Goldsmith, Col- 
 lins, and Beattie. The American war, with the 
 eloquence of Chatham and Burke, gave a new 
 impulse to tlie public mind, and then came 
 Covrper and Burns — the true regenerators of 
 the public taste, the poets of nature and feel- 
 ing. While Cowper and Burns triumphed, 
 enthroned at the firesides of the people of Eng- 
 land and Scotland, we had the shock of the 
 French Revolution. All wrongs were to be 
 redressed, all factitious distinctions were to 
 cease, virtue and talent were to be omnipotent. 
 How that dream ended they all knew — but it 
 was not all a dream. That heart must have 
 been cold indeed which di4 not throb with 
 exultation when the blood-cemented towers of 
 the Bastile fell. And before the bright vision 
 faded it had sunk deep into many ardent and 
 generous minds. Burns kindled at the glory — 
 Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge were fas- 
 cinated by it, and in the national tumult and 
 excitement, the old conventional and artificial 
 style of our imaginative literature disappeared. 
 A few eminent men — as Crabbe, Rogers, and 
 Campbell — still, however, adhered to its exter- 
 nal form. Crabbe, as one of his friends wittily 
 said, was " Pope in worsted stockings." But it 
 was Pope grown old, and, as if tired' with lash- 
 ing Whig Ministers and Grub-street authors, 
 he had taken to parish business. As to Rogers 
 and Campbell, the small classic temples of Me- 
 mory and Hope will always remain in the land 
 and always find admirers. But Campbell, like' 
 Burns, had the true poetic energy. His refine- 
 ment, bordering upon fastidiousness, was adven- 
 titious : it was but the flame that played round 
 tlie altar ; the sacred fire burned within. And, 
 speaking in Dumfries, it might appropriately 
 be mentioned, that Campbell's steady friend 
 and affectionate biographer. Dr. Beattie, was a 
 native of that neighbourhood. Having dwelt 
 on the rich abundance that characterized the 
 literature of the nineteenth century — unprece- 
 dented since the Elizabethan period — Mr. C. 
 said that, though the great lights of the last 
 generation were now all gone, English litera- 
 ture in the present day held a commanding and 
 distinguished position. There was vast acti- 
 vity in all departments of intellect, — unwearied 
 research in physical science, a revival of S])ecu- 
 lative philosophy which seemed to be laid asleep 
 with Dugald Stewart, and a spirit of inquiry 
 and investigation that had no parallel in our 
 literary annals. He instanced Tennyson, as 
 
 our representative living poet ; the groat histo- 
 rians Macaulay, Hallam, Grote, and Carlyle; 
 the ascendency which the department of fiction 
 had gained by the works of Thackeray, Bulvver 
 Lytton, and Dickens, and by several lady au- 
 thors, the worthy descendants of Miss Edgo- 
 wortli and Miss Austen. There never was a 
 period when our authors were animated by 
 higher or purer motives ; they had discarded 
 that badge of servitude, patronage, and he 
 hoped they would soon gain the only protection 
 they desired — an international law of copy- 
 right. A deep responsibility rested with our 
 popular writers. Their influence had been 
 multiplied to an almost inconceivable extent by 
 the increase of readers, and the issue of cheap 
 editions. Tlie humblest student can now en- 
 joy the rich inheritance of the ]iast, as well as 
 the novelties constantly poured forth by the 
 press. Some person had said of Person, the 
 eminent scholar, that with all his Greek he did 
 not know so much as an Athenian cobbler. 
 But a British cobbler of tlie present day could, 
 for a few pence, sit down to an intellectual 
 banquet such as no Athenian philosopher or 
 opulent citizen could, in the proudest days of 
 Attica, command at any price. Into all those 
 foreign lands and distant regions where the 
 songs of Burns were sung with such enthu- 
 siasm, English literature had penetrated. We 
 had become the moral pioneers of the world. 
 This was a noble destiny, and he would echo 
 Milton's simple but majestic words, "Let not 
 England forget her ancient precedence in teach- 
 ing nations how to live." (Loud cheers.) 
 Tune — " There was a lass and she was fair." 
 At this point of the e\'ening's proceedings a 
 deputation from the Nithsdale Mills dinner was 
 introduced. Mr. Dykes, as spokesman of the 
 deputation, said he was proud to be able to re- 
 port that the party in the Nithsdale Mills had 
 enjoyed themselves very much. It gave them 
 great pleasure as working men to see a meeting 
 of what might be called the aristocracy of the 
 town doing homage to one who belonged to 
 the class of working men. And this ought to 
 induce working men to endeavour to accomplish 
 whatever of good was possible to them in their 
 own sphere, for every one could do something 
 to acquire an honourable reputation among his 
 fellowmen. (Cheers.) The deputation, after 
 remaining for a short time, retired amidst ap- 
 plause. 
 
 Captain Noakb then rose and proposed " A 
 happy meeting to all celebrating the Centenary 
 of Burns this evening, the world over." He 
 said : Before asking you to join with me in the 
 toast, permit me to offer a few words on the 
 cause of this universal gathering, in which we 
 see embodied the very heart of Scotland — in 
 
128 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAKY. 
 
 which England joins — in which we see thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands in Canada, the 
 United States, and Australia; and twos and 
 threes on shipboard, in the bush, the barrack- 
 room, and the bivouac. What is the influence 
 that makes 
 
 " Man and man, the warld o'er, 
 As britlieis be, and a' that? " 
 
 (Cheers.) Let us look back a century, and 
 mark the tone and tastes of society, and the 
 social and moral condition of the great body of 
 the people. And then look in, as on this night, 
 on that tender plant at AUoway, on which the 
 cold, and chilly, Janwar' wind is blowing in all 
 the bleakness of unsheltered poverty. Then 
 mark its growth. How vigorously it strikes .its 
 roots downwards ! How it grows upwards, and 
 waxes strong above its fellows ! How the very 
 rain-drops, from its wide-spreading branches, 
 are drunk in by a thirsty and admiring nation I 
 Then let us gradually shorten our view, and we 
 shall see the falling, but living, leaves, of that 
 stately tree, giving light, and strength, and a 
 healthy vigour, to the mind of its country ; im- 
 planting in its heart a feeling of self-respect 
 and independence; exalting its patriotism; re- 
 fining its love; giving a higher and purer 
 tone to its song ; and raising its language in the 
 estimation of the nations. (Cheers.) And 
 now, its lofty towering top shines, as a glorious 
 beacon, to bind the wandering, pioneering 
 Briton, to the hills, the homes, the hearths of 
 his father-land. (Loud cheers.) The scholar 
 may award to Milton the topmost niche in 
 Fame's golden temple, but, with bated breath, 
 we traverse with him those awful regions which 
 he explores. He may place Shakspeare on its 
 very pinnacle, and we admire and wonder as he 
 lays bare to our view the deep, mysterious 
 workings of the human heart. Still, the people 
 pass them by, and hoist on the shoulders of the 
 heart and the affections " the sweet songster of 
 Scotland" who binds, with silken bands, to his 
 triumphal car, the fond, endearing associations 
 of home. (Cheers.) And he sings his hymn 
 of victory, in the gush of the purest feeling, 
 and in the tender, simple, language of our child- 
 hood. This is that mighty influence ; felt as 
 deeply as it is enduring. And its sphere ex- 
 tends with each succeeding generation, and like 
 the ripple on the water, it rolls on, and onward, 
 on the crest of time, till the very centre — where 
 now rests that noble heart which gave it birth 
 — shall be, like ancient Sparta, known but in 
 name. (Tremendous applause.) We do not 
 love Burns for the sweetness of his song alone, 
 but, also, for the wisdom of his teachings ; and 
 for having conveyed his instructions and re- 
 proofs in the most simple, and, at the same time, 
 
 the most powerful language that man com- 
 mands : the language of " native poetry." He 
 saw the degradation of his own class, and he 
 taught, and is ever teaching them the dignity 
 of honest labour ; and for which so many manly, 
 generous, happy hearts, this night the world 
 over, have met to pay their homage. (Cheers.) 
 He also saw iniquity in high places, and as the 
 great prophetic teacher of his age, he lifted up 
 his voice against the lordly oppressor, against 
 the fiery controversialist, the bigot, the self- 
 righteous, the superstitious, and against the 
 cant and follies of the day — (cheers) — some- 
 times with sage-like gravity, sometimes with 
 unsparing severity, often with playful irony, 
 but never with bitter poison on his tongue. 
 (Cheers.) lu what nobleness, and manly 
 beauty, he appears when contrasted with the 
 modern critic and satirist, — the hireling, — 
 who bears about with himthe reputation of the 
 dead — that he might exhibit them to an audi- 
 ence at a price, — and there, like a Purgatorial 
 gladiator, probe, — and stab, — and murder them ; 
 then lift them up all bleeding; spurn them with 
 a kick of hate, or, with a demoniac smile, 
 gather them beneath his sooty wing for future 
 torment at his hand. (Laughter and cheers.) 
 
 For pelf, 
 The mighty mind, that doth all knowledge grasp, 
 And hold the reading world in wonderment, 
 The brightest intellect hath stoop'd so low 
 As with the sponging drunkard to be match'd. 
 
 What a delightful contrast! Burns, though 
 poor, was too honest, too manly, to be an hire- 
 ling, to pander to our follies and our vices; 
 Burns was an honourable man, and well may 
 you as Scotchmen be proud of him. 
 
 The lofty mind, with honour for its hedge. 
 Will never stoop, how low its poverty. 
 
 (Cheers.) In how many public meetings, but, 
 more especially, in how many family, circles, 
 will Woman pay her grateful homage to the 
 memory of Burns this evening, who, as her 
 champion, is chief among ten thousand. He 
 did not go forth to fight in her cause, armed 
 and accoutred, like the knight-errant of old, 
 with lance and buckler ; but he attacked man's 
 rugged nature with the sharp, two-edged sword 
 of poesy and song ; he fearlessly stormed the 
 outworks of his usurped superiority ; he skil- 
 fully sapped the foundations of the ramparts of 
 his pride ; he stormed and won the breaches 
 made in theaffections ; and he planted the flag 
 of love in the very citadel of the heart. (Loud 
 cheers.) It is true that woman emerged from 
 her domestic thraldom at the dawn of the Re- 
 formation and of Letters in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, and she has been gradually rising to her 
 
DUMFRIES.— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 129 
 
 present position. But no man from that day 
 to this has advocated her cause so earnestly, or 
 battled for her so successfully, as Burns. She 
 is now not only loved by her lord, as being the 
 mother of his children, but she is intrusted to 
 teach and to educate them, and she is esteemed 
 and revered as man's chief companion and his 
 dearest friend. (Cheers.) How many, this 
 evening, the world over, have felt a pride, and 
 have been happy in that pride, as we have 
 been, in singing that prince of patriotic songs, 
 " Scots wlia hae wi' Wallace bled." Why, the 
 very gentlest of Sootliind's daughters in her 
 teens cannot read that song without feeling her 
 heart kindle with a patriotic flame — a flame 
 that death only can extinguish — and though 
 her sex prevents her from vindicating the liber- 
 ties of her country, still her ardent wish and 
 prayer is, that her future first-born ijiay be a 
 son, that from her glowing breast he may drink 
 in the milk of living freedow, and grow up to 
 be a man, such as I see now before me, — inde- 
 pendent, bold, and free ; bearing to the utmost 
 confines of our globe that tone of manly thought, 
 and that liberty to which Burns has contributed 
 so much to mature. (Cheers.) Nothing shows 
 the sterling beauty, the holy fire of that song 
 so clearly as that, while it was written for Scot- 
 land alone, it is now sung from the Lizzard to 
 the Tweed by the very people it was intended 
 to disparage ; and it will be sung while ever 
 liberty shall hold her reign in Britain ; and in 
 ages hence, should her shrine be trodden down 
 by the oppressor, that' song will rouse our sons 
 to burst their chains, and to dare such deeds 
 that even the spirits of the men of Bannock- 
 burn will hover on trembling wing to gaze 
 upon them. It is the gem in the casket of our 
 heroic lyrics, and time but adds brightness to 
 its lustre, for wherever our hardy race shall 
 wend their way, there will they teach their 
 sons that noble, that ennobling precept — 
 
 " To stand as freemen, 
 Or as freemen fa'." 
 
 (Cheers.) Permit me to name one other poem 
 as exercising an influence on this universal, 
 this happy gathering, and which is enshrined 
 in every feeling heart, it is "The Cottar's Satur- 
 day Night," that universal sermon, hymn, and 
 prayer. It requires no sophistry or laboured 
 oratory, no priest in sacerdotal stole or broi- 
 dered vestment, to give it a seeming sanctity, 
 to impress the humble mind with awe. No, — 
 it stands forth grand in its simplicity, and beau- 
 tiful in its truthfulness, that those who run may 
 read. 
 
 "The Sire turns o'er with patriarchal grace 
 The big ha' Bible, 
 
 Waling its pages with judicious care, 
 And 'Let us worship God!' lie says with solemn 
 air." 
 
 (Cheers.) The poet well knew the home re- 
 collections, the fond associations, linked with 
 the family Bible. Those who gathered round 
 it, where are they? And to many of us, he 
 who waled its pages for our instruction lives 
 but in memory. There are volumes contained 
 in those heart-searching words, " the big ha' 
 Bible." 
 
 "Tlien kneeling down to Heaven's eternal King, 
 The saint, the father, and the husband prays, 
 That thus they all may meet in future days 
 Together hymning their Creator's praise." 
 
 Who can read this without emotion ? Can the 
 young, and not feel an ardent desire that they, 
 too, at some future day, may follow that bright 
 example? Can the good man read, and not 
 feel his hand strengthened in his work? And 
 can the unthinking read, and not heave the 
 sigh of regret as the still small voice whispers 
 to his conscience, "dost thou do likewise?" 
 Who can tell how many family altars have 
 been raised and sustained by the influence of 
 " The Cottar's Saturday Night?" (Loud ap- 
 plause.) It is a living picture of ^ holy family, 
 traced by the finger of inspiration on the tablets 
 of the human heart; it is a scene photographed 
 on every hearth, from the home of the peasant 
 to the palace of the peer; it is a hymn sung on 
 every hill, and we hear its echoes in every val- 
 ley; it is a truthful tale of Scottish life and 
 virtue, translated into every European language 
 and spoken in every tongue ; and by the bright- 
 ness of its example, it may, haply, carry light 
 to the darkened home, into which the Word of 
 Life dares not enter. (Continued cheering.) 
 As a spring emanating from the ardent breast 
 of a lowly Scottish ploughman, it has spread 
 its accumulated waters from shore to shore. 
 And now — ^like a mighty river— it rolls on 
 through other lands, bearing truth upon its 
 crested wave, and in the deep bosom of its 
 waters, the most noble, the most sublime, aspi- 
 rations of the patriot and the man. Each suc- 
 ceeding verse comes surging in upon us, until 
 we are lost, — absorbed, — overwhelmed,— and 
 we stand subdued in the presence of the great 
 source of the inspiration of song, from whence 
 a ray of patriotic fire kindles in the breast, and 
 in awe we say: — 
 
 " Oh, Thou ! who poured the patriotic tide 
 
 That streamed thro' Wallace's undaunted heart. 
 Who dared to nobly stem tyrannic pride, 
 (The patriot's God peculiarly Thou art. 
 His friend, inspirer, guardian, and reward !) 
 Oh ! never, never, Scotia's realm desert ; 
 But still the patriot, and the patriot bard. 
 In bright succession raise, her ornament and guard ! " 
 I 
 
130 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 What gives to Burns the mighty powev ? 
 His song — the charm, that in one hour, 
 A world lifts its glad voice to say, — 
 "This is the poet's natal day!" 
 
 What hut the language of his lay, 
 The same in which we learned to pray, 
 And lisp our morning hymn of praise; 
 The language of oar childhood's days. 
 
 Our mothers soothed us when we wept. 
 And, in it, blessed us ere we slept; 
 And lovers, when they meet and part, 
 Speak in this language of the heart. 
 
 And when we feel affliction's rod, 
 In simple strains we plead with God ; 
 In simple strains the hoary head 
 In death's last hour is comforted. 
 
 The gallant Captain sat down amidst enthusiastic 
 applause. 
 
 Mr. Wilson sung with great taste " let me in this 
 ae night," and " I winna let ye in, Jo." 
 
 Mr. Mackie, M.P., proposed "The Peasantry 
 of Scotland." The honourable gentleman, in 
 doing so, said : — The toast which I have the 
 honour to propose is intimately connected with 
 our earliest reminiscences of the life of the Poet 
 Burns, and carries us back to the days when he 
 whistled o'er the lea, and when, doubtless, even 
 while holding the plough, he composed some of 
 those heart-stirring songs which are familiar to 
 us all as household words ; which are dear 
 equally to the fireside of the Peer, the Com- 
 moner, and the Peasant ; and which, by the 
 very vigour of their native manliness, bring the 
 whole world together, as it were face to face, 
 and man to man, pointing and proving the 
 never-to-be-forgotten moral, that whatever our 
 rank or station in life may be, be it high or be 
 it low, an honest man's the noblest work of 
 God, " a man's a man for a' that." (Cheers.) 
 And verily among the peasantry of Scotland are 
 to be found the names of many who have done 
 life's work with an energy, with an honesty, and a 
 nobility of purpose which might well put to the 
 blush those who can boast of longer pedigrees 
 and longer purses. I see him now, in my 
 mind's eye, the herd laddie in the wilds of 
 Minnigaff, poring over his one sole treasure, a 
 rudely carved alphabet, pursuing knowledge 
 under circumstances of extreme difficulty, yet 
 still pursuing it, self-taught — and again I see 
 him honoured amongst the honourable, trans- 
 lating the letter which the native Indian 
 Prince sent to King George the Third, the 
 translation of which had puzzled and baffled 
 all the Oriental scholars of the day — a monu- 
 ment perpetuates his memory and his name, 
 and tells the passing traveller on the Galloway 
 road that the herd laddie from the wilds of 
 Minnigaff, the self-taught in infancy, was none 
 other tlian Dr. Alexander Murray, Professor of 
 Oriental Languages in the university of Edin- 
 
 burgh. (Loud cheers.) Need I name Hogg the 
 Ettrick Shepherd? I do so but to say that 
 he has immortalized the scenery around St. 
 Mary's Loch, the banks and braes of Yarrow, the 
 peasant class to which he belongs, and himself, 
 and the most ardent of his admirers might 
 safely rest his reputation upon the simple, 
 natural, true-ringing, heart-reaching, words of 
 the song which begins, — 
 
 "Come all ye jolly shepherds who whistle thro' the 
 
 glen, 
 I'll tell ye o' a secret that courtiers dinna ken. 
 What is the greatest bliss that the tongue o' man 
 
 can name ? 
 'Tis to woo a bonnie lassie when the kye come 
 
 hame." 
 
 (Laughter and great applause.) Is there a 
 peasant in Dumfries-shire but feels the glow of 
 pleasure, the blush of honest pride mantle from 
 cheek to brow, when he hears the name of the 
 sweet singer, the blind poet, Thos. Blacklock, 
 and claims him for his own. And the time 
 would fail me to tell of Beattie and Ferguson, 
 and Leyden, and Lowe (what Gallovidian is there 
 who has not heard of Mary's Dream?) and Hugh 
 Miller, and Allan Ramsay, and Tannahill, and 
 Telford, all born in the peasant rank of life, all 
 men who have approved themselves nature's 
 noblemen, and have thereby ennobled the 
 class to which they belong. And generally, 
 I think that it may be predicated truly and 
 fairly of the peasantry of Scotland collectively, 
 that they do their duty cheerfully, honestly, 
 and faithfully by their employers ; that they 
 do their duty, the highest boast of man, in thai 
 station of life to which it has pleased God to 
 call them. (Applause.) Then, Sir, when I 
 look around and see the many evidences of the 
 material prosperity which has been recently 
 developed in the agricultural world ; when I 
 think how much of this is the creation of the 
 peasantry, I ask myself the question, have the 
 employers of that labour done all they could to 
 make the social condition of the peasantry keep 
 pace with the prosperity thus developed in the 
 country side? (Cheers.) And I am afraid the 
 answer must be given against us, that we have 
 left undone much which we might have done 
 to supply the wants, physical, moral, and social, 
 of the peasantry within our own spheres. For 
 instance, might we not long ere this have tried 
 to find a substitute for those hiring fairs — fan's 
 which have their counterpart only in the "Mops" 
 and " Roasts " of which our friends in England 
 are beginning to be ashamed? But why do I 
 say this? Not to provoke discussion, not to 
 start a debateable subject upon such an even- 
 ing as this, but to pave the way for the sugges- 
 tion, that, if those gentlemen in this room, who 
 like myself are more immediately connected 
 
DUMFllIES— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 131 
 
 with the agricultural interest, leiive it with the 
 intention of trying to do something in the 
 future to ameliorate the social condition of the 
 peasantry within our home sphere and circle, 
 then we shall be paying the most graceful, the 
 most handsome, the most practical compliment 
 to the memory of the Peasant Poet, the " lad 
 who was born in Kyle." Then the Centenary 
 of the birth of Burns will not have been cele- 
 brated this day in Dumfries fruitlessly and in 
 vain. (Loud and continued cheering.) 
 • At the request of the Chairman the Secretary 
 of the Club here read the poem for which the 
 prize was awarded by the directors of the 
 Crystal Palace at their celebration of Burns' 
 Centenary. 
 
 Mr. AiRD then proposed " The Fine Arts." 
 They were now, he said, met to pay a special 
 tribute to poetry, and he was sure they would 
 extend their loyal good wishes to the whole of 
 tlie charming sisterhood. "Each of them had 
 their own distinctive features, but Beauty based 
 upon Utility was the common soul of all of 
 them, and if any man loved poetry, he was 
 compelled, by the constitution of his nature, 
 more or less to love all the arts. By the con- 
 sent of critics, he might say of mankind, poetry 
 had been placed foremost of the band. The 
 reason was obvious. From the flexibility and 
 infinite variety of her medium of words, poetry 
 could embody in a moment the subtlest and 
 most complex emotions of the human mind, 
 and could express flux and reflux, transition 
 and progress. After an illustration of this, 
 drawn from one of the ancient poets, Mr. Aird 
 apologized for travelling out of Kyle on such a 
 night. Very well : Burns in his "Twa Dogs," 
 alluding to the fashionable follies of the young 
 buck of his day, says : — 
 
 " Or by Madrid he takes the route, 
 To thrum guitars, and fecht wi' iiowte." 
 
 Let them mark the power of the word "nowte." 
 Had the poet said that our young fellow went 
 to Spain to fight with bulls, there would have 
 been some dignity in the thing ; but think of 
 liim going all that way to " fecht wi' nowte." 
 (Laughter.) It was felt at once to be ridicu- 
 lous. Such was the power of the single word 
 " nowte," as chosen by Burns. It conveyed at 
 once a statement of the folly and a sarcastic 
 rebuke of the folly. Such were those single 
 decisive strokes, as from a sledge-hammer, 
 which sent the Burns broad arrow deep and 
 for ever into the very heart of the matter. 
 Such a feat as the word "nowte" had thus 
 achieved was beyond the reach of any other of 
 the fine arts. (Cheers.) But again : take that 
 extraordinary picture in "Tarn o' Shanter:" — 
 
 "Even Satan glower'd and fidg'd fu' fain, 
 And hotoh'd an' blew wi' might an' main." 
 
 Now their own David Wilkie could have made 
 a funny picture of that. He could have done 
 the " glowerin " very well ; but he could not 
 have done the " fidgin' fain," far less could he 
 have managed the " hotchin'." (Cheers and 
 laughter.) And here by the way he (Mr. Aird) 
 might ask any English friend present to try to 
 translate "hotchin'" to himself: a queer cir- 
 cumlocution he would make of it. (Cheers 
 and laughter.) Such was the peculiar power 
 of poetry beyond that of the other fine arts. 
 It would have been very pleasant to himself to 
 say a few words about Painting, Sculpture, and 
 Architecture ; but he must not detain them at 
 such an hour. With regard to Music, he need 
 not remind such a meeting that it was an art as 
 well as a science. How powerful it was, and 
 how popular it was, their fine orchestra had 
 given proof suflficient. In all other essential 
 respects. Burns was a great poet ; but it was 
 mainly by his marvellous faculty of marrying 
 his songs to the divine old music of Scotland 
 that he had won his unparalleled sovereignty 
 over the human heart ; and he (Mr. Aird) 
 might be permitted to add that it was this 
 irresistible marriage of the two immortals that 
 had mainly caused such a demonstration in 
 placing the stone of consummation on the 
 monumental century of their poet's fame. 
 (Cheers.) The Fine Arts were the natural 
 handmaids of Virtue ; and the man who re- 
 spected and cultivated them aright, was there- 
 by respecting and cultivating his own intellec- 
 tu.al, moral, and religious nature. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Bell Macdonald of Eammerscales gave 
 " The' Nameless Song and Ballad Writers of 
 Scotland." He pointed out the peculiar con- 
 struction and influence of the song, observing 
 that though it was perhaps a simpler piece of 
 composition than the melody, it required a great 
 deal more polish. He eulogised our national 
 ballads as conveying a more accurate and truth- 
 ful picture of the customs and feelings of the 
 times in which they were written, than any 
 history could do — alluding particularly to those 
 of 1715 and 1745 — though it was true that 
 now and then a song or ballad might have 
 strayed into our collectipns which were in reali- 
 ty not worthy of a place in this department of 
 national literature. He said that the spirit for 
 producing as fine compositions in the ballad- 
 style as had ever been written, had not yet dis- 
 appeared from amongst us, and mentioned es- 
 pecially the beautiful though unacknowledged 
 words by the Eev. Dr. Park of St. Andrews, 
 to the old burden of " O an' I were whar Gadie 
 rins, at the back o' Bennochie," and a very su- 
 
132 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 perior composition of this class which not long- 
 ago had appeared in Punch, entitled " Kinreen 
 o' the Dee," a pibroch heard wailing down 
 Glentanner on the exile of three generations, 
 the subject being " The Clearances in the High- 
 lands." In allusion to the occasion of their 
 meeting, he expressed the great gratification 
 that he felt in being present, and said he could 
 never forget the high honour which Colonel 
 Burns had conferred on him on the anniversary 
 of his father's birth last year, on which occa- 
 sion, in common with many other guests, he had 
 tlie pleasure of enjoying his splendid hospitality. 
 Colonel Burns brought out his father's punch- 
 bowl and glasses, and though there were guests 
 present of much higher rank than himself, the 
 Colonel paid him the compliment of asking him 
 to make the punch and the speech of the 
 evening. (Cheers.) Mr. Macdonald conclud- 
 ed an able speech by giving the toast, which 
 was duly honoured. 
 
 Mr. M'Mpiine, Dumfries, sang with much taste 
 " Up in tile morning early," which was re-demanded 
 with loud applause. 
 
 Mr. Strachan then, in an able speech, 
 gave " American Literature." He said he 
 thought it well that on this occasion the labours 
 of those of the same race as ourselves who, 
 across the Atlantic, are doing so much for the 
 cultivation of literature, should not be forgot- 
 ten. After an allusion to the early American 
 writers and authors, such as Benjamin Frank- 
 lin, Jonathan Edwards, and others of a later peri- 
 od, whom he characterised as rather belonging 
 to our own literature than that of America, he 
 went on to observe that recently, perhaps be- 
 ginning with Washington Irving, the literature 
 of America Iiad assumed a distinctive character 
 as separate from that of our own — character- 
 istics, indeed, not very easily defined in so 
 many words, but not less marked or more 
 readily recognisable than an American himself 
 among any number of our own countrymen ; 
 and among such writers he alluded to Channing, 
 Cooper, and particularly, as more markedly 
 American, to Emerson, as well as to Hawthorne, 
 Haliburton, Herman, Melville; and among 
 poets to Bryant, Willis, Eeade, Poe, and Long- 
 fellow — the last of whose books was probably 
 more read in this country than those of any of 
 our own living poets. With much admiration 
 for many of these authors he could not but 
 notice in the works of fiction which America 
 produced, an exaggeration of tone and unre- 
 ality of character, together with a wildness of 
 imagination which seemed to indicate a peculiar 
 development of mind that delighted itself with 
 prying into the secret sources and inner work- 
 ings of the dark or night side of human nature, 
 and which possibly too indicated in some cases 
 
 a peculiarity of physical temperament. He re- 
 ferred to the " Scarlet Letter" of Nathaniel 
 Hawthorne, which was perhaps rather to be 
 considered as a psychological study, than a 
 story of common life, and particularly to the 
 works of Poe, whose powerful delineations and 
 love of ideal beauty had a sort of fascination 
 over many minds, in illustration of this. The 
 speaker concluded by saying—The Americans 
 are heirs with us of a glorious inheritance, for 
 they speak the language in which Shakspeare 
 and Milton wrote and our own Burns sang-.- 
 in which Burke and Pitt, Fox and Sheridan, 
 and Brougham have spoken. And we know 
 already that they can use it well. And who 
 can doubt that in the future a literature shall 
 be developed worthy of the language which 
 they inherit, destined to make our mother 
 tongue the speech of a great and powerful 
 people who shall bear westward still the torch 
 that was lighted at our own firesides, and to 
 whom British literature will be a fountain un- 
 sealed, to soften the asperities of an advancing, 
 and perhaps more material civilizatipn by the 
 amenities of a more ancient literature that em- 
 bodies the noble thoughts and heroic deeds of 
 the race from whence they sprang. (Cheers.) 
 And, Sir, sure I am that even now from across 
 the broad Atlantic there are many hearts sym- 
 pathising with us in the tribute which we this 
 day ofifer to the memory of our own great bard ; 
 and not a few are, one cannot doubt, celebrat- 
 ing the day as heartily as ourselves, and re- 
 calling more joyously than perhaps even we can 
 do, those glorious words of his that picture 
 forth so beautifully the pleasant memories of 
 their fathers' land. (Loud cheers.) Mr. Stra- 
 chan coupled the toast with the name of Mr. 
 Fuller of New York. The toast was received 
 with prolonged cheering. 
 
 Mr. Fuller rose to return thanks and was 
 very warmly received. He said : Mr. Chair- 
 man and brother Scots — 
 
 " If there's a hole in a' your coats, 
 'I rede you tent it, 
 A chield's amang you takin' notes, 
 And, faith, he'll prent it. 
 
 (Laughter and cheers.) I came not here to 
 make a speech, but rather to report the speeches 
 which you make here to-night. The instru- 
 ment with which I am accustomed to speak is 
 the quill, and I shall probably astonish you by 
 saying that my account of tliis day's proceed- 
 ings will reach nearly five millions of readers, 
 for in our country we don't publish editions of 
 newspapers by the ten thousand, but by the 
 five hundred or six hundred thousand. I am 
 here, gentlemen, a stranger in a strange land, 
 and yet, strange as it may seem to you, I feel 
 quite at home. (Cheers.) I have come 3,500 
 
DUMFRIES.— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 133 
 
 miles across the broad Atlantic, a pilgrim to 
 the tomb of Robert Burns. (Cheers.) I do 
 not come here to represent America, although 
 I am a member of a Burns Club in the city of 
 New York; but I come here from my own 
 volition — from a spontaneous anxiety to bring, 
 as it were, a wild-flower from the far West to 
 lay upon the shrine of the Immortal. (Loud 
 cheers.) I slept last night in a city which they 
 told me was founded a thousand years before 
 Christ was born, — the city of Carlisle, — and 
 before retiring to my bed, with the spirit of 
 antiquity upon me, I read in the book of Job, 
 and I thought as I read — What is a hundred 
 years? What is the life-time of my own 
 young republic, compared with the duration 
 of the temples, the castles, and the cathe- 
 drals that I see around me? What is the 
 generation of man ? or in the sublime lan- 
 guage of the Hebrew bard, What is man 
 that God should be mindfal of him ? Every- 
 thing seemed, so far as human existence was 
 concerned, brief, transitory, feverish, flitting 
 away. Yet in my own land this day, there is 
 everywhere commemorated, from the snow-clad 
 hills of Maine to the golden streams of Cali- 
 fornia, from the fir-fringed heights of Oregon 
 to the orange groves of Florida, the name of a 
 poet whose fame is immortal — the name of 
 •Robert Burns. (Cheers.) There is a Burns 
 Club in every city and town of the Union, and 
 though you are five hours in advance of them 
 in point of time in your celebration to-day, we 
 can imagine that about this hour hundreds and 
 tliousands of people are convening in the far 
 west around the festive board to commemorate 
 the memory, and honour thi3 genius of Robert 
 Burns. (Cheers.) Your poet was born in 
 Scotland : he lived and died almost within the 
 horizon that lies around us. He scarcely visited 
 England. He never went out of the island ; 
 yet to-day he is one of the best known men 
 that ever lived — (cheers) — and taught, as I 
 was, to love and revere his memory in child- 
 hood, — for the songs of Burns were the cradle 
 hymns that my mother used to sing to me, — 
 studying him as I have from my youth up, I do 
 not hesitate to say that I consider him the 
 greatest poet that ever lived, and I tell you 
 that your little city of Dumfries stands this 
 night upon the very top of the world. (Cheers.) 
 Though invited to attend the celebrations in 
 London and Edinburgh, and though having 
 personal reasons to be in Glasgow, or remain in 
 Liverpool to-night, I felt that this was the place 
 where every true lover and admirer of Burns 
 should assemble. It was here that that glowing 
 eye took its last farewell look of the sun, and 
 here that his dust reposes, and may it repose till 
 the resurrection morn. You have a sacred trust. 
 
 gentlemen, and many a pilgrim from the New 
 World will yet come to pay his homage at that 
 shrine. (Cheers.) I have been interested, excit- 
 ed, delighted by all that I have seen and heard 
 to-night. If I were to say briefly to you what the 
 people of America think of Burns, I would say 
 they think and feel precisely as your eloquent 
 Chairman has expressed it. We look upon 
 him as immeasurably above the lesser race of 
 English, Scotch, American, or European poets, 
 and far be that day from us when the theolo- 
 gical telescope shall be used to descry spots on 
 the sunshine of his genius. (Cheers.) I be- 
 lieve that Robert Burns was one of the most 
 religious as well as patriotic of poets. (Loud 
 cheers.) He hated and despised cant, — he 
 hated the god of the priest, who is a mere ty- 
 rant, — but the Divine, the All-loving Father of 
 the Universe he adored. He hated and de- 
 spised the religion of the fanatic, but the reli- 
 gion of Christ, the grand religion of nature, was 
 in him. In proof that he was a religious man, 
 let me quote one verse from his epistle to a 
 young friend : 
 
 " When ranting round in pleasure's ring, 
 
 Eeligion may be blinded, 
 Or if she gie a random sting, 
 
 It may be little minded ; 
 But when on life we're tempest driven, 
 
 A conscience but a canker ; 
 A correspondence fix'd wi' Heaven 
 
 Is sure a noble anchor." 
 
 (Loud cheers.) The poetry and songs of Burns 
 have nerved the soldier in the day of battle ; 
 they have bid the heavenward flame of devotion 
 arise in the house of God ; and where is the 
 young man who, in the blissful rapture of 
 "love's young dream," does not borrow the 
 golden chalice of Burns to carry the libation of 
 his heart to his mistress's lips ? Everything he 
 touches he has immortalized. Even old Nance 
 Tinnock, who is not mentioned in his works 
 more than once, has been embalmed and pre- 
 served like a fly in amber. (Great laughter, 
 and cheers.) Burns was a lover, and that 
 made him a poet : he worshipped at the shrine 
 of woman : — woman 
 
 " Whom God created with a smile of grace, 
 And left the smile that made her on her face." 
 
 The lowly maid to whom was addressed 
 " Mary in heaven," will shine for ever as an 
 aeriol of his genius. Where is the queen that 
 will outlive in story the loves of Burns, com- 
 memorated in such lines as these: — 
 
 " Let Bourbon exult in his gay gilded lilies. 
 
 And England triumphant display her proud rose; 
 A fairer than either adorns the green valleys 
 Where Devon, sweet Devon, meandering flows." 
 
 (Cheers.) After relating an anecdote of our 
 
134 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 soldiers in the Crimea singing Annie Laurie in 
 chorus on the eve of an engagement in illustra- 
 tion of the power of song, Mr. Fuller quoted a 
 saying of his friend C. Mackay the poet, that 
 before we can estimate the effect which that 
 simple but noble song, " A man's a man for a' 
 that," has produced in raising the dignity, and 
 patriotism, and loyalty of Britons, and indeed 
 all throughout the world wherever it was 
 known, we must try and estimate the value of 
 one day's sunshine in ripening the corn. In 
 conclusion, said Mr. Fuller, I will simply ex- 
 press my gratitude to the gentleman who did 
 me the honour of mentioning my name in con- 
 nection with this toast, and I thank you all for 
 the cordiality with which it was received. 
 Though I do not take the compliment to my- 
 self, yet I accept it for my country. I can 
 assure you that Scotsmen are in that country 
 found to be a very intelligent, industrious, en- 
 terprising, thrifty people. I had the good for- 
 tune to be born a New Englander, my. ances- 
 tors, two brothers, having gone over in the 
 ' Mayflower,' and we have always considered-it 
 a great compliment as New Englanders to be 
 called the Scotsmen of America. Mr. Fuller 
 sat down amidst much applause. 
 
 Mr. Thos. tindsay of Liverpool sang: "Saw ye 
 Johnnie eoniin'?" 
 
 Mr. Lbny rose amidst enthusiastic cheering, 
 and said that in proposing their Chairman he 
 had a double duty to perform — a double, not a 
 divided duty. Eeference had been made to 
 the absence of Sheriff Napier, originally se- 
 lected, as they knew, to be their chairman, and 
 who would have been proud and happy to pre- 
 side over this meeting, where so much of heart 
 and feeling had been exhibited, for he was pre- 
 pared to enter into all their feelings, and make 
 this, as it had been, a very happy occasion. 
 He (Mr. Leny) was certain they would all sym- 
 pathise in the deep distress arising from the 
 melancholy event by which Sheriff Napier had 
 been prevented from taking the chair. His 
 excellent friend Dr. Browne had generously 
 come forward at a critical moment, and had 
 admirably discharged the duties of the chair. 
 (Cheers.) He (Mr. Leny) had known Dr. 
 Browne for twenty years : he had found him to 
 be a scholar and a gentleman, a kind-hearted 
 man, and unceasing in his work of humanity ; 
 and it was gratifying to see that his eminent 
 merits had been recognised and demanded for 
 the service of his country in the highest capa- 
 city that could have been selected. (Loud 
 cheers.) 
 
 Dr. Bkowne briefly acknowledged the toast, 
 and proposed "The Croupiers" — to which Mr. 
 Leny simply bowed and waved thanks. 
 
 The Chairman could not allow the meeting 
 
 to break up without calling their special notice 
 to the way in which Mr. M'Diarmid, Secretary 
 of the Burns Club, had got all the arrange- 
 ments of that successful meeting carried out. 
 After an affectionate reference to the memory 
 of the late Mr. M'Diarmid, who had been the 
 life and soul of so many of their Burns meet- 
 ings, Dr. Browne called for a special token of 
 thanks to Mr. Wm. M'Diarmid. (Heartily re- 
 sponded to.) 
 
 Mr. M'Diarmid replied, and proposed the 
 Committee, and Mr. Sinclair, bookseller, espe- 
 cially, as entitled to the best share of their gra- 
 titude for the success of the arrangements. 
 
 Mr. Sinclair briefly acknowledged the com- 
 pliment. 
 
 The meeting was breaking up (about 10 
 o'clock), when a young American gentleman, 
 Mr. George Francis Train, a friend of Mr. 
 Fuller, detained a good many of them, and 
 gave them an energetic address in praise of 
 Burns. 
 
 The demonstration in the Assembly Rooms 
 was in every respect a great success. The din-, 
 ner was supplied by Mr. Wm. Clark of the 
 Commercial Hotel, and was served in a style of 
 elegance. The homely dishes of Scotch fare — 
 cock-o'-leekie, haggis, sheep's head, &c. — were 
 duly represented on the festive board. The 
 musical arrangements were under the charge oP 
 Mr. Harkness, who had engaged a small but 
 effective stringed band, conducted by Mr. All- 
 wood of London, a violinist of great ability. 
 The vocalists were Messrs. Wilson of Dalkeith, 
 Lee of Irvine, Thomson and M'Morine of Dum- 
 fries, and Lindsay of Liverpool. Mr. Thomas 
 Cooke of Edinburgh acted as accompanist on 
 the piano. 
 
 Extracts from the speech of Sheriff Napier, 
 who was prevented by indisposition from being 
 present at this meeting. 
 
 Scotland, throughout the length and breadth 
 of the land, has declared it to be a national 
 duty, and the nation's pleasure and delight, 
 to commemorate the great and glorious fact 
 of the birth of Burns, to proclaim with exul- 
 tation throughout the whole land, that this 
 day, one hundred years ago, Robert Burns was 
 born : 
 
 " And Oriffel answers, from his mistv shroud, 
 Back to the Ailsa Craig, that calls' to him aloud." 
 
 But it is not only from the banks of the 
 Doon to the banks of the Nith, and the shores 
 of the Solway, that this voice has gone forth. 
 It has been heard, from the Spey to the Tweed: 
 ay, and from the Tweed to the Thames. The 
 sister kingdom, England, the land of Shak- 
 speare, is at this moment re-echoing the feelino- 
 
DUMFRIES.— ASSEMBLY ROOMS. 
 
 135 
 
 ami lias indorsed tlio sentiment. Nor is this all, 
 gentlemen. I quote from an English news- 
 paper : — " It is pleasant (writes the London 
 correspondent of the 'Manchester Guardian'), 
 to listen to the note of peaceful preparation for 
 such brotherly celebrations as the hundredth 
 anniversary of Robert Burns' birthday, on the 
 25th, promises to call forth. Not alone in the 
 poet's own town of Dumfries, nor in Scotland, 
 nor in England, only, but in the United States 
 (at New York and Boston) ; in Canada (at 
 Montreal) ; in Malta, in Australia, in New 
 Zealand ; nay, even in Paris, I hear of ban- 
 quets in contemplation for the great day." 
 Now, gentlemen, I do say, that this universal 
 sympathy of feeling ; this wild-fire spread of 
 enthusiasm, is the best possible proof — proof 
 not to be gainsaid — that the object thereof 
 deserves that it should be so ; is the best pos- 
 sible proof that tbis Scottish ploughman is in- 
 deed one of Nature's iflarvels ; and that to 
 resist the unfading influence of his genius, 
 which has even crossed the Atlantic, would be 
 to resist one of the finest impulses that can 
 affect our human nature. 
 
 It seems to me, gentlemen, that even in the 
 midst of what we are well entitled to call the 
 unanimous feeling of Scotland, an erroneous 
 idea has gone forth, — a querulous note has 
 arisen. I have heard it asked, what is all this 
 about ? Why this frantic joy ? Is the poetic 
 temperament so great a virtue, so rare a gift in 
 Scotland, that we must fall down and worship 
 it ? Have we not many great poets 1 Camp- 
 bell and Scott, are not they too among the 
 prophets 1 And as for poetry in general, have 
 we not most excellent poetry, — most musical, 
 most melancholy, ay, and most mirthful, grow- 
 ing on the very hedges? Wliy are we sum- 
 moned to bend the knee, not indeed to Baal, 
 but to Burns ? 
 
 Now, gentlemen, there is a great fallacy 
 here. This is not a fervour or fever of poetry. 
 We are not here assembled to admire and won- 
 der that a ploughman should have been en- 
 dowed with a gift of poesy, vouchsafed to very 
 few inen, and to no other ploughman ; that in the 
 thousand moods of this plouffhbo^s whistU) we 
 find displayed the fire of Pindar, the glee and 
 gaiety of Horace, the elegiac tenderness of 
 Tibullus, the epigrammatic point and power, 
 without the grossness, of Martial, the lash of 
 Juvenal, and, to come nearer home, the philoso- 
 phy of Shakspeare. No. It is because all this 
 vast power of the poetic temperament has been 
 concentrated by Burns upon his native coun- 
 try ; and that he is the first great poet who 
 ever did so ; if, indeed, he be not also the last. 
 The passion, then, which the land of Burns is 
 now displaying, is the patriotic passion ; not 
 
 merely poetic ; it is the love of our country, 
 and of our homes ; and the birth of Burns is 
 that horn of the moon upon which we Scotch- 
 men are now hanging our bonnets. 
 
 Nor in this, gentlemen, are we overreaching 
 ourselves. We have the verdict in our favour 
 of the sympathy of the civilized world. When 
 the brown eyes of Burns first marvelled at the 
 light of day, a great boon was conferred upon 
 Scotland by Providence. God created the 
 lyre of Burns, as he created all things in hea- 
 ven above, and the earth beneath, and the wa- 
 ters under the earth ; and he did so, benefi- 
 cently and in his infinite wisdom, for the good 
 of Scotland. 
 
 Gentlemen, we have of late years heard 
 something about those grievances of Scotland, 
 which consist in the fanciful danger of her na- 
 tional individuality becoming merged and lost. 
 Do not Burns and Scott guard it for ever? 
 Are they not better than two unicorns ? Some 
 crude comment upon an old charter seal, not 
 very long since, did, for a moment, frighten 
 some of the nobility and gentry of Scotland out 
 of their propriety. The unicorn was on the 
 wrong side of the heraldic shield ! He had no 
 crown on his head ! A fig for the armorial 
 monster. For the eternal preservation of the 
 national individuality of Scotland, I say we 
 have Burns and Scott ; and so, not only may 
 the heraldic lion chase the heraldic unicorn 
 round about the town, but he may dine upon 
 his haunches, and pick his teeth with his horn, 
 — so far as Scotland either cares or need care. 
 
 The muse of Burns, is, par excellence, the 
 muse of Scotland. A hundred years have 
 passed since, his birth — more than half-a-cen- 
 tury since his death — and that muse is not de- 
 throned. Every leaf of his chaplet, every berry 
 of his holly wreath, is peculiarly his own. He 
 knew his own destiny, and he has recorded it, 
 personifying his muse : 
 
 " All hail ! my own inspired bard ! 
 In me thy native muse regard ! 
 Nor longer mourn thy fate is hard, 
 
 Thus poorly low ; 
 I come to give thee such reward 
 
 As we bestow ! 
 
 And wear thou tJiiel she solemn said, 
 And bound the holly round my head : 
 The polished leaves, and berries red 
 
 Did rustling play; 
 And like a passing thought she fled 
 
 In light away." 
 
 And let us .glory in the recollection that 
 this is the favoured locality to which more 
 especially belongs that irresistible burst of 
 patriotism which the genius of Burns gave 
 out, ringing through the agitated land like 
 the trumpet of victory, — ay, and at that 
 
136 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 fearful crisis too, when the bravest perchance 
 amongst us trembled as he armed. A reassur- 
 ing battle-cry, heard even above the patriotic 
 eloquence of the senate, and the clang of arms 
 in the camp, then went forth from the Scottish 
 peasant Burns, from out this very locality, and 
 borrovfing its poetic Are from the surrounding 
 scenery so familiar to us all, — a bugle note 
 that is resounding yet ; that is as valuable to 
 the independence and salvation of our country 
 now, that she is gazing at Cherbourg, as in the 
 days when she watched Toulon, — a deathless 
 lyric of patriotic devotion, cheering as a war- 
 rior's voice, and terrible as an army with ban- 
 ners. 
 
 "Does haughty Gaul invasion threat? 
 
 Then, let the loons beware, Sir: 
 There's wooden walb upon our seas, 
 
 And volunteers on shore, Sir ! 
 The NitU shall run to Corsincon, 
 
 And Criffel Sink in Sol way, 
 Ere we permit a foreign foe 
 
 On British ground to rally ! 
 
 let us not, like snarling tykes, 
 
 In wrangling be divided ; 
 Till slap come in an unco loon, 
 
 And wi' a rung decide it. 
 Be Britain still to Britain true, 
 
 Amang oursels united; 
 li'or never hut by British hands 
 
 Maun British wrongs he righted." 
 
 And now, gentlemen, let me touch upon a 
 topic which some, perhaps, would be inclined to 
 avoid, but which I deem it a positive duty to 
 face. Even in that ancient national paper, the 
 Caledonian Mercury, there recently appeared 
 a letter, from an anonymous correspondent, 
 casting, or attempting to cast, a sad wet-blanket 
 upon this national commemoration. It was by 
 way of a warning to all Scotland, to change 
 our hand and check our pride, and abstain from 
 this public demonstration. The burden of his 
 homily really just came to this, ' Burns sinned, 
 — forget his worth. — Burns suifered, — forget 
 his birth.' There, we have put it into poetry 
 for him. And who is this freezing censor? 
 The :nan in the iron mask ? The wandering 
 Jew ? No, gentlemen, I'll tell you who it is. 
 It is the man who travelled from Dan to Beer- 
 sheba, and cried. All is barren ! I pity that 
 man. Would lie reject a golden nugget be- 
 cause some soil adhered ? I pity the man who, 
 because Burns partook of the common lot of 
 sinning mortality, would, stand, even for an 
 instant, between the immortality of Burns and 
 the gratitude of his country. There is one 
 sin which never beset Burns. The sin of 
 hypocrisy. The failings of no mortal man 
 have ever been made more patent to the world 
 by himself than the failings of Burns ; and con- 
 sequently they have been grossly exaggerated 
 by others. Over and over again has he 
 
 peached upon himself. He carried them on 
 his sleeve for daws to peck at. But it was in 
 no vaunting or vicious mood that he did so. 
 Let such ungrateful censors read Burns' own 
 paraphrase of the sad and truthful text, — 
 humanum est errare, and take it home to them- 
 selves : 
 
 " Then gently scan your brother man. 
 Still gentler, sister woman ; 
 Though they may gang a kennin wrang. 
 To step aside is human. 
 
 One point must still be greatly dark, — 
 
 The reason why they do it ; 
 And just as lamely can ye mark 
 
 How far perhaps they rue it. 
 
 Who made the heart, 'tis He alone 
 
 Decidedly can try us ; 
 He knows each chord, — its various -tone, 
 
 Each spring, its various bias : 
 
 Then at the balance let's be mute, 
 
 We never can adjust it ; 
 What's done, we partly may compute, 
 
 But Tcnow not what's resisted." 
 
 What a reproof is here, gentlemen, to that 
 querulous voice in the Caledonian Mercury. 
 If it were true — and most emphatically I say 
 it is not true — that such and so great were the 
 failings of Burns, that his country must not 
 exult in his fame, and dare not rejoice in his 
 birth, — sad would be the story, great would be 
 the loss to Scotland. The best of her house- 
 hold gods would be shivered ; and in her 
 Temple of Fame a niche would be empty, 
 there is hone else to fill. Ay, gentlemen, I 
 say, let Scotland go into the deepest mourning, 
 if she dare not sing lo PjEan over the birth of 
 Burns. If it be true, that while England is for 
 ever rejoicing in the birth of her Shakspeare, 
 Scotland must stand- sour and silent by the 
 cradle of Burns, — ^if that indeed be true which 
 Nature never told, — 
 
 " Oh tell it, then, nor loudly, nor elate, 
 The doom that bars her from a better fate ; 
 But, sad as angels for a good man's sin, 
 Blush to record, and weep to give it in." 
 
 But once more, I say, gentlemen, it is not true. 
 No sin that ever beset Scotland — and she has 
 her share — no evil that ever sprang in her soil, 
 — no crime that ever darkened her annals, can 
 be traced to, can be imputed to, either the 
 precept or the example of her immortal bard. 
 The belief in the crime of witchcraft, — a belief 
 which not many years before the birth of Burns 
 at once maddened and debased both the clerical 
 and the judicial mind in this country, — a belief 
 which has left a dark stain of blood upon the 
 land which the sponge of Time cannot wipe 
 out, — that infernal belief was neithel' created, 
 nor promoted, nor prolonged by the scene in 
 
DUMFRIES— NITHSDALE MILLS. 
 
 137 
 
 AUoway kirk. But under tlie genial, gentle, 
 holy influence of the « Cottar's Saturday Night," 
 the germs of Faith, Hope, and Charity, have 
 burst into unfading flowers, mellowed into 
 eternal fruit, in the bosom of many a thought- 
 less benighted being, in the heart of many a 
 reckless rustic, — ay, gentlemen, in many a heart 
 that, haply, might not have been moved nor 
 awakened by the persuasive tears of a Ramsay's 
 pleading, or the rousing terrors of a Guthrie's 
 tornado. 
 
 NITHSDALE MILLS. 
 
 The town's dinner took place in the sheds of 
 large mills, the property of Messrs. Scott, manu- 
 facturers. These sheds were very well adapted 
 for the occasion. Upwards of 1,000 here sat 
 down to dinner, and when dinner was over, 
 ladies were admitted to res^ved seats, and the 
 jiassages became crowded. The scene at this 
 dinner-party was certainly worth going a long 
 journey to have seen. The place was illuminated 
 with many lights. The people were enthusiastic 
 beyond all control, and the interest was 
 heightened by the fact that the mausoleum and 
 the remains of Burns were contiguous to the 
 place of meeting. 
 
 Mr. John Hamilton, F.R.A.S., Editor of 
 the Morning Star, having been called upon to 
 deliver the sentiment of the evening, " To 
 the Memory of Burns," said:— Mr. Chairman, 
 and I may say fellow - townsmen, I think I 
 ought to be a little concerned at my own pre- 
 sumption. I have been requested, and I rise 
 to perform a task which a gentleman of distin- 
 guished ability had consented to have under- 
 taken ; and if he, as we may imagine, naturally 
 availed himself of professional engagements to 
 evade a too serious responsibility, far more should 
 I, for that task is no other than to propose that 
 those who ai-e here, and who belong to this 
 town, and who are therefore more deeply in- 
 terested than others in the matter, should 
 reverence the memory of that wonderful man, 
 the centenary of whose birth we this day cele- 
 brate. But by some one must the effort be 
 made, and the chief consolation I have in 
 endeavouring to do so, is the assurance that it 
 will be done in another assembly of your 
 neighbours in a way that will make amends for 
 every defect of mine. And yet I may as well 
 confess that if I am to do duty on this occasion, 
 I am glad that my voice should be raised, to 
 use a Parliamentary expression, in this . rather 
 than in another place — in your House of Com- 
 mons, so to speak, rather than in your House 
 of Lords. I prefer the more popular to the 
 more aristocratic assembly; and why? Because 
 
 the topic is Burns, and Burns belonged to the 
 people. From the people did he spring — 
 among the people did he live — with the people 
 did he die; and here are the people come 
 together to perpetuate his fame. And not 
 alone in Dumfries are the people doing so, but 
 all over Scotland, and in many places in other 
 parts of the United Kingdom, is there a cele- 
 bration at this time in remembrance of the 
 People's Poet ; yet it is peculiarly in Dumfries 
 where the celebration may be kept sacred and 
 festive to his name, for, if in this town he was 
 not born, we know that in this town he spent 
 the last days of his life. If we who are Dum- 
 friesians cannot exhibit the cottage which held 
 his cradle, we can point to yonder churchyard 
 that contains his tomb. To what object, in- 
 deed, is the eye of the stranger most directed 
 when he takes up his abode among the hospi- 
 table habitations of the Queen of the South? 
 Why, not to that placid river, however refresh- 
 ing, which has just been overflowing its banks, 
 nor to that gentle vale, however rich, that 
 encircles our ancient boundaries. Dumfries 
 has its rising institutions, it has its old his- 
 tory, it has its peculiar character, and there 
 is no doubt that it is now distinguished for 
 its many improvements ; but the sojourner 
 from other towns and other countries asks not 
 after these until he has inquired for that which 
 is more deeply interesting to human feeling, 
 that is to say, for the grave of Robert Burns. 
 And with pride and pleasure you conduct the 
 footsteps of the traveller to that mausoleum 
 where the inspiring Coila is seen casting her 
 holy mantle over the Ayrshire peasant at the 
 plough. With what result? Why, the name 
 of Burns has become the same as the name of 
 his country. Does not the name of Greece 
 suggest the name of Homer 1 — the name of 
 Switzerland that of Tell ? — the name of Eng- 
 land that of .Shakspeare ? — the name of, the 
 American Republic that of Washington ? Well, 
 go mix with the educated people of every na- 
 tion in the world, utter the word Scotland in 
 their hearing, and they will understand that 
 you mean the land of Burns. While Dum- 
 fries, then, is the inheritor of his ashes, Scot- 
 land is no less the inheritor of his fame, and of 
 mankind we may truly say that it is the inheri- 
 tor of his inspiration. But how is this ? Here 
 is a striking and an extraordinary occurrence in 
 the world of mind. Last year a small speck of 
 light was seen in the far-distant region of our 
 solar system ; soon afterwards it was discovered 
 to be a comet ; and as the days passed on and 
 the nights became shorter, the comet grew in 
 size and brilliance until it made itself the most 
 prominent object in the nightly heavens, and 
 almost surpassed anything of the kind tliat 
 
138 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 ever had been seen before. Do we call it a 
 miracle ? Do we say it was a marvellous phe- 
 nomenon? It was not more so than that a 
 young south-country ploughman, undisciplined 
 by scholastic education, and having no personal 
 intercourse with the most cultivated intellects 
 of his time, and unacquainted with the vast 
 resources of private or public libraries, — ^I say 
 the appearance of the comet, which excited the 
 wonder of the world, was not more remarkable 
 than that this young ploughman should, within 
 a tew years, and almost unconsciously to him- 
 self, have become the author or the creator of 
 what we may call a new classic literature, and of 
 writings destined to secure for him a name 
 which the great schoolmen of all ages might 
 have sacrificed their lives or have exchanged a 
 world to possess. Of his great fame there can 
 be no doubt, but how has it come about ? 
 Why have the reading public of every clime as 
 much knowledge of the man as they have of 
 his country ? It must be because the language 
 of the peasant poet finds a cheering response in 
 every human heart. It must be because his 
 writings have a character which makes them as 
 endurable as the rocky coasts or the everlast- 
 ing hills of the land in which they were writ- 
 ten. But how happens it that the words of 
 Burns are endurable? How happens it that 
 they are immortal words and never can ])erish 
 from human recollection ? We need not travel 
 to Moscow or Atliens for a reply. Is not Na- 
 ture everything but eternal ? Well, then, the 
 words of Burns are the words of Nature. 
 Such is the explanation. It is with poetry as 
 it is with painting and sculpture, and with all 
 the other fine arts — ^that is, we must write and 
 we must model from Nature if we mean to 
 attain success. Does any man want to under- 
 stand the genius and influence of the Scottish 
 Poet ? Or is there any one anxious to become 
 his imitator ? Then to such writers I say take 
 your draft from Nature, never go beyond it; 
 never seek to improve upon it ; don't refine 
 upon Nature, don't dress it up, don't daub it 
 over with Dutch pink or Prussian blue ; and by 
 all means think not to make the altar of Nature 
 more sacred by your religious toj'S, or its living 
 soul more attractive by your emblems of party 
 spirit, or its beautiful form more graceful by 
 your waving skirts of crinoline,^! say if you 
 want to know how Robert Burns has become 
 universally influential, and how it is he was so 
 much greater than other men, or if you want 
 to make some approach to his genius, then open 
 wide your hearts, receive ye the Holy Spirit of 
 Nature, and make the best use of it you can. 
 And there is another question. If Nature be 
 the all-pervading element in the writings of our 
 poet, in what way do we see Nature exhibiting 
 
 herself and asserting her supremacy in these 
 writings ? This is, indeed, the same question 
 as to ask how the teacher of the people should 
 endeavour to teach — in what way and by what 
 methods, so that it may be a teaching that is 
 altogether natural and perfect. Why, in the 
 first place, it is a great point for the teacher 
 of the people to speak in the language that 
 can best be understood by that people — in the 
 language that is their own, that is peculiar 
 to themselves, that is more forcible and em- 
 phatic, as far as they are concerned, than any 
 other language. Well, Burns not only wrote 
 for us in our simple and homely South-country 
 dialect, but he seems to have done what Shak- 
 speare effected for the English language — he 
 refined and perfected our mother Scotch — he 
 gave it a more commanding and a literary ex- 
 istence — he probably saved it from decay, and 
 at all events he made its sounds sweeter than 
 the sweetest notes ever struck from harp or 
 heard in public hall. Next, the teacher of the 
 people should write the songs of the people, and 
 get them adapted to the music of the people, for 
 it has often been said, as we all know, that he 
 who makes the ballads which a nation shall 
 accept, does more to influence that nation and 
 act upon its character and history, than all its 
 statesmen and all its parliaments. Now, in 
 some countries that I could mention, the peo])le 
 have really no songs they can call their own ; 
 but in Scotland the songs of the people have 
 been written — they are sung in every home 
 and every hall, in every cottage that rises on 
 mountain or plain, and in every concert that 
 brings any assembly of our fellow-citizens to- 
 gether. They have been written, I say, and I 
 do from my heart thank God that they were 
 written by Robert Burns, because, in the third 
 place, the teacher of the people should have 
 no selfish thought, no pandering principles, no 
 mean, cowardly, beggarly, or grovelling incli- 
 nations. No, no; our darling poet had none of 
 these. He could not have them : they were 
 not in his nature. Heaven only suffered him 
 to be tempted by what may be called manly 
 vices ; and as such was the character of Burns, 
 it therefore happens that to sing his songs is to 
 sing of independence and courage, of love and 
 contentment, of friendship, of kindness, of home, 
 and of country. And his poems, in other re- 
 spects, display the noblest and most religious 
 emotions, with scathing and scalping attacks 
 upon hypocrisy, and a courageous way of op- 
 posing the works of darkness, that is to say, by 
 turning the devil into ridicule and contempt. 
 Burns, then, had all the qualifications of a na- 
 tional teacher and an immortal bard. His voice, 
 as I have said, was simply the voice of Nature 
 itself, and the only serious fiiult of some of his 
 
DUMFRIES.— NITHSDALE MILLS. 
 
 139 
 
 productions is that to Nature's truth he was 
 but too true. Yet it is a fault we must forgive, 
 for it has even been imputed to the sacred 
 vvritings themselves. But I may be reminded 
 that the teacher of the people should have a 
 fourth qualification, that is to say, that he 
 should have an entirely spotless reputation. 
 But who are they that say so ? Not those, I 
 imagine, who have the wisdom to perceive that 
 when it became necessary to have a teacher 
 who should be entirely free from blame, it was 
 equally necessary that a miracle should be per- 
 formed, and that the divine and human natures 
 should be joined together. No ; we are told 
 so by those whose own eyes, I suppose, have 
 nothing in the shape of a mote in them, and 
 which are so clear that they can even discern 
 the spots that are said to have been discovered 
 on the glorious luminary of day. Why, since 
 coming down here, I have been told by an old 
 lady acquaintance that Buwns was far from 
 being unco guid. " My dear old friend," said 
 I, " don't you go to the kirk and confess you 
 are a great sinner 1 " She answered, " Aweel, 
 I hae dune that mair than ance." "Then tell 
 me," I asked, "If you are unco guid your- 
 self?" Now the truth seems to me to be, as 
 far as I can understand this matter, that there 
 is not a man of us, here or elsewhere, who has 
 received any sort of commission at all to cast 
 one stone at the coffin of a deceased fellow- 
 mortal, far less at the dust and ashes of him to 
 whom a town, and a nation, and a world have 
 to pay an eternal debt of gratitude. Oh yes. 
 Burns, I suppose, had his faults. He who de- 
 scribed to us the saintly father of the cottage 
 home, — he who told us of the countless. thou- 
 sands that have to mourn by reason of man's in- 
 humanity to man, — he who fixed it a settled point 
 for ever that a man is a man in spite of every- 
 thing, — he who made Auld Langsyne deathless- 
 ly and inexpressibly charming, — and he whose 
 groans tore and rent his breast at the grave of 
 his Mary who had gone to Heaven, — ^yes, even 
 he, we are obliged to confess, had his faults, 
 and I fear there are yet in existence a few 
 niiserable beings who wont forgive or forget 
 them. Oh yes, he had his faults ; and though 
 one can have no wish slightly to regard any 
 form of evil, yet it seems to have been good for 
 ourselves that our Poet proves the truth of the 
 generally received doctrine that all mankind 
 have fallen from their first estate, for if he 
 had altogether been free from human weak- 
 ness, and as a consequence had, like Elijah, as- 
 .cended to the clouds in a chariot of flame, we 
 frail mortals who remained below might have 
 rendered to him something like divine honours. 
 Of a brilliant young English poet it has been 
 said^ that he only wanted the faith of the 
 
 Christian to have induced the people to have 
 recognised him as more than man ; but with 
 greater truth may we say that a faultless Burns 
 would have been mistaken for an incarnate 
 Deity. But Burns, with all thy faults, we love 
 thee still ! Alas that in the order of Nature he 
 should die ! But the skill of art has preserved 
 to us the features of that countenance which 
 was destined to moulder in the clay. See what 
 it is like ! [The speaker pointed to a beauti- 
 fully executed painting of the Poet behind tlie 
 Chairman's seat.] Look at that earnest and 
 brotherly face when it was young and healthy, 
 when the brow was unoppressed, when the eyes 
 were penetrating, when it was altogether manly, 
 and meditative, and guileless ! Oh Heavens ! 
 how we can gaxe upon it all day and grieve to 
 think that it is gone. Have we not heard of 
 the over-affectionate Queen who embalmed the 
 body of her deceased Prince, that it might not 
 be taken to the churchyard, but kept in her 
 room, where she could always look upon those 
 features that were once warm with life ? She 
 thought her husband was not dead, — she 
 thought he could not die. But Burns is dead. 
 Wo know full well that the greatest son of our 
 mild and stern mother, Caledonia, was, many 
 years ago, taken away from us and entombed ; 
 and now the thistle blooms over his grave. And 
 long, long may Dumfries fulfil the mission that 
 has been assigned to her, to preserve his ashes 
 in peace. As was said over the dead body of 
 Patroclus, so may I say to you in Dumfries — 
 
 " Oh, guard these relics to your charge consigned, 
 And bear the ments of the dead in mind 1 
 How skilled was he in each obliging art, 
 The mildest manners, and the greatest heart." 
 
 (Cheers.) Yes, friends, townsmen, fellow- 
 countrymen, let us preserve the remains and 
 do justice to the genius of him whose writings 
 will exist till time shall be no more ! And rise, 
 now, from your seats, for I have the great hon- 
 our of asking you to stand up and drink in 
 solemn silence to the memory of Robert Burns, 
 the Bard of Scotland. (At this call the vast 
 asserablj' rose and presented a silent, but im- 
 posing spectacle.) 
 
 Many other toasts were given in the course 
 of the night, the most conspicuous of which 
 was, " Our National Poets," by Mr. Washing- 
 ton WiLKS, who delivered a brilliant oration, 
 which was heard in every part of the temporary 
 building. 
 
 But the most interesting part of the whole 
 proceedings was the. appearance of Colonel 
 Burns, the son of the poet, who presented him- 
 self at the meeting. He was received with 
 most rapturous demonstrations, and his health, 
 as well as that of his brother, was the occasion 
 of these demonstrations being renewed. 
 
140 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Colonel Burns, in rising to respond, was 
 full of emotion. He only uttered a few words 
 of thanks, his heart being too full to permit him 
 to say anything more. His appearance was 
 venerable, and his countenance very like the 
 countenance of a Burns. 
 
 The Chairman, it may be added, sat in the 
 arm-chair in which Burns himself had so often 
 reclined when full of care and oppressed with 
 sorrow. 
 
 BAKERS' DINNER. 
 
 The journeymen bakers of Dumfries and 
 Maxwelltown were unable to join the other 
 trades at the Nithsdale Mills banquet on ac- 
 count of its occurring on the evening of the 
 market-day, but they had a snug little dinner 
 of their own in the Hammermen's Arms Inn on 
 the evening of Saturday, the 29th ult. The 
 company numbered 36, and included several of 
 the employers. Mr. Rae occupied the chair, 
 and Mr. Herries was croupier. After enjoying 
 a capital dinner, creditable in every respect to 
 Mrs. Fallas's establishment, toasts suited to the 
 great occasion were given, and diversified by 
 numerous songs. The utmost harmony pre- 
 vailed, and the chorus of the song (we need not 
 say what that song was) died away as ' the auld 
 Mid hammer struck eleven.' 
 
 CRICHTON INSTITUTION. 
 
 On the evening of the Burns Centenary 
 Festival, a large portion of the inmates of the 
 Crichton Institution assembled together in the 
 Drawing-room, and celebrated the occasion by 
 a banquet. After the usual loyal toasts, one of 
 the patients gave the toast of the evening — The 
 Immortal Memory — in appropriate and pleasing 
 terms. The following toasts, interspersed with 
 songs and recitations, were also given: The 
 Sons of Burns ; The Lyric Poets of Scotland, 
 coupled with the health of H. S. Riddell; The 
 Peasantry of Scotland. An extempore concert 
 and a few dances wound up the evening's en- 
 joyment. A prize having been offered for the 
 best poem on the Memory of Burns, some pieces 
 of merit were produced on the occasion, and 
 read during the proceedings. 
 
 tures in the day's proceedings was the Concert 
 of Vocal and Instrumental Music which took 
 place in the Theatre in the evening. The 
 programme embraced Sir Henry Bishop's 
 beautiful opera of Burns' "Jolly Beggars," 
 many songs of the national bard's composi- 
 tion, reels and strathspeys by a band of 
 amateurs, and a choice selection of concerted 
 music. About 700 persons were present. The 
 boxes presented a brilliant appearance, being 
 filled with a splendid array of beauty and 
 fashion, all the ladies being in full dress. The 
 Concert was under the auspices of the Dumfries 
 and Maxwelltown Mechanics' Institution, and 
 under the management of Mr. C. Harkness. 
 It began at nine o'clock, by which hour the 
 various festive reunions in town had been nearly 
 brought to a close. The concert closed at 
 twelve o'clock, with the appropriate song and 
 chorus of " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 CONCERT IN THE THEATRE. 
 
 In all the rejoicings of the day the ladies of 
 Dumfries had played no very prominent part, 
 save as spectators, and to them undoubtedly 
 one of the most interesting and attractive fea- 
 
 BALLS, &c. 
 
 At night a masonic ball took place in the 
 Masons' Hall. Over the door in Queensberry 
 Square were three large arches in evergreens, 
 with a lamp and splendid gilt crown in the 
 centre. The inside of the hall was also beauti- 
 fully decorated^ At the upper end above the 
 R.W.M.'s seat, was the word " Wisdom," done 
 in green leaves, and above that the full masonic 
 emblems. At the lower the " Royal Arch " 
 was also done in green leaves. Along the wall 
 on the left, within wreaths, were the words "To 
 the Memory of Burns," neatly done in leaf- 
 work. On the opposite side, under the Senior 
 Warden's seat, was the word " Strength," with 
 the level ; and under the J. W.'s seat the word 
 " Beauty,'" with the plumb, all nicely done with 
 leaves. The roof was also tastefully festooned. 
 On the panes of the centre and end windows 
 were prettily painted all the masonic emblems. 
 These decorations were all made by the masons 
 themselves, under the superintendence of Mr. 
 James Payne. On the outside of the hall, fac- 
 ing the Council Chamber, were two very fine 
 transparencies, lighted up with gas at night, and 
 running the whole length of the building. On 
 the upper were the words "Burns as a Mason;" 
 and on the lower the "Compass and Square, 
 Love, Moon and Seven Stars, Hope, the All- 
 seeing Eye, Fraternity, and the Sun." The 
 festivities began about nine in the evening, 
 
 and were prolonged until an early hour The 
 
 Carters also had a ball in Mr. Martin's Academy 
 in the evening. 
 
 The youthful part of the population amused 
 themselves after dark with the discharge of 
 squibs, Roman candles, and other pyrotechnic 
 
ABDIE— ABERCHIRDER, 
 
 141 
 
 displays, and there was a bonfire in Queens- 
 berry Square. 
 
 One of the most gratifying features of the 
 day's proceedings was the general sobriety and 
 good order that pervaded the town. Of course 
 there was a good deal of merrymaking at night, 
 but it was not of a noisy kind; and we are in- 
 
 formed by the superintendent of police for the 
 burgh that next day there was not a single case 
 of drunk and disorderly for trial before the 
 magistrates — a particularly creditable fact, con- 
 sidering the crowded, not to say excited, state 
 of the town. 
 
 ABDIE. — A public supper took place in con- 
 nexion with the Burns centenary on Tuesday 
 evening in the parish school-room of Grange 
 (which was kindly granted by the Heritors for 
 the occasion,) when, owing to the arrangements 
 of the committee, an audience of nearly two hun- 
 dred assembled to do honour to the memory of 
 their immortal ploughman bard. The chair was 
 ably filled by Mr. Kellock, Lindores; Mr. David 
 Dunn, Grange, acting as croupier. The usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts having been heartily 
 responded to, the Chairman in his usual masterly 
 and felicitous manner introduced the toast of 
 the evening, in which he characterised Burns 
 as the poet of all nations, creeds, and classes. 
 And in the course of his address, by an apt 
 simile, he divided literary men into four classes 
 — first, those possessed of creative power, genius 
 and energy; second, those possessed of debat- 
 ing qualities and logical accuracy ; thirdly, that 
 class who, though not possessed of high intel- 
 lectual powers, yet can make themselves useful 
 in any sphere; and, fourthly, that class who 
 speak and write merely to please, who, like the 
 ladies' lap-dog, amuse others that they may eat 
 tlie crumbs that fall from their table. But the 
 gigantic intellect of Burns could act the part of 
 each or all combined; by the spirit of genius 
 he entered into the deepest recesses of the 
 human breast, and there he laid one hand, and 
 with the other pointed to the object that he 
 wished us to contemplate till we are lost in 
 ecstacy and admiration; for who ever painted 
 nature in truer or more feeling colours than the 
 Ayrshire bard! And when that independent 
 and tender sympathising spirit of his felt 
 aggrieved or trampled on, who was his rival in 
 satire ? as some of his poems abundantly show. 
 But his follies and failings are not what we are 
 met here this evening to harrow up, but rather, 
 in the words of the poet, 
 
 " give hia errors to the dust, 
 And be to peerless genius just." 
 
 Who has seen his equal ? and where is his rival 
 at writing poetry which is adapted and suited 
 to all grades and classes of society, from the 
 monarch on the throne and the nobleman in the 
 palace, down to the peasant, the mechanic, and 
 
 the ploughman ? Who like him hath clothed 
 their ideas in such natural, beautiful, and cap- 
 tivating language as to attract and fascinate 
 every one who reads them ? Whose songs is it 
 that are sung in every public hall, in every gilded 
 drawing-room, in every parlour, in every thatch- 
 roofed cottage, and in every bothy throughout 
 the land ; ay ! throughout the world ? It is the 
 lays of the great, the powerful, the noble, the 
 gentle, the loving, the tender-hearted, the never 
 to be forgotten, but ever to be admired Ayr- 
 shire bard, Robert Burns, to whose memory I 
 now call upon you all to rise to your feet and 
 devote a bumper with all tlie honours. 
 
 The toast was received with the highest en- 
 thusiasm, and responded to by Mr. Pringle. 
 
 The harmony and good feeling of the even- 
 ing was greatly enlivened and enhanced by the 
 lays of Burns as sung by Mr. Spence, New- 
 burgh, and Mr. Morris, Lindores, and others. 
 
 Taken altogether, we have never spent an 
 evening with more pleasure or satisfaction, both 
 in regard to the object which brought us to- 
 gether, and the order, harmony, and decorum 
 which characterised the entire proceedings. 
 
 ABERCHIRDER. — The Centenary was 
 celebrated here by a social meeting convened 
 under the auspices of the Marnoch Vocal Music 
 Association. The invitations extended to up- 
 wards of two hundred, while the choir itself 
 numbered fully fifty, and the accommodation 
 afforded by the Free Church School-room was 
 found to be comfortable and suflicient for this 
 goodly company. The proceedings commenced 
 shortly after six o'clock by a service of ex- 
 cellent tea, with substantial accessaries, ad 
 libitum, the treat being enhanced by the pleas- 
 ant and eflScient manner in which the assistants, 
 male and female, discharged their voluntarily 
 undertaken duties. The Minister of the parish 
 was called to the chair, said grace, and the 
 Rev. Mr. Moir returned thanks. At intervals 
 during the evening, basketfuls of enticing fruit 
 were liberally supplied. Charming as all this 
 was to those who love to look on smiling faces, 
 and join in agreeable conversation, the crown- 
 ing triumph of the occasion consisted in the 
 efforts of Mr, Christie, the parochial school- 
 
142 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 master, and his attached band of well-trained 
 singers. Never in our village, we can truly 
 say, has so much justice been done to the songs 
 of Burns and others, as was done on this memor- 
 able twenty-fifth of January. Sixteen favourite 
 songs, beginning with " Auld Langayne," — " a 
 glorious fragment," as the great bard himself 
 termed it before he improved it to its present 
 shape, were vocalized in full harmony, amidst 
 the sustained delight and surprise of the en- 
 tranced listeners. 
 
 It is worthy to be recorded that the meeting 
 was also the means of gladdening the hearts of 
 the poor; for the old wives were summoned, 
 next day, to receive each a service of the good 
 tea that remained, together with an allowance 
 of bread, liberally furnished by our local bakers, 
 Messrs. Grant and Kilty. 
 
 ABERDEEN.— Here, although the demon- 
 strations may not have been of so "loud" a 
 character, nor the tone of speech so highly 
 pitched as in the sister cities, yet the celebra- 
 tions and meetings were not, on that account, 
 the less hearty and earnest. Not a few of the 
 merchants kept half- holiday, several of the 
 soliools extending the same privilege to their 
 pupils. 
 
 The St. Andrew's Society. — The most 
 important meeting of tlie night was that under 
 the auspices of the St. Andrew's Society, held 
 in the Royal Hotel. The elegant room was 
 finely decorated with the flags of different na- 
 tions ; and the dinner was served, under Mr. 
 Robertson's superintendence, with much splen- 
 dour and taste : the meeting, indeed, combined 
 the advantages of a private party with that of 
 a considerable number of guests. Covers were 
 laid for eighty, and the places were filled. The 
 chair was occupied by Lachlan M'Kinnon, Sen., 
 Esq., Advocate, President of the above Society; 
 William Jopp, Esq., and George Thomson, Esq., 
 Dean of Guild, being the croupiers. 
 
 Among the gentlemen present were — The 
 Lord Provost ; Professor Geddes ; Councillors 
 Nicol, G. Jamieson, and J. Jamieson; Mr. A. 
 Davidson of Desswood ; Major Forbes, C.B. of 
 Inverernan ; Mr. Westland, banker ; Captain 
 Duff, paymaster ; Mr. Adamson, sharebroker ; 
 Mr. Carnegie of Redhall ; Messrs. Chivas, 
 Milne, and Manson, bankers ; Mr. R. Catto 
 and W. Reid, shipowners ; Mr. B. Moir, mer- 
 chant ; Messrs. L. M'Kinnon, Jun., P. Cooper, 
 Ruxton, Kennedy, Barron, Jopp, C. Duncan, 
 Cattanach, Leask, Rutherford, R. Ligertwood, 
 and Duguid, Advocates ; Mr. M'Aulay, Inland 
 Revenue; Mr. Ross, shipbuilder, fi-om Hong- 
 kong ; Mr. J. F. White, grain merchant ; Mr. 
 Griffith, Scotti.sh Provincial Assurance Co. ; 
 Mr. Willet, C. E. ; Mr. Mathews, architect ; 
 
 Mr. W. B. Ferguson, Deeside Railway; Mr. 
 J. Keith, merchant; Mr. Fletcher, accountant; 
 Mr. W. L. Thomson, merchant ; Mr. J. Aiken, 
 Jun., shipowner ; Dr. Sutherland ; Mr. Adam ; 
 Mr. M'Combie; Mr. W. S. Fisher, and Mr. 
 W. Anderson, local poets, &c. 
 
 After partaking of a, sumptuous repast, in- 
 cluding a number of the favourite Scotch dishes 
 — not forgetting the veritable haggis — the loyal 
 and national toasts were given in succession 
 from the chair, and warmly responded to. 
 
 With the toast of the Army was coupled the 
 name of Major Forbes, the hero of Kooshab, 
 who returned thanks amid loud cheers. 
 
 The toast of the "Lord Provost, Magistrates, 
 and Council" was given from the chair. In 
 doing so, the Chairman said — In proposing this 
 toast, I can only repeat what I said in this 
 place some weeks ago, that Provost Webster is 
 a man of so great and varied attainments, and 
 such exuberant eloquence, that whether in 
 the reception of Royalty, or in hospitality to 
 distinguished strangers, or in activity in get- 
 ting up Music Halls and Music Bells, he is 
 equally at home and equally happy. (Cheers.) 
 When he comes to vacate the Chair, it will be 
 a very difficult matter, indeed, to fill it after 
 him ; but I trust he will take a leaf out of the 
 book of some of his distinguished predecessors, 
 and not be in a hurry doing so. (Drunk with 
 cheers.) 
 
 The Provost (who on rising was warmly 
 received), said — Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, 
 I have to thank you for a very great kindness. 
 This is the evening on which Scotland is to 
 celebrate the festival, to testify the profound 
 gratitude and reverence with which it cherishes 
 the memory of Robert Burns. It appears to 
 me that it is the duty of every one who repre- 
 sents the public of Scotland, by holding office, 
 especially when conferred by the choice of the 
 community, to add any weight and influence 
 they possess to the value of that testimony. 
 Gentlemen, among the pre - eminent claims 
 wliich Burns has to the gratitude and to the 
 reverence of his country, this is, with reference 
 to the object of our present meeting, the great- 
 est — that not merely is he the most manly and 
 tender of poets that ever lived, but also the 
 most national and patriotic. (Cheers.) We 
 know he gloried in the name of Scotsman. 
 We know from himself that, from the moment 
 the genius of his country found him at the 
 plough, it was his greatest wish to sing of the 
 loves, the rural scenes, the joys and pleasures 
 of his native land, in his native tongue. The 
 s.ame wish thrilled his heart to the latest hour 
 of his life. It colours every page of his various 
 works, and finds vent in such sublime lyrics as 
 our national ode of "Soots wha hae." (Cheers.) 
 
ABERDEEN. 
 
 143 
 
 AVell, tlien, gentltmeii, may Scotland repay that 
 life-long love of Burns for her, by the profound 
 affection in which she holds hira. This evening 
 has been chosen by our countrymen in Scotland, 
 and all over the world, to demonstrate these 
 feelings towards him ; and I hold that I and 
 the municipality of Aberdeen were indebted to 
 the Society with which you are connected for 
 allowing us to be associated and take part with 
 you to-night, and to show that Aberdeen is 
 sensible of the debt of gratitude which all Scot- 
 land owes to the memory of Eobert Burns. 
 (Applause.) I have again to thank you for 
 what I feel at this fitting opportunity, which 
 should be welcome to all occupying any place 
 of weight in Scotland, for testifying- the pro- 
 found reverence, gratitude, and affection which 
 Scotland owes to the memory of Burns, for 
 having for ever associated her name with his 
 own deathless fame. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 The CiiAiHMAN then roje to propose the 
 toast of the evening, and said — Notwithstand- 
 ing a determination in my own mind to throw 
 to the winds all modesty and speak up — 
 (laughter and applause) — ^I feel that my cou- 
 rage is fast departing from me — (applause and 
 a laugh) — and I come to the toast, the senti- 
 ment of the evening, with fear and trembling ; 
 but it must be so — and I now call upon you 
 uprising to drink to the immortal memory, the 
 undying genius of. Robert Burns. (Cheers.) 
 Wherever Scotchmen do congregate this day — 
 and in what part of the world are not Scotch- 
 men to be found? — their talk will be of Eobert 
 Burns ; and in Scotland itself— ay, and England, 
 too — in all our towns and villages are our 
 countrymen assembled this evening, much in 
 the same way as we are assembled just now, to 
 do loud homage to his name, to protest, as it 
 were, against our fathers' ungenerous treat- 
 ment of him, and to proclaim with one accord 
 that we have faith in the genius, admiration 
 of the poetry, and respect for the character 
 of the Great Peasant. (Loud cheers.) The 
 genius of Burns is well seen in this, that 
 he was able to overcome the want of edu- 
 cation, or at any rate great defects of edu- 
 cation, and the rude habits of the peasant's 
 life. He was able to rise superior to the de- 
 pressing influences of ineessa,nt bodily toil and 
 sordid poverty which beset him all his days, 
 and to write and speak on all subjects which 
 he touched upon with a natural ease and 
 humour, a spirit and independence, a power 
 and pathos, which have never been surpassed, 
 and in a way to excite the admiration of the 
 highest and lowest of his countrymen — nay, 
 rather, to challenge the admiration of the whole 
 world; and a true test of his excellence is 
 found ia this, that his fame is increasing day 
 
 by day, and year by year, continually. (Loud 
 applause.) Burns, so to speak, emerged from 
 deep obscurity by natural intuition into the 
 broad light of day, and played his part, up to 
 a certain time at any rate, equally well with 
 the lads of Tarbolton, the belles of Mauchline, 
 the peasantry, the dominies, the writers of Ayr, 
 the literati and the ladies of Edinburgh, the 
 lairds, the farmers, and the excise authorities 
 of Dumfries, and all the eminent men — ay, and 
 women, too — with whom he came in contact in 
 course of his life. (Applause.) But it is prin- 
 cipally since Burns' death that a right appreci- 
 ation of his talents has been entertained ; and 
 most of the eminent men of our day seem fond 
 of analysing the genius, and descanting upon 
 the writings, the poetical writings of this young 
 and unlearned man. (Applause.) And some 
 of them conclude that he got little beyond the 
 threshold of his powers — that he rather mis- 
 spent his time and his powers in writing his 
 numerous lyrics, however sweet and beautiful 
 they are — and that, if he had been properly 
 cared for, and his life preserved, his muse was 
 capable of winging a higher and nobler flight 
 than ever she attempted or attained. Of 
 course, as we now know Burns, we cannot 
 place him in the temple of fame on the same 
 pedestal with Shakspeare or Dante, Goethe or 
 Scott. These were greater poets than he — or 
 at least they lived and accomplished greater 
 things ; and, as I understand, the lyric must 
 ever yield precedence to the tragic or epic 
 muse. But even as it is, I have heard Burns' 
 "Elegy on Matthew Henderson" well compared 
 with the " Lycidas " of Milton ; his " Address 
 to the Deil " not unfavourably contrasted with 
 the idea and description of Satan in " Paradise 
 Lost ;" his Cantata of tlie " Jolly Beggars " is 
 said to be superior in force and fire to the 
 great camp scene in Schiller's " Wallenstein ;" 
 his " Tam o' Shanter " has never been equalled 
 for wild humour and imagination. I hold it to 
 be inimitable. No proper parallel can be drawn 
 between it and Dryden's celebrated " Ode on 
 Alexander's Feast," as some have attempted. 
 His " Cottar's Saturday Night," bating some 
 redundancies, is one of the most perfect poems 
 in the English language. We could less easily 
 spare the " Cottar's Saturday Night " from 
 Burns' poems than any of his other produc- 
 tions. It and " Tam o' Shanter " alone would 
 make the fame of any poet. His " Vision " is 
 the most eloquent, perhaps, of all his writings. 
 I like it exceedingly ; and, indeed, the poetry 
 is very fine in all his epistles and satires. (Ap- 
 plause.) But it is as a lyric poet that Burns 
 possesses such distinguished merit. In that 
 field he never had a superior nor a rival. Fer- 
 guson before him, and Tannahill and -Hogg, and 
 
144 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 some others since his time, have written some 
 beautiful songs ; but it is universally allowed 
 that none of them have approached to Burns 
 in the number and perfection of his songs. It 
 is, certainly, as a lyric poet that he is most 
 popular with Scotchmen. (Applause.) The 
 Chairman, after apologizing for the imperfect 
 manner in which he had proposed the toast, 
 concluded by reciting, amid applause, the 
 "Bard's Epitaph." (The toast was drunk with 
 great enthusiasm.) 
 
 The following toasts were also given : — 
 " The Poets of Scotland," by Professor Geddes ; 
 " The Poets of England and Ireland," by the 
 Dean of Guild; "The Immortal Memory of 
 that truly great and good man. Sir Walter 
 Scott, " by Mr. Cooper; "The Sons of Burns," 
 by the Chairman ; " The Peasantry of Scot- 
 land," by Mr. Adam; "Our Local Poets," 
 by Mr. Jopp ; " The Press," by Councillor J. 
 Jamieson ; " The Biographers of Burns," by 
 Dr. Jamieson ; " The Health of Professor 
 Geddes," by Mr. Adam. 
 
 The Band of the Koyal Aberdeenshire Highlanders 
 contributed their share to a most pleasant and enthn- 
 siastio meeting. 
 
 We may mention that the dinner ticket was very 
 tastefully got up. Besides indicating, in the usual 
 way, the object of the meeting, it embraced a neat 
 likeness of the poet, with representations bf Tarn o' 
 Shanter, the Twa Dogs, the Doon Monument, &o., 
 executed by Messrs. Keith & Gibb, Lithograpliers ; 
 and Mr. Robertson, much to the satisfaction of the 
 company, allowed them to retain this appropriate 
 memento of the festival. 
 
 The Speculative Society. — The members 
 of this literary society, chiefly young tradesmen 
 in the city — with commendable tact and fore- 
 sight, devoted the tenth of their series of 'lec- 
 tures, which fell due on Tuesday night, to 
 " The Life and Writings of Burns," and were 
 fortunate enough to secure Mr. William Caden- 
 head, author of "Plights of Fancy," &c., to 
 discourse from this theme. The lecture was 
 delivered in Rev. Mr. Arthur's Church, George 
 Street, to a numerous and respectable audience, 
 who testified their approbation of its merits by 
 frequent applause. 
 
 At half-past nine, the members and friends, 
 including ladies, assembled in the Music Hall 
 Buildings, and there held a festival in honour 
 of our National Bard. Mr. W. H. Martin 
 efficiently presided, supported by Mr. J. Nicol 
 and Mr. A. Fletcher as croupiers. The Chair- 
 man ably gave the toast of the evening, and 
 amongst the other speakers were the Croupiers, 
 and Messrs. Brodie and Brander, &c. Thei-e 
 were plentiful services of cake and wine, a 
 number of the poet's choicest songs were sung 
 by Messrs. Copland, Anderson, &c., and a 
 choir, and about twelve a ball commenced, 
 which was carried on with much spirit till 
 
 morning, — Mr. Duprey, leader of the Theatre- 
 Royal, conducting the music. 
 
 Tradesmen's Supper.— A party of Trades- 
 men, to the number of fifty, met in Mr. Smith's 
 Salmon Hotel, 13 Exchequer Row, on Tuesday 
 night, for the purpose of celebrating Robert 
 Burns' centenary by a supper, which was served 
 by the host in a very neat and efficient manner. 
 After the cloth was removed, the usual. loyal 
 toasts were given from the chair, which was 
 occupied by Mr. James Fyfe; Messrs. David 
 Milne and John Wood acting as croupiers. 
 During the evening a number of other toasts 
 were given and responded to, and the company 
 were enlivened with a good many of Burns' best 
 songs; altogether the evening was spent most 
 harmoniously. 
 
 Operative Shoemakers. — The Operative 
 Shoemakers held a Soiree and Ball in Dr. Bell's 
 Schoolroom, Frederick Street, when upwards 
 of three hundred assembled to add their mite 
 of honour to the name and genius of Burns. 
 At half-past eight o'clock, p.m., Mr. Adam Low 
 was called to the chair, and after intimating the 
 object of the meeting, the programme, &c., the 
 stewards, a number of very active young men, 
 served the company with bread and tea in abun- 
 dance. Then followed appropriate speeches, 
 music (vocal and instrumental), from members 
 of the body and visitors. To add to the plea- 
 sure and harmony, Mr. H. Nimmo, from the 
 Mechanics' Hall, along with an amateur young 
 lady of the company, sung a duet with excel- 
 lent effect and delight to the audience. At 
 twelve o'clock the stewards again added to 
 their former abundance by serving a large 
 quantity of first-class oranges. During a short 
 interval -preparations were made for the ball, 
 when about sixty couple entered the dance, 
 which was kept up with spirit until a late hour 
 in the morning, when all separated in the high- 
 est of glee in a very becoming manner. We may 
 state that, by careful management, there is a 
 surplus of £3 on the meeting, which is to be 
 given to the following: — ^1 to the descendants 
 of Burns ; £1 to the Infirmary ; ^1 to the 
 scholars in Dr. Bell's Schools as prizes. 
 
 A Musical Entertainment, constituting a 
 spirited interpretation of Burns, was given in 
 Sinclair's Hall, by Mr. Francis Beattie and 
 assistants. 
 
 At the Bon-Accord Temperance Society's 
 Festival, the hall was crammed in every pan. 
 Mr. Fordyce, President of the Society, occu- 
 pied the chair. Addresses on the life and 
 character of Burns were given by Mr. Buch- 
 anan (who exhibited a much-admired model of 
 Burns' house), Mr. Dickie, and Mr. C. Wisely. 
 A selection of the poet's songs was also suno-, 
 and the meeting was an excellent one. 
 
ABERDEEN. 
 
 145 
 
 Thk Masons. — The Mason Lodges in the 
 city met in their Hall to celebrate the Centen- 
 ary of Burns' birth-day, when a party of up- 
 wards of eighty sat down to supper, under the 
 presidency of Br. J. Eettie, Prov. G. 8. Warden. 
 Enlivened by the singing of a number of the 
 choicest of Burns' songs, the Brethren spent 
 a very pleasant evening; made all the more 
 agreeable by the reflection that Burns himself 
 was a keen and zealous Mason, and one who 
 thoroughly understood and appreciated the prin- 
 ciples that should actuate all " Brethren of the 
 mystic tie." The hall was tastefully decorated. 
 
 The Jukidical Society. — The members of 
 this Society, to the number of forty, supped 
 together in Mr. Machray's, St. Nicholiis Lane 
 — Mr. J. F. Lumsden in the chair, and Messrs. 
 Davidson and Brown acting as croupiers. The 
 usual loyal and other toasts having been duly 
 honoured, " The Memory of Burns" was given, 
 and responded to with strong feeling. " The 
 Legal Profession," &c., followed, and a number 
 of excellent songs were sung by Messrs. Maeh- 
 ray, Milne, Allan, and others. Altogether the 
 evening passed off most pleasantly. 
 
 Loyal Egbert Burns Lodge op Odd- 
 Fellows. — The Brethren of the above Lodge 
 sat down to an excellent supper, in their Hall, 
 41 Queen Street, to celebrate the centenary of 
 the " Peasant Bard," from whom it takes its 
 name. P. P. G. M. John Logie (a warm ad- 
 mirer of the poet) occupied the chair, the 
 duties of which he discharged with great tact 
 and ability. Prov. G. M. James Eeid, of the 
 Star of the North Lodge, acted as croupier ; 
 and the proceedings were much enlivened by 
 P. P. G. M. William Gellan and others singing, 
 in first-rate style, a number of Burhs' most 
 popular songs. Altogether, a pleasanter even- 
 ing could scarcely have been spent. The mel- 
 lowing influence of the Poet's writings fell 
 kindly on the whole coiupany, who, for the 
 occasion at least, seemed to anticipate the 
 " good time coming," when 
 
 " Man to man the wai-Id o'er, 
 Shall britliers be, an' a' that." 
 
 Neptune Lodge. — The Brethren of the 
 Neptune Lodge assembled in the Queen's 
 Hotel in the evening. Col. Gordon very kind- 
 ly favoured them with two pipers, who played 
 before them from the Hptel to the Lodge, 115 
 Union Street — blue lights being displayed be- 
 fore the procession. On entering the Hall 
 they found a number of the Brethren assembled 
 from other Lodges, with whom they spent a 
 very pleasant evening. 
 
 The Aberdeen Joinees' Mutual Im- 
 provement Association. — The members of 
 this body, with a few of their friends, met in 
 
 the Lemon Tree Hotel, and partook of an ex- 
 cellent supper, provided by Mrs. Eonald. Mr. 
 Andrew Valentine occupied the chair; and 
 Mr. George Adam acted as croupier. After 
 supper, the usual loyal toasts were drunk ; and 
 the chairman, in a speech which drew forth 
 rounds of applause, proposed the toast of the 
 evening, " The Memory of Burns." After 
 which, a number of the Bard's pieces were re- 
 cited, and several of his songs sung with good 
 taste and feeling. Votes of thanks having 
 been proposed to the chairman and croupier for 
 the efiicient manner in which they had dis- 
 charged the duties of their respective offices, 
 the party separated at eleven o'clock, highly 
 pleased with the evening's entertainment, and 
 gratified with the opportunity thus afforded 
 them of publicly expressing their admiration of 
 the genius of Scotland's greatest bard. 
 
 The Upholsterers and females in the employ- 
 ment of Messrs. J. Allan & Sons, met on the 
 Burns' night to tea and supper in Mrs. Sheriff^s 
 Hotel, and under the genial presidency of Mr. 
 A. Allan — Mr. Cattanach, the oldest upholster- 
 er in Aberdeen, acting as ci'oupier — spent a 
 very pleasant evening. The toast list included 
 the usual loyal and patriotic toasts. " The 
 Memory of Burns," also the health of the re- 
 spected firm — "J. Allan & Sons" — and of 
 " Mrs. and Miss Allan" — were drank with en- 
 thusiasm. During the evening several neat 
 speeches were delivered, and verses composed 
 for the occasion recited. The viands supplied 
 by Mrs. S. were excellent. 
 
 The Broadford Operatives. — Upwards 
 of a hundred of the mechanics and operatives 
 employed at Eichards & Co.'s Works, Broad- 
 ford, met in the Odd-fellows' Arms Inn, Queen 
 Street, to celebrate our bard's centenary. Mr. 
 John Smith, engineer, was called to the chair, 
 and Mr. George Anderson, painter, acted as 
 croupier. The chairman, in a very able speech, 
 illustrated Burns' worth, who, although dead, 
 yet liveth. The health of " The Queen and 
 Eoyal Family" was drunk amidst great ap- 
 plause, and the apprentices belonging to the 
 work, who had formed themselves into " The 
 Broadford Choral Society," sung the National 
 Anthem. The toast of the " Immortal Burns" 
 was drunk in solemn silence, when the band 
 struck up " A man's a man for a' that." With 
 each toast of the evening there was a song from 
 the Choral band, whose training does them 
 great credit. There were also several recita- 
 tions from Burns' works, by Messrs. Anderson, 
 Joss, Eoss, and M'Intosh, &c. The meeting 
 was throughout a most harmonious one. 
 
 A number of the Overseers and Flax-dress- 
 ers in- the employment of Eichards & Co., 
 Broadford Works, celebrated the centenary of 
 
146 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Burns with an excellent supper, prepared by 
 Mrs. Phinn, Upperkirkgate. The room was 
 tastefully decorated with evergreens surround- 
 ing the portrait of the bard. The chair was 
 occupied by Mr. John Craig, who gave a gra- 
 phic sketch of the poet's life, and was supported 
 by Mr. Youngson, croupier. After supper the 
 chairman gave the toast of the evening, " The 
 Immortal Robert Burns," which was drunk 
 with all the honours. The company were en- 
 livened with a selection of the poet's finest 
 songs, sung in excellent style by Messrs. 
 M'Leod, M'Donald, Thain, N. Anderson, and 
 others ; and the spirit of the meeting was main- 
 tained with great glee beyond the " wee short 
 hour ayont the twal." 
 
 Fifty gentlemen's coachmen and livery stable- 
 men in this quarter celebrated Burns' cente- 
 nary in the Hall, 14 Castle Street — Mr. J. 
 Taylor, chairman, supported by Messrs. Miller 
 and Marshall, croupiers. Everything was in 
 the best style, and the hours flitted away fast 
 and pleasantly. 
 
 FooTDEE did itself the honour of- celebrating 
 the centenary by a social meeting and ball. 
 The meeting was held in the large premises 
 belonging to the Messrs. Hall, which were 
 tastefully decorated for the occasion with flags 
 and appropriate mottoes, and was presided over 
 by these gentlemen. The party, amounting to 
 500, met at half-past seven, and the duties of 
 the evening commenced with the whole assem- 
 bly joining in singing the Hundredth Psalm, 
 after which refreshments were served. With a 
 few pertinent remarks, the Chairman proposed 
 " The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns," 
 which was pledged in whisky-punch by the 
 company, while standing, in solemn silence. 
 Before i-esuming their seats, " Should auld 
 acquaintance be forgot" was sung, the chorus 
 being reiterated till the rafters rang. Enlivened 
 by songs and recitations from the poet's works, 
 which were admirably given by amateurs, the 
 evening passed rapidly away. At eleven o'clock 
 the fiddlers struck up " Hearts of oak," and the 
 dancing, which then commenced, was carried 
 on with unabated vigour until half-past four 
 o'clock, and finished with three cheers for their 
 entertainers, when that ill-natured loon neces- 
 sity put an end to pleasure, in order to prepare 
 for the coming day's work. The whole arrange- 
 ments were under the direction of a committee 
 of young ship carpenters, and did great credit 
 to their taste and judgment, leaving nothing to 
 be wished done that was not, and certainly 
 nothing to be wished undone which was done. 
 
 On tlie evening of Burns' centenary, Mr. 
 Campbell, Bellfield; Mr. Brown, Megray; Mr. 
 Connon, Elf Hill, and other gentlemen, enter- 
 tained at dinner, in the Stonehaven Hotel, about 
 
 twenty aged and retired farmers and crofters 
 of the town and neighbourhood. Mr. Camp- 
 bell occupied the chair, and Messrs. Brown and 
 Connon, croupiers. Many a battle was fought 
 over again that evening ; many a " drouthy 
 simmer" and stormy winter long ago was re- 
 called to mind when the jolly old rustics were 
 young and in their prime. Conclusion — " Should 
 auld acquaintance be forgot," and parting "rieht 
 merrilie." 
 
 In honour of the centenary a number of 
 Messrs. Stewart, Rowel, Stewart, & Co.'s 
 workmen met at supper in Gilbert's St. 
 Nicholas Hotel. Mr. Chalmers presided, and 
 Mr. L. Savage was croupier. An address in 
 memory of Burns was delivered by the chair- 
 man, and the after speeches were interspersed 
 with songs, glees, and recitations from the works 
 of the bard. The evening was a happy one, 
 Mr. Gilbert's good things giving every satisfac- 
 tion. 
 
 The workers in the employment of Mr. 
 Edmond, bookbinder, were entertained at supper 
 by that gentleman, when the memory of Burns 
 was done due honour to, and a fine spirit of 
 kindred feeling was displayed between master 
 and servants. Many of Robin's songs were 
 sung, and a dance concluded a pleasant meeting. 
 
 Bon-Accord Literary Association. — The 
 above Association held their Festival in honour 
 of the Burns Centenary in the large Hall of 
 the Union Row Academy, which had been 
 tastefully decorated for the occasion with ever- 
 greens, pleasingly interspersed with banners, 
 bearing the following inscriptions : — " Scots 
 wha hae," " A man's a man for a' that," " The 
 Cottar's Saturday Night," " Tam o' Shanter," 
 "Success to the Bon- Accord." The chair 
 having been taken by Mr. William Bruce, at 
 half-past eight o'clock, that gentleman, in a 
 neat speech, introduced the business of the 
 meeting, which consisted of readings from 
 Burns, varied with recitations, and songs from 
 an efficient choir, under the conductorship of 
 Mr. Melvin. A vote of thanks having been 
 given to the Chairman for his services, at half- 
 past eleven o'clock the room was cleared for 
 dancing, and the mirth and fun kept up till 
 about four o'clock, when the meeting separated, 
 highly delighted with their evening's enjoy- 
 ments. At suitable intervals the company 
 were served with fruit, wine, and cake, &c. 
 
 We may notice, that the city bells were rung 
 at intervals in the afternoon and evening, and 
 the vessels in the harbour displayed their col- 
 ours. A humble but very popular and hearty 
 mode of celebration may also be mentioned. 
 Mr. Fidler had two silver jugs attached to his 
 fountain at the top of the Quay, and this being 
 pretty generally known, it is calculated that. 
 
ABERDEEN (Old)— ABERDOUR. 
 
 U7 
 
 between nine A. M., and six P. m., about ten 
 thousand partook of a cooling draught from 
 the jugs — in many cases drinking to auld Scot- 
 land's favourite bard. We are informed the 
 tankards suflferod no injury, althongh the well 
 was "mobbed" the whole day, and used at the 
 rate of fifteen persons and four horses per min- 
 ute ! The day was bright, sharp, and sunny 
 throughout. 
 
 ABERDEEN (Old).— The Centenary was 
 celebrated in this place by a select ball in the 
 Town-house, got up under the auspices of the 
 Convener Court of the Incorporated Trades, 
 and of the various Friendly Societies in con- 
 nexion with the town, and conducted by Pro- 
 vost Gordon and Convener Stables, assisted by 
 a committee of stewards. The national and 
 civic flags belonging to the town were dis- 
 played in the Hall along with facsimiles of 
 poems in Burns' handwijiting. The motto, 
 " The Land o' Burns," was also prominently 
 exhibited. These, in connection with the new 
 appearance of the Hall, which has just under- 
 gone a thorough repair and decoration — being 
 beautifully painted in the walls and roof in 
 panelled oak, with tasteful scroll-work — had a 
 very imposing effect. Immediately after the 
 hour of assembling, the Hall was completely 
 filled with the youth and beauty of the city, 
 along with several parties from the neighbour- 
 ing district, who had been invited to be present. 
 The dancing was kept up with great spirit and 
 vigour till long after 
 
 " The wee short hour ayont the twal." 
 
 During the evening, several of the poet's most 
 choice songs were sung by the ladies and 
 gentlemen present, and were received with 
 great applause and enthusiasm. The party 
 were honoured by an address from Mr. Adam 
 of the Herald, in which, after various hajjpy 
 illustrations taken from the life of the poet, lie 
 expressed his opinion that, if departed spirits 
 were gifted with the power of knowing what 
 was going on in this nether world — the idea 
 by which Burns wits inspired when he wrote 
 his poem, " To Mary in Heaven " — he doubted 
 not but he would look with as much satisfac- 
 tion and pleasure on the gay assembly then 
 before him as he would do on other demonstra- 
 tions of a more extensive nature. He con- 
 cluded by introducing Mr. Morrison, of the 
 Scottish North-Eastern Railway, and request- 
 ing him to favour the company with a recital 
 of some piece relative to the occasion. Mr. 
 Morrison then gave, with great feeling, the 
 beautiful verses to the memory of Burns by 
 Fitzgreen Halleck, of New York, on viewing 
 
 the remains of a rose brought fi'om Alloway 
 Kirk in autumn, 1822. 
 
 WoODSiDE. — The centenary of Burns, our 
 national bard, was celebrated at Woodside by 
 a soiree held in the Free Church Schoolroom, 
 under the management of a joint committee of 
 the Newhills and Woodside Mutual Improve- 
 ment Societies. The room presented a lively 
 appearance, being decorated with evergreens 
 and national colours, amongst which were in- 
 terspersed several appropriate mottoes and 
 quotations from the works of the Bard, two 
 portraits of whom occupied conspicuous places 
 on the walls. On account of accommodation 
 the committee were compelled to limit the 
 number of tickets to three hundred, but had 
 they issued twice the number we believe they 
 would have been disposed of, so great was the 
 demand for them. The chair was taken at 
 half-past seven by Mr. A. Troup, who happens 
 to be a member of both societies. A blessing 
 having been asked, tea was served up by the 
 young ladies of both localities, which service, 
 we are happy to observe, included the oaten 
 cakes of old Scotia. After tea, the chairman 
 opened the proceedings with an appropriate 
 speech, after which the following gentlemen 
 spoke in their turns: — Messrs. A. Wilson, jun., 
 A. J. Hodge, A. Duguid, W. M'Kechnie, W. 
 Murray, jun., and J. Troup ; the first three 
 of whom were from Newhills, the remainder 
 being from Woodside. Five pieces of original 
 poetry were read, two of which were anony- 
 mous contributions from the Newliills Society. 
 The other three were read by their authors, 
 Messrs. Fullarton, G. Philip, and Fisher, one 
 of our local poets, and who also delivered an 
 excellent speech. The speeches and poems had 
 all special reference to Burns. The following 
 songs were sung throughout the evening: — 
 "Mary, dear departed shade;" "Scots wha 
 hae;" "A man's a man for a' that;" "Willie 
 brewed a peck o' maut;" "Thou hast left mo 
 ever, Jamie ; " the first two of which were sung 
 by a choir. An instrumental band was in at- 
 tendance, including Mr. Cheyne, who performed 
 some excellent solo Scottish airs on the flute. 
 The company seemed to enter into the spirit 
 of the evening's proceedings, keeping it up till 
 considerably past "the wee short hour ayont 
 the twal," when they separated after singing 
 " Auld Langsyne " and the National Anthem. 
 
 ABERDOUR. — Burns* centenary was cele- 
 brated in the Aberdour Hotel by a goodly 
 company of the young and middle-aged, male 
 and female, with abundance of tea, cake, wine, 
 and toddy. All went merry as a marriage-bell, 
 with song and sentiment, and many a chorus, 
 vocal and instrumental; and while in the act 
 
148 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 of tasting wine to the memory of " Scotland's 
 Patriotic Ploughman Poet," not a heart present 
 but beat with a purer and more exalted sym- 
 pathy, while the sparkling eye denoted a clearer 
 vision of the sublime and beautiful. Such a 
 meeting of Scotland's true sons and daughters 
 was never witnessed heretofore in the ancient 
 barony of Aberdour. The chair was filled by 
 Mr Goodslr, merchant — Mr Rattray, croupier. 
 
 ABERLADY. — The Centenary of our great 
 National Poet was celebrated here by a public 
 dinner in Aberlady Inn. The Chairman (Mr. 
 Tait), in giving the toast of the evening, dwelt 
 at considerable length on the peculiar qualities 
 and characteristics of our grea,t Port's writings, 
 particularly his songs, which, being united to 
 our beautiful natiopal melodies, were, he said, 
 especially destined to carry down the Poet's 
 fame to remote generations. Many appropriate 
 toasts were given, and songs sung, and the 
 evening was passed with great enthusiasm, har^ 
 mony, and decorum. 
 
 ABERLOUR. — Here there were a supper 
 and ball in the Hall of the Aberlour Hotel. By 
 eight o'clock, an assemblage of ladies and 
 gentlemen, to the number of about sixty, con- 
 vened, and shortly after sat down to a sump- 
 tuous and elegantly arranged supper, consisting 
 of all the delicacies of the season. 
 
 The chair was occupie4 by Dr. Garrard, and 
 Mr. Grant, Schoolhouse, officiated as croupier, 
 both having lady patronesses and young ladies 
 as supporters. 
 
 After ample justice had been done to the 
 good things on the board, and the usual loyal 
 and patriotic toasts had been disposed of, the 
 Chairman called for a specia,! bumper to the 
 toast of the evening — The memory of our 
 National Bard. In his remarks in connection 
 with the toast, he especially referred to the fact 
 of our country having perhaps never witnessed 
 a demonstration so generally entered into, or 
 more enthusiastically carried out — a demonstra- 
 tion not confined to Scotland, but held wher- 
 ever Scotchmen are to be met with, or Scottish 
 poetry is understood. He characterised the 
 demonstration as a debt, too long due, as an 
 eloquent and powerful protest, if not against 
 the obloquy cast upon Burns, at least against 
 the neglect with which he had, during his 
 lifetime, been treated. He wished to view the 
 Poet apart from the man, and, while uphold- 
 ing the singular merits of the former, he denied 
 our right to constitute ourselves strict judges 
 of the latter. He believed that many of those 
 Tjvho are apt to censure Burns' works, are in- 
 duced to do so from the opinions of others, with- 
 out reading for themselves. While he could 
 
 not pretend to justify much in Burns' poems, 
 more especially in his satires, he held that in 
 this species of writing great freedom of lan- 
 guage is allowed, and that Burns' strong spirit 
 of independence led him to leave upon record 
 what a more polished or less fearless author 
 would have modified. So full and so truthfully 
 did Burns enter into and honour the affections 
 of his countrymen in describing their manners 
 and customs, rejoicing in their enjoyments and 
 sympathizing with their cares and sufferings, 
 that his name was a household word in both 
 hall and cottage; many have acknowledged 
 that, until they began to read Burns, poetry 
 had no charms for them, but that a taste for 
 poetry had been acquired, and a source of in- 
 tellectual pleasure opened up by them. He 
 briefly touched on the poet as a patriot, as "A 
 man's a man for a' that," as an admirer of 
 nature, as an unrivalled portrayer of domestic 
 life, and as a satirist, giving a few quotations of 
 his style in each. He concluded by requesting 
 all to join in the manifestation of love and 
 gratitude which had this night been taken up, 
 and echoed "frae Maiden Eark to John o' 
 Groats," to the imperishable memory of Scot- 
 land's Poet — Robert Burns. (The toast was 
 drunk with every manifestation of feeling and 
 respect.) 
 
 After supper the ladies were beginning to 
 get impatient to take a more active part in the 
 proceedings, and, having decorated the gentle- 
 men with handsome rosettes, appended to each 
 being choice and appropriate references to some 
 of Burns' verses, the hall was cleared for danc- 
 ing, which was kept up with unabated spirit 
 till " three short hours ayont the twal." The 
 music, supplied by Signor Bernaschina and his 
 talented son Andrea, a youthful prodigy in 
 music, was of great excellence^ and gave the 
 utmost satisfaction. Appropriate tunes were 
 played after the several toasts, and some of 
 Burns' best songs were sung. 
 
 ABERUTHVEN.— The Aberuth ven Musical 
 Society dined together in tl^e Aberuthven Inn 
 on the 20th, in celebration of the birth- 
 day of Robert Burns — Mr. J. Sinclair in the 
 chair. The dinner was got up in excellent 
 style, and included all the rarities of the season. 
 
 The cloth being removed, the Chairman gave 
 the usual routine toasts, and Mr. G. Robertson 
 then gave " Our Forefathers;" after which Mr. 
 J. M'Kenzie gave the toast of the evening. 
 No apology, he said, was needed for him whose 
 centenary we are met to celebrate. One hun- 
 dred years have gone since he was ushered into 
 existence in the " auld clay biggin' " on the 
 " Banks o' the Doon," and for upwards of 60 
 of those years he has been i,i\ the land of the 
 
ABINGTON— AIRTH. 
 
 149 
 
 departed. It is not the errors of Burns that 
 bring us here to-night. No; it is the mighty 
 genius of the man, joined to the truthfulness of 
 his character. Burns would have condemned 
 any man who would have sought to gloss over 
 his faults, and set him down as a hypocrite, un- 
 worthy of his confidence or friendship. After 
 briefly reviewing the career of Burns, and quot- 
 ing from many of his lyrics, he said — But, after 
 all, it is to the democratic sentiment which per- 
 vaded Burns, and which gives to him his great' 
 est renown, that we owe the noblest and the 
 greatest of all his eifusions. The thoughts that 
 arose in his mind when traversing the place 
 where " Bruce shook his Carrick spear," was but 
 a prelude to that burst of heroic poetry that 
 issued from the wilds of Galloway, and which 
 makes us think and feel that we too could bleed 
 in the cause of our country. But the complete 
 embodiment of his democratic sentiments ap- 
 pears in that magnificent song, "A man's a man 
 for a' that." There was n8 lack of music, either 
 vocal or instrumental, every man being a musi- 
 cian. Songs, duets, trios, glees, followed each 
 other, till Forbes appeared, when adjournment 
 became necessary. 
 
 ABINGTON.— In honour of the Burns 
 Centenary, a public supper was held here, 
 attended by a large number of the inhabitants 
 of the village and neighbourhood. The chair 
 was occupied by Mr. Loudon M'Queen, builder, 
 Abington, and Mr. Macrosty, teacher, acted as 
 croupier. The Chairman, in giving the " Im- 
 mortal Memory of Burns," referred to the pro- 
 minent features of Burns' poems and writings, 
 and gave a very graphic account of the early 
 struggles and difficulties of the great bard on 
 his road to eminence, and the great effect his 
 writings have had on his countrymen. Other 
 toasts and appropriate songs and recitations 
 from Burns were given during the evening. A 
 song, composed for the occasion by Mr. Kobert 
 Hastie, was sung with great enthusiasm by the 
 company. At the conclusion of the supper a 
 grand ball was held, which was numerously at- 
 tended, and all present gave indications of be- 
 ing highly pleased. 
 
 ABOYNE. — The inhabitants of this parish 
 and surrounding district joined the rest of their 
 brethren in commemorating the natal day of 
 Scotia's Immortal Bard. A festive meeting 
 was held in the large Hall of the Huntly Arms, 
 Aboyne, when between seventy and eighty 
 gentlemen sat down to an excellent dinner, 
 prepared in Mrs. Cook's best style. The end 
 of the Hall was decorated with a beautiful 
 wreath of evergreens surrounding the name of 
 the great Bard. Dr. Gerard, the Provost of 
 
 Charleston of Aboyne, ably discharged the 
 duties of the chair. Mr. Ogg, banker; Mr. 
 Neil, farmer, Wreaton; and Mr. Hurry, Aboyne 
 Gardens, acted as croupiers. Amongst the 
 parties present we observed — The Eev. Alex. 
 Young, Aboyne; the Eev. Andrew Christie, 
 Glentanner; Mr. Gray, parochial schoolmaster; 
 Mr. Macintosh of the Excise; the Members of 
 our Town Council; also, a deputation from the 
 Charleston of Aboyne Lodge of Freemasons, 
 headed by their Depute-Master, Mr. Middleton, 
 graced the occasion. The brethren appeared in 
 their sashes and other Masonic insignia, paying 
 a tribute to their great departed Brother. After 
 dinner, the usual loyal and patriotic toasts were 
 given, as also better health to the most noble 
 the Marquis of Huntly, the Lord of the manor. 
 The Chairman gave the toast of the evening in 
 eloquent and glowing terms, paying a just 
 tribute to the genius of Scotia's dearest Bard. 
 A number of other toasts were given and re- 
 sponded to, and several original pieces of poetry 
 were recited during the evening. The whole 
 proceedings passed off in a most harmonious 
 manner. A ball was held in the Mason Hall, 
 where the young folks showed their apprecia- 
 tion of Burns in their own way. Original 
 pieces of poetry by Messrs. Niel, Ogg, and 
 Hurry, were read to the meeting. 
 
 AIRDEIE.— The Centenary of our National 
 Bard was celebrated in the Town Hall by a 
 grand public dinner, at which upwards of 60 
 gentlemen were assembled, including a number 
 of the most influential inhabitants of Airdrie. 
 An excellent quadrille band was in attendance, 
 and performed several national airs during the 
 evening with great merit. After the dinner a 
 number of ladies were admitted. The chair 
 was occupied by Sheriff Strathern, and James 
 Kidd, Esq., acted as croupier. The chair was 
 supported, among other gentlemen, by the 
 Eev. B. C. Brown, Airdrie; John M'Kenzie, 
 Esq., Dundy van; J. Dalzeil, Esq.; Bailie 
 Hendry; J. M'Donald, Esq., Procurator-fiscal 
 for the county; Dr. Eobertson; and on the 
 right and left of the croupier were Bailies 
 Eddie and Taylor, Councillor Forester, Trea- 
 surer Aitken, &c. 
 
 In addition to this demonstration, there were 
 a number of masonic and other festivals held in 
 the town. 
 
 AIETH.— 'The centennial celebration of the 
 birth of our national poet was observed here 
 by a public dinner in the Crown Inn. The 
 meeting was most successful, upwards of 30 
 sitting down to dinner, and the whole affair 
 passed off with eclat and enthusiasm. The 
 viands, &c., under which the table groaned, re- 
 
150 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 fleeted the utmost credit on Mre. Walker, the 
 venerable and excellent hostess, and a magnifi- 
 cent "haggis" displayed its "honest sonsieface" 
 in honour of the occasion, and occupied a dis- 
 tinguished position. Mr. Tosh of Newok ably 
 filled the chair, and Mr. Armstrong of Airth 
 no less efiiciently discharged the duties of 
 croupier. After the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts, the Chairman claimed a bumper to the 
 "Immortal memory of Scotia's bard," which 
 ■was responded to with the utmost enthusiasm, 
 honour, and respect. Many other toasts were 
 proposed and duly honoured in the course of 
 the evening, among which were " The Relations 
 of Burns," by Mr. Walker ; " Burns' contem- 
 poraries ; " " Tannahill, and the other song- 
 writers of Scotland ; " " The Scottish vocal- 
 ists," by Mr. Murdoch; "Qlencairn, and the 
 other patrons of Burns ; " " The minor poets 
 of Scotland ; " " The poets of the present 
 day;" "Progress of agriculture;" "Educa- 
 tion and its accessories ; " " The Chairman," 
 &c. Several recitations were given from the 
 writings of the poet, and many excellent songs, 
 glees, &c., sung ; and, what with the inter- 
 change of sentiment and song, joke and re- 
 partee, the " hours flew by on angel wings " till 
 warned by th« approach of Forbes Mackenzie, 
 "the hour appointed Tam maun ride," the 
 happy party broke up, after singing in chorus, 
 with tremendous enthusiasm, " Auld Langsyne." 
 Several other private social parties were 
 held throughout the district in honour of the 
 interesting event. 
 
 ALEXANDRIA. — Perhaps the most formai 
 centenary celebration was that held in tlie 
 Odd Fellows' Hall, Alexandria, by the en- 
 gravers of the Dalmonach Printing Company, 
 at wliich Mr. Adam Burns presided, and Mr, 
 Henry Parkinson discharged the duties of 
 croupier. The evening's proceedings there 
 were commenced by the company doing ample 
 justice to a most substantial supper, after 
 which, on the doth being removed, the Chair- 
 man rose and proposed the usual loyal toasts, 
 which having been duly responded to, he 
 called upon the audience to fill their glasses up 
 to the very brim, as the toast which he was 
 now to have the honour of proposing was one 
 of no ordinary kind. He was convinced that 
 if Burns had not been imbued with a deep reli- 
 gious feeling, he never could have written 
 " The Cottar's Saturday Night," and they had 
 good reason for supposing that his repentance 
 for his errors was inspired by the same divine 
 sincerity that formed the leading characteristic 
 of his great genius. He begged, therefore, to 
 propose " The Poetical Greatness of Burns." 
 The toast was most enthusiastically drunk. 
 
 Mr, T. Brown sung " Rantin' Rovin' Robin," 
 after which Mr. John M'Lean rose, and in a 
 neat speech, full of feeling and most appro- 
 priate sentiment, proposed " The health of 
 Burns' surviving relatives," to which Mr. T. 
 Brown replied, Mr. Peter Strachan proposed 
 " The memory of Burns," in a few words ex- 
 pressing the mingled feelings of pride and 
 pleasure he felt at being in any way instru- 
 mental in handing down from " sire to son" the 
 memory of Scotia's darling child of song. Mr. 
 Henry Parkinson proposed " The Scotch Poets," 
 in an able speech. Mr. Robert Bell made an 
 appropriate reply, and the party separated at a 
 seasonable hour. 
 
 ALFORD (Vale of). — ^Amongst the many 
 meetings held on the 25th, in honour of the 
 memory of him who sang Scotland as a nation 
 of " honest men and bonnie lasses," the January 
 wind did not blow a more happy, more singu- 
 lar, or more honourable company together to 
 any host than Mr. Milne, New Inn, had at his 
 house, where Burns' birthday has been kept 
 for upwards of thirty years. A subscription 
 dinner was proposed; Mr. Milne's reply was — 
 Bring as many as you please ; I maintain my 
 prerogative; the expense shall be mine alone. 
 The guests assembled by four o'clock, sat down 
 to a sumptuous and well-prepared dinner (for 
 which Mrs. Milne is famed), fenjoying them- 
 selves until an early hour in the morning, 
 almost exhausting Burns' songs, &c., and' still 
 "The landlord's laugh was ready oborus," with- 
 out the motive which is said to call it forth. 
 
 ALLAN (Bridge of).— ^The hundredth an- 
 niversary of the birthday of the national poet 
 was celebrated here by the Curling Club and 
 their friends. Sixty gentlemen sat down to 
 dinner in the large hall of the Westerton Arms, 
 which was beautifully and appropriately deco- 
 rated with evergreens for the occasion. The 
 chair was occupied by Mr. James Hogg of the 
 Stirling Journal and Advertiser, and Mr. John 
 Halliday, author of the "Rustic Bard," per- 
 formed the duties of croupier. The chairman 
 was supported on the right by Dr. Dade, Mr. 
 Greenhorn, Mr. Lyall, and Mr. Alexander, and 
 on the left by Mr, Somers, Mr. Archibald, Mr. 
 William M'Laren, Mr. Miller and Mr. Mitchell. 
 The croupier was supported right and left by 
 Mu., Niven, Mr. M'Laren, Mr. Simpson, Mr. 
 Gillies, &c. 
 
 After the cloth had been removed, the 
 Chairman gave in succession "The Queen," 
 " The Prince Consort, &c." " The army and 
 navy." 
 
 A bumper having been called for, the 
 Chairman rose and said : — Gentlemen Let us 
 
ALLAN (Bbidqe of). 
 
 151 
 
 now join with all those loiil and true-hearted 
 Scotchmcu, who are met this day, in draining 
 a bumper to the immortal memory of Robert 
 Burns. Were I to consult ray own feelings I 
 should have preferred that the toast be drunk 
 without preface and without honours. On this 
 occasion, so tragic in many respects are the 
 associations called up, that solemn silence — 
 deep, thoughtful, awe-inspiring silence — would 
 have been, in my opinion, the right tri- 
 bute to the poet's memory. But it has been 
 ruled otherwise by those who have a right to 
 be heard and obeyed in these matters. And 
 after all it is perhaps better. It is a birth and 
 not a death we are met to commemorate. It 
 is the occasion on which that ever to be remem- 
 bered "blast o' Januar wind" greeted the in- 
 fant Burns, and not that more melancholy occa- 
 sion when " the awkward squad" fired their 
 straggling volleys over his grave. At present we 
 have to deal more with the banks of the Ayr than 
 the banks of the Nith ; with what is living than 
 with what is dead of Eobert Burns. (Cheers.) 
 I do not wish to anticipate what may be said by 
 my friend the Bustic Bard on the " mission and 
 influence" of the poet whose hundredth birth- 
 day we are this day met to celebrate ; but I 
 cannot refrain from embracing the opportunity 
 of saying a few words, since something must be 
 said, not indeed in justification of our assem- 
 bling here to-day — I do not need to do so to 
 such an assembly — but to show that the homage 
 which we pay to the memory of Burns is both 
 intelligent and deserved. We are not here to- 
 day to pay any blind homage to genius. We 
 raise no altar, we make no sacrifice, we give no 
 worship to intellect alone. (Applause.) No, it 
 is not only that Burns was an intellectual giant, 
 towering far above any of his compeers in that 
 dreary, drinking, dicing, godless eighteenth 
 century, but that he used his great powers, like 
 a genuine honest Scotchman as he was, in the 
 first place for the good of " Scotland, his auld 
 respected mither," and in the last place for the 
 good of mankind at large. (Cheers.) The 
 maker of a country's songs has been placed by 
 a quaint old thinker on a higher platform than 
 the maker of a country's laws. If, then, there 
 be any truth in the aphorism at all. Burns is 
 the greatest Scotchman that ever lived. In 
 him, and when I say in him, I mean in that 
 noble legacy of song he has left us, we see all 
 that is noblest, purest, and best in ourselves. 
 There we see accurately mirrored all the joys 
 and woes of our existence ; there we find ex- 
 pression for all our feelings. The thoughts we 
 breathe are clothed for us by our national poet 
 in words that burn. No poet of any age or 
 country was ever so intensely national as Burns. 
 It was for Scotland, though not for Scotland 
 
 alone, that he laboured and sang. And look 
 what he has done for us. He purified the 
 stream of Scottish song that before his time 
 was coarse and indelicate to a degree only 
 known now to the students of that branch of 
 literature ; in his own original writings he 
 fanned the "lowe o' weel-placed love" till it 
 burned with a pure and holy flame ; — (cheers) 
 — he stirred to a brighter glow the altar fires 
 of domestic devotion ; he shed a glory round 
 the struggles of honest poverty, and by showing 
 that true nobility of soul belonged to no spe- 
 cial rank, but that it was shared in by the 
 lowly peasant as well as by the high-born peer, 
 he has done more than any other British man 
 to improve the condition, the moral and intel- 
 lectual condition, of the working classes of this 
 country. Were it for nothing else than this, 
 Burns is worthy of our highest admiration. It 
 matters not what his detractors may say — (pro- 
 longed cheering) — we are still living under the 
 moral influence of Burns. Go forth into the 
 world, mingle with your fellow-men as I my- 
 self have often done. See them at the plough, 
 in the workshop, by the desk, or in the studio ; 
 there while they lift up their head and wipe, as 
 I have seen them do, and as I have often my- 
 self done along with them, the sweat of honest 
 labour from their brow, there, in all its childlike 
 simplicity, and dove-like tenderness, and lion- 
 like courage, will you find the spirit of Eobert 
 Burns. (Cheers.) But this is not all, nor 
 nearly all. Go back with me in thought to 
 days anterior to those of our national poet ; see 
 the character of the popular literature at that 
 time ; examine especially the literature most 
 read by the peasantry of our country then, and 
 you will be able fully to appreciate the great 
 good which Burns achieved for Scotland. Be- 
 fore the purifying fire of his genius, the licen- 
 tious muse of his country cowered her wings 
 and shrunk abashed, and such productions as 
 " A cock-caird fu' cadgie," " Loudon Tam" and 
 " Leper the Tailor," gave way to " Bruce's Ad- 
 dress," "The Cottar's Saturday Night," and 
 " Mary in Heaven." The souls who had drunk 
 at these pure fountains could not go back again 
 to wallow in the mire. For once old Adam 
 retired before young Melancthon ; the new poe- 
 try was too much for the old ribaldry — ^(cheers) 
 — and the peasantry of the country, — though 
 not the peasantry alone — drank of the purify- 
 ing waters and thanked the poet whose rod had 
 caused them to flow. It is to do honour to the 
 memory of the man who has done all this for 
 us that we are met here this day. But we are 
 called upon on this occasion to do something 
 more than honour the memory of Burns. It 
 must be remembered that Burns appeared at a 
 critical time in our history. I have already re- 
 
152 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 ferred to the condition of our popular literature 
 when Burns arose. This was bad enough in 
 all conscience, but the moral condition of the 
 country was still worse, and still worse than 
 either was the religion of the time. Many of 
 the ministers of the gospel were professed 
 atheists, and it is still on record that some of 
 them were found drinking themselves drunk, 
 not in the temple of Nisroch their god, but in 
 the temples set apart for the worship of the 
 ever living Jehovah. Hypocrisy was deemed 
 then — as, alas, it is too often now ! — a virtue. 
 Burng set himself resolutely against this. With 
 courage in his heart, and scorn flashing from 
 his deep dark eye, he approached the temple 
 where these vices, these counterfeits of true 
 religion were enshrined, and tearing aside the 
 veil which concealed them, showed the people 
 of this country the real character of the idols 
 whom they worshipped. (Cheers.) In doing 
 this he did a service to the cause of genuine 
 Christianity ; he fulfilled the mission he was 
 sent to accomplish, and we therefore meet here 
 to-day to acknowledge with gratitude the 
 goodness of the All-bountiful for bestowing 
 upon us in our hour of need the gift of such 
 a man. (Great cheering.) Burns stands bev 
 fore us now, the Representative Scotchman. 
 One who like David of old was a godsent hero 
 — ^not free from faults certainly any more than 
 the men by whom they were surrounded, but 
 full of high thought, fine feelings, and having 
 souls attuned to the harmony of those eternal 
 melodies a part of which they themselves sang 
 so sweetly. I do not know, gentlemen, that I 
 need say any more. I know that to commend 
 the toast to you I did not require to say so 
 much. It was my intention once to have said 
 something of the detractors of Burns' — detract- 
 ors did I say ? calumniators were the better 
 word. (Immense applause.) It is better, 
 however, on this occasion, to pass these by with 
 that contempt which their narrow-mindedness — 
 their ignorant and culpable narrow-mindedness 
 — deserves. Nineteen hundred years ago, there 
 were scribes and Pharisees who assailed with 
 their calumny a greater than Burns. They 
 have got their reward, and there can be no 
 doubt that to the scribes and Pharisees of our 
 own day a similar reward will be meted out. 
 (Cheers.) In the meantime all that I would 
 say to them is this ; " What are ye that judge 
 another? If you yourselves be without sin, 
 then cast a stone at Burns." (Hear, hear.) 
 Gentlemen, Burns had a noble soul, he scorned 
 all hypocrisy. Let us imitate him in this as in 
 all his other virtues. If we be not tempted 
 like him, let us be thankful for the mercy, but 
 do not let us exaggerate and dwell upon the 
 faults of a brother beloved. As he himself has 
 
 told us, and the teaching is that of a higher 
 
 even than he :-^ 
 
 " Then gently scan yonv brother man, 
 Still gentler sister woman, 
 For though we ^ang a kenning wrang, 
 To step {iside is human. 
 
 Then at the balance let's he mute, 
 
 We never can adjust it ; 
 Wliat's done we partly may compute, 
 
 But know not what's resisted.'' 
 
 (Cheers.) But such thoughts as these are for- 
 eign to the occasion. We are not met to talk 
 the scandal of the tea-table, but to celebrate 
 the birthday of the poet who loved us so well, 
 and whom we have all taken to our hearts. 
 Let no unworthy thoughts then intrude while 
 we pay honour to this king of men. Were it 
 otherwise, we were unworthy of the gift which 
 Heaven so bounteously bestowed on us, and 
 which was, alas ! withdrawn from us all too 
 soon. Could the wheels of time be rolled 
 back how would we run to administer comfort, 
 consolation, healing to the wounded, weary 
 soul that animated the frame of Robert Burns ! 
 
 " It might not he ! 
 That heart of harmony 
 Had heen too rudely rent ; 
 Its silver chords, which any hand could wound. 
 By no hand could he tuned, 
 Save by the Maker of the instrument. 
 Its every string who knew, 
 And from profaning touch His heavenly gift withdrew." 
 
 (Cheers.) Peace to the dead ! Joy and glad- 
 ness to the living ! Burns has passed away, but 
 his works still remain. They are ours, they 
 are the legacy of the race wherever the English 
 language is spoken ; and we, now a hundred 
 years after his birth, are assembled to do 
 honour to one who shed a lustre upon our 
 country, whose name has become a household 
 word among us, and who has done more to 
 raise the humbler classes in the social scale than 
 any other man of our time. Let us then, as I 
 said at first, along with all our leal-hearted 
 countrymen everywhere, pledge with all the 
 honours, a bumper to the memory of the poet 
 who has done so much for us, and whom all 
 honest, upright, independent Scotchmen love 
 so well. (Prolonged cheering.) 
 
 The toast was drank amid great cheering. 
 
 Song by Mr. ICeunedy, " There was a lad was born 
 in Kyle." 
 
 Numerous toasts were then given and duly 
 responded to. 
 
 The company then sung " Auld Langsyne," 
 and thus terminated one of the most successful 
 meetings ever held in Bridge of Allan. 
 
 ALLOA. — Banquet in the Assembly 
 Room. — The banquet given in the Assembly 
 
ALLOA. 
 
 153 
 
 Room, under the auspices of the Masonic body, 
 was a great success, and the room was com- 
 pletely filled by a most happy and enthusiastic 
 company, numbering upwards of 150. It had 
 been tastefully and beautifully decorated for the 
 occasion with evergreens and artificial flowers, 
 while round the walls were hung paintings, 
 engravings, flags, and a number of ancient 
 relics. The meeting was held under the pre- 
 sidency of W. Downing Bruce, Esq., F.S.A., 
 of Garlet and Kilbagie, and of Lincoln's Inn, 
 Barrister-at-Law, who was supported right and 
 left by R. O. Arnot, Esq., writer; the Rev. P. 
 Stewart, M.A., Carnock; Charles Penney, Esq., 
 jun., Bellvale Chemical Works, Glasgow; Mr. 
 James Fairlie; Mr. John Younger, brewer, &c. 
 The croupiers were Mr. Watson, writer, Mr. 
 W. M'Queen, and Mr. 8. N. Morison. Behind 
 the Chairman, and within a floral arch com- 
 posed of evergreens and flowers, was suspended 
 the sword of King Robert the Bruce, kindly 
 forwarded by Lady Elgin ffom Broomhall. On 
 the right of the sword was displayed a full- 
 length portrait of the Earl of Elgin, and on the 
 left a portrait of Sir Edward Bruce, his Lord- 
 ship's ancestor, who was a second son of Sir 
 D&vid Bruce, laird of Clackmannan, and through 
 which descent his Lordship is Chief of the 
 family of Bruce in Scotland. Above was placed 
 a portrait of the poet, and on either side a por- 
 trait of James the Sixth of Scotland, and 
 Charles the First of England. In the niches 
 around the room were placed various suits of 
 armour, consisting of helmets, breast -plates, 
 gauntlets, &c., sent for the occasion by Mr, 
 Bruce of Kilbagie. At the east end of the 
 room was placed a cast from the skull of King 
 Robert Bruce, for whom Burns entertained, a 
 more than common veneration. The room was 
 also decorated with various banners, belonging 
 to Alloa St John's Lodge. The floral decora- 
 tion of the Assembly Room was highly credit- 
 able. By a few minutes past four o'clock the 
 company occupied their seats around the table, 
 the number who sat down being about 130 to 
 140. A blessing having been asked by the 
 Rev. P. Stewart, A.M., of Carnock, the com- 
 pany partook of an excellent and substantial 
 dinner, the Scotch haggis occupying a pro- 
 minent place on the tables. Dinner having 
 been concluded, thanks were returned by the 
 same Rev. gentleman. 
 
 After the usual loyal toasts, the Chairman 
 rose and said: — Gentlemen, in rising to call 
 your attention to the events we are assembled 
 to commemorate, I feel oppressed with a sense 
 of my own unworthiness to fill so exalted a 
 position as you have called upon me to occupy 
 to-night. I am aware that no language I can 
 find can be adequate to set forth the merits of 
 
 that unrivalled poet, of that real true-hearted 
 Scotsman who, one hundred years ago to-day, 
 first opened his eyes upon a world which should 
 henceforth cherish his name among its choicest 
 recollections. If I could catch one spark of 
 that heavenly fire with which he was so prodi- 
 gally endowed, if I could borrow some of his 
 charm of language, some of his grace and power 
 of expression, I might then set forth, in lan- 
 guage worthy of the theme, the immense obli- 
 gation that Scotland, that the whole civilised 
 world are under to Robert Burns. Nor am I 
 less impressed with the responsibility of my 
 position when I consider the importance and 
 solemnity of the present celebration, and the 
 world-wide magnitude it has assumed. Those 
 who, like myself, have been summoned to pre- 
 side over the mighty gatherings that are this 
 night taking place stand in a most responsible 
 position. We have not to give expression to 
 our own feelings merely, we are the spokesmen 
 of a nation's love and admiration, appointed to 
 stand, as it were, between the living and the 
 dead, and to give utterance to the sentiments 
 that are stirring in every honest Scotsman's 
 heart, towards the most illustrious of Scotland's 
 departed sons; and, gentlemen, does it not 
 kindle in us a glow of sublime enthusiasm when 
 we consider the universality of this magnificent 
 demonstration ? How grandly it shows the 
 unity of Scotland's sons, the innate afiinities 
 which bind them into one great brotherhood. 
 There is scarcely a village in the land which is 
 not, on this remarkable evening, holding high 
 revel with the Poet, singing his songs, and 
 listening to the praises of his genius, and not 
 alone throughout Scotland, but everywhere 
 where Scotchmen are located — and where, I 
 ask, throughout the wide world, where dangers 
 are to be dared or glory is to be won, are they 
 not to be found first among the foremost? 
 Everywhere is this day being kept as a day of 
 festivity, held sacred to joyful though chastened 
 recollections. In the metropolis of the south 
 there is a celebration on a scale befitting the 
 dignity of that city; and on the continent of 
 Europe, in Ireland, in Canada, in the United 
 States, in far-oiF New Zealand, in Austraha, 
 men are keeping the Burns centenary with a 
 fervour equal to that which is distinguishing 
 the anniversary at home. Nay, even under the 
 burning sun of India our gallant fellow-country- 
 men, who have been cheered by the matchless 
 melodies of the bard when in the bivouac, or 
 inspired by them with fresh courage when on 
 the battle-field, seek an evening's relaxation 
 from the toil of war to think of home and 
 Robert Burns ; and in the distant threshold of 
 that teeming empire, which has at length in this 
 our time been opened to the ingress of Western 
 
154 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 civilization by the masterly address, patient dar- 
 ing, and superior statesmanship of a worthy repre- 
 sentative of Scotland's most illustrious King — 
 I mean the Earl of Elgin — the Burns centenary 
 is being celebrated with true Scottish warmth 
 and generality. It is hardly possible to help 
 pausing to inquire into the nature of a fame 
 which has inspired so wide-spread and unprece- 
 dented a demonstration. Is it that Burns is so 
 sweet and fascinating a poet that this ovation 
 is offered to his memory ? Not entirely. His 
 amazing popularity is mainly to be attributed 
 to his broad, deep, all-embracing, and profound 
 ^ nationality. While in his life we witness pro- 
 minently exemplified the best characteristics 
 and the most common failings of his country- 
 men, in his works their solid good qualities, 
 their higher tendencies, and their brightest and 
 purest aspirations are reproduced. Every single 
 characteristic of the Scottish mind may be best 
 described in words selected from the works of 
 Burns, its tenderness, its sociability, its fond- 
 ness for humour, its play of fancy, its depth of 
 imagination, its directness of purpose, its scorn 
 of hypocrisy, its warm devotional feeling, and 
 its stern irrepressible spirit of independence. 
 Passages of his poems will readily rise to the 
 mind of every one here present, illustrative of 
 these several moods, and perhaps most vividly 
 delineated of all is that spirit of stubborn inde- 
 pendence which may be regarded as the ground- 
 work of all that is best in our character as a 
 national protest against tyranny of every kind. 
 I believe the immortal 
 
 " Scots wha liae wi' Wallace bled, 
 Scots wham Bruce has often led," 
 
 to be the most powerful and spirit-stirring lyric 
 ever penned, while the very soul of individual 
 independence breathes in every syllable of that 
 immortal strain which, setting the tinsel of 
 rank and the accident of wealth in their true 
 light, preaches the kingship of man as man — 
 
 " Is there for honest poverty 
 
 Wha hangs his head and a' that? 
 The coward-slave, we pass him by — 
 We dare be poor for a' that. 
 For a' that, and a' that, 
 
 Our toils obscure, and a' that. 
 The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the goud for a' that." 
 
 Burns, who made it his boast that he was bred 
 to the plough, and was independent, lifted the 
 very peasantry of Scotland to an equality with 
 the kings of the earth elsewhere, and the senti- 
 ments which were before vaguely stirring the 
 minds of his brethren, he first seized on with 
 intuitive power, gave them a voice and a lan- 
 guage, and revivified within them the hearts of 
 his toiling fellow-countrymen. While the love 
 
 of Burns resides in the souls of the people, this 
 country can never retrograde, can never sink 
 into effeminacy, can never lose the high posi- 
 tion it has won against such overwhelming odds 
 in the strife of nations, for no one can love 
 Burns' works without loving what is noble, 
 what is generous, what is manly, what is truth- 
 ful and exalting. Gentlemen, standing before 
 you as I do this evening, not merely as chair- 
 man of this meeting, but as master of the Alloa 
 St. John's Lodge, recollecting the auspices 
 under which this gathering is held, and seeing 
 around me so many of my masonic brethren, I 
 cannot omit an allusion to what was a distin- 
 guished feature in Burns' career, his genuine 
 devotion to masonry. A heart like his, per- 
 petually yearning to draw the bonds of human 
 brotherhood closer — an intellect like his, cease- 
 lessly thirsting for more light upon the abstruse 
 problems which encircle humanity — could not 
 fail to seek early admittance into the order, 
 which joins the search after occult knowledge 
 with the liveliest exercise of practical friend- 
 ship. To that order he solicited and gained 
 admission, in the bloom of his manhood, and to 
 that order he remained a devotedly attached 
 adherent to the day of his death. It is but 
 fair to state that his devotion to the m3'stic 
 brotherhood, like virtue, brought with it its 
 own recompense, for to that order he owed 
 some of the brightest friendships and nearly all 
 the success he obtained through life. It may 
 interest my non-masonic friends to know that 
 Burns was first initiated into the mysteries of 
 the craft at Tarbolton when in the twenty- 
 third year of his age. So congenial to his 
 enthusiastic disposition was the performance of 
 the customary exercises of masonry that for 
 years he was scarcely ever absent from a lodge 
 meeting. He was raised to a post of dignity 
 and honour in the craft, and in the course of 
 one of his poems he alludes, with much com- 
 placency, to the fact that he 
 
 " Oft honoured with supreme command, 
 Presided o'er the Sons of Light." 
 
 Distinguished men from afar would visit his 
 lodge to see how the poet performed the duties 
 of the chair, and Professor Dugald Stewart, 
 amongst others, has left on record a testimony 
 of the pleasure he experienced on observing the 
 tact, discretion, and ability with which the poet 
 went through the duties of that arduous post. 
 When Burns first went to Edinburgh, his ma- 
 sonic character made him at once free of the 
 world of literature and fashion, for nearly all 
 the men of rank and the literary men then resi- 
 dent in the capital were ardent masons. With- 
 in the circle of the fraternity his rare poetical 
 gifts were at once most warmly acknowledo-ed. 
 
ALLOA. 
 
 155 
 
 The Canongate Kilwinning elected him their 
 Poet Laureate, and a full length portrait of the 
 bard is now placed above the seat of honour 
 reserved for him by the side of the master's 
 chair in the interesting hall of that ancient 
 lodge. For myself, when I remember the en- 
 thusiasm with which the immortal bard devoted 
 himself to advance the interests of the craft, I 
 feel myself more and more encouraged to 
 follow so eminent an example, and you who, 
 while professing your admiration of Burns, yet 
 shrink from associating yourself with the fra- 
 ternity to which he was so proud to belong, I 
 would urgently advise you to free yourselves 
 from such inconsistency, and seek the earliest 
 opportunity of becoming in form and reality 
 ■what every true Scotsman must be in heart, a 
 sincere mason. It would give me great plea- 
 sure to be able to ascertain that Burns had 
 ever any close relations with this locality. It 
 seems that he only once paid a flying visit to 
 our county. It may be r4!nembered, however, 
 that there is a property, at no great distance 
 from this, the name of which he has handed 
 down to immortal remembrance. You will at 
 once recognise the song from which the follow- 
 ing verse is taken — 
 
 " Come take a share wi' those that bear 
 
 The budget and the apron, 
 And by that stoup, my faith and houp, 
 
 And by that dear Kilbaqib, 
 If e'er ye want, or meet wi' scant, 
 
 May I ne'er wat my craigie." 
 
 Burns' trip to this part of Scotland was, as a 
 reference to his woi-ks will show, undertaken 
 in the summer of 1787, in company with Mr., 
 afterwards Dr. Adair, and the following notes, 
 which I will read, are Mr. Adair's brief jot- 
 tings of the tour : — " The travellers rode by 
 Linlithgow and Carron to Stirling. From 
 Stirling, says Mr. Adair, we went next morn- 
 ing through the romantic and fertile vale of 
 Devon to Harvieston, in Clackmannanshire, 
 then inhabited by Mrs. Hamilton, with the 
 younger part of whose family Burns had been 
 previously acquainted. During a residence of 
 about ten days at Harvieston, we made excur- 
 sions to visit various parts of the surrounding 
 scenery, inferior to none in Scotland in beau- 
 ty, sublimity, and interest, particularly Castle 
 Campbell, the ancient seat of the family of Ar- 
 gyll ; and the famous cataract of the Devon, 
 called the Cauldron Linn, and the Bumbling 
 Bridge, a single arch thrown by the Devil, if 
 tradition is to be believed, across the river, at 
 about the height of a hundred feet above its 
 bed. . . . The ladies at Harvieston ex- 
 pressed their disappointment at his not express- 
 ing in more glowing language his impressions 
 of the Cauldron Linn scene, certainly highly 
 
 sublime, and somewhat horrible. A visit to 
 Mrs. Bruce of Clackmannan, a lady above 
 ninety, the lineal descendant of that race which 
 gave the Scottish throne its brightest ornament, 
 interested his feelings most powerfully. This 
 venerable dame, with characteristic dignity, 
 informed me, on my observing that I believed 
 she was descended from the family of Eobert 
 Bruce, that Kobert Bruce was sprung from her 
 family. Though almost deprived of speech by 
 a paralytic aifection, she preserved her hospi- 
 tality and urbanity. She was in possession of 
 the hero's helmet and two-handed sword, with 
 which she conferred on Burns and myself the 
 honour of knighthood, remarking that she had 
 a better right to confer that title than some 
 people. You will of course conclude that the 
 old lady's political tenets were as Jacobitical as 
 the poet's, a conformity which contributed not 
 a little to the conviviality of our reception and 
 entertainment. She gave us as her first toast 
 after dinner ' Awa Uncos,' or away with the 
 strangers." Who these strangers were you 
 will readily understand. The venerable lady 
 referring, of course, to the Hanoverian family. 
 These glimpses of the poet moving about 
 amongst the principal inhabitants of the locali- 
 ty are extremely interesting. The travellers 
 returned to Edinburgh by Queensferry. At 
 Dunfermline they visited the famed Abbey and 
 Abbey Church. At the last place a waggish 
 and somewhat irreverent scene was enacted. 
 Mr. Adair mounted the cutty stool as & peni- 
 tent, while Burns from the pulpit addressed to 
 his friend a ludicrous reproof of exhortation, 
 parodied from one which had been administered 
 to himself years before, when he along with 
 seven others mounted the seat of shame to- 
 gether. In the churchyard two broad flag 
 stones marked the grave of King Eobert the 
 Bruce, for whose memory Burns had more 
 than common veneration. He knelt and kissed 
 the stone with sacred fervour, and heartily exe- 
 crated the worse than Gothic neglect that 
 then prevailed of the first of Scottish heroes. 
 The song '^ How pleasant the banks o' the 
 clear winding Devon" is the only poetical re- 
 miniscence of this visit, bequeathed us by the 
 poet. There is another local relic which ought 
 not to be passed over on this occasion. I al- 
 lud'C to the mairiy, noble letter written by 
 Burns from Dumfries, in 1793, to John Francis 
 Erskine, the late Earl of Mar, in allusion to the 
 false report of the poet's dismissal from the 
 Excise, for the freedom with which he had 
 expressed his political opinions. And now, 
 gentlemen, I fear I have trespassed too long on 
 your attention. But when the subject is one 
 so dear to the Scotsman's heart as that of 
 Burns, the temptation to be prolix is almost 
 
156 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 irresistible. Burns is not, like most other great 
 poets, a cold abstraction, in whose personal his- 
 tory we cannot feel more than a limited interest. 
 The brief tragic story of the life of the Scot- 
 tish Bard goes direct to our hearts. We follow 
 the poet from his lowly birth in the humble 
 cottage on the roadside not far from Ayr, 
 through the loves and disappointments, the 
 joys and sorrows, and struggles of his youth, 
 till that dark hour when, in the bitter gloom 
 of his misfortunes, he had resolved to seek in a 
 distant land those means of subsistence which 
 seemed to be denied him at home. When the 
 subsequent treacherous gleam of sunshine cross- 
 ed his path, and he seemed to be entering on 
 the high road of temporal prosperity, with the 
 temple of fame opening its shining gates to the 
 proud tread of the peasant poet, we watch his 
 splendid and dazzling career with feelings of 
 interest and concern. In the dismal struggle 
 that ensued, our hearts overflow with sympathy 
 for the suiferer, sinking under accumulated 
 disappointments, and writhing under the con- 
 sequences of those errors of conduct, which the 
 very brilliancy of his genius had led him into. 
 When the strong man sank in solitude and 
 suffering, struck down in the very prime of his 
 manhood, how it would have cheered him on 
 his melancholy deathbed to have foreseen that 
 his country would have been kind to his fail- 
 ings, and just to his memory, and would keep 
 the centenary of his birth in a way that no 
 other poet's centenary had been kept before. 
 Gentlemen, I maintain that this great celebra- 
 tion is most honourable to the Scottish people, 
 as a proof of their hearty sympathy with all 
 that is upright, manly, noble, and truthful in 
 the character of one of the best, noblest, and 
 most famous of their representative men ; and, 
 as a patriot, I can entertain no higher wish for 
 my country than that the spirit which has 
 prompted this great Burns Centenary of 1859 
 may survive in this beloved land for ever, to 
 stimulate all coming generations to high 
 thoughts and heroic acts. Gentlemen, I now 
 invite you to join with me in drinking, in 
 solemn silence, to the memory of our great 
 National Poet — Egbert Burns. (Mr. Bruce 
 ■was loudly cheered throughout.) 
 
 Various other toasts were given and several 
 songs sung during the evening, and the pro- 
 ceedings closed with " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 The Banquet in the Eoyal Oak Hotel. 
 — Eighty gentlemen sat down to dinner in the 
 large room of the Royal Oak Hotel, which was 
 beautifully decorated for the occasion by Mr. 
 Clark, seedsman. Eour imitation Chinese lan- 
 terns, which adorned the room, were much ad- 
 mired, and the walls were decorated with nu- 
 merous portraits of ' sons of song,' sent by 
 
 Alexander Bald, Esq., and others, amongst 
 which were — Sir Walter Scott; Allan Cun- 
 ningham ; Lord Brougham ; Professor Wilson ; 
 the Ettrick Shepherd; Allan Ramsay; John 
 Grieve, an Alloa poet, whose son is at present 
 manager of a branch of England Bank at Man- 
 chester ; Thomas Campbell, the " Bard of 
 Hope;" Lord Jefirey; Bust of Professor Wil- 
 son ; and Tarn o' Shanter and Souter Johnny, 
 by Mr. Forrest. Behind the chair, a beautiful 
 oil painting of the land of Burns, the property 
 of the late Mr. David Christie; and, at the 
 other end of the room, oil paintings of Falstaff, 
 Shakspeare, Homer, Byron, and a large bust of 
 that great poet, and other pictures, the pro- 
 perty of the host. John Tait, Esq., Sheriff of 
 the county, presided, supported on the right by 
 W. B. Clark, Esq., Sheriff-Substitute, and the 
 Rev. Thomas Murray ; on the left by Mr. Blair, 
 Glenfoot, and Mr. Andrew Mitchell. The 
 croupiers were Mr. Moir, Senior Magistrate of 
 the burgh, Mr. M'Nellan of Solsgirth, and Mr. 
 Spence, Procurator-Fiscal. 
 
 In giving the toast of the evening, " The 
 Immortal Memory of Robert Burns," the Chair- 
 man adverted to the excellent lettere written 
 by Burns to his (the chairman's) father and to 
 John Francis Erskine, late Earl of Mar, as 
 proofs of the poet's powers as a writer of prose 
 — the combination of talent in Burns being 
 quite extraordinary. Burns, he said, had a 
 horror of hypocrisy, and some of those persons 
 against whom his satire was directed were, he 
 believed, hot much to be commended. It was 
 impossible to say that Burns had no feeling of 
 religion. The beautiful sentiments of the 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night" disproved it, as also 
 his prayers in the prospect of death, where he 
 expressed deep penitence for the sins he was 
 conscious of. Mr. Spence proposed " The 
 Sons of Burns." " The Memory of Sir Walter 
 Scott" was proposed by Mr. M'Watt, writer, 
 in a speech of much eloquence. Dr. Symcj in 
 proposing " The Clergy," remarked that he 
 considered rev. gentlemen had not rightly in- 
 terpreted the motive of the people of Scotland 
 in the present celebration ; but if the clergy 
 had not done justice to the people, that was no 
 reason why the people should not do justice to 
 themselves. The Rev. Mr. Murray replied. 
 On the score of duty he had no hesitation in 
 coming to the centenary gathering ; but, after 
 giving his consent to come, he wavered on the 
 ground of expediency ; but, on further reflec- 
 tion, he resolved to cast expediency aside, and 
 do what he considered his duty.. Mr. James 
 Symmers, Rector of Alloa Academy,, proposed 
 " The Modern Poets of England." 
 
 Mr. Drysd alb's Meeting. — On Tuesday 
 evening the 25th> a meeting was held in the 
 
ALLOA. 
 
 157 
 
 Phrenological Hall, Mill Street, for the purpose 
 of celebrating the centenary of the birth of 
 Scotland's greatest poet, Kobert Burns. The 
 meeting was called at the request of our worthy 
 townsman and philanthropist, Mr. Drysdale; 
 and, without any pretensions to public benefit 
 or greatness, it was what may be termed a pri- 
 vate select party, and consisted of both males 
 and females, an arrangement, by the way, 
 which was rather exceptional, but was no bar- 
 rier to the true interests and social happiness 
 of the meeting. Exactly at eight o'clock, the 
 chair was taken by the host, Mr, Drysdale. 
 At the end of the table was placed a correct 
 cast of the skull of the poet, which the chair- 
 man took up, and gave the audience an elabo- 
 rate phrenological development of it. He said 
 that Burns had a very large head, nearly 24 
 inches in circumference, the faculties were all 
 fully developed, especially those that are more 
 immediately required to produce a true poet, 
 and proved that, if society had been a little 
 more refined in its moral tastes, and with a 
 little more education, Burns would have been 
 the greatest moral reformer, as well as the 
 greatest poet, of the age in which he lived. 
 The croupier was then called upon to say a few 
 words, and, on rising, he gave a very humorous 
 description of his forefathers, and concluded by 
 paying a high tribute to the genius of Burns. 
 " Tarn o' Shanter " was then read by Mr. 
 Silver, and the " Address to the deil" by Mr. 
 Kussell. A very humorous conversation then 
 took place about the character and geographi- 
 cal position of the deil ; but, fearing lest they 
 should be led into bad company with his Sa- 
 tanic majesty, they left that gentleman to shift 
 for himself. During the course of the evening, 
 a number of Burns' songs were sung in excel- 
 lent style by Mr. Laurence M'Laren, Mr. 
 M'Lauohlan, and a few of the ladies. Mr. 
 Mitchell was present, and played several fa- 
 vourite pieces on the organ-accordion. The 
 proceedings were concluded by singing " Auld 
 Langsyne." 
 
 « The Gathering o' the Bards." — This 
 interesting meeting, which took place in the 
 house of our respected townsman, Mr. John 
 Crawford, author of " Doric Lays," &c., on the 
 evening of the centenary of the birth of our 
 great National Poet, Eobert Burns, came off 
 with the greatest eclat — highly honourable to 
 that getntleroan, and creditable to every one 
 connected with it. The company, all of whom 
 did not beloflg to " the bardie clan," several of 
 Mr. Crawford's intimate and more highly re- 
 spected friends being present, met at seven 
 o'clock, and sat down to a repast which would 
 have done honour to the halls of the first aris- 
 tocracy in the land. As a matter of course, 
 
 the host occupied the chair, supported on the 
 right by Mr. David Taylor, St. Ninians, and 
 on the left by Mr. Alexander M'Lauchlan, 
 Bannockburn, while the duties of croupier were 
 very efficiently discharged by Mr. David 
 M'Neill, — the youngest of all the poets who 
 were present — supported on the right by Mr. 
 Andrew Marshall, jun., Alva, and on the left 
 by Mr. Alexander Johnstone, Alloa. The 
 room in which the meeting took place was 
 tastefully and appropriately decorated ; banners 
 that have braved both the battle and the breeze 
 being hung round the walls, giving it all the 
 appearance of an old baronial hall. On a 
 pedestal, at the chairman's right, with a wreath 
 of holly round his brow, stood the bust of the 
 bard, the first centenary of whose birth was 
 that day being celebrated, and whose praises 
 were being sung by thousands in every quarter 
 of the civilized world. Behind the chair, above 
 the mantlepiece, were displayed on the wall 
 two large swords, the blades of which were 
 crossed. The one is a relic of Flodden Field 
 and the other a relic of Killiecrankie. Between 
 the hilts of these hung a portrait of ' Bonnie 
 Prince Charlie,' and betwixt their points, in a 
 frame, was exhibited a horse-shoe found on the 
 glorious field of Bannockburn. Over the whole 
 hung an old straw bonnet which belonged to 
 the song-celebrated Duchess of Athole. A fine 
 plate of " The Cottar's Saturday Night," and 
 a beautiful portrait of the "literary Earl of 
 Buchan," along with portraits of the poets 
 Thomas Campbell, Professor Wilson, Allan 
 Cunningham, &c., &c., adorned the walls. At 
 the croupier's back was an old flag on which 
 was painted the armorial bearings of the 
 illustrious family of Abercromby ; and suspend- 
 ed from the ceiling was a beautifully executed 
 representation of a dove, with an olive leaf in 
 its mouth. A snuff-mull belonging to " High- 
 land Mary's" father, initialed "J. C," was, 
 along with an ancient helmet and other very 
 interesting curiosities, also exhibited. The 
 table groaned under the weight of the favourite 
 national dainties with which it was loaded. 
 From a " Highlandman's coggie," found at the 
 battle of Sheriffmuir, rose, " like a distant hill," 
 at the head of the table, the " hurdles " of a 
 monster " haggis," kindly provided by Robert 
 Moubray, Esq. of Cambus, and in which was 
 stuck a pin made out of the wood of the " Red 
 Well Buss," which was cut down a few years 
 ago, bearing a card on which was printed these 
 lines : — 
 
 " Fair fa' yoar honest sonsie face, 
 Tho' a' should gang a-gley, 
 Great chieftain o' the puddin' race, 
 Immortal thou shalt be I" 
 
 Fish, fowl, venison, &c., were in abundance, all 
 
158 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAKY. 
 
 of which came from localities celebrated in 
 Scottish song. Ample justice having been done 
 to the good things provided, the cloth was re- 
 moved, whereupon the chairman proposed the 
 following toasts, all of which were enthusiasti- 
 cally responded to : — " The Queen," (which 
 toast was drunk in wine from an ancient and 
 ornamental drinking horn which belonged to 
 the sapient King James VI., and which was 
 allowed to stand on the table the whole of the 
 night) — "The British Constitution;" "Lord 
 and Lady Abercromby ; " " Kobert Bald, Esq., 
 the world-renowned mining engineer." Mr. 
 Teirney then proposed, in appropriate terms, 
 " The House of Ardgowan." The chairman 
 then placed upon the table a large punch-bowl 
 which belonged to Burns, and which was pre- 
 sented by him to Mr. John Dowie, Edinburgh; 
 after which he produced a quantity of whisky 
 kindly sent by Mr. Moubray, " of real auld 
 Cambus stuff," brewed, as the labels said, when 
 the Devon was a clear-winding stream ; also a 
 quantity of rare old aqua from Andrew Mitchell, 
 Esq. Besides these he brought forward a jar 
 of real Kilbagie, which was presented to him by 
 Andrew Jameson, Esq., in the bung of which 
 was stuck a pin made from the "Buss aboon 
 Traquair," bearing a card, on which was printed 
 these lines: — ■ 
 
 " Here is a jar o' pi-eoious stuff 
 That weel deserves a double puff; 
 Nae better drink can weet the craigie, 
 As Eobin says, than ' dear Kilbagie.' " 
 
 A quantity of these having been mixed in the 
 bowl, toddy was brewed, after which the chair- 
 man rose and proposed the toast of the evening 
 — " The Immortal Memory of Burns " — read- 
 ing at the same time a poem written by him- 
 self for the occasion. He then requested the 
 croupier to sing " Rantin rovin' Robin," which 
 request having been complied with, the toast 
 was drunk in a manner becoming the occasion. 
 Numerous poems and songs, written in special 
 honour of the centenary, were then given, the 
 recitation of which took about two hours, and 
 an able and eloquent tribute was paid to the 
 memory of the poet by Mr. Johnstone in a 
 very neat speech. A long poem and song from 
 the inspired pen of the Eev. Henry Scott Rid- 
 dell, the " last of the border bards," author of 
 "Scotland Yet," and some of our finest love 
 songs, as an apology for his inability to be pre- 
 sent at the meeting, was then read by the crou- 
 pier and much admired. 
 
 ALMONDBANK.— We had no public de- 
 monstration to commemorate the centenary in 
 our quiet little village; but in the evening a 
 few. kindred spirits met to do honour to departed 
 
 genius. Mr. Bennet occupied the chair, and 
 his felicitous remarks, and profuse and happy 
 quotations from the writings of the poet, kept 
 the company in a high state of hilarity. Mr. 
 Fenwick contributed much to the pleasure of 
 the party by singing some of the bard's best 
 pieces. Speeches and recitations by several 
 others, showed that each had come to do his 
 best in the promotion of each other's comfort 
 and enjoyment. The party separated about 
 the wee short hour, well pleased with one 
 another, and promising to meet again on a like 
 occasion at next centenary, should time and 
 opportunity be afforded ! 
 
 ALYTH Tuesday night last will be a 
 
 memorable night here. Nothing so unanimous 
 was ever " kent" to come off. There were three 
 grand entertainments, and as the last got up one 
 demands special attention, we advert to it first. 
 We beg to question if the centenary of Burns 
 can show many others of a similar nature. The 
 place of entertainment was Anderson's Hall, 
 and the company was exclusively ladies, forty 
 in number. They quickly set to work, and 
 formed themselves into a numerous, hearty, and 
 happy tea-party. When tea was over, the 
 gttdemen were admitted, and then compliments 
 were most cordially exchanged. The appro- 
 priate toasts were drunk with acclamation, 
 songs were sung, dances were danced, three 
 times three were given, and the rest of the 
 sport was kept up to a late hour, and all 
 appeared in the happiest mood. We congratu- 
 late the ladies on the snccess that crowned 
 their noble efforts, and we add, well done Mrs. 
 Kinmond and your fair assistants. 
 
 Pahtt Second. — Passing down town, the 
 second party on the list is composed entirely of 
 respectable tradesmen. The instrumental band, 
 after parading the streets, their instruments 
 playing merrily, and their banner flying aloft, 
 halted at Morris's Inn, the place of entertain- 
 ment. They then took their seats along with 
 the company — about seventy in number — and 
 partook of a supper, the superior quality of 
 which has raised Mr. and Mrs. Morris in the 
 esteem of all who participated. Mr. Robert 
 Munro, shoemaker, occupied the chair, ably 
 supported on right and left. The cloth having 
 been removed, the Chairman delivered the 
 introductory address, selecting for his subject 
 the universality of the Burns jubilee. He then 
 proposed the usual loyal toasts, which were re- 
 sponded to with three cheers. The speakers 
 were Messrs. David Robb and John Lun%n. 
 The former gave the toast, "Poetry;" and the 
 latter gave the toast of the night, " Burns.'' 
 Songs, recitations, readings, &c., followed, 
 while sounds of rapturous applause arose at 
 
ANDREWS (St.). 
 
 159 
 
 every interval. (We have been reluctantly 
 compelled greatly to abridge the report of this 
 most interesting meeting.) 
 
 Party Third This other happy party met 
 
 in Mrs. M'Kenzie's Hotel, Mr. japp presided, 
 and delivered an address replete with manly 
 feeling and exquisite allusions to the occasion. 
 His toast was " Burns," and we need not say 
 how it was received. The next toast of im- 
 portance was given by Mr. Peterkin. He pro- 
 posed the " Burns Family." It is needless for 
 us to expatiate on the manner in which this 
 well-chosen toast was handled by the speaker. 
 He is peculiarly qualified for it, and he did his 
 best. The rest of the speakers were the Eev. 
 Mr. Ramsay, and Mr. Smith, Alyth ; Messrs. 
 Halket, of Ballindoeh, and Scott, of Lochbank. 
 Mr. Ramsay made a well-arranged and well- 
 received speech. A number of local toasts were 
 proposed from the chair, and by others present, 
 all of which were done honertir and justice to. 
 The singers were Messrs. William Galloway 
 and Robert Chalmers, both exceedingly well- 
 qualifled gentlemen. A well-selected band of 
 musicians were present, and added their ex- 
 quisite skill to the glorious hilarity. At seven 
 o'clock the ladies were admitted, when all 
 received a service of fruit. Dancing was then 
 resorted to some time before eleven o'clock, 
 which was kept up with enthusiasm till an early 
 hour in the morning. We ought to have stated 
 before this that this party sat down to dinner 
 at five o'clock, to which they did justice in a 
 very practical way. It was a first-rate dinner, 
 for which Mrs. M'Kenzie received a special 
 vote of thanks. The croupiers were Messrs. 
 Smith, Moir, and Peterkin. Forty-six gentle- 
 men were present. 
 
 ANDREWS (St.).— The centenary was cele- 
 brated here on Tuesday evening, with "all 
 the honours." The Town Hall was granted by 
 the Magistrates for the festival, and if, instead 
 of 180, the number present, it could have held 
 500, it would have been filled in every part, as 
 the demand for tickets a few days previous 
 sufliiciently proved. At half-past seven the 
 company assembled in the upper hall, and 
 shortly after took their places in the supper- 
 room, which was tastefully decorated for the 
 occasion. Professor M'Donald occupied the 
 chair. He was supported by Bailie Aikman, 
 Councillor Bruce, Messrs. " Barr, Berwick, 
 Downie, C. Stewart; Bailie Lees, Councillors 
 Watt and Gibson, Messrs. Scott and R. Pater- 
 son. The croupiers' chairs were occupied by 
 Messrs. James Duncan, farmer; George Rae, 
 architect ; and Peter Thomson, printer. 
 
 The Chairman, in proposing the toast of the 
 evening, said : — 'Tis now one hundred years 
 
 ago, on a fearful stormy night, on the eve of 
 the Poet's birth, that his father was hastening 
 for assistance to Ayr, and in dashing through 
 the ford which the rain had so greatly swollen 
 as to check foot passers crossing, when old 
 Burns, with his characteristic kindness to a 
 woman wistfully sitting by the torrent, turned 
 his steed and carried her across, and then pro- 
 ceeded on his important errand. Judge of his 
 astonishment when again reaching home he 
 saw the same woman sitting in his ain ingle 
 corner, most anxiously waiting the expected 
 event. She was a spaewife, and when the 
 baby was placed in her lap, uttered the famous 
 prediction which in after years Burns made 
 into song. 
 
 Under the parental guardianship of a kind 
 intelligent father, Burns acquired much of his 
 education in arithmetic, and with some assist- 
 ance from a young scholar, after the custom of 
 the period, instructing the neighbouring fami- 
 lies, residing alternately with each in succes- 
 sion, and also with attending for a short time the 
 parish school at Dalrymple, near the faery land 
 of Cassilis Dunans, and subsequently at a small 
 school nearer home. Burns, after the labours 
 of the field or barn, not only received all his 
 instruction, but was able to snatch some hours 
 for his favourite reading and the muse. With 
 the severe taskmaster Necessity, early cast on 
 a life of activity and observation, Wilson de- 
 clares, " There was not a boy in Scotland at 
 the time better educated in his knowledge of 
 mankind." 
 
 When he was only nine years old, there 
 was a garrulous old gossip living in the family 
 from whom he learned many stories of ghosts, 
 brownies, witches, Sec, &c., which were no 
 doubt the source of many of his high flights of 
 fancy. By fifteen Robert held his father's 
 plough, and along with Gilbert did all the la- 
 bour of the farm, in the sad prospect of the 
 rapid breaking up of their kind father. These 
 impressions may have saddened the spirit of 
 Burns, and in some degree roused the painful 
 reaction of his after life, too often churlishly 
 obtruded in order to disparage the ardour of 
 his brilliant genius. We do not exculpate his 
 failings, but point to the undying blazonry with 
 which he has adorned rural life in our native 
 land. On this night, consecrated to commemo- 
 rate the centenary of our greatest National 
 Bard, let churlish sanctimonious pride withhold 
 its censorious reference to his failings, and 
 viewing only his bright genius emerging like 
 the Phoenix from the ashes that only concealed 
 its brilliance, let us join the universal accents 
 resounding from every corner of the land, 
 " To the memory of Burns" (with silent hon- 
 ours, standing). 
 
160 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 ANNAN. — The firat Centenary of our Na- 
 tional Poet was celebrated here on Tuesday. 
 The day was gusty, with occasional sharp 
 showers of rain in the morning; but before the 
 hour appointed for the assembling of the trades 
 and others, in front of the Town Hall, the 
 weather became dry and a little brightened. 
 The day had been looked forward to with 
 anxious hopes by all; and great preparations 
 had been made to solemnize the centenary in a 
 manner becoming the celebrity of the Bard; 
 the shops in the town were closed at noon, and 
 generally it was observed as a. holiday. The 
 banks were closed all day, and the factory 
 suspended work at noon. As the hour of 
 meeting, one o'clock, approached, the place 
 of rendezvous gradually became more and 
 more crowded. When all the various trades 
 and others who were to take part in the pro- 
 cession had arrived from the several houses of 
 call, the Marshal, Mr. Richard James, performed 
 his office by arranging the order and the course 
 of the procession. 
 
 At two o'clock the procession moved from 
 the front of the Town Hall, in the following 
 order : — The Academy scholars and masters, 
 the Magistrates and Town Council, professional 
 gentlemen and others not in trade, hammer- 
 men, millers, and bakers; weavers, gardeners, 
 squaremen, shoemakers, carpenters, tailors ; the 
 brethren of the St. Andrews and Caledonian 
 Lodges ; and the ploughmen and carters on 
 horseback. The procession was four abreast, 
 and had three bands of music. Each trade 
 had its own emblematical banners, flags, and 
 symbols. There would be five hundred in the 
 procession it is calculated. The course of the 
 procession was along Bridge Place, Port Street 
 — returning by the same way — then up Bull 
 Street, Wellington Street, Johnstone Street, 
 Thomas Street, Lady Street, along Bank, 
 Ednam, and Murray Streets, again on to the 
 High Street, Church Street, Cumberland Ter- 
 race, Closehead, when the procession returned 
 to the Town Hall. The masons there formed 
 in a body, and proceeded to lay the foundation 
 stone of the new mansion house of James 
 Saunders, Esq., at Solway Place. The stone 
 was laid amidst masonic honours. Thereafter 
 the several trades returned to their houses of 
 call to dine. 
 
 The squaremen, millers, bakers, and masons, 
 to the number of about 130, dined in the Buck 
 Inn. The shoemakers, numbering 54, dined in 
 the Star Inn. The gardeners, in number 16, 
 at the Commercial Inn. The ship-carpenters, 
 about 40, at the Old Bush Inn. The tailors at 
 the Burns' Tavern. The weavers at the Anchor 
 Inn. The ploughmen and carters at the Crown 
 and Thistle Inn. 
 
 There was also a public dinner in honour 
 of the bard in the Queensberry Arms. Provost 
 Palmer in the chair ; Mr. Downie and Bailie 
 Kerr; Croupiers ; being supported by Mr. D. 
 Steel, Mr. Dixon, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. W. Ir- 
 ving, Capt. Ewart, Capt. Hudson, and Mr. 
 M'Jerrow. The company numbered about 
 fifty-five. 
 
 After the usual loyal and public toasts the 
 Chairman proposed "The Memory of Robert 
 Burns, the Immortal Scottish Bard," in a most 
 eloquent address which was illustrated in a 
 striking manner by a number of appropriate 
 quotations from the works of the poet. He said : 
 : — We have met this day to celebrate +he first 
 centenary, and do all the honour we can to the 
 memory of Scotland's great National Poet — the 
 immortiJ Robert Burns — and in whatever as- 
 pect we look at him, as a man or as a poet, all 
 must come to one conclusion that Robert Burns, 
 the Ayrshire ploughman, was a magnificent 
 specimen of humanity. (Applause.) I ques- 
 tion much, nay I fearlessly assert, that no em- 
 peror, kaiser, king, conqueror, statesman, phi- 
 losopher, poet, since the world began was ever 
 more enshrined in so many human hearts, or 
 whose memory ever received the same amount of 
 homage one hundred years after his birth, as is 
 this day given to that of an Ayrshire ploughman. 
 I do not stand here to say that Burns was fault- 
 less, far from it; he had the same passions, 
 frailties, and failings as other men ; he was in 
 that respect just like the people around him, 
 but let us tread lightly over his ashes, and 
 every man as he passes strew a handful of 
 daisies on his grave. " Love was his first in- 
 spiring theme." To the fair part of crea- 
 tion he was all tenderness. His brother Gil- 
 bert says, Robert was a most extraordinary 
 creature, for his bosom was continually lighted 
 up with some goddess or other. With what 
 ecstatic delight he must have gazed on his first 
 love; 'twas she that first kindled the latent 
 spark in his bosom, when it burst into a blaze 
 of imperishable song. She was his partner on 
 the har'st-rig, and we may readily conceive 
 how Burns would endeavour " to mitigate by 
 nameless gentle offices her toil." In one of his 
 letters he describes her as a bonny sweet soncy 
 lass, and he cannot understand why his heart 
 beat such a furious rattan as they lingered be- 
 hind the other shearers at mealtime, and he 
 picked the cruel nettlestings out of her little 
 fingers. It is easily understood; it was his 
 " first and passionate love." Where, I would 
 ask, have we on record an example of such pure 
 and holy youthful aflTection as that of the Poet 
 and his Highland Mary J His wail for his dear 
 lost Mary is one of the most pathetic things in 
 any language. After quoting his "Mary in 
 
ANSTRUTHER. 
 
 ]ei 
 
 Heaven " with much feeling, the speaker went 
 on : Tenderness and pity have alwaiys appeared 
 to me to be the most distinguishing features of 
 Burns' character and genius ; examples of this 
 are profusely scattered through all his works, 
 so many precious g«ns, as it were, oast at our 
 feet, that it becomes difficult to select. His 
 heart glowed with a gush of tenderness o'er all 
 God's works. After some quotations from the 
 " Mountain Daisy," " Lines to a Mouse," &c., 
 in proof of this, he said. But Burns' piety ex- 
 tends much further than all this ; ay, even, I 
 would say, to the sublime, for he pities even 
 the "Deil himself." (Laughter and cheers.) 
 In satire Burns was a perfect master ; here the 
 lightnings of his genius fell with most scath- 
 ing effect, and for this he has been stigmatised 
 as a scoffer at things sacred ; but I cannot hold 
 with this opinion. We must remember that in 
 his day polemical controversy ran high, and 
 there was a deal of cant and ui)«o guidism, much 
 more than in our day. Burns' keen and pen- 
 etrating spirit saw through all this at a glance, 
 and he takes up the garment of hypocrisy, 
 tears it in perfect tatters, and flings it from him 
 with a smile of derision and contempt. There 
 are many striking examples, but the theme to 
 me is not congenial, and I forbear. Let who 
 will gainsay, I hold that Robert Burns in his 
 heart of hearts was amply imbued with religious 
 feeling and principle. Of this many evidences 
 might be quoted throughout his works; — what 
 a halo he throws around the family altar as seen 
 in his "Cottar's Saturday Night!" When 
 Burns chooses to moralise and give sage advice, 
 who so able as he ? The epistle to his young 
 friend Andrew Aitken is a perfect model in this 
 way. Sturdy independence was a very strong 
 feature in his character; he even contemplated 
 beggary, the last alternative, with a sort of grim 
 pleasure. When he made his meteor-like ap- 
 pearance in Edinburgh, where he was courted 
 and caressed by all classes — feted, feasted, and 
 lionised — to all this abuse of adulation he pre- 
 sented a calm, dignified, and unembarrassed in- 
 dependence, — standing up for his class, for man 
 as man, without adventitious vice. In female so- 
 ciety his manner was winning, respectful, defer- 
 ential. Now the stately and coroneted dames of 
 the northern metropolis hang with rapture over 
 his burning words as he proclaimed and defend- 
 ed the virtues of the lowly maidens of Scotland. 
 (Cheers.) It is held by many eminent critics. 
 Sir Walter Scott, Byron, Campbell, and Lord 
 Jeffrey, and many others, that his " Tarn o' 
 Shanter " is the crowning glory of his poetic 
 genius. I agree with this opinion. There are 
 met and blended together with the hand of a 
 perfect master, humour, pathos, sublimity, terror, 
 and superstition. 
 
 " All the gloom, the grandeur, and the glee 
 Of witches holding hellish revelry." 
 
 Burns was a true patriot. The love of. his dear 
 Scotland was a most distinguishing feature 
 in his character, and his works breathe his 
 thoughts. In his more mature years we find 
 him amidst a terrific storm of thunder and 
 lightning and torrents of rain among the wild 
 hills of Galloway, heedless of the elemental 
 war that was raging around him ; away in 
 spirit with the Bruce on the hills of Bannock- 
 burn, charging the ranks of the usurper 
 Edward, driving them from the field, and 
 achieving for ever the glory of Scotland's inde- 
 pendence. (Cheers.) And where is the Scots- 
 man whose soul has not been stirred to its 
 utmost depths by his magnificent burst of 
 patriotism in the last two stanzas of his " Cottar's 
 Saturday Night V (Cheers.) Gentlemen, the 
 subject is inexhaustible. I might go on to 
 characterise some of his finest songs, for he 
 was the especial favourite of the lyric muse ; 
 and I call him the prince of song. I might 
 descant on his prose works, which are by many 
 considered more wonderful than his poetry. 
 In every city and town, and most of the hamlets 
 of Scotland, in the cities and towns of England, 
 and even across the wide Atlantic, in cities 
 whose sites were waving forests at his birth, 
 all, all are this day vieing with each other in 
 doing honour to his memory. And as century 
 after century rolls along, his name and his 
 memory will be as fresh and green in the 
 hearts of unborn millions as it is at this hour ; 
 his fame will last while the language endures. 
 (Loud cheers.) Let me now call upon you all 
 to drain a bumper to his memory, and let this be 
 done with all reverence in solemn silence stand- 
 ing. The toast was appropriately received. 
 
 The evening was enlivened by several of Burns' 
 songs being sung by Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Ferguson, 
 and others. 
 
 In the evening a concert and ball were held 
 in the Mechanics' Institute Hall, Lord Street, 
 Mr. Waugh chairman ^t the concert. The 
 hall was filled. The performers were almost 
 wholly amateurs. The Chairman delivered an 
 oration introductory of the songs to follow, and 
 spoke in an enthusiastic manner on the lyrics 
 of our great bard, which had been a source of 
 endless delight and instruction to all classes. 
 The speech was received with much applau.se. 
 The songs which followed were selected with 
 care, and were sung in a very superior manner. 
 There were also other balls in the town. The 
 day was spent generally in a very happy 
 
 I ANSTRUTHER.— The hundredth birthday 
 
 L 
 
162 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 of our national bard was celebrated here with 
 great eclat. The shops were shut at five P. m. ; 
 and though we cannot boast of processions, 
 masonic or otherwise, yet we have not been 
 behind in the number of meetings or in social 
 glee. The teetotalers had a meeting in the 
 Free Church Schoolroom, attended by 200 ; 
 another party met in the Parochial School, 
 numbering 100 ; and a third sat down to a 
 supper in the Town Hall, at which between 
 fifty and sixty were present. At all of these 
 the name of Burns was celebrated in speeches, 
 songs, recitals, &c. &c. AVe may give a slight 
 sketch of the supper. Provost Greig occupied 
 the chair ; and Messrs. Oliphant and Jamieson 
 acted as croupiers. The usual loyal toasts were 
 given from the chair : — " The Queen ; " " Prince 
 Consort and Royal Family;" " The Army and 
 Navy;" "Her Majesty's Ministers." These 
 were interspersed with songs — " The National 
 Anthem," " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." 
 Mr. Oliphant, in an able and enthusiastic 
 speech, proposed " Tiie Memory of Burns." 
 He portrayed vividly his character as a man, 
 a poet, a philanthropist, a patriot, and a father. 
 His fame — the fame of a peasant bard — was 
 not bounded by tlie narrow limits of his native 
 land. It was world-spread, and would spread 
 yet wider in ages to come. The toast was 
 received with genuine enthusiasm, accompanied 
 by a torrent of cheers. 
 
 The supper, excellent in all its details, was 
 furnished by Mr. Menzies, of the Royal Hotel, 
 who displayed great taste in the arrangements, 
 which were on a very extensive scale. 
 
 ARBROATH.— Considering that no official 
 recognition of the hundredth birthday of the 
 poet was made by the Magistrates of the town, 
 the amount of enthusiasm displayed on the 
 occasion was surprising. The stillness of the 
 cold grey morning, and the slumbers of hun- 
 dreds of the inhabitants, wore rudely broken 
 before yet the third hour had chimed, by the 
 loud report of cannon, which at the east and 
 west ends of the town were fired off, to inti- 
 mate that about that time on the morning 
 exactly a century ago the poet was born. What 
 Burns had to do with powder and shot is not 
 very readily understood, and the untimely 
 artillery-practice served only to alarm sleeping 
 citizens. The day was observed as a holiday 
 at the banks, and a number of the shops and 
 public offices were' closed early in the after- 
 noon, and numerous festive commemorative 
 gatherings took place in various inns, hotels, 
 and coffee-houses in town. In the afternoon 
 some of the masons and fishermen joined, and 
 marched in procession through several of the 
 streets, bearing flags, and accompanied by 
 
 music. We subjoin reports of most of the 
 pubhc meetings which took place, but in addi- 
 tion to those, there were many private families 
 within whose circles the memory of Burns was 
 warmly pledged, and the songs Burns sang 
 have, through the influence of the proceedings 
 of Tuesday last, struck the tendrils of their 
 music and their poesy deeper than ever into 
 the great heart of Scotland and Scotchmen. 
 
 Soiree in the Corn Exchange. — This was 
 the most public entertainment in town, and 
 was organised by the Drapers' Early Closing 
 Association. The attendance was excellent, 
 and the demand for admission so great, that 
 accommodation for all applicants could not be 
 obtained. Dr. David Arrott occupied the chair, 
 supported by the Rev. Joseph Henderson of 
 the Abbey Church, and at a later hour of the 
 evening, by the Rev. W. F. Irvine, parish 
 minister. After tea, the Chairman (who was 
 received with much cheering) delivered a short 
 address. One hundred years ago, he said, 
 Robert Burns was born, and now, after the 
 lapse of that time, his name was known over 
 the whole civilized world. Nothing in the 
 circumstances would have given him (the chair- 
 man) greater pleasure than to have addressed 
 the meeting a few words on the character and 
 works of our great national poet, but as the 
 Rev. Mr. Henderson had previously chosen 
 Burns as the subject of his address, he would 
 not detain them by any lengthened remarks. 
 There were some narrow-minded objectors to 
 the claim of Burns on the affections of the 
 people of Scotland; but the number of such 
 was small, and their puny voice was not heard 
 amid a country's loud acclaim. (Loud cheers.) 
 After referring to the many meetings of a kind 
 similar to this held all over the country, the 
 Doctor spoke of the selections from the' poet's 
 works to be produced to the meeting. These, 
 he said, did not perhaps constitute his highest 
 claim to immortality, and he might safely say 
 that the stock would be found better than the 
 sample. (Applause.) He hoped all present 
 would be pleased with the proceedings. A 
 meeting like this none of them would ever wit- 
 ness again, for they could never see a second 
 Burns' centenary. In conclusion, he expressed 
 a hope that all would so conduct themselves as 
 that they might all their lives have pleasant 
 recollections of the meeting, and never to their 
 dying day have cause to regret that they 
 assembled on 25th January, 1859, to do honour 
 to the memory of Burns. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Henderson, who was 
 received with loud applause, then addressed 
 the meeting. He said— It affords me very 
 great pleasure to join in this national demon- 
 stration. I feel when standing here as if form- 
 
ARBROATH. 
 
 163 
 
 ing ])art of that great Scottish heart which is 
 at this moment beating so high at the thought 
 of its illustrious poet. (Cheers.) Seven cities, 
 It is said, contended for the honour of being 
 regarded as the birth-place of Homer, who 
 sang so well of the early heroes of Greece, and 
 entwined around his own brow the laurel- 
 wreath of an undying fame. And well may 
 Scotland be proud of the Ayrshire bard. (Loud 
 Applause.) Great men, you are aware, are 
 often unknown in life — they have to bear the 
 frowns of an adverse fortune — they have to 
 mingle with the masses as they pass onward to 
 the unseeni; and perhaps it is well that it is so, 
 for we are thus taught that true genius depends 
 not upon human aid, but is the inborn gift of 
 heaven. (Cheers.) Thus was it with him wlio 
 wrote of the wrath of Achilles, and the woes 
 of Troy. But the world at length found out 
 tiie worth of its old blind bard, whom it had 
 suffered to pass away into the<deepest oblivion. 
 I have seen a picture of his apotheosis, as it is 
 called, in which the nations are represented as 
 gathered together to do him reverence, and the 
 very gods acknowledging him as worthy to be 
 received into their number. And have we not 
 an illustration of the same thing in him whose 
 memory we are this evening assembled to re- 
 call? (Cheers.) Burns was neglected in his 
 lifetime; he never got much beyond the "auld 
 clay biggin' " in which he was born ; he had 
 but little reason to thank the rich or the great 
 for any encouragement which he received at 
 their hands ; and at length, after that stern 
 life-battle of his, he sunk into what many still 
 call a dishonoured grave. But truth can never 
 die. The gold is sure to be discovered at some 
 time or other. The sun may be concealed 
 during a winter's day, but his beams will ulti- 
 mately dispel the clouds and mists, and pour 
 their light over the surface of the globe. Scot- 
 land has at length arisen to do justice to her 
 poet, and to tell the world of her gratitude for 
 the minstrel who, a hundred years ago, came 
 to sing to her the sweetest songs to which she 
 has ever listened. (Loud cheers.) I know of 
 no greater triumph of genius than that to 
 which this day bears witness. The whole land 
 from city to hamlet is bringing its tribute to 
 the shrine of the illustrious dead. The plough- 
 man, around whom the muse cast the mantle of 
 poesy, is being acknowledged as the greatest of 
 "Auld Scotia's sons." (Cheers.) I have heard 
 of many who look with no friendly eye upon 
 this centenary of the poet. I have heard of 
 individuals who, from the pulpit even, have 
 uttered anathemas against it. Now, as a 
 minister of religion, perhaps it is necessary 
 that I should state to you why I am here ; and 
 I frankly say that I have come to do honour to 
 
 one who lias well earned for liiiiiself a lofty 
 niche in the temple of fame. (Loud applause.) 
 I feel that 1 have nothing to do with Burns' 
 sins. For these he has had to give an account 
 at a higher tribunal than that of public opinion. 
 I am free to judge for myself, and I have come 
 undeterred by the bigotry or the malice of 
 others. (Cheers.) We think not of the moral 
 character of Newton, as we admire him for 
 that discovery of his which revealed to the 
 world a law binding suns and planets together, 
 and giving its form to the tear-drop which 
 courses down the mourner's cheek; we think 
 not of the moral character of Scott, as we 
 thank him most heartily for those tales of his of 
 the olden time, when the crusader buckled on his 
 armour for the distant field, and the Highland 
 chieftain gathered his clan around him for the 
 bloody fray. Here, then, we have one of the 
 world's real heroes, as Carlyle calls him, and 
 let us therefore give to him the tribute which 
 is his due. Here we have the true, the 
 beautiful, the good in sentiment, and let us 
 look upon it and render ourselves familiar with 
 it. It seems to me that we ought to bury a 
 man's vices with him, and let his virtues alone 
 live after him. It seems to me that we ought 
 to receive with thankfulness the good w^hich he 
 leaves behind him, and throw the wide mantle 
 of charity over his faults and failings. Scot- 
 land has not assembled her best and bravest 
 to-day to offer a sacrifice to sin. She forgets 
 that her poet was a sinner, and looks upon hira 
 simply as one who explained to her her own 
 truest and holiest feelings. She drops a tear 
 over his grave, and there glories in him as the 
 expounder of that great heart of hers, with its 
 joys and sorrows, which no one else could ever 
 comprehend. It seems to me that the secret 
 of Burns' popularity is to be found in his being 
 so true to nature. It is not fancy pictures 
 which he brings before us, but those drawn 
 from real life. It is not abstract truths which 
 he introduces to our notice, in which nobody 
 thinks he has any interest, but such as are to 
 be found in one's everyday experience. He 
 holds up to us his own heart in those songs of 
 his, with its stormy passions and its warm affec- 
 tions, and we feel how very like it is to our 
 own. He appears before us as the weeping, 
 laughing, erring, struggling minstrel, and we 
 are led to regard him as a brother, telling us 
 of our own chequered history. (Applause.) 
 Most of writers resemble those early travellers 
 who used to give beads, and amber, and but- 
 tons, and the like to the natives of uncivilized 
 countries, in order to gain their favour. They 
 deal out their own trifles, their own fancies, 
 their own philosophies ; but these having 
 nothing in common with man's nature, can 
 
164 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 never win their way to his heart. But' he was 
 no dealer in toys or such-like commodities, 
 this poet of ours. He was no monger of false- 
 hoods this man that we have now before us. 
 He goes through the outer covering of human- 
 ity, and lays his hand upon its very life. He 
 pushes aside all dignities, and honours, and 
 priesthoods, and lordhoods, and all other hoods 
 whatsoever, and tells us these are neither the 
 man nor any part of him — "The rank is but 
 the guinea stamp, the man's the gowd for a' 
 that." He says to us, these poems I have 
 written for you, and we receive them as a 
 God's truth, for we find that they are in 
 accordance with our own natures. (Applause.) 
 Who is there who does not feel his soul stirred 
 to its very depths by the mention of "Auld 
 Langsyne ? " It seems to gather the light of 
 other days around us. It carries us back to 
 the time when under the old roof-tree we knelt 
 to receive a parent's blessing, or went hand in 
 hand with a brother through youth's opening 
 morn. Who is there who does not enjoy the 
 domestic scene in the "Cottar's Saturday 
 Night," and feel as if once more in the midst of 
 that little circle around his father's hearth, 
 when the hoary sire took down " the big ha' 
 Bible," and said, let us worship God? Who is 
 there who does not mourn with the poet by 
 the grave of his dear departed Mary, and 
 laugh with him amid the boisterous glee of his 
 own Hallowe'en ? (Cheers.) There is another 
 element I conceive in Burns' poetry, subordi- 
 nate, however, to the former, which goes to 
 increase his popularity amongst us. It is not 
 only full of nature, but it is full of Scottish 
 nature. It was the genius of Scotland who 
 threw the mantle of inspiration around him, 
 and told him to weave the web of song. 
 Homer, and Dante, and Shakspeare, and Milton, 
 are more men of the wide world; but Burns, 
 in all his thoughts and afiections and sympa^ 
 tliies, belongs entirely to the "latid of the 
 mountain and the flood." These may have a 
 greater number bringing incense to their 
 shrines, but this other has the truest and most 
 heartfelt worshippers. Foreigners may not be 
 able to comprehend this sorrowing, sinning, 
 smiling bard of ours; but where is there one 
 with soul so dead throughout the length and 
 breadth of this country who does not weep 
 with him when he weeps, and rejoice with him 
 when he does rejoice ? It is our own woods 
 and mountains and streams which he has ren- 
 dered for ever classic. It is to us he speaks — 
 the descendants of those who bled with Wal- 
 lace, and whom Bruce often led to victory. 
 (Cheers.) Let but one of those lays of his be 
 sung in the ears of the Scottish exile, far 
 from home and fatherland, and immediately 
 
 the big tear begins to trickle down his cheek, 
 visions of better days arise before him, and he 
 thanks heaven that he belongs to the land of 
 Burns. Burns again, then, I say, is a poet true 
 to nature — he is the expounder of the holiest 
 and best affections of his countrymen; and 
 hence his name will never be forgotten so long 
 as Scotland possesses the same warm beating 
 heart as at present ; and therefore it is that we 
 are now assembled to entwine another wreath 
 in his great unfading crown. (Cheers.) A 
 hundred years ago! what changes have taken 
 place since that birthday dawned upon the 
 world. The poet fought his hard life struggle, 
 and then was gathered to his fathers. The 
 French revolution shot up its volcanic fires, 
 filling all Europe with consternation and dis- 
 may. India has grown into a vast enipii-e, and 
 is now all but united under our good Queen's 
 rule. Science and art have advanced until at 
 this moment man's knowledge and resources 
 seem almost boundless as his own immortal 
 mind. (Applause.) A hundred years onward — 
 but here we stop. We let the veil hang over 
 the future, to be lifted by time itself. Let us 
 look beyond Burns in eternal things. Let us 
 be followers of Him who lived man's life best 
 in the world, and left His footprints on the 
 sands of time, that we might track them on to 
 life and immortality. (Loud applause.) 
 
 During the evening a variety of Burns' songs were 
 sung by Miss Locke, from Dunfermline, whose render- 
 ing of the pathetic ballad, " My Nannie's awa," was 
 very beautiful and effective, as indeed were all the 
 songs she sung, the audience on every occasion giv- 
 ing her a cordial encore. The other singers were Mr. 
 Sturrock and Mr. Machan, who performed their re- 
 spective parts to the best of their ability. Mr. G. B. 
 Thomson, with considerable emphasis and broad hu- 
 mour, recited " Tam o' Shanter," and in the course of 
 the evening the Chairman read the Crystal Palace 
 Prize Ode, which was read at almost every meeting 
 of a public character in town. The whole concluded 
 with "Auld Langsyne," sung by the audience hand in 
 hand ; and the soiree was quite a success. An excel- 
 lent band of music was in attendance. 
 
 Panmure Lodge of Free Masons. — From 
 thirty to forty brethren sat down to dinner in 
 their Lodge -Boom, White Hart Hotel — the 
 R.W.M. Kidd officiating with his wonted tact 
 and ability, assisted by his wardens and office- 
 bearers. After dinner the R.W.M. gave the 
 usual loyal and other toasts, accompanied in each 
 case by appropriate remarks, and thereafter pro- 
 posed the toast of the evening, "The Immortal 
 Memory of the Poet, Eobert Burns," and in doing 
 so, went over, in a neat and excellent speech, the 
 prominent facts and features in the history of 
 the poet. The toast was received and respond- 
 ed to in a spirit characteristic of Scotchmen 
 and brother masons. Toast, song, and senti- 
 ment succeeded, interspersed with recitations 
 and readings from the works of the bard. 
 
ARBROATH. 
 
 1(55 
 
 " Tarn o' Slianter " and other pieces were 
 given, and in this department Brother Thom- 
 son rendered efifective service. In the course 
 of the evening, the beautiful Crystal Palace 
 Prize Poem was read with good taste and feel- 
 ing by Brother Arrott. The instrumental band 
 played appropriate airs during dinner, and in 
 the interval of the toasts. The musicians — 
 composed of brethren of the Panmure Lodge 
 — showed great taste in the selection and exe- 
 cution of the tunes. Brother Cloudsley added 
 to the comfort of the party by producing a 
 good Scotch dinner suitable for the occasion ; 
 and after spending a happy evening, and all 
 the company joining in singing " Auld Lang- 
 syne," the Lodge was closed at an early hour. 
 The St. Thomas Lodge met at supper in Mr. 
 Wilson's Inn, Bakers' Wynd. 
 
 The Gdildry and Teades' Incorpora- 
 tions. — A select party of the members of the 
 Guildry and Trades' Incorp^ations, presided 
 over by Bailie Anderson, dined in the White 
 Hart Hotel on Tuesday at five o'clock, in com- 
 memoration of the birth of our national poet. 
 After the usual loyal toasts had been given, 
 the Chairman, in a few appropriate remarks, 
 introduced the toast of the evening. He at- 
 tributed the deep hold that Burns' poetry had 
 taken in the hearts of his countrymen to his 
 noble spirit of independence, his strong nation- 
 ality and love of country, and, more than all, 
 to the fact that Burns drew his inspirations 
 from the deep bosom of nature, and welled 
 them forth from his own warm heart pure as 
 he received them. The toast was drunk with 
 three times three and one cheer more^ In the 
 course of the evening recitations were given 
 and songs sung, interspersed with speeches, 
 toasts, and sentiments. The dinner was served 
 in Cloudsley's usual capital style, and among 
 many good things, a noble haggis graced the 
 table. 
 
 Gathering in the "Star."— The centenary 
 was celebrated in Mr. John Callum's Star Inn, 
 when a company of about fifty sat down to a 
 very substantial and well-appointed supper, 
 the "Chieftain o' the puddin' race" being 
 among the other old Scotch dainties. Mr. 
 David Kinnear, mill -manager, occupied the 
 chair; Mr. John Hean and Mr. J. Allan, 
 croupiers. After the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts, the Chairman gave the toast_ of the 
 evening, and delivered a most interesting and 
 well-arranged address, the principal parts of 
 which were based on a personal visit to " The 
 Land of Burns." The chief incidents were 
 narrated in a tasteful, humorous, and instruc- 
 tive manner, highly creditable to his judgment 
 and tact as chairman, and to his taste and ap- 
 preciation of poetry and that which awakes it. 
 
 Mr. Hean followed with a few appropriate re- 
 marks, reading suitable selections from the 
 works of Burns. Addresses were also given 
 by Mr. William Gibson, clothier, Mr. Good- 
 fellow, &c., and various of the principal songs 
 of the poet were very tastefully sung, those of 
 Mr. Swirles, jun., and Mr. Boath deserving 
 special notice. The company continued to 
 enjoy themselves until an early hour, all being 
 highly gratified by the evening's entertainment. 
 
 The Railway Employes. — In the Royal 
 Hotel, a party of between thirty and forty of 
 the draftsmen, overseers, and other employes 
 in the locomotive department of the Scottish 
 North Eastern Railway, sat down to a rich 
 and admirably served dinner, with Mr. Yarrow 
 in the chair, and Mr. T. Wood croupier. After 
 the removal of the cloth, the Chairman gave the 
 usual loyal toasts, and then, with much feeling 
 and warmth, proposed the " Memory of Burns," 
 concluding his remarks by reciting some well- 
 arranged verses composed by himself for the 
 occasion. Songs, toasts, speeches, and recita- 
 tions followed, and during dinner. Burns' "Ad- 
 dress to the Haggis," was given by the croupier, 
 before that interesting delicacy was partaken of. 
 The evening was spent in a most harmonious 
 and friendly manner. — Another body of the 
 workmen in this department assembled in 
 Mr. Gardyne's Inn, Millgate Loan, under the 
 chairmanship of Mr. John Thyne, where they 
 had supper, and exchanged deputations with 
 the meeting in the Royal. Others of the rail- 
 way officials, to the number of seventy, had a 
 meeting in Keptie Street, presided over by 
 Mr. James Allan, station-master. After sup- 
 per, song and toast followed, and the whole 
 concluded with a few hours' dancing. 
 
 Arbroath Total-Abstinence Society. — 
 The committee of this Society, and a number 
 of friends, met in Millar's Temperance Hotel 
 on Tuesday evening. After an excellent tea, 
 addresses were delivered on the life, genius, 
 and poetry of the bard, by the President, Mr. 
 James Stevenson, and Messrs. Fair weather. 
 Hood, Nicoll, and Stewart. The remainder 
 of the evening was enlivened by singing a 
 number of the poet's most popular lyric gems, 
 such as " Scots wha hae," " Highland Mary," 
 " To Mary in Heaven," "The Land o' the Leal," 
 "Duncan Gray," "My Tocher's the Jewel," 
 " Green grow the Rashes," &c. The meeting 
 broke up a little before midnight, not one of 
 the party requiring 
 
 " To plant his staff wi' a' his skill 
 To keep him sicker." 
 
 Fishermen's Total-Abstinence Society. 
 — Upwards of forty of the members of this 
 Society supped together in their Reading- 
 
166 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Room, Newgate Street, — Mr. J. Carey, Presi- 
 dent, in tlie chair. After a hearty supper, 
 carefully prepared by the wives and sweet- 
 hearts of some of the fishermen, the memory of 
 Burns was pledged in a harmless beverage ; 
 songs were sung, and some verses composed 
 for the occasion by Mr. J. Watt, were read by 
 the author. 
 
 Private parties were numerous. Almost 
 every house of entertainment in town had its 
 Burns' party ; but it would be impossible, and 
 altogether unnecessary, to give a description of 
 their proceedings. Previous to the occasion 
 the authorities swore in a large number of 
 constables, but the inhabitants were so busy 
 celebrating the praises of their independent 
 favourite bard that they had not time, however 
 willing they may have been, to enter into 
 mischief or create any disturbance of the peace; 
 so the services of the " specials " were not re- 
 quired, and for the time the garlandic leaves 
 of the oak superseded the use of the more 
 material portion of that valuable decorative 
 and peace-preserving tree. 
 
 ARDROSSAN. — In Ardrossan there were 
 five meetings of a more or less public and 
 private character. 
 
 Public Soiree. — The public soiree was 
 held in the Industrial School-room, Glasgow 
 Street, which was kindly granted by the 
 teacher and the committee for the occasion. 
 The place was crowded to excess, the tickets 
 being all disposed of early in the day, and the large 
 number of ladies who graced the meeting with 
 their presence gave the room a most animated 
 appearance. Mr. Guthrie occupied the chair. 
 Tea was served at seven o'clock, and on the 
 tables being cleared, the whole company joined 
 in singing, " Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonny 
 Doon," led by Mr. Russell. The Chairman 
 then addressed the meeting on the homage 
 which the poet was entitled to claim from man- 
 kind, the universality of the homage which was 
 being paid to Robert Burns, the reasons for 
 this, and concluded by referring to the efforts 
 of detractors to blacken more than was neces- 
 sary his character. Other addresses were de- 
 livered by Mr. Allison on some moral aspects of 
 the centenary ; by Mr. Emslie on the loves of 
 Burns ; and by Mr. Duncan Stewart on Pa- 
 triotism, as illustrated by Burns, all of which 
 were warmly appreciated by the meeting. 
 Another, and not the least important feature 
 were the number and variety of the songs of 
 Burns which were sung by Messrs. Boyd, Cur- 
 rie, Russell, Ward, M'Gilvary, White, and 
 GilfiUan — all of which were well sung, and 
 a few of which, towards the close, were per- 
 mitted to be encored. Messrs. Smith, Alli- 
 
 son, and White, delivered recitations. In the 
 course of the evening, a "reeking Scotch 
 haggis" was brought in, and the great chieftain 
 of the pudding race was hailed with three 
 times three, and occasioned considerable mer- 
 riment. The whole proceedings were worthy 
 of the occasion, and those present are deeply 
 indebted to so many townsmen, who so will- 
 ingly aflforded them an opportunity of cele- 
 brating the centenary of the bard, in a happy 
 and rational way. Mrs. Weir's service of tea 
 was highly creditable — fruit was dispensed in 
 abundance, and the haggis was duly appreciated. 
 With votes of thanks the meeting separated 
 about ten o'clock, all joining in singing with 
 clasped hands " Auld Langsyne," — led by Mr. 
 Currie. 
 
 Public Dinner. — A dinner in honour of 
 the occasion was held in the Eglinton Arms 
 Hotel. About forty gentlemen sat down to 
 a most excellent and beautifully, set dinner. 
 Robert Maxton, Esq., in the chair; William 
 M'Jannet and Robert Young, Esqs., croupiers. 
 The. Chairman, in giving the toast of the even- 
 ing, " The Memory of Burns," spoke of him as 
 nature's own poet, and the National Bard : 
 glanced at his early life and struggles, his sub- 
 sequent fame, and ultimate poetic glory which 
 had increased as years rolled on, till now his 
 name and songs had become household words ; 
 noticed with regret his being stigmatised as an 
 infidel ; did not believe him to be so, and 
 would only say to those who upheld the charge, 
 " Let him who is without sin cast the first 
 stone." Burns had stood the test of the sever- 
 est critic, that of time. This night they were 
 met to bear testimony to his unequalled genius, 
 and he hoped all would pledge a bumper to his 
 memory — responded to amid great applause. 
 Mr. Young^ followed with " The Sons and sur- 
 viving Relatives of Burns," on giving which he 
 indulged in a few interesting personal reminis- 
 cences of an evening spent with the son of 
 Burns, and a conversation with the late Mrs, 
 Begg. 
 
 Several other toasts were given, interspersed 
 with songs by Mr. Davie, Messrs. Robert and 
 John Young, Mr. Maxton, Mr. Rodger, and 
 Mr. M'Donnell, and music from a band in 
 attendance. The meeting broke up about 9 
 o'clock, every one gratified. 
 
 BCRNS' Club.— The Ardrossan Burns Club 
 met in the Masons' Lodge. Mr. J. M'Auslane 
 in the chair, supported by Mr. Thomas Wallace 
 and Mr. Jas. M'Millan. Mr. James Heald 
 discharged the duties of croupier. The Chair- 
 man submitted an excellent programme, con- 
 taining toast, song, and sentiment, which was 
 entn-ely confined to Burns. The Chairman, in 
 an excellent speech, proposed the toast of the 
 
ARMADALE— AUCHINBLAE. 
 
 167 
 
 evening — the Memory of Robert Burns. After 
 some characteristic observations, he reminded 
 the meeting that an hundred years had passed 
 away, and mother Nature, in her abundance, 
 had not given to intellectual Scotland such an- 
 other precious gift as that which she left in that 
 straw-roofed cot, on the banks of the Doon, 
 this very day of the month. In the year 1759 
 was born Robert Burns, the greatest poet that 
 ever sprung from the ranks of labour in any 
 country in the world ; and in conclusion said, 
 that if ever man worked out his soul for his 
 country, it was Burns. The Chairman next 
 gave James Glencairn Burns, which was re- 
 ceived with a hearty cheer ; and Mr. Thomas 
 Wallace, in a few neat remarks, gave the Me- 
 mory of Jean Armour. This meeting was, 
 like some others, fortunate in having present a 
 connection of Highland Mai'y, who gratified 
 the company with some reminiscences of his 
 relative. The Croupier gave«— Mrs. Thomson ; 
 Mr. Hunter — the Memory of Mrs. Begg ; Mr. 
 John Paterson — the Memory of Gilbert Burns, 
 accompanying it with a most eloquent and 
 instructive address, showing that the character 
 of Burns had reached us through perverted 
 channels, but hoped that this Centenary move- 
 ment would put him in his proper place on the 
 page of history. In this feast of intellect the 
 outer man was gratified by the appearance of 
 three enormous haggises, to which ample justice 
 was done. The company, numbering thirty- 
 five, then reluctantly took oif their several 
 ways, after spending a pleasant night with the 
 man of a thousand years. 
 
 Boys' Dinner. — To impress upon the minds 
 of the rising race the occurrence of the first 
 Centenary of Burns, a number of gentlemen of 
 the town entertained nearly sixty boys to a 
 very sumptuous dinner in Mrs. Jamieson's 
 Hall, in the afternoon of Tuesday. Master 
 Jas. Stevens occupied the chair, and Masters 
 Kerr and Barclay officiated as croupiers. 
 Messrs. Boyd, GilfiUan, M'Millan, and J. 
 Hogarth, superintended. The arrangements 
 and the whole afi^air passed off greatly to the 
 credit of the juveniles. The Chairman made a 
 few neat remarks on the occasion of their meet- 
 ing, and many songs and recitations were given 
 in good taste. It had a most pleasant appear- 
 ance, and too much cannot be said of the 
 admirable conduct of all the boys, who, whilst 
 really enjoying themselves, were neither rude 
 nor mischievous. We daresay they will long 
 remember the meeting with much pleasure. 
 
 A party of the employes on the Railway 
 met in the evening in Mrs. Jamieson's. Mr. 
 James Bruce occupied the chair ; and with song 
 and sentiment passed the evening. 
 
 ARMADALE. — The schoolroom being finely 
 adorned with evergreens, consisting of crowns 
 and arches, &c., a large meeting, under the aus- 
 pices of the Mutual Improvement Society, as- 
 sembled on Tuesday evening to celebrate the 
 centenary of Burns. Mr. Gardner, teacher, and 
 president of the Society, occupied the chair, and 
 discharged the duties in a very eflflcient man- 
 ner, with his usual ability. He was supported 
 on the right by Mr. Matthew Wilson, treasurer, 
 and Mr. Alex. Naysmith. Mr. John Waddell, 
 vice-president, acted as croupier, supported by 
 Mr. W. Gibb, secretary, and Mr. James Liddle. 
 An excellent supper and dessert were supplied 
 by Mr. John Wilson, innkeeper. The usual 
 loyal toasts being given, Mr. Gardner then 
 delivered a very learned speech upon Burns as 
 a poet, and his fame. We are sorry that space 
 will not allow us to give this excellent speech. 
 Mr. Walter Gibb then gave an address upon 
 " The Rise and Progress of the Society." Mr. 
 Wilson returned a reply, by a lengthened 
 speech on behalf of the ladies. Mr. Jas. John- 
 ston gave an address upon " The Rise and 
 Progress of Armadale." Wines, fruit, and 
 other refreshments, were amply supplied in 
 their turn. A fine musical box from Mr. John 
 Jeffrey, enlivened the meeting; and songs, 
 from a number of the admirers of Burns, dis- 
 played the vocal powers of the singers. The 
 table was removed at ten o'clock, and a fine 
 ball finished up the evening's entertainment till 
 an early hour next morning. 
 
 AUCHENCAIRN.— A public dinner was 
 held in the Commercial Hotel, where close on 
 two score of the most respectable gentlemen in 
 the district assembled. The Rev. Mr. Wark, 
 parish minister, presided, and Dr. Skene acted 
 as croupier. After the loyal toasts had been 
 drunk, the Chairman, in a most appropriate ad- 
 dress, gave the toast of the evening, " The 
 Memory of Burns," which was drunk in solemn 
 silence. The evening was enlivened with a full 
 quota of the Poet's most striking songs and 
 sentiments. The dinner, prepared by Mrs. 
 Watson, would have gratified the most fastidious 
 palate. The dinner apartment was most taste- 
 fully decorated with laurels by Mr. Middleton, 
 gardener to Colonel Johnstone of Balcary. 
 
 AUCHINBLAE.— The inhabitants of the 
 parish of Fordoun determined not to be behind 
 their neighbours. Between fifty and sixty 
 gentlemen sat down to an excellent supper in 
 the Kintore Arms Hotel, on Tuesday, to cele- 
 brate the hundredth anniversary of our great 
 poet. Burns. Owing to the unavoidable ab- 
 sence of our Baron Bailie, Mr. Dingwall, Mr. 
 Clark, farmer, Honeybank, ably performed the 
 
168 
 
 THE BUEN8 CENTENARY. 
 
 duties of chairman, supported on the right by 
 Mr. Malcolm, schoolmaster, and on the left by 
 Messrs. Legg and Murray, merchants. Mr. 
 Garland, Cairnton, and Mr. Bruce, auctioneer, 
 acted as croupiers, supported by Messrs. Kydd, 
 Cairnbeg; Sherret, Glenfarquhar ; Hutcheon, 
 Montrose, &c. After the usual loyal and pa- 
 triotic toasts had been given and responded to, 
 the Chairman, in a very appropriate speech, 
 gave "The Immortal Memory of Burns;" 
 after which Mr. Smart sung "Eobin was a 
 rovin' boy," which was received with great ap- 
 plause. Altogether, the meeting was the best 
 we have seen in Auchinblae for a long time, 
 and every one expressed himself highly pleased 
 with the evening's entertainment. We cannot 
 conclude without complimenting Mrs. Hunter 
 for her elegant supper, which gave great satis- 
 faction. Eorbes Mackenzie having made his 
 appearance, the company, with much regret, 
 was compelled to separate. 
 
 AUCHINLECK.— The afternoon of Tues- 
 day last was observed as a gala day here. Both 
 the Auchinleck brass band and the Thistle 
 flute band turned out about three o'clock, and 
 after mustering at the Cross, they perambulated 
 the streets, along with all that liked to join in 
 the procession, with several flags bearing ap- 
 propriate mottoes. They played alternately 
 till near five o'clock, when upwards of 100 sat 
 down to a plenteous repast in the Boswell 
 Arms Inn. Mr. M'Gregor, inspector of poor, 
 occupied the chair, supported right and left by 
 Mr. Brown, merchant ; Mr. Irvine, station mas- 
 ter ; Mr. Begg, foreman. Common Works, &c. ; 
 Mr. Kennedy, schoolmaster, acted as croupier, 
 supported by Mr. Wallace, overseer ; Mr. 
 M'Turk, &c. After the usual loyal and con- 
 stitutional toasts were given and duly respond- 
 ed to, the Chairman, in giving the toast of the 
 evening — the immortal Memory of Eobert 
 Burns — said : — Burns and his poetry is a topic 
 the most prolific and engrossing. It seems it 
 cannot be exhausted, and it never tires or clogs. 
 Whence, then, is its captivating charm and fas- 
 cination ? It springs alone from his gigantic 
 genius and the pre-eminent stamina of his 
 vigorous mind, which was truly the mould and 
 measure of his exquisite strains. The man is 
 father to the poet. The mere knack of rhyme 
 is easily attained; and who has not, at some 
 stage of his life, attempted the dear deceitful 
 vein, and might I not say with Burns himself, 
 " and thus with me began love and poetry ?" 
 But the great mass of men ai'e men of ordinary 
 minds, and many are doomed to be mental 
 pigmies, whose natural progeny must be dwarfs 
 ■^mere abortions of imbecility, or sickly bant- 
 lings, of mediocrity, for it is a truth not to bo 
 
 controverted, that no man will become a star of 
 the first magnitude, in any walk of literature 
 or science, who does not far exceed, essentially, 
 the common standard of humanity, as was emi- 
 nently the case with Burns, justly denominated 
 the S'hakspeare of Scotland. The constituent 
 elements and staple of his genius and charac- 
 ter, as you must all know, were, in a supreme 
 degree, inteUeet, sensibility, and imagination, 
 which pervade alike his poetry and prose, and 
 unto which all his other qualities may be re- 
 solved. His humour was happy, subtle, and 
 grotesque; his satire was keen, cutting, and 
 smooth as oil, but to the victim of it, it was the 
 oil of vitriol. His love of the "sex" was in- 
 tense, and almost uncontrollable, "for his 
 heart," as he said himself, " was completely 
 tinder, and was eternally lighted up with some 
 goddess or other ; " and his adoration of High- 
 land Mary exceeded even that of "bonnie 
 Jean," and he loved her, he said, to distraction — 
 
 " My Mary, dear departed shade, 
 
 Where is thy place of blissful rest ? " 
 
 Again — 
 
 " Eternity will not efface 
 
 Those records dear of transport past ; 
 Thy image at our last embrace. 
 
 Ah ! little thought we 'twas our last." 
 
 This is the language of a disembodied spirit, 
 peering in at the portals of heaven, wholly 
 divested of the earthly clogs of mortality. His 
 independence, too, was a huge pyramid of gra- 
 nite, unheeding alike the sunshine or the storm, 
 and was one of the most glorious features of 
 his character. Well can I imagine Burns star- 
 ing with his great lamping eyes at the poor, 
 mean, insignificant thing, with such a soul of 
 unutterable contempt as would shrink it up like 
 a seared leaf. I shall now only mention some 
 of his most celebvated productions ; and " Tam 
 o' Shanter," by the verdict of his best critics, 
 stands the foremost. Tam himself is a droll 
 chap. 
 
 " The swats sae ream'd in Tammie's noddle; 
 Fair play, he minds nae deils a boddle." 
 
 Tam grew quite enamoured of the infernal 
 crew, and seemed actually to join in their fran- 
 tic orgies, 
 
 " Till first ae caper, syne anither, 
 Tam tint his reason a' thegither, 
 And roar'd out — Weel done, Cutty Sark ! 
 And in an instant a' was dark." 
 
 Burns' Address to the Deil is a most wonder- 
 ful and ludicrous piece ; and one of the verses, 
 for humour, tenderness, and coutUe familiar iiy, 
 cannot be surpassed — 
 
AUCHLE7EN— AUCHTEEAEDER. 
 
 169 
 
 " But fare you woel, auld Nickie-ben ! 
 Oh ! wad ye tak a thought an' men', 
 Ye aiblins might — I dinna ken — 
 
 Still hae a stake ; 
 I'm wae to think upo' yon den, 
 
 Ev'n for your sake 1 " 
 
 The Jolly Beggars, too, original and dramatic, 
 and for droll variety of character, is truly 
 unique — 
 
 " Ae night, at e'en, a merry core 
 
 O' randie, gangrel bodies. 
 In Poosie Nancy's held the splore, 
 
 To drink their orra duddies ; 
 Wi' quaffing and laughing. 
 
 They ranted and they sang; 
 Wi' jumping and thumping. 
 
 The vera girdle rang." (Cheers.) 
 
 The Cottar's Saturday Night is another of his 
 most esteemed productions, beautiful, religious, 
 and patriotic, and in the opinion of some, the 
 very first of all his noble eflfusiSns. How graphic 
 is the following picture : — 
 
 " The cheerful supper done, wi' serious face. 
 They round the ingle form a circle wide : 
 The sire turns o'er, wi' patriarchal grace, 
 
 The big ha'-Bible, anoe his father's pride : 
 His bonnet reverently is laid aside. 
 
 His lyai't haffets, wearing thin and bare j 
 Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide, 
 He wales a portion with judicious care, 
 And ' Let us worship God ! ' he says, with solemn air." 
 
 Thus I might go on, not to the crack of doom, 
 as Shakspeare says, but to the stroke of the 
 good hour of Forbes M'Kenzie, and not ex- 
 haust his beauties. Therefore, take his whole 
 works, for there are no exceptions, and less 
 will not suffice. But I feel I am trespassing 
 on your time, and I will therefore propose, 
 with all the honours, The Immortal Memory 
 of the Peasant Poet, and Scotia's darling Bard, 
 Robert Burns. The toast was drunk amidst 
 great applause. 
 
 A number of other toasts were given, and 
 the company having sung " Auld Langsyne," 
 the meeting separated. 
 
 Afterwards, about forty couple assembled in 
 the Parish School-room, which was kindly 
 granted for the occasion, and had a ball, led by 
 Mr. M' Alpine from Mauchline. It was kept 
 up with the greatest hilarity till four o'clock in 
 the morning, when all separated in high de- 
 light. 
 
 ing, and reading many of the poet's favourite 
 pieces till near " the wee short hour ayont the 
 twal," when all harmoniously joined in the 
 heart-inspiring strains of "Auld Langsyne." 
 The party dismissed much satisfied with the 
 evening's enjoyment. 
 
 AUCHLEVEN. — On Tuesday last, this 
 little village showed its enthusiastic esteem for 
 Scotland's Bard. In the course of the evening 
 ploughmen, tradesmen, and others, were as- 
 sembled at Mr. John Tough's, where they were 
 heartily entertained with tea and fruit. The 
 evening was spent in rustic glee, reciting, sing- 
 
 AUCHTERARDER.— Tuesday, the 25th of 
 January, will long be a red-letter day in Auch- 
 terarder. The morning dawned rather threat- 
 ening, the wind " blawin' as it wad blawn its 
 last," but there was little rain till evening. 
 
 About ten o'clock the different roads leading 
 to the town became busy with gathering crowds. 
 At 12 o'clock the shops were all shut, and it 
 became a regular holiday. The brass band 
 met at half-past one, and accompanied a depu- 
 tation of the Weavers' Society to the house of 
 Mr. James Clement, deacon-convener of the 
 society, and played him up to their hall of meet- 
 ing. They then went to the Masons' Hall, and, 
 accompanied by one of their number, bearing a 
 sword, marched to the house of George Hally, 
 Esq., E.W.M., and escorted him to the hall. 
 By this time our lang town was in a moving 
 mass, strangers running in all directions where 
 they knew a town's acquaintance, asking when 
 Tarn, o' Shanter was to start, and where he was 
 to start from. A little before two, Robert 
 Mailer, Esq., appeared at the hall window, and 
 announced the order of procession as follows: — 
 The Blackford band in the front, followed by 
 the general inhabitants; then the members of 
 the Burns Centenary Committee, with a splen- 
 did banner got for the occasion, with the Scotch 
 thistle on both sides, and this inscription on it — 
 
 " turn the weeding-hoe aside, 
 And spare the symbol dear." 
 
 Then the Auchterarder brass band headed the 
 Weavers' Society, who marched two and two in 
 full dress, with their colours waving in the 
 wind. The flute band headed the Masons, who 
 likewise marched two and two, with the insignia 
 of the craft. The procession moved to the 
 foot of the town, where the front ranks opened, 
 letting the societies pass through ; then marched 
 to the top of the town in the same order as 
 they went down. From that they returned to 
 the Masons' Hall, where Mr. P. M'Laren 
 ascended a platform, and sung, over the heads 
 of the congregated thousands, " A man's a man 
 for a' that " in fine style, getting a hearty round 
 of applause at the conclusion. The procession 
 then formed in the same order, and marched 
 off" to the Castletown Mills. When they ar- 
 rived at the Crieff Road, it was almost impos- 
 sible to get turned off, owing to the crowd 
 gathered round the old building serving for 
 " AUoway's auld haunted kirk." At last they 
 
170 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 got all turned off the main road, where we shall 
 leave them and look for Tarn, o' Slianter. We 
 found him at the Railway Inn, 
 
 "And at his elbow Souter Johnny, 
 His ancient, tvusty, drouthy cronny." 
 
 The " grey mare Meg " was brought to the 
 door, when Tam and Johnny appeared at the 
 threshold to take leave. It was the signal for 
 a round of applause such as has seldom been 
 heard in that quarter of the town. The leave- 
 taking was to the very life, the landlord appear- 
 ing with the bottle, from which they could 
 scarcely get separated, some of the bystanders 
 saying it was " like taking the very flesh from 
 the bones." Tarn's canter through the town 
 was a perfect ovation. Every door and window 
 ■was full; but as 
 
 " Kirk Alloway was drawing nigh, 
 Wliaur ghaists and howlets nichtly cry," 
 
 the anxiety of the crowd to see the different 
 characters at this important spot almost defeated 
 itself. But 
 
 " Tam ventui'ed forward on the licht. 
 And, wow, he saw an unco sicht!" 
 
 The witches all played their part well, to the 
 stirring strains of Auld Nickie Ben. Tam 
 roared out " Weel dune, Cutty Sark!" and it 
 was scarcely uttered, 
 
 " When out the hellish legion sallied." 
 
 The chase to the key-stane was a very difficult 
 affair, as more witches joined than those that 
 were seen in Alloway Kirk. 
 
 " But Nannie far before the rest 
 Hard upon noble Maggie prest, 
 And flew at Tam wi' furious ettle, 
 But little wist she Maggie's mettle! 
 Ae spring brought aff her master hale, 
 But left behind her ain grey tail: 
 The carlin' caught her by the rump, 
 And left poor Maggie scarce a stump!" 
 
 The procession by this time had arrived at 
 the large hall granted for the occasion by 
 George Hally, Esq. 
 
 This hall was finely decorated with ever- 
 greens and Gala tartan. The evergreens were 
 got from Lieutenant-Colonel Hunter, and Wil- 
 liam Stuart sent a load of heather. Messrs. 
 William Halley, Robert Wright, George Os- 
 wald, and Robert Macdonald, deserve the 
 greatest credit for the taste displayed in the 
 decorations. Owing to the praiseworthy exer- 
 tions of Serjeant Hope and Mr. A. M'Bwan, 
 our own officer, not a single accident happened 
 throughout the day. 
 
 The punctuality of mine host of the Railway 
 Inn (Mr. A. Wilson) cannot be too highly 
 
 praised. Covers were laid for 250, which were 
 all occupied. The dinner was particularly well 
 got up, both for its variety and quality; and 
 prominent among the different dishes, the 
 
 " Great chieftain of the pudding race. 
 Whose pin would help to mend a mill," 
 
 was on the table. 
 
 Exactly at five o'clock, the chair was occu- 
 pied by George Hally, Esq.; supported on the 
 right by Robert Butter Malcolm, Esq., of the 
 S. C. R. Perth; and on the left by James 
 Smitton, Esq., banker, and A. Campbell, Esq. 
 of Glasgow. The croupiers were John Faich- 
 ney, Esq., Kirkton; Robert Mailer, Esq., 
 writer ; and Josiah Smitton, Esq., manu- 
 facturer. Mr. Wylie, teacher, Trinity Gask, 
 asked a blessing, and Mr. Ogilvie, teacher, re- 
 turned thanks. The proceedings of the even- 
 ing were conducted with the utmost decorum, 
 which was the more remarkable considering 
 that about three-fourths of the audience had 
 never been present at a public dinner before. 
 All grades of society mingled freely together, 
 each rendering his quota to the entertainment, 
 verifying the words of the immortal poet — 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp; 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 The loyal and patriotic toasts were proposed 
 by the chairman, and heartily responded to by 
 the audience. We may mention that Messrs. 
 James Clement and Andrew Christie returned 
 thanks for the toasts of the Army and Navy. 
 
 The Chairman then rose and proposed the 
 toast of the evening — " The immortal memory 
 
 of Robert Burns." He spoke as follows: 
 
 When we consider the spirit with which the 
 celebration of the centenary of the poet's birth 
 has been taken up, it may well be designated 
 the most remarkable demonstration of our time. 
 It is being celebrated in every town, city, and 
 village in Scotland, where the name of Burns 
 will be on every tongue, and where his songs 
 will be sung amid the applause of enthusiastic 
 thousands. England, also, and Ireland, Ca- 
 nada and the United States of America, have 
 taken it up with such an amount of enthu- 
 siasm that even Scotland can scarcely hope 
 to surpass; and although the Atlantic tele- 
 graph cable lately laid by the energy, capital, 
 and skill of two great nations, is now silent 
 and dumb, there is a cable of poetry and 
 song, laid nearly a hundred years ago by a 
 simple ploughman, which neither the length 
 the depths, nor the storms of the Atlantic can 
 ever sever, and through which this day tlie 
 electric sparks flow, making hearts in America 
 beat warmly and in unison with those in Scot- 
 land. Nor is this great improvement confined 
 
AUCHTERMUCHTY. 
 
 171 
 
 to a class ; for, although it is to a large extent a 
 democratic one, yet it has been gone into by 
 peer as well as peasant, and dukes and earls 
 have been proud to have their names enrolled 
 in the committees for the organization of the 
 centenary festivals. The question is naturally 
 suggested, what is the spirit that prompts all 
 this? Is it because Burns was a great poet, 
 or that he wrote better songs than any other 
 man of his own or subsequent times? Not alto- 
 gether: there have been greater than he to 
 whom no such honour was tendered, or ever 
 will be. France, Germany, and Italy have had 
 their great poets. England has had its Shak- 
 speare and its Milton; Ireland its Goldsmith 
 and its Moore; and Scotland its Scott and many 
 others ; but as true types of the national mind, 
 none of them will bear comparison with our 
 national bard. It is because he so thoroughly 
 identified his own proud heart with the proud 
 heart of his people — it is because he was a 
 peasant, who taught other peasants to hold up 
 their heads and stand erect in the presence of 
 all men, however great or grand they might be 
 — it is because he taught the humble sons of 
 labour to value their personal independence 
 above all the gifts of fortune, which a sacrifice 
 of such independence might have procured 
 them — it is for these reasons Burns has taken 
 so noble a place in the history of literature. 
 Burns was a democrat in the purest and high- 
 est sense of the word. He did not wish to 
 lower the aristocracy, but he wished to exalt 
 the people by tlieir virtues. He taught the 
 humblest that the penny-fee of honest industry 
 was a greater treasure than tens of thousands 
 if gained by knavery, or extorted by unfair 
 means from the sinews of the poor by a grind- 
 ing of their faces. His great song, " A man's 
 a man," is the keynote of his fame, and has 
 done perhaps more for the elevation of the 
 multitude than all the poems, books, or articles 
 ever written in our language. It is for this 
 great and leading characteristic of his genius 
 that the people have resolved to do him honour. 
 We admit he had faults, but w:ho is without 
 them ; and it is becoming to manifest our ap- 
 preciation of the poet's lessons of charity, 
 
 " To gently scan our brother man, 
 And gentler sister woman ; 
 Though they may gang a kennin wrang, 
 To step aside is human ;" 
 
 and to cast a stone at his memory seems parri- 
 cidal ingratitude, and as great an outrage against 
 propriety as to forget the grandeur of the Psalms 
 in the too vivid remembrance of the temptation 
 to which David yielded, and for which he suf- 
 fered a lifelong contrition. And Burns, we 
 have reason to believe, repented and obtained 
 
 forgiveness ; and we have no doubt that in 
 some measure he has realized his own hopes — 
 
 " And gien auld cloven Clootie's haunts 
 An unco slip yet, 
 An' snugly sits amang the saunts, 
 At Davie's hip yet." 
 
 I think, therefore, the most fastidious, forget- 
 ting "Holy Willie" and "The Holy Fair," 
 ought to agree with the rest of the world that 
 the man who wrote " Tam o' Shanter," " The 
 Address to the Daisy," " The Cottar's Saturday 
 Night," "The Address to a Young Friend," 
 " A man's a man for a' that," and a hundred 
 other songs that have never been equalled in 
 our isles, deserves the fervid national recogni- 
 tion that is this day being bestowed upon him. 
 It is now one hundred years since the great 
 poet of the people was born ; it is sixty-three 
 years since he died. During the interval, his 
 name has been the chief literary glory of his 
 country ; his songs have become the most inti- 
 mate and familiar expression of the sentiments 
 of the nation ; and high above all his contem- 
 poraries and predecessors towers the fame of 
 the sturdy ploughman, the sweet singer, the 
 independent son of toil, who told the world- 
 inspiring language that he dared to be poor — 
 that the rank was but the stamp upon the 
 guinea — that the man, the true man, who 
 would not stoop to any kind of meanness or 
 baseness, was the gold, and, in one terse im- 
 mortal phrase, that "A man's a man for a' 
 that." The Chairman's speech was delivered 
 with much fervour ; and the toast was drunk 
 by the large company in solemn silence. 
 
 We may say, in conclusion, that this was the 
 greatest demonstration ever witnessed in Auch- 
 terarder. 
 
 AUCHTEEMUCHTY.— This much-talked- 
 of event was celebrated here, in common with 
 almost every town or village of any importance 
 throughout the "Land o' Cakes," in a most 
 enthusiastic manner. There were two in-door 
 entertainments, besides a splendid out-of-door 
 demonstration, consisting of a torch-light pro- 
 cession. But what constituted the chief part 
 of the evening's amusement was the reproduc- 
 tion of the ludicrous tragedy of " Tam o' 
 Shanter, or the Witches' Dance of Alloway 
 Kirk." This was performed by a corps of 
 witches, dressed after the most approved witch 
 fashion, a bona fide " Deil," having the tail, 
 horns, and all the other appendages necessary 
 to that august personage, and last, though not 
 least, the luckless hero, "Tam," on his far-famed 
 "Maggie." This weird assemblage accompanied 
 the procession through the streets, and halting 
 at several of the principal thoroughfares, repro- 
 
172 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 diiced the scene in the "haunted kirk" with 
 startling effect. According to the example 
 shown him there, " Auld Nick " seated himself, 
 and shouldering his pipes, supplied music to 
 his beldame followers, who danced with great 
 spirit, amid a profuse display of squibs and 
 rockets. On the present occasion, "Cutty 
 Sark" sustained her reputation as a "supple 
 jade and Strang." During the procession, a 
 heavy rain came on, and Tam o' Shanter the 
 second, experienced just such a night, minus 
 the thunder and lightning, as did his predeces- 
 sor. At the return of the procession to the 
 parish school, a large number, principally of 
 the working-classes, sat down to supper — Mr. 
 George Webster in the chair. After the edibles 
 were discussed, Mr. William M'Ewan rose, and 
 in an excellent speech, gave the toast of the 
 evening, "The Memory of Burns," which was 
 drunk with great enthusiasm. Mr. M'Ewan of 
 the Fifeshire Advertiser was also present, and 
 spoke. Various other toasts were given ; and 
 our excellent instrumental band, which was 
 present, played several of Burns' favourite airs. 
 A vocal band was also in attendance, and sang 
 some of his finest songs. The evening was 
 spent in a very happy manner, till near the 
 close the potent influence of "John Barleycorn" 
 began to display itself, breaking up the order 
 of the meeting. After ushering in the 26th, 
 the meeting broke up. 
 
 The Magistrates and others also met for 
 supper in the Town Hall — Provost Crombie in 
 the chair. The viands were supplied by Mrs. 
 Kier of the Commercial Inn. After the com- 
 pany had cheered the inner man, the Chairman 
 rose and gave the usual loyal toasts, which were 
 drunk with all the honours. He then proposed 
 " The Memory of Burns," which was enthusi- 
 astically responded to. During the evening 
 several songs were sung, which served to en- 
 liven the proceedings. 
 
 BADENSCOTH.— The farmers in this rural 
 district, with special reference to the celebra- 
 tion of the centenary, turned out with upwards 
 of twenty ploughs, including one of Howard's 
 wheel ploughs, belonging to Charles Chalmers, 
 Esq. of Monkshill ; and, to testify their ap- 
 preciation of the qualities and qualifications of 
 Mr. John Symon, V.S., Gordonston, prepared 
 his ground for receiving the seed. Gordonston 
 then became the scene of a ball, which was 
 numerously attended. 
 
 BALBEGGIE.— The centenary of Burns 
 was celebrated here by a supper in the school- 
 
 room. Thirty-two ladies and gentlemen were 
 present. The chair was well filled by Mr. 
 M'Donald, clothier; and Mr. Peter M'Laren 
 ably discharged the duties of croupier. The 
 viands were various and substantial, including 
 the indispensable Scotch haggis, in the cutting 
 up of which the croupier, amid loud cheering, 
 addressed to it the humorous apostrophe — 
 
 " Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face, 
 Great chieftain o' the pudding race," &c. 
 
 After the company had enjoyed an excellent 
 supper, and the usual loyal and patriotic toasts 
 had been disposed of, the Chairman, after an 
 able and manly speech, proposed the toast of 
 the evening, " The Memory of Robert Burns, 
 Caledonia's immortal ploughman Bard." The 
 toast was drunk by the company standing, and 
 with every mark of deep feeling. Songs, 
 speeches, and recitations, agreeably intermin- 
 gled, then became the order of the evening. 
 Many of the best songs in the Scotch language 
 were sung by Mr. A. Drummond and other 
 musical amateurs, both ladies and gentlemen, 
 in a very happy and effective manner, and were 
 rapturously applauded. Mr. Wedderspoon, 
 teacher, Airntully, delivered a talented and in- 
 structive speech, on the contrast between the 
 present day and a hundred years ago ; and 
 Mr. Cuthbert, senior, delighted the meeting 
 with an address on " Liberty's a glorious feast." 
 Other speakers also contributed to increase the 
 pleasure and profit of the evening. The " Ad- 
 dress to the Deil" was recited by Mr. John 
 Ower; and " Tam o' Shanter" was given in 
 fine style by Mr. D. Carr, who prefaced his 
 recitation by an elegant and comprehensive 
 speech, which was much appreciated. All 
 seemed to have come to the celebration deter- 
 mined to be pleased and happy, and much in- 
 nocent mirth and good humour prevailed 
 throughout the evening. The health of the 
 Ladies, the Chairman, the Croupier, and other 
 toasts, having been proposed and responded to, 
 the company sung " Auld Langsyne" in an en- 
 thusiastic manner, and separated considerably 
 after the "wee short hour ayont the twal," 
 highly delighted with the evening's proceedings. 
 
 BALLANTEAE.— The district of Stinchar 
 and the Duisk was not behind the more thick- 
 ly populated districts in doing honour to the 
 birthday of our National Poet. The place of 
 meeting was Mr. Drynan's Inn, Ballantrae; 
 and notwithstanding the inclemency of the day 
 the room was completely filled. Eigby Wason, 
 Esq. of Corwar, was chairman ; supported by 
 Alexander Cathcart, Esq. of Knockdolian ; 
 Capt. Kennedy of Bennane ; John Murdoch, 
 Esq. of Tasmania; James M'llraith, Esq. of 
 
BALLANTRAE. 
 
 173 
 
 Aiichenflower ; Rigby Wason, Esq., jun. ; 
 Eugene Wason, Esq., &c., &c. The Rev. Mr. 
 Wallace of the Free Church Manse, Barr, and 
 Mr. Brackenridge, were croupiers. After the 
 usual complimentary toasts, Mr, Wason said — 
 We have now, gentlemen, come to the toast of 
 the evening, and it is only necessary to pro- 
 pose the toast to ensure its most cordial recep- 
 tion. No poet has ever exercised a greater 
 influence on the minds of the people than 
 Robert Burns, eclipsing in this respect poets of 
 a far higher order of intellect, such as Shak- 
 speare and Milton ; and this widely diffused in- 
 fluence (proved by the numerous meetings 
 which are this day held throughout the civilized 
 world to celebrate his birthday), is the best an- 
 swer to those who point to the admitted faults 
 in the Poet's character as reasons why these 
 meetings should not take place. Now, I would 
 not wish to say that all these " Holier than 
 thou men," or those who wftuld wish to be 
 esteemed as such, have been actuated by mo- 
 tives of fanaticism, or hypocrisy, or of igno- 
 rance ; but this I will say, that never did fa- 
 naticism, or hypocrisy, or ignorance appear in 
 a more mean or degraded shape than in point- 
 ing to the failings of a National Poet, disgrace- 
 fully concealing the fact that such' failings were 
 the failings of the age in which he lived, com- 
 mitted by every man, from the duke to the 
 peasant, and tarnishing the illustrious names 
 of a Fox and a Pitt, each of whom, probably, 
 drank more in twelve months than Burns did 
 during his lifetime ; yet, when did we hear of 
 these would-be Purists objecting to Pitt and 
 Fox dinners on that account ? Not only has 
 the Poet's influence been so extended, but it 
 has been of the most beneficial character on all 
 the higher feelings of our nature — surpassed, 
 indeed I may say equalled by none, except, 
 perhaps, by John Knox. We are not met this 
 day to celebrate the birthday " of some faultless 
 monster which the world ne'er saw," but of the 
 author of the domestic religion of " The Cottar's 
 Saturday Night," of the philosophical wish, " 
 wad some power the giftie gie us, to see our- 
 selves as others see us," of the endearing lines, 
 " Auld Langsyne," of the first of patriotic war 
 songs, " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," and 
 of those of unsurpassed boldness and honesty, 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, a man's 
 a man for a' that." And not only of these but 
 of many others with which you are all well ac- 
 quainted, and which have exercised, and will 
 continue to exercise, the most beneficial in- 
 fluence over every rank in society, in every 
 country where his language is known, or who 
 have the good fortune to possess a translation 
 of his works. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Wallace begged to direct 
 
 the attention of the company to " The Cottar's 
 Saturday Night." He would not undertake 
 to pass a eulogy on this celebrated production, 
 nor would he think of analysing it and detail- 
 ing its contents. But there were one or two 
 things he would like to single out, and for a 
 moment or two fix the mind of the audience 
 upon them. First of all, it was very striking 
 with what exactness Burns caught the leading 
 features of Christianity, and with what com- 
 prehensiveness, beauty, and simplicity of lan- 
 guage, in a single line he stated it, " How 
 guiltless blood for guilty man was shed." 
 From this, as from a centre, the whole system 
 of gospel truth may be evolved. Again, with 
 what truthfulness and beauty does Burns de- 
 scribe and enforce the nature of true worship. 
 Stamping with the foot of his rejection all 
 ritualistic and ostentatious forms, he translates 
 the very spirit of our Master's words into the 
 language of poetry — 
 
 " Compared with this how poor Eeligion's pride, 
 In all the pomp of method and of art, 
 When men display to congregations wide 
 Devotion's every grace, except the heart!" 
 
 Let me once more solicit your attention to 
 Burns' appreciation of Scotland's character and 
 glory— 
 
 " From scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur springs, 
 That makes her lov'd at home, revered abroad ; " 
 
 And to the warm affection he cherished for 
 his country — 
 
 " Scotia ! my dear, my native soil, 
 For whom my warmest wish to Heaven is sent." 
 
 And now let me add a general remark. What- 
 ever was the evil connected with Burns during 
 life, and undoubtedly to it we ought not to be 
 blind, any more than to truth of any kind, that 
 evil was local, personal, temporary. The good. 
 Sir, resulting from this single poem is, and will 
 be, great, general, and permanent. Wherever 
 Scotchmen go, and that is wherever there is 
 earth to tread on, or seas to navigate, or trade 
 or commerce to pursue, or war to wage in de- 
 fence of their country, there will this poem 
 carry a testimony to what was the character of 
 the Scottish peasantry in Burns' days ; and by 
 the fact of doing so it will tend to perpetuate 
 that character in the persons of their descend- 
 ants. 
 
 Appropriate songs were sung by Messrs. Neil, 
 Calderwood, Kelly, Wilson, Shaw, &c., Mr. Neil lead- 
 ing the music department in his usual masterly style. 
 
 BALLATER.— The Burns Centenary was 
 quietly, but very heartily celebrated here. 
 Several parties met in Mr. Ross's Hotel, and 
 passed the evening very pleasantly with songs 
 
174 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 and speeches, in connexion with tlie event ; 
 and other social parties met in the village to 
 pass a friendly hour. 
 
 BALMORAL.— The tradesmen of Balmoral, 
 along with a few of their friends, assembled 
 together at Inver, in order to celebrate the 
 Centenary of our immortal Bard. After a 
 most substantial dinner, prepared by Mrs. 
 Leys at the Inn, the table was covered with 
 punch bowls, "reamin' fu'," when, following 
 the usual complimentary toasts — which, as 
 may be imagined, were here received with 
 great gusto — " The Memory of Burns " was 
 given from the chair in an appropriate speech, 
 and received with the utmost enthusiasm. 
 Throughout the evening, many of the songs 
 of Burns were sung with hearty glee and good 
 taste. "Tarn o' Shanter" was recited by Mr. 
 Wallace with very good effect; "The Whistle," 
 by Mr. Henderson, deserves creditable mention ; 
 as also the "Address to a Scotch Haggis," by 
 Mr. Valentine. These were appropriately in- 
 termingled with suitable speeches by various 
 gentlemen of the party. Mr. Beaton, the over- 
 seer _of the workmen at Balmoral, in a few fit- 
 ting words, proposed the " Health of Dr. Rob- 
 ertson, of Indego," which was very heartily 
 responded to by the company. After sundry 
 other toasts, and the singing of " Auld Lang- 
 syne," the party separated about eleven o'clock, 
 liighly gratified with the evening's entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 BANCHORY.— The people here held a half- 
 holiday, the earlier portion of which was de- 
 voted to an eloquent lecture, delivered in the 
 Congregational Chapel, by the well known 
 scholar, Francis Adams, Esq., LL.D. The 
 lecture was a thrilling one. He gave his opin- 
 ion of Burns in these words: — This is in many 
 respects a most memorable day in Scotland. I 
 may say, in the language of our poet, 
 
 "I've seen yon weary winter-sun 
 Twice thirty times return, 
 
 and yet I have never beheld a public demon- 
 stration at all resembling the present. On 
 this day — on this honoured day — tlie Scottish 
 people, whether at home or scattered over 
 Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, will, with 
 universal acclaim, salute Robert Burns as their 
 national poet. . . . Whatever is beautiful, 
 and whatever is dreadful in nature around her, 
 were rendered familiar to his imagination ; he 
 became conversant witli whatever is awfully 
 ■vast or elegantly littJe. The plants of the 
 garden — the fowls of the air — the creatures of 
 the woods — the minerals of the earth — and the 
 meteors of the sky, concurred to store liis mind 
 
 with an inexhaustible supjjly of natural im- 
 agery, and hence his unrivalled skill in giving 
 the genuine hues of nature to his descriptions, 
 in expanding the mind with new ideas, and in 
 gratifying his readers with a copious diversity 
 of illustrations. In this respect, the Ayrshire 
 poet, it appears to me, surpasses all the great 
 poets both of ancient and of modern times. . It 
 is true, some of the didactic poets, such as 
 Virgil and Thomson, may describe rural objects 
 with more minuteness and accuracy of detail. 
 But then, on the other hand, they want his 
 lofty imagination and deep-toned expression of 
 feeling. Here the Ayrshire peasant shows his 
 superiority; they are too scientific to be truly 
 poetic. He understands the true essence of 
 poetry better than they. He fills the mind 
 with large appearances; they cramp and fatigue 
 it by a display of minute objects and circum- 
 stances. To a familiarity with inanimate na- 
 ture he added a most accurate acquaintance 
 with all the modes of human life around him, 
 from " the jolly beggar with his towzie drab " 
 up to his " Honour ; " and this knowledge em- 
 braced everything imaginable relating to the 
 pursuits, the hopes, the fears, the superstitions 
 of the Scottish peasantry; and (what seems 
 more remarkable), whether by reading or con- 
 versation, he had formed a wonderfully correct 
 estimate of character, in the higher grades of 
 societ}', from which he was debarred by his 
 position. No poet was ever better acquainted 
 with the vices and virtues of the human heart 
 in every imaginable situation of life. . . . 
 He set about his work enthusiastically, ear- 
 nestly, and confidently; and when any work is 
 undertaken in such a spirit, who need wonder 
 at its success ? His " Vision," " Death and Dr. 
 Hornbook," "Address to the Deil," " The Holy 
 Fair," " Tam o' Shanter," and the war-song of 
 Bannookburn, are far above a comparison with 
 any productions of the same stamp, whether 
 in ancient or modern times. What strikes a 
 scholar most forcibly in them is their origi- 
 nality. Whoever has been in the habit of study- 
 ing methodically the literature of many lan- 
 guages, and tracing it to its fountain-head, will 
 admit his disappointment at finding so little 
 that is new, either in design or execution, in 
 the works of later poets. Almost every writer 
 copies closely from his predecessor, merely 
 adapting the thoughts and the imagery to the 
 tastes and habits of his ownjime. But where 
 shall we find anything resembling, for example, 
 " Tam o' Shanter," either in the boldness of 
 t]>e conception or in the originality of the im- 
 agery ? And here, by the way, I must adopt 
 the present opportunity of recording the judo-- 
 ment of the most learned divine, I verily be- 
 lieve, which Britain can at present boast of, and, 
 
BANCHORY. 
 
 175 
 
 moreover, himself a very distlnguislied poet — I 
 mean the Very Rev. Dr. Milman of London. 
 Talking with him on the beauties of this poem, 
 he agreed with me that, although there is no- 
 thing more rare in poetical composition than a 
 new simile or comparison, more especially on 
 so trite a subject as the evanescent nature of 
 human enjoyment, all the four similitudes in 
 the following wonderful passage are original to 
 the best of his knowledge: — 
 
 " But pleasures are like poppies spread, &c." 
 
 Burns in his compositions displays a versatility 
 of talent of which the world has scarcely seen 
 an example, especially in his lyrical poetry, 
 wherein his performances are of the most varied 
 character, from the solemn hymn and spirit- 
 stirring war-song down to the Bacchanalian 
 catch and the delicious love-song. Though I 
 have no scientific acquaintance with music, I 
 think I have sufficient skill in iliese matters to 
 be entitled to say that the amatory odes surpass, 
 in the simple expression of natural affection, 
 everything of the kind which has come down to 
 us from antiquity. Such are " Green grow 
 the rashes, 0," and the " O, Phillis." The 
 catches or drinking songs of the Greeks and 
 Romans are as spirited and exciting as can well 
 be imagined, and yet they cannot well surpass 
 his "John Barleycorn" and many more effu- 
 sions of the same stamp. The war-song on 
 Bannockburn touches a chord in the heart of 
 every Scotchman, and that is enough. A 
 stranger, or a cosmopolite (so to speak), I 
 should think, might fancy that some of the war- 
 songs of Campbell and the " Marseillaise " of 
 the French contained fully as strong an ex- 
 pression of martial energy as the " Scots wha 
 hae," &c. ; but what of that ? It is indispu- 
 tably the national war-song of Scotland, and 
 that is enough. It is to us what the war-songs 
 of Alcseus must have been to the ancient 
 Greeks. In his hymus and psalms I think I 
 recognise the genuine spirit of piety ; that is to 
 say, they contain a felicitous combination of an 
 intellectual with a devotional conception of a 
 Supreme Being, such as in the hymn beginning 
 •with — 
 
 " 0, thou Great Being, what tliou art 
 Surpasses me to know, 
 Yet sure I am that known to Thee 
 Are all thy works below." 
 
 Here, again, I feel that I cannot, with any 
 propriety, shirk the question, " Was Burns an 
 irreligious and immoral writer ? " To this I 
 answer deliberately that the stanza just quoted 
 proves that he entertained both a rational and 
 devotional conception of the Divinity; and in- 
 numerable passages might be taken from his 
 
 other works, both in prose and verse, all breath- 
 ing a lofty spirit of morality. His own declara- 
 tion of his creed in his letter to Mrs. Dunlop 
 has been often quoted, and is well known; and 
 I repeat, he was a man who would have scorned 
 to conceal the sentiments of his heart. That 
 Burns, then, was deeply imbued with a sense of 
 religion and honour I am fully persuaded, and 
 to admit that his works have an immoral 
 tendency would be to cast a foul suspicion on 
 some of my most virtuous and religious^iends 
 upon earth — both clergymen and laymen — 
 who, like myself, have been devoted admirers 
 of Burns. Those who judge harshly of Burns 
 are generally cold-blooded formalists in reli- 
 gion, and these are not the persons to sit in 
 judgment on him on whom (assuredly for some 
 noble purpose) his Great Creator had bestowed 
 
 " The thrilling frame and eagle spirit of a child of 
 song." 
 
 My own estimate of Burns' moral conduct dur- 
 ing " the few and weary days of his sojourn 
 here below " may be given in a few words. He 
 had his sins and his follies ; alas ! who is there 
 among us that has not ? But it is my deliberate 
 opinion that, to the best of his ability, he always 
 did justice, loved mercy, and walked humbly 
 with his God ; that if he saw a fellow-creature 
 an hungered, none could be more prompt to 
 give him food, — if athirst, to give him drink, or 
 if in prison, to minister to him. Is not this the 
 true spirit of Christianity ? Let us join, then, 
 in the prayer of Wordsworth, who himself had 
 a deep sympathy with nature, and the poet of 
 Nature — 
 
 " Sweet Mercy ! to the gates of heaven 
 This minstrel lead, his sins forgiven ; 
 The rueful conflict, the heart riven 
 
 With vain endeavour, 
 And memory of Earth's bitter leaven 
 Effaced for ever. 
 
 But why to him confine the prayer, 
 
 When kindred thoughts and yearnings bear 
 
 On the frail heart the purest share 
 
 With all who live ? 
 The best of what we do and are, 
 
 Just God, forgive! 
 
 But here I shall be asked, " What do you say 
 in defence of the profanity and obscenity con- 
 tained in ' Death and Dr. Hornbook,' ' The 
 Holy Fair,' and ' The Jolly Beggars ? '" To 
 this I answer, he was a great master in writing 
 satire, which, along with comedy, had always 
 been written in that style. Burns was a citizen 
 of the w^orld, and painted life as it existed in 
 his days, and in the only way it had ever been 
 painted. If Burns had lived in our days he 
 would have done differently, or, what is more 
 likely, M'ould not have ventured on the task of 
 
176 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 turning the follies of the age into ridicule. Let 
 it not be forgotten, if Burns be coarse in the 
 language of his satire, that Pope, Dryden, and 
 Swift were more so ; that Shakspeare and 
 Chaucer were worse than they; that Babelais, 
 the great master of modern satire, surpasses all 
 who have succeeded him in the coarseness of 
 his tastes, he having copied the example of the 
 great comic and satirical authors of antiquity, 
 such as Horace, Lucian, and Aristophanes. Are 
 all the»e to be condemned to destruction, along 
 with the comparatively pure works of the Ayr- 
 shire bard, who probably fancied, in his sim- 
 plicity, that he was doing no harm as long as 
 he copied only the usages of the " good old 
 times ? " This would be, indeed, to commit sad 
 havoc among the works of the Immortals ! Let 
 it never be forgotten that these authors, from 
 the great master of broad humour in Athens 
 down to our native poet, though they give us 
 many things which the tastes of the present 
 age would resile from, were all, or most of them, 
 the friends of virtue, both public and domestic, 
 and that their works abound in passages re- 
 splendent with the grandest moral and religious 
 truths. All fancied it to be their mission to 
 hold up the mirror and reflect the minor vices 
 and follies of their contemporaries. Coarse- 
 ness in speaking or in writing was a thing that 
 concerned the manners rather than the morals, 
 and, so to speak, merely affected the surface of 
 character. In this respect it was akin to filthi- 
 ness in personal habits. It did not follow, be- 
 cause a man had a foul skin or spoke coarsely 
 at times, that he was corrupt to the core. In 
 short, the heart might be clean, although the 
 skin was foul. . . . Burns wrote to please 
 and instruct the common people of Scotland. 
 He despised the opinions of small bodies of 
 men, and addressed himself to the feelings and 
 understandings of the million. They heard his 
 voice, engraved his words on their hearts, and 
 it is they that now rise to do him honour. If 
 not many nobles of the land join in our demon- 
 strations to-day, this only shows their want of 
 taste. He was never ashamed of his own 
 " order," and why should he 1 Though he was 
 born and lived a peasant, he felt that he was 
 one of the nobles of nature. An ancient poet, 
 who flourished about nineteen centuries ago, in 
 pronouncing an eulogium on his great prede- 
 cessors, says of Homer that " he will live while 
 Tenedos and Ida shall stand, and while Simois 
 shall roll its rapid waters to the sea" — that is 
 to say, as long as the natural scenery celebrated 
 in his deathless strains shall subsist. In a like 
 spirit I venture to predict that the name of 
 Burns will live in Scotland, and in the hearts 
 of the Scottish race, while the present order of 
 things shall endure — while the lowly daisy, the 
 
 green hawthorn, and the long yellow broom 
 shall continue to blossom on 
 
 " The banks and braes o' bonnie Boon ; " 
 
 that, while there is a true Scottish heart in the 
 land, it will join proudly in singing the 
 
 " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled; " 
 
 and be melted into tenderness by the lofty ex- 
 pression of that grand moral truth — 
 
 " What makes the fireside a happy clime 
 To weans and wife ; 
 That's the true pathos and sublime 
 0' human life." 
 
 The Dinner.— The dinner took place in a 
 wooden building, abundantly decorated with 
 evergreens inside, and displaying a couple of 
 flags over the roof, adjacent to the Douglas 
 Arms Hotel. 
 
 Dr. Adams occupied the chair, and Mr. 
 Hall, railway contractor, was cr»upier. Among 
 those present were — Rev. Mr. M'Connachie, 
 Strachan ; Rev. Mr. Logic, Roman Catholic 
 Clergyman ; Rev. Mr. Bruce ; Captain David- 
 son, Inchmarlo ; Mr. J. Adams ; Dr. Dun- 
 can ; Mr. Burnett ; Mr. Dean, locomotive 
 superintendent, Deeside Railway ; Mr. J. Hun- 
 ter ; Mr. Grant, Burnett Arms Hotel, &c., the 
 company numbering in all towards two hun- 
 dred. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. M'Connachie said grace ; and 
 a substantial dinner, furnished by Mr. Wright, 
 having been discussed, 
 
 Rev. Mr. Logie returned thanks. 
 
 The Chairman then, in felicitous terms, 
 gave " the Queen." Drunk with aU the hon- 
 ours, the Banchory instrumental band playing 
 the national anthem, which was also sung in 
 excellent style by Captain Davidson and Mr. 
 T. Davidson. 
 
 The other loyal and patriotic toasts followed 
 from the chair, the brief remarks that intro- 
 duced each being in the most happy way made 
 to bear reference to him they had met to com- 
 memorate. "The Army and Navy" was re- 
 plied to by Captain Davidson. 
 
 The Chairman then gave the toast of the 
 evening — "The immortal memory of Burns, 
 with all the honours." He said, having already 
 spoken his sentiments upon the subject, he had 
 only a little further explanation to make in 
 connection with the toast. Some might think 
 it a mournful toast, but they were met to cele- 
 brate the birth of Burns, not his funeral. 
 Therefore he asked them to drink the toast 
 with all the honours. Suppose the " childie" 
 born— and they all knew about the domestic 
 surroundings of such an event— (laughter)— 
 Agnes Brown or Burns receives it into her 
 
BANFF. 
 
 177 
 
 arras. There is no mother on earth hnt fancies 
 tliat her son is to become a hero. Man comes 
 into the world a helpless creature, but there is 
 a bosom that beats warm to him — no object so 
 tenacious of its heat and warmth as the bosom 
 of a mother. (Applause.) Doubtless Agnes 
 Brown thought her son, too, would be a gallant 
 lad ; but did she or could any one expect that 
 this child, born in a clay cottage — that the name 
 of this youth would be more distinguished and 
 better remembered than that of tlie prime min- 
 ister — ay, than that of the monarch of the day. 
 (Loud (Aeers.) The Chairman, in concluding, 
 adverted to the obligations under which Burns 
 — the most triumphant national poet the earth 
 has ever produced — has laid various classes in 
 Scotland. The toast was drunk with all the 
 honours. 
 
 "The Sons of Burns," "The Clergy," and 
 various other toasts were proposed. 
 
 In the evening a spirited bafl came off in the 
 building where the dinner took place. 
 
 BANFF. — In Banff, after noon, business was 
 generally suspended, banks, warehouses, and 
 workshops being all but universally shut. About 
 two, a procession was formed, consisting of a 
 numerous body of the Masons of St. John's 
 Lodge, the Hammermen, and a miscellaneous 
 addition of other trades. Preceded by a band, 
 they walked the streets during the afternoon, 
 and created no little excitement. They carried 
 various trades' flags, and one bearing the 
 motto, " Honest Poverty." Little else was to 
 be seen outside except preparations going on 
 for the evening meetings. 
 
 The " Grand Festival," under the auspices 
 of the Council, took place at six, in St. Andrew's 
 new Mason Lodge, Castle Street, which was 
 admirably fitted up for the occasion. The 
 attendance comprised 290, and included a great 
 portion of the most respectable inhabitants. 
 
 Provost Duncan having taken the cliair, 
 amid applause, tea was served in a style not 
 unworthy of the most fashionable drawing- 
 room. Tlie Provost, in a very happy introduc- 
 tory speech, stated the grounds on which the 
 Council felt themselves bound to take up the 
 carrying out of this meeting, the arrangements 
 for which had been almost completed by a 
 committee before the Council were applied to ; 
 and if there were wanting any proof that the 
 community in general sympathised with the 
 view the Council had taken, they had only to 
 look around them to this large and respectable 
 meeting for sufficient testimonj' of it. (Ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 After a few songs had been sung. Provost 
 Dunciin said he had a letter from the Eev. Dr. 
 Bremner, regretting his inability to attend, in 
 
 consequence of being called out of town on a 
 business engagement, and introduced the Re\'. 
 Mr. Grant, Boyndie, who had kindly under- 
 taken to give a short address. 
 
 Mr. Grant said he might truly say that it 
 had not been in the annals of Scotland that a 
 like or more general response was given to the 
 expression of the nation's feelings on any other 
 human subject almost, or to any other man, 
 than is this day awarded to the memory of her 
 national bard. There is scarce a city or town, 
 village or hamlet, "from Maidenkirk to John 
 o' Groat's," in which the people are not assem- 
 bled to honour the once existence of him who 
 wrote and sung so graphically and sweetly of 
 what thrills and speaks home to the breast of 
 every leal-hearted honest man. (Applause.) 
 Who amongst us does not well remember hav- 
 ing, in times of youth, listened to the words of 
 Robert Burns, as speaking to them of Scot- 
 land's rights, Scotland's sympathies, her habits, 
 customs, and associations, more especially 
 among the class on whom her stability is so 
 much dependent — the peasantry of the land. 
 (Applause.) Nor did he fail to utter senti- 
 ments worthy of one whose mind was actuated 
 by that which is only right. The " Cottar's 
 Saturday Night " has in it what shows that, 
 while he would ridicule abuses, and oppose 
 fanaticism, and bring discredit on oppression, 
 he still had respect and reverence for what 
 lias dependence on a due sense of trust in a 
 Supreme Power. (Cheers.) The scene of the 
 patriarchal sage opening up the big ha' Bible 
 to read from out of it to his family ere the 
 duties of the week were concluded, is in clear 
 and ample support of this. We fear not to 
 place the entire portrait of this part of the 
 Cottar's Saturday Night's devotions in contrast, 
 both for simplicitj' and pathos, with anything 
 else that has been written by man of what has 
 long formed the characteristics of the inhabit- 
 ants of our fatherland. (Applause.) And who 
 has told us more beautifully of the rustic pas- 
 toral wishes and feelings of our people than 
 Robert Burns ? Who has extolled their inno- 
 cent pleasures and enjoyments more freely, to 
 an extent which has made deep impression, not 
 merely when their native hills and dales were 
 around them, but when their children have 
 emigrated from their homes and country, and 
 have toiled under a tropical sun, or lived in 
 still more inhospitable regions, either when 
 engaged in mercantile pursuits, or when facing 
 an enemy to be crowned with victory, as they 
 — and particularly our own Highlanders — have 
 always been. By the watchflre in meetings of 
 Scotchmen in all lands, the language of Burns 
 has opened a door to the heart that either has 
 stimulated to further deeds of daring, or bound 
 Jt 
 
178 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 the hearers together by strong and brotherly 
 ties. Mr. Grant alluded very touchingly to 
 the power of our national music — which was 
 often coupled with the words of their poet — 
 instancing what it had done in inciting our 
 heroes in the relief of Oawnpore, and concluded 
 by reading with great taste, " Man was Made 
 to Mourn." 
 
 "A Man's a Man for a' that," by Mr. For- 
 rest, some instrumental music, and "Afton 
 Water," by Mr. Smith, was succeeded by an 
 address by the Eev. Mr. Gregor, Macduff, in 
 tlie course of which he said, — Without any train- 
 ing, without dignity of birth, without patron- 
 age, from the midst of lowly life, of poverty, 
 ill health, and hard toil. Burns strode into the 
 world's arena, threw down his gauntlet, and 
 challenged to mortal combat all that was false 
 and hollow; he stepped into the circle of card- 
 phiying, marriage-trafficking ladies, and cold- 
 hearted "fine gentlemen," tabled his patent 
 of nobility — kingship registered in Heaven's 
 Chancery. All men, from the peer to the 
 peasant, looked up and saw a true " king of 
 men," and bowed the head in homage. We, 
 too, bow in homage to the same. He came 
 before the world a wonder, a prodigy, a giant, 
 with a heart glowing witli love for everything 
 that was great, and good, and noble, and burn- 
 ing with hatred at everything which savoured 
 of meanness, cant, and hypocrisy. He spoke, 
 and every ear was open. How did Burns gain 
 this power? Because he wrote what was right. 
 A great writer has laid this down as an axiom, 
 " The proof of a thing's being right is that 
 it has power over the heart, that it excites 
 us, helps us." Judge him by this standard, 
 and no man ever wrote more things true, and 
 beautiful, and touching, and right, than he who 
 walked 
 
 " In glory and in joy, 
 
 Following his plough along the mountain side." 
 
 Theological disputes (Mr. G. continued) were 
 fierce and bitter. Burns entered into them 
 with all the ardour of an earnest honest soul. 
 His keen eye pierced through the hypocrisy 
 and cant, and isms, and ologies in which the 
 simple faith in Christ had been wrapped up. 
 He saw tliat the form had been, but in too 
 many cases, set up for the real substance. 
 Bitter dogmatism had been substituted for 
 humility, faith, and love. Burns came down 
 with his sledge-hammer of satire, and smashed 
 tiie calf to shivers, to tiie horror of its devout 
 worshippers. His " Holy Fair" is a true pic- 
 ture. " Holy Willie's Prayer" does not con- 
 tain Burns' opinions, but the opinions of the 
 idtra-Calvinistie party. As pieces of satire thev 
 are exquisite, and it is said had good effect. 
 For these he has been set down as a blasphemer, 
 
 and at the time he gave them to the world, ho 
 incurred the odium of many a blackcoat. He 
 was feared and hated; and, because his pen 
 could not be stopped, the cry of ". Eeligion in 
 Danger" was raised. Let me say that, in my 
 opinion, danger does not come to religion from 
 men like Burns, but from its friends who are 
 becoming such adepts at the arithmetic of con- 
 version. 
 
 The singers were much applauded. Mr. 
 Joiner's powers in caricature quite electrified 
 the audience. Votes of thanks were proposed 
 to the Provost for his conduct in the chair, to 
 the Council for their aid in getting up the 
 meeting, to the speakers, and to the singers, 
 the whole company joining in "Auld Lang- 
 syne" as a finale, and separating about half- 
 past ten. 
 
 The members of St. John's Mason Lodge, 
 their friends, and several ladies, sat down to 
 supper in the Lodge. 
 
 The Chairman (Mr. Bairnsfather, E.W.M.) 
 proposed " The Memory of Burns." He gave 
 some interesting reminiscences of the poet 
 which had come to his own knowledge. He 
 was acquainted with a lady who was at school 
 with the poet, and received from him a copy of 
 the first edition of his poems, which she kept 
 till the day of her death. Her daughter is now 
 in Banff, and was through indisposition pre- 
 vented from attending the supper. 
 
 Several songs were sung, and toasts were proposed, 
 and the evening's amusements were terminated by a 
 dance. 
 
 The Hammermen, after their afternoon pro- 
 cession, had tea in the Ship Tavern, a party of 
 about thirty, being presided over by Mr. 
 Stevenson, blacksmith, Mr. Roger, moulder, 
 acting as croupier. Several toasts followed ; 
 Messrs. Still and Roger gave each readings 
 from Burns, and Mr. Paton recited some pieces 
 of poetrj' of his own composition. The pro- 
 ceedings were much enlivened with numerous 
 songs by Messrs. Joseph Chapman, George, 
 William, and John Allan, and instrumental 
 music by Messrs. John Chapman, John Allan, 
 and Thomas Watson. 
 
 BANKFOOT.— On the evening of the 2Dth, 
 a party of twenty partook of an excellent sup- 
 per in Mr. Reid's Athole Tavern — Mr. Patton, 
 Obnie, in the chair; Mr. Millar, New Inn, 
 croupier. 
 
 After the usual routine toasts, the Chairman, 
 in a few appropriate remarks, introduced the 
 toast of the evening, " The Memory of Burns," 
 which was duly honoured. Owing to the sud- 
 den getting Up of the affair (it being agreed 
 upon only late on the night previous), there 
 was no regular programme; but every one 
 
B A NNOCKBURN— BA RBHE AD. 
 
 179. 
 
 called upon showed a creditable willingness to 
 add his mite to the entertainment of the even- 
 ing. We had some excellent recitations and 
 readings from Burns, while Mr. D. Gow gave 
 a number of his songs in his best style. A 
 gentleman present read an elaborate essay on 
 the comparative merits of a vast coterie of 
 poets and poetesses, which concluded with a 
 high enlogium on the genius of Burns. On 
 the toast of " The Living Poets " being drunk, 
 it brought our village poet to his feet, who 
 gave us a few verses suitable for the occasion. 
 After a vote of thanks to Mr. Patton for his 
 excellent conduct in the chair, the whole party 
 joined in singing "Auld Langsyne," and broke 
 up at eleven o'clock, to prevent Mr. F. Mac- 
 kenzie from coming in, and breaking up the 
 harmony that prevailed throughout the even- 
 ing. We must add, in justice to Mrs. Eeid, 
 that the supper was everything that could be 
 desired, every one present being highly pleased 
 with the arrangements. 
 
 BANNOCKBUEN.—Theinhabitants having 
 agreed to celebrate the centenary of our great 
 national poet by a torch-light procession and a 
 soiree, and having made the necessary arrange- 
 ments, notwithstanding the very impropitious 
 state of the weather, a large muster of the 
 inhabitants, accompanied by two instrumental 
 bands, and two pipers in the "garb of old 
 Gaul," paraded the town, and returned to their 
 place of muster, the town-hall, in which ar- 
 rangements for the soiree had been completed. 
 The chair was taken at seven o'clock by Alex- 
 iinder Wilson, jun., Esq. On the platform we 
 observed a great many of the most influential 
 inhabitants of the place, along with the mem- 
 bers of the Bannockburn Eclectic Society, and 
 a selection of the best singers in the neighbour- 
 hood. The instrumental band was also in at- 
 tendance, and opened the proceedings by play- 
 ing the national air, " Scots wha hae ; " they 
 also contributed to the entertainment of the 
 meeting. After partaking of a substantial tea, 
 the more peculiar business of the evening was 
 commenced by an address from the Chair, in 
 which tlie generosity and genius of Burns were 
 exhibited, and the patriotism, humour, pathos, 
 and high literary excellence of his poetry de- 
 scribed. The speech was one of great power, 
 and exhibited a thorough acquaintance and 
 sympathy with the writings of the poet, as 
 well as a profound respect for his memory as 
 a man and a patriot. The other speakers and 
 tlieir subjects were — Mr. Charles Liddle, on 
 "Scottish Nationality;" Mr. Henry Stirling, 
 on "Genius;" Mr. Andrew Liddle, on "Poetry 
 and Poets;" Mr. Thomas Forfar, on "Burns 
 as a Reformer and Patriot;" Mr. Charles Jen- 
 
 kins, on " The Personal Character of Burns ; " 
 Mr. James C. Hunter, on " The Genius dis- 
 played in the Poem, Tarn o' Slianter;" and 
 Mr. J. M'Donald, on " The meanness of at- 
 tacking the Memory of the Poet." The sing- 
 ing was of a very superior description, and 
 each address was followed by songs selected 
 from the writings of the poet, illustrative of 
 the sentiments expressed by the speaker. The 
 company, which was very numerous and highly 
 respectable, after giving hearty votes of thanks 
 to the Chairman, and others actively employed 
 in the proceedings, broke up at a late hour. — 
 The surplus funds have been appropriated by 
 the Bannockburn Eclectic Society, as managers 
 of the soiree, for purchasing books to be dis- 
 tributed as prizes to the scholars attending the 
 public school at the next annual examination. 
 
 BARRHEAD. — The centenary festivals in 
 honour of the Poet Burns, which have excited 
 here so much interest and enthusiasm, passed 
 over with great success, and were in every re- 
 spect up to the anticipation of the most sanguine 
 of the Poet's admirers, and were highly credi- 
 table to the place and the occasion. The fa 
 vourite meeting of the inhabitants was tho 
 soiree held in Arthurlie Street Church, every 
 available space of which was filled by a highly 
 respectable audience, and was one of the finest 
 meetings ever held in this place. The decorum 
 was above all praise, and the interest in the 
 proceedings was kept up till tlie close. The 
 meeting was ably presided over by Mr. John 
 Lindsay, a literary jewel — a working man — 
 loved by all for his quiet unostentatious dig- 
 nity of character ; and though he was sur- 
 rounded by gentlemen of higher social position, 
 yet he was called unanimously to the honour- 
 able post he occupied on this occasion, and 
 was acknowledged to be "the right man in the 
 right place." 
 
 The centenary dinner, which took place in 
 Arthurlie Inn, was presided over by A. Graham, 
 Esq., of Capellie, Francis Heys, Esq., acting 
 as croupier, both of whom discharged the on- 
 erous duties devolving upon them with the 
 greatest efficiency and urbanity. About forty 
 gentlemen sat down to a sumptuous dinner, 
 provided for them by Mr. Gillies. The Chair- 
 man, after the removal of the cloth, proposed 
 the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, which being 
 done, he proceeded by giving the toast of the 
 evening — " The Memory of Burns " — in a 
 speech of considerable length, in which he dis- 
 played eloquence and mind, and which was a 
 fitting and 'noble tribute to the bard. Mr. 
 Peter Cunningham, Mr. John Cunningham, 
 George Heys, Esq., and Henry Heys, Esq., 
 also spoke at length on the centenary occasion 
 
180 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 in words sparkling with genius and brilliancy 
 of thought — all of them doing honour to the 
 great event of January 25th, 1859— the first 
 centenary of Scotland's bard. Several other 
 toasts were proposed and responded to ; and 
 the meeting, as a whole, was another testimony 
 that the Ayrshire Ploughman is the Poet of 
 the nation, and that his memory is safely en- 
 shrined in the hearts of the people. 
 
 The male portion of the workers connected 
 with Messrs. J. & E. Cogau's weaving factory, 
 Barrhead, met in the house of Mr. David 
 Mackie, on the evening of the 25th, in honour 
 of the above occasion. After partaking of 
 an excellent dinner, the cloth being removed 
 and the usual loyal toasts having been warmly 
 responded to, the Chairman, in a neat and 
 appropriate speech, proposed the toast of the 
 evening, " The Memory of Eobert Burns." 
 Other toasts suitable for the occasion were 
 proposed and acknowledged. A number of 
 the bard's most popular sjngs were sung, and 
 a few pieces recited, in fine style, by several 
 gentlemen present. Altogether the meeting 
 was a most happy one, and the arrangements 
 reflected great credit on the landlord, Mr. 
 Mackie. 
 
 BATHGrATE.— Bathgate, too, has been pay- 
 ing its meed of honour to the immortal memory 
 of our national poet. A hundred gentlemen 
 sat down to dinner in commemoration of that 
 event, in Robertson's Hotel. The chair was 
 ably filled by Thomas D. Weir, Esq., of Bog- 
 head, supported on the right and left by Pro- 
 vost M'Kinlay, and the Rev. James Scott of 
 the U. P. church ; while the croupier's chair 
 was as ably filled by Bailie Thomas Young, 
 supported by Messrs. John Wallace and John 
 Spiers. After doing ample justice to the viands 
 set before them, and the removal of the cloth, 
 the Chairman gave in succession, "The Queen," 
 " Prince Albert," " The Army," and " The 
 Navy," which were drunk with great enthusi- 
 asm. The Chairman then gave "Provost 
 M'Kinlay and the Magistrates of Bathgate." 
 To this Provost M'Kinlay replied in . a few 
 sentences. Mr. Cochrane, of Broxburn, then 
 sung, " A man's a man for a' that." 
 
 The Chairman then called on Mr. Inglis, 
 Rector of the Academy, for a toast, who, on 
 rising, spoke as follows : — It is not in Kyle, 
 not in Scotland, not in Europe alone that 
 the name of Burns is this evening celebrated, 
 but in every region where the pulse of Scotch- 
 men beats warm for the " land o' cakes." In 
 the tented plains of Hindostan, amid the 
 alarms of war and the distempers of a sickly 
 clime, the brave defenders of our country, as 
 they recall their school-boy days, or the more 
 
 exciting interests of youthful manhood, join in 
 hearty chorus, with a pathos we can never 
 know, singing — 
 
 " Shoald auld acquaintance be forgot, 
 And never brought to mind ; 
 Should auld acquaintance be foi'got, 
 And the days o' auld langsyne.' 
 
 On the banks of Ontario the pining emigrant, 
 whose heart yet lingers amid the scenes of 
 happiness and virtue he has left in the land of 
 his birth, exclaims with rapt emotion :— 
 
 "From scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur springs, 
 That makes lier lov'd at home, rever'd abroad; 
 Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, 
 An honest man's the noblest work of God." 
 
 From pole to pole, and from Pekin to Van- 
 couver's Island, the centenary of Burns will 
 command a burst of exultation, because it em- 
 phatically tells us that there are talents and 
 energies in the lowliest walks of Scottish life 
 which, when developed, are capable of con- 
 ducting to immortal renown, and because it 
 proclaims that the portals of distinction are 
 open alike to the son of peasant and of peer. 
 Even now, amid the soaring peaks of Fame's 
 lofty eminence, where our bard has long been 
 enshrined, a sound like the booming noise of 
 distant thunder rolls down its craggy sides, 
 and echoes in the valleys below. Excelsior, 
 Excelsior. Burns was truly a natural genius, 
 and, in paying a tribute to his memory, we are 
 but laying our offerings on the shrine of Nature. 
 No doubt bis education was superior to what 
 generally falls to the lot of those who whistle 
 at the plough, but he drew his inspiration not 
 from academic groves, but from living objects 
 and natural affections. 
 
 " The simple hard, rough at the rustic plough, 
 Learned his tuneful art from every bough." 
 
 His hearty, homely, unaffected mode of expres- 
 sion — ^liis wit, keen and sparkling — his broad, 
 native humour, which moves an outright, invol- 
 untary laugh — his vivid and glowing imagina- 
 tion — his bold and striking images — the prac-, 
 tical maxims, and fine moral reflections drawn 
 from simple incidents — the fulness and force 
 with which he expresses the natural passions 
 and emotions of the human heart — his unex- 
 pected turns of thought which we not inaptly 
 term ready-wit, and which are recognised as 
 scintillations of poetic genius, entitle him, in my 
 estimation, to be ranked, in point of intellectual 
 endowments, amongst the foremost of Nature's 
 gifted sons. He has made us look with a more 
 kindly eye on the " hamely fare " and the 
 "hodden grey;" on the horny hand, and the 
 broad Scotch dialect — the language of our 
 
BATHGATE— BEATTOCK. 
 
 181 
 
 grancKii-es. He has added dignity to honest 
 industry, and divested poverty of half its ills. 
 The dominant element of his nature evinced 
 itself in the two prominent features of a warm, 
 full heart, and a manly, independent mind. 
 These qualities in combination gave its deep 
 tinge to his patriotism, and prompted him, when 
 yet a boy, to follow the sound of the drum with 
 the martial spirit of a Wallace or a Bruce. To 
 my eye, these are the leading colours that ran 
 through the whole web of his life and poetry. 
 At a time when select expression and harmo- 
 nious numbers were held in higher repute than 
 sense and sympathy, Burns, impelled by a fervid 
 temperament, strove to pour into the warm 
 hearts of his countrymen the burning emotions 
 his own could no longer contain. He aimed 
 not to please the coy ear of a learned criticism, 
 nor to inhale the sickly breath of a squeamish 
 taste; but to cheer the heart of languid toil by 
 sentiments expressed in the homely garb of 
 rustic life, and thus — 
 
 " To soothe tlie labourer's weary toil, 
 For humble gains ; 
 And make the cottage scenes beguile 
 His cares and pains^" 
 
 He never affects a superiority in taste or social 
 refinement over those among whom he lived. 
 With what touching tenderness he portrays 
 their sacred friendship! with what refreshing 
 gusto he enters into their boisterous merriment 
 — -with what burning indignation he broods 
 over their wrongs! His life-touches are not 
 the chiselled elegance of literary sculpture, but 
 the breathing breast and the speaking eye; the 
 warm streams of affection, that well-up in every 
 heart, and render sacred the homes of virtue 
 and innocence. The lively sympathy of his 
 nature linked him, as if by a golden chain, to 
 all life and happiness. Yes, cold though our 
 clime be, and rugged though our shores be, we 
 stand here to glory in the fact that Burns, above 
 all men, has let the world know that there are 
 in Scottish hearts sympathies as warm, and emo- 
 tions as strong, as ever glowed in human bosom. 
 Every verse of Burns is instinct with energy. 
 He cultivated but little the trifling art of deck- 
 ing out what he had to say in mincing and 
 modish words ; but conscious only of the force 
 of his sentiments, he threw them plump out, as 
 they rose rough and round. No writer more 
 thoroughly impresses the reader with the con- 
 viction that he simply wrote what he liked and 
 how he liked. As in literature, he never shaped 
 his tone or views to court a favour or avert a 
 frown, so in actual life he never condescended 
 to become the weakling of the great in order to 
 purchase their sufferance or indulgence. His 
 spirit rose above the temptations to such mean- 
 
 ness, and, recoiling within itself, wrung from 
 him the stern resolve 
 
 " Ere my poor soul such deep damnation stain, 
 My horny iist assume the plough again ; 
 My piebald jacket let me patch once more, 
 I've lived on eighteen pence a-week before. 
 
 Fain would I draw the mantle of charity over 
 the foibles of genius; but truth constrains me 
 to admit that, while there is in Burns much, 
 yea, very much to admire, there is also some- 
 thing to deplore. The tear of pity falls as v^e 
 mourn over the vice that laid him low. We 
 can only wish that his votaries may have sense 
 to choose the good and refuse the evil. Hav- 
 ing offered these few remarks, I beg to propose, 
 with all the honours, the " Immortal memory 
 of our great national poet, Robert Burns." The 
 toast was received with enthusiastic applause 
 by all the company. 
 
 A number of appropriate toasts were given, 
 and the evening was enlivened by many songs, 
 which were well sung, the great majority of 
 which were the composition of Burns, and which 
 were enthusiastically cheered. After a harmo- 
 nious and happy meeting, which was kept up 
 as long as Forbes Mackenzie would allow, they 
 broke up seemingly well pleased. 
 
 We observed in one of the windows of the 
 house of Mr. George Cuddle, wheelwright. 
 High Street, a very good representation of 
 Burns, dressed in his " hodden grey " and 
 Scotch blue bonnet, at his plough, with his 
 grey horse before him, when he turned up the 
 mountain daisy. This he is represented as 
 contemplating, while standing between the 
 stilts of the plough. Over it is printed his 
 beautiful lines on that occasion: — 
 
 "Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower, 
 Thou'st met me in an evil hour, 
 For I maun crush amang the stour 
 
 Thy slender stem ; 
 To spare thee now is past my power, 
 
 Thou bonnie gem." 
 
 This is the workmanship of his friend, John 
 Stark, who lives with him. The whole was 
 illuminated during the evening. 
 
 Masonic. — The brethren of the ," mystic tie '' 
 had also a meeting and supper in their respec- 
 tive lodge rooms, to commemorate the centenary 
 of Brother Burns. These lodge rooms were 
 very tastefully decorated, and illuminated with 
 very neat devices, which showed great taste 
 among the brethren. 
 
 BEATTOCK— The admirers of Burns, to 
 the number of forty-five, met on the 25th to 
 celebrate his centenary at Beattock Bridge 
 Hotel (Miss Eamsay's). The company chiefly 
 consisted of inhabitants of the parish of Kirk- 
 patrick-Juxta. The hall was ornamented with 
 
182 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY, 
 
 evergreens and holly in a splendid style; a per- 
 fect host of pictures, illustrative of Bums' 
 poetry and career, lined the walls, and the fine 
 taste displayed in their arrangement elicited 
 warm approbation. The dinner was complete 
 and sumptuous. The chair was taken by Mr. 
 King, Marchbank Wood; and the eroupiership 
 was confided to Mr. James Little, Palisknowe. 
 After dinner the usual loyal toasts were given 
 with taste and tact by the Chairman, as was 
 also The immortal memory of him who, though 
 he led no army to conquest, had garlanded 
 " auld Scotland's " time-withered brow with 
 richer laurels tlian the gifts of princes, and en- 
 riched her with truer wealth than the proudest 
 merchant-vessels ^vere ever freighted with — 
 patriotism, leal-heartedness, honour, and inde- 
 pendent feeling. The Sons of Burns, by Mr. 
 Walter Wight. The Land we Live in, and the 
 Peasantry of Scotland, by Mr. Peter Hutcheson. 
 The Railway, by Mr. Dinwoodie. After which 
 " The Twa Dogs " was capitally recited by 
 Messrs. James and William Little. Mr. David 
 Henderson delivered an address on " The early 
 life of Burns;" and the Crystal Palace prize 
 poem was read by the Chairman. During the 
 evening the song and laugh and gleeful talk 
 prevailed, and in songs especially the company 
 were excellently served by Messrs. Hutcheson, 
 Watson, Graham, Somerville, &c., whose exer- 
 tions were warmly applauded. "Auld Lang- 
 syne " was feelingly sung, and the happy even- 
 ing was spent ere the half of the merriment of 
 heart was done. 
 
 BEITH. — Tuesday was a gala day here. 
 Tliere were several meetings, and banners were 
 displayed from an early hour. The banner 
 belonging to the Burns' Club had upon it six 
 busts of Burns, and the Union Jack in corner. 
 The workers of Messrs. Gumming, Melville, & 
 Co., also displayed a banner with busts of 
 Burns ; and the instrumental band paraded the 
 town repeatedly, notwithstanding the incle- 
 mency of the weather. Of the several meetings 
 we have only received a report of that held by 
 the members of the Robert Burns Curling Club, 
 held in the Commercial Inn, Mr. James Miller, 
 stationer, occupying the chair, Mr. William 
 Kerr ofiiciating as ci'oupier. After partaking 
 of an excellent supper, and the usual loyal and 
 constitutional toasts disposed of, the Chairman 
 gave in excellent style, the " Memory of Burns," 
 which was warmly received. The rest of the 
 evening was spent in toast, song and recitation. 
 The appearance of a well-filled haggis created 
 no little merriment, and Mr. Andrew Millar's 
 hornpipes were greatly applauded. Altogether, 
 the meeting was a most pleasant one. 
 
 BELNA CROFT.— Upon the evening of the 
 25th, a small but happy party assembled at the 
 above place, to do their best in honour of the 
 memory and genius of their native bard. The 
 memory of Burns having been given from the 
 chair, the toast was drunk in silence; next fol- 
 lowed an excellent recitation of his " Cottar's 
 Saturday Night," by Mr. Michie, jun., Tour- 
 nouman. Having been favoured with the pre - 
 sence of Willie Blair and his celebrated violin, 
 some of the bard's favourite airs were played 
 over with graceful and thrilling eflfect. Through- 
 out the evening, several of Burns' songs and 
 others were sung by Mr. M'Dougall, merchant; 
 Mr. Gordon, Balmoral; and Mr. Michie — ac- 
 companiments being given by Mr. Blair. The 
 whole proceedings of a very merry and happily 
 spent evening came to a close at a late but 
 respectable hour. 
 
 Besides the above, almost every village and 
 hamlet in this quarter had its festive celebration, 
 whilst in the larger places the meetings were 
 numerous and varied. We have not space to 
 give detailed notices of minor celebrations, and 
 must content ourselves with this general refer- 
 ence to them. 
 
 BEEVIE. — Our ancient royal burgh, we are 
 proud to say, has not been behind places of 
 greater importance, as we had no fewer than 
 four banquets in honour of the hundredth birth- 
 day of our national bard. 
 
 The principal meeting took place in the 
 Crown Hotel, where a number of the gentlemen 
 of the town and neighbourhood met at supper, 
 under the presidency of Dr. Lewins, who was 
 supported on the right by the Rev. Mr. Glegg, 
 minister of the parish, Mr. Kidd of Allardyce, 
 Mr. Reid, and Mr. Aymers, &c. ; and on the 
 left by Bailie Glegg, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Ander- 
 son, and Mr. Scholey, &c. ; while the duties of 
 croupier were ably discharged by Mr. Logie 
 Knox, on whose right and left were Mr. Brown, 
 Mr. Mollison, Mr. Brown, jun., Mr. Legg, &c 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, the 
 Chairman, in proposing the toast of the even- 
 ing, spoke as follows: — Gentlemen, in ap- 
 proaching the object of our gathering this 
 evening, I confess to feeling the greatest diffi- 
 dence, as well as a consciousness that my hum- 
 ble powers are perfectly unable to do anything 
 like justice to the subject of the toast I am 
 about to propose. Exactly one hundred years 
 ago was born Robert Burns, to honour whose 
 memory we are met here to-night, and in our 
 meeting together we are committing no sole- 
 cism, as we a,re only following the example of 
 the most distinguished of our countrymen, not 
 only in Scotland, but throughout the whole 
 civilized world. And we, dwellers in Kincar- 
 
BERVIE. 
 
 183 
 
 dinoshire, are specially called upon to take the 
 initiative in this movement, as our county has 
 the high honour of having been the home of 
 his humble but honest ancestors. In reviewing 
 the momentous events that have happened since 
 Burns lived, it is impossible to over-estimate 
 the advances that as a nation, and as indivi- 
 duals, we have made in everything pertaining 
 to the happiness and welfare of mankind ; and 
 in the passage of these events through our 
 minds, the idea can scarcely fail of occurring 
 to us all, that had our immortal bard only lived 
 one hundred years later than he did, his lot 
 and position would have been a very different 
 one from what it actually was. It is a melan- 
 choly fact, that men are to be found ftom whom 
 better things might have been expected, who 
 have lately been doing their worst to blacken 
 his memory, and tarnish his fair fame, and al- 
 though some of the hard things said of him 
 may be true, yet they can iTever rob him of his 
 poetic genius; and the name and memory of 
 Kobert Burns will be honoured and cherished 
 by the people of Scotland when the name and 
 memory of his most exalted detractors will be 
 buried in oblivion, and sleeping in the grave 
 which contains their mortal remains. (Ap- 
 plause.) No one has a right, nor is it fair, to 
 judge of Burns' character, or of any other man's 
 who lived in his time, by the standard of to- 
 day, and any one who does so cannot but pass 
 an unfair verdict. The habits, and intellectual 
 — I had almost said moral — acquirements of 
 individuals are so diffei-ent in different ages, 
 that no man possessed of ordinary intelligence, 
 unless he had a selfish or bigoted end to serve, 
 would ever dream of committing such injustice. 
 It is also a mistake to suppose that Burns was 
 what he is often represented to have been — an 
 unpolished diamond. His epistolary correspon- 
 dence entirely refutes this assertion, and proves 
 that he was a man possessed of a very fair 
 amount of education, and that his knowledge, 
 even of the classical literatui'e of Greece and 
 Borne, was not so defective as that of many a 
 man who has hjid far greater advantages. He 
 was not perhaps what a pitiful conventionalism 
 would style a gentleman, but he was, every 
 inch of him, a true man, which is far higher — 
 and he seems to liave been unintentionally 
 painting his own character, when, in his manly 
 and independent spirit, he sang — 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 (Great applause.) Yes, gentlemen, Burns, 
 with all his failings, even independently of his 
 great poetical powers, was a noble-hearted 
 man. But of course the object we have in 
 view this evening is principally to do honour to 
 
 his memory as our national bard — and no poet, 
 living or dead, with all the advantages pos- 
 sessed by the men who have lived and flourished 
 since his day, has been able to strip him of 
 that glory. This simple statement is the high- 
 est panegyric that can possibly be passed upon 
 him, and the most brilliant eloquence could find 
 nothing more telling with which to eulogise his 
 true poetic genius. (Cheers.) Till literature 
 declines and dies, the poetry of Eobert Burns 
 will be cherished and gloried in by the sons of 
 Caledonia — be it read at home, on the burning 
 plains of India, the scorching shores of Africa, 
 or on the ice-bound lakes of Canada, the heart- 
 stirring notes of " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace 
 bled," the homely fervour of the " Cottar's Sa- 
 turday Night," or the thrilling story of " Al- 
 loway's auld haunted kirk," will never fail to 
 awaken an electric echo in the breast of every 
 true and patriotic Scotchman. (Applause.) Gen- 
 tlemen, I ask you to rise from your seats, and, 
 standing, to drink in solemn silence to the 
 memory of the illustrious dead. 
 
 The Croupibe, in proposing the health of 
 " the Clergy," remarked that he had always 
 very great pleasure in drinking to the health of 
 that body. At the same time, he could not 
 but regret the attitude they had assumed on 
 the pi'esent occasion; and, while he thought 
 that the clergy of Scotland were always wor- 
 thy of being remembered at meetings like the 
 present, still he held that Mr. Glegg, with 
 whose name he begged to couple the toast, 
 was speciallj' entitled to have his health drunk, 
 with all the honours, for the manly and 
 straightforward course he had pursued on the 
 present occasion. The toast was most enthu- 
 siastically received, and drunk with all the 
 honours. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Glegg, in the course of a 
 very excellent reply, stated that, while there 
 were many of Burns' poems which he could not 
 but condemn, still his belief was, that in writ- 
 ing some of them, he was only paying back in 
 kind the treatment that he (Burns) thought he 
 had received at the hands of men whom he 
 considered (of course it was for him to judge) 
 had acted most unjustly towards him. 
 
 After a number of toasts and songs, the com- 
 pany separated just as Forbes Mackenzie's hour 
 began to strike, having spent a most delightful 
 evening. The vocal and instrumental perform- 
 ance of Mr. Greig and Mr. Young was very 
 much admired ; and deservedly so, as their 
 rendering of the Bard's songs was a perfect 
 treat. 
 
 The working men of our Burgh celebrated 
 the centenary birthday of our National Bard 
 by a supper and ball. The supper, a very 
 sumptuous one, took place in the Salutation 
 
184: 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Inn, under the able servitude of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Anderson. The chair was taken at 8 o'clocli 
 by Mr. James G. Gibb — Mr. Davidson, Coun- 
 cillor, and Mr. Lindsay, acted as Croupiers. 
 The toast of the evening vv^as introduced by the 
 Chairman in an eloquent and comprehensive 
 address, which was received with the utmost 
 enthusiasm. About 9 o'clock the junior por- 
 tion of the guests adjourned to open the ball, 
 when 
 
 " With featlierecl feet the lads and lasses a' 
 Assembled in their dresses braw, 
 An' danced till they were like to fa', 
 The Keel o' Tullochgorum." 
 
 The ball was conducted with the utmost order 
 under the able management of Messrs. Jarvis 
 and Duncan, to the inspiring strains of music 
 under the able leadership of Mr. W. Davidson, 
 assisted by Messrs. J. Davidson and Webster, 
 Bervie ; Greig, Kinneff ; and Young, Lau- 
 rencekirk ; who joined the orchestra at an 
 advanced hour in the evening. The elder 
 guests remained in the Salutation, and with 
 songs and toasts continued to enjoy a night 
 with Burns to their heart's content, and joined 
 heartily in the chorus of " Willy brewed a peck 
 o' maut." The number at supper was upwards 
 of sixty, that at the ball, including partners, 
 about 130. 
 
 BERWICK (North). — Here the festival 
 centenary was held with great eclat. The 
 Freemasons, joined by most of the Bluejackets, 
 with innumerable flags, headed by a band of 
 music, proceeded from their Lodge-room to the 
 parish school, which was tastefully decorated 
 with evergreens, and accompanied by a crowd 
 of the inhabitants enthusiastically cheering. 
 
 The Right Worshipful took the chair. Past 
 Master Blair gave the opening address, and 
 " Caledonia and Caledonia's Bard," which was 
 received with enthusiastic cheering. Many of 
 the songs of Burns were sweetly sung, and 
 several of his poems recited. Tlie room was 
 densely crowded, there being upwards of 300 
 present. 
 
 BIGGAR. — The Centenary of Burns was 
 celebrated here, as elsewhere, with enthusiasm : 
 business was suspended about mid-day, and at 
 the " darknin' " a bonfire was kindled on the 
 site of the Auld Cross Knowe, which was a 
 great attraction for the juvenile population. A 
 public meeting was held in the Crown Inn ; 
 and the Lodge Biggar Free Operatives gave a 
 torchlight procession, followed by a supper and 
 ball. There were also numerous private din- 
 ner and supper parties in the town and neigli- 
 bourhood. 
 
 BLAIRGOWRIE.— The morning of Tues- 
 day, 25th January, dawned bright and beauti- 
 ful on Strathmore. This day, long looked for- 
 ward to by Scotchmen in all parts of tlie 
 world, had now come round, and Blairgowrie 
 prepared to celebrate the centenary of the birtli 
 of Scotland's own poet in its own way. 
 
 Banquet in M'Larbn's Hotel. — A party 
 of about forty gentlemen belonging to tlie 
 town and district met in the hall of M'Laren's 
 Hotel, about four o'clock p.m. The hall was 
 decorated with evergreens, arranged upon 
 the walls in various tasteful figures. The 
 Instrumental Band was in attendance, and the 
 music added greatly to the effect and enjoj'- 
 ment of the meeting. Alexander Robertson, 
 Esq., banker, occupied the chair, supported 
 on the right by J. L. Campbell, Esq. of 
 Achalader, Allan Macpherson, Esq. of Blair- 
 gowrie, and James Young, Esq., Chief Magis- 
 trate; and on the left, by Robert Geekie, Esq. 
 of Rosemount, Colin M'Gregor, Esq., and 
 James Dallas, Esq., solicitor. John Baxter, 
 Esq,, Ashbank, officiated as croupier, supported 
 on the right by Alexander Buchan, Esq., and 
 on the left by William Fyfe, Esq., Keith Bank. 
 Grace having been said by the Chairman, the 
 company sat down to a sumptuous dinner, 
 served up in Mr. M'Laren's best style. It is 
 quite unnecessary to particularise the various 
 dishes, but the rapidity witli which the {bona 
 fide) Scotch " Haggis" disappeared, at once 
 evinced a keen appetite on the part of the 
 guests, and paid a high compliment to the cook. 
 The cloth having been removed, the Chairman 
 proposed " The Queen," in a neat speech, in 
 which he eulogised Her Majesty's many vir- 
 tues. She was an example to all her subjects, 
 but especially so to those of her own sex. The 
 toast received all the honours. 
 
 Music — " God Save the Queen." 
 
 " The Prince of Wales," " H. R. H. The Prince 
 Consort, and the other members of the Royal 
 Family," were then given from the chair. 
 
 Music — " Britannia the Pride of the Ocean." 
 
 After the usual loyal toasts, the Chairman 
 proposed " The Memory of Robert Burns, 
 Scotland's Immortal Bard," and said: — We 
 have this evening met to pour out libations to 
 the memory of a nation's poet. Every city, 
 every town, and almost every village in our 
 native land has, with the greatest enthusiasm, 
 united to commemorate the first centenary of 
 Burns, the Bard of Scotland, and to do honour 
 to his memory. (Cheers.) This day one hun- 
 dred years ago the poet's tiny bark was launched 
 upon the tide of 'Time — his birth and parent- 
 age being obscure, his youth passed in seclu- 
 sion. 
 
 An old Latin writer, many hundred years 
 
BLAIRGOWRIE. 
 
 185 
 
 ago, said, " The poet is born, not made." So 
 was it with Burns — ^he was born a poet; it was 
 not by study nor by education he became one; 
 but there, in rural solitude and retirement, 
 " far from the busy hum of men," did he light 
 his rustic torch at the Muse's flame. By the 
 lonely hill-side, by the murmuring stream, by 
 the open meadow, and along the green vale, 
 did he feed his glowing fancy and elevate his 
 sweetest thoughts. (Cheers.) What to ordi- 
 nary minds appeared common-place and tame, 
 was to the mind of the young poet clothed 
 with loveliness and beauty. Then it was, when 
 surrounded by all that could elevate the soul 
 and purify the heart, that Burns drunk deep at 
 the fount of nature's poetry. 
 
 As the poet himself says, at the plough the 
 poetic Crenius threw her inspiring mantle over 
 him. Then he seized the lyre, and threw his 
 hands across its magic strings. Thousands 
 stood entranced — the melody of the music 
 found a response in every heart; the learned 
 and unlearned, the noble and tlie ignoble, the 
 rich and the poor, all alilie enchanted, confessed 
 the poet's genius, and all aliis.e, however varied 
 their tastes, acknowledged the mighty influence 
 his melody had upon their souls. Like a tran- 
 sient meteor, the poet flashed and blazed forth. 
 His appearance was as sudden and his splendour 
 as bright. But, alas! like a meteor, too, his 
 disappearance was as speedy, and his end 
 as soon. Caressed by some, worshipped by 
 others, and admired by all, the poet stood 
 forth, for some time, the envy and the delight 
 of his country; but evil times were at hand. 
 Misfortunes overtook him, friends deserted him, 
 wave after f.ave of adversity rolled over him, 
 and at last, even hope, that sweet charmer, left 
 him, and in midtime of his days he was cast a 
 shattered wreck upon the shore. 
 
 " Short had been his passage to the friendly tomb." 
 
 Now the people paused; then it was they 
 thought of the apathy and indifference with 
 which they had left their favoured child of song 
 to struggle, single-handed, with his foes — foes 
 from without and from within. But the last 
 struggle was over — the poet's last battle had 
 been fought. Regrets were unavailing, and the 
 tribute of a nation's tears sang the poet's last 
 requiem. 
 
 The magic harp was now unstrung, never 
 again, it is to be feared, to be touched by such 
 a master's hand, and the hapless poet left the 
 music of his song to warble its sweetest melody, 
 as a memento of his joys and of his sorrows, 
 to generations yet unborn. The melody of 
 that music undulates along the stream of time ; 
 and we, as well as our forefathers, have felt its 
 sweetness and enjoyed its harmony, and the 
 
 result of which is our present meeting to do 
 honour to his memory. 
 
 After giving an illustration of the difficulty 
 those who were not true bred Scotchmen 
 had in understanding the true meaning of the 
 poet, the Chairman said: — I have to request 
 that we unite in solemn silence in drinking to 
 the memory of the immortal Bard of Scotland, 
 Robert Burns. (The toast was drunk in 
 solemn silence.) 
 
 Music — " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 Among other toasts, the memory of Scott, 
 Hogg, and Tannahill were eloquently given; 
 and at the request of the Chairman, Mr. Dickson 
 sang "Auld Langsyne," the company joining 
 in chorus. At that verse, 
 
 "And here's a hand my trasty friend," &c., 
 
 the company rose en masse, grasped each other's 
 hands, and joined in a chorus that made the 
 hall ring again. Then followed a cheer — a 
 hearty hurrah — a cheer such as will not likely 
 be joined in by any individual member of that 
 company again for a long time. That cheer 
 gave utterance to emotions such as seldom stir 
 the heart. For the moment Burns- was for- 
 gotten. It was the reunion of the hearts of 
 the whole Saxon race, scattered as it now is, 
 carrying the triumphs of intellect and of man- 
 hood wherever dry land rises from the "vasty 
 deep." 
 
 The company separated at ten o'clock, after 
 spending a very happy evening. 
 
 Soiree in the Malt Baun. — The demon- 
 stration in the Malt Barn, Hill o' Blair, was 
 perhaps the most successful soiree ever given 
 in this town. Between four and five hundred 
 were present, drawn from all ranks of society. 
 Tiie Barn was finely decorated with evergreens, 
 and lighted with gas put in for tlie occasion. 
 Allan Macpherson, Esq., occupied the chair, 
 and the speakers the platform, which was also 
 graced by the presence of a number of ladies. 
 The Westfields Flute Band was in attendance, 
 and delighted the audience by performing a 
 variety of tunes. There was a service of tea, 
 during which the band performed. The Chair- 
 man then delivered the following address, 
 which was listened to with the deepest atten- 
 tion : — 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, — The programme of 
 this evening's entertainment which has been 
 placed in my hands — the bOl of intellectual 
 fare, if I may be permitted so to call it — is so 
 varied, so extensive, and so attractive — not for- 
 getting the more substantial elements of good 
 cheer, for which apparently so liberal provision 
 has been made — that I feel, that in detaining 
 you with many remarks on the subject of this 
 extensive reunion, I should only be attempting 
 
186 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 to forestall, in a very inadequate and imperfect 
 manner, the subject-matter of the no doubt 
 carefully prepared addresses which are to form 
 an important element in this evening's enter- 
 tainment. I shall therefore content myself 
 with expressing my pride and pleasure in hav- 
 ing been called upon to preside at so large an 
 assemblage of inhabitants of this town and 
 neighbourhood, met together for the purpose 
 of doing honour to the memory of a poet whose 
 works are perhaps more universally read, appre- 
 ciated, and sympathised with by every rank 
 and degree of men, in every quarter of the 
 globe where the Anglo-Saxon race is settled, 
 than those of any other poet whom the world 
 has ever seen. In celebrating the hundredth 
 anniversary of the birth of the Poet Burns, 
 we are only doing what is this moment being 
 done in almost every populous locality in the 
 world where the British language is spoken, 
 and in several where it is not. In doing 
 honour to the memory of one who may be 
 called emphatically The People's Poet, we are 
 also doing honour to ourselves, by thus illus- 
 trating our belief in, and respect for, the great 
 principle which pervades the entire range of 
 Burns' poetry — the innate dignity of human 
 nature, unaided by birth, fortune, or rank. 
 (Cheers.) Able addresses were also delivered 
 by Messrs. Mitchell, Davie, Bridie, and Stevens. 
 Messrs. Rennie and Hume sung a number of 
 songs in first-rate style, and a glee party gave 
 variety to the entertainment by singing various 
 pieces. "Auld Langsyne" was sung by the 
 whole company standing with the greatest 
 enthusiasm. Mr. W. Steven proposed a vote 
 of thanks to the Chairman; and after several 
 other votes of thanks, the large meeting sepa- 
 rated about eleven o'clock greatly delighted. 
 
 BLAIRINGONE.— Up to the evening of 
 Monday, the 24th, our little village seemed 
 to lag behind in the almost universal prepara- 
 tions for celebrating the centenary of Robert 
 Burns, our national poet. But, on that even- 
 ing a few of the more energetic inhabitants of 
 the village made arrangements for getting up a 
 bonfire, and for at least drinking a bumper to 
 the memory of the poet. Through the liberality 
 of the Lord of the Manor, George Wylie, Esq., 
 the affair swelled on their hands, and accord- 
 ingly, on the 25th, the male villagers and 
 others united for a demonstration ; first, round 
 a roaring fire on the Head i' Hioht, within view 
 of the banks of the " Clear winding Devon," 
 whose praises have been sung in immortal 
 strains by Burns, and then by sitting down in 
 the school-room, forty-four in number, to a 
 sumptuous dinner, in which the haggis, " warm, 
 reeking, rich," figured conspicuously. The 
 
 duties of the chair were discharged by Mr. 
 Marshal, teacher, and Mr. Henderson, manager 
 of the Lambhill Colliery, acted as croupier. 
 After the cloth was removed, the Chairman, in 
 a few suitable remarks, proposed the toast of 
 the evening — The memory of Burns — which 
 was drunk in solemn silence. The health of 
 G. Wylie, Esq., of Arndean and Blairingone, 
 was then proposed by the Chairman, and re- 
 sponded to with rapturous applause. Other 
 toasts followed, many of the songs of Burns 
 were sung, and, after an evening of much quiet, 
 social enjoyment, the company parted, towards 
 the " wee short hour ayont the twal," by sing- 
 ing " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 BO'NESS. — The celebration of this event 
 took place on Tuesday evening, 25th, in the 
 Town Hall, which was fitted up and tastefully 
 decorated with evergreens, &c., for the occasion. 
 The enthusiasm which prevailed among the ad- 
 mirers of Burns, in anticipation of the hun- 
 dredth anniversary of his birth, was by no means 
 damped by the storm of wind and rain which 
 blew in a perfect hurricane about the time of 
 meeting; it rather imparted an additional zest 
 to their feelings, for it appeared as if the very 
 elements were disposed to unite in the celebra- 
 tion of the memorable event, and to produce a 
 somewhat faithful representation of that " Blast 
 o' Januar' win' which blew hansel in on Robin." 
 The chair was taken at eight o'clock by Mr. 
 William Miller, Marchbank Cottage, Bo'ness, 
 when upwards of a hundred gentlemen sat down 
 to dinner. Mr. Steele, of Bo'ness Foundry, 
 acted as principal croupier, the other tables 
 being respectively presided over by Messrs. 
 Smith and Kirkwood.. The Chairman was sup- 
 ported on the right by John Begg, Esq., Kin- 
 neil Iron Works, (after the return of that gentle- 
 men from the Falkirk celebration,) and on the 
 left by James Webster, Esq., factor to His 
 Grace the Duke of Hamilton, &c. After the 
 usual loyal and patriotic toasts were disposed 
 of— 
 
 The Chairman rose, amid thunders of ap- 
 plause, and said — Mr. Croupier and Gentlemen, 
 — You are all aware that the object of our 
 meeting here to-night is one of no ordinary 
 character ; that it is one in which thousands of 
 our fellow-countrymen are simultaneously and 
 heartily engaged, viz., in celebrating the cen- 
 tenary of the birth of our own poet, Robert 
 Burns; one whom Scotland is proud to number 
 among her sons, and one whose very name 
 makes the hearts of Scotchmen thrill with 
 emotions far more easily felt than described. 
 (Cheers.) We trust, nay, we are confident, that 
 the spirit of respect and admiration which is 
 now being so widely displayed by a British 
 
BO'NESS. 
 
 187 
 
 public, alike by the occupant of the castle and 
 the cot, is not to-night awanting here towards 
 the memory of the great and illustrious bard 
 whom we hesitate not to stamp as the chief 
 of our native poets; whose works will not cease 
 to be remembered and admired long after we 
 have all passed away to that land so graphically 
 described in these beautiful lines — 
 
 " Where there's nae sorrow there, Jean, 
 There's neither cauld nor care, Jean ; 
 The day is aye fair, Jean, 
 In tlie Laud o' the Leal," 
 
 Robert Burns, like many others who have risen 
 to eminence in our country, had not his origin 
 from among the nobles of the land, but certainly 
 from a highly respectable, if more humble class, 
 and from a class who largely constitute the 
 great strength of this and other lands ; he was 
 the eldest son of William Burns and Agnes 
 Brown, both possessed of a{t amount of intelli- 
 gence superior to those around them, and dis- 
 played great anxiety that their family should 
 have the best education within their reach. 
 Nor did they forget the importance of example 
 to the young. One of the visitors of the 
 family of Burns writes thus, " there we enjoyed 
 a conversation wherein solid reasoning, sensible 
 remarks, and a moderate seasoning of jocularity 
 were so nicely blended as to render it a treat 
 to all parties present. Mrs. Burns, too, was of 
 the party as much as possible, but still the 
 household affairs would draw her hence, which 
 as she could with haste despatch, she'd come 
 again, and, with a greedy ear, devour up this 
 discourse, and particularly that of her husband. 
 That worthy woman, Agnes Brown, had the 
 most thorough esteem for her husband I ever 
 knew, nor do I wonder she so highly esteemed 
 him, for I myself have always considered 
 William Burns as by far the best specimen of 
 the human race I have ever had the pleasure of 
 being acquainted with, and many a worthy 
 character I have known." Tiie means of ob- 
 taining education were at the time of the poet's 
 youth neither so ample nor so varied as at the 
 present day, but he had what we might term a 
 very inquiring mind, and obstacles which would 
 have retarded the progress of many a scholar 
 were surmounted by him without difficulty; 
 consequently his information at a very early 
 period of his existence was far beyond his years. 
 He had also very early to take part in the 
 labours of the field, at which he was also a pro- 
 ficient; and we find him in Jiis fifteenth year 
 taking part in the harvest field, coupled on the 
 rigs as a partner to what he terms a bonnie, 
 sweet, sonsie lass, and thus with him beg.an love 
 and poetry. Of her he writes — 
 
 " As honnie lasses I hae seen, 
 And many full as hraw, 
 
 But for a modest, gracefu' mien 
 The like I never saw." 
 
 With regard to his numerous works, you are 
 all aware they are of such a style and magni- 
 tude as to render anything like a review on our 
 part to-night thoroughly impossible. Yet we 
 may be permitted, in passing, to look at a few. 
 Can we look at the Cottar's Saturday Night 
 without seeing that it is truly the work of a 
 master mind; that it is a picture which only 
 g«nius, inspired by the finest of feelings, could 
 produce; that there is in it sufficient to im- 
 mortalise the name of the poet, even although 
 it had been his only production? Can we look 
 at " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled " without 
 feeling the spirit of patriotism rise within our 
 breast? (Cheers.) Do we turn to his " High- 
 land Mary " without seeing that the language 
 there is sublime and really heartfelt ? Do we 
 read his epitaph, written on the death of his 
 father, without seeing the paternal feeling tiiat 
 existed in his bosom 1 In short, can we look 
 at any part of his works without admiring the 
 genius and that noble spirit of independence of 
 which his compositions are full, and without 
 seeing that they are not to be surpassed in 
 genuine pathos and true poetic fire? (Great 
 cheers.) 
 
 The toast was received in the most enthusi- 
 astic manner, after which " There was a lad was 
 born in Kyle " was sung with admirable effect 
 by Mr. Gardner. 
 
 In reply to the toast of the " Existing relatives 
 of Burns," Mr. Begg, nephew of the Poet, re- 
 turned thanks in the following terms: — Mr. 
 Chairman and gentlemen, I feel deeply grate- 
 ful for the kind manner in which this toast has 
 been proposed, and also for the warm reception 
 it has met from you all. The spectacle pre- 
 sent«d this day over the whole world, wherever 
 the English language is spoken, is one of deep 
 interest to every intelligent mind, but in our 
 own land it is one of unprecedented grandeur. 
 In every town and hamlet over all Scotland, 
 wherevOT perfect freedom exists among the 
 people, crowds of intelligent and active spirits 
 simultaneously and voluntarily assemble, ani- 
 mated by no selfish or party cry, summoned by 
 no legal and resistless power, proposing no 
 grievance for redress, aiming neither at per- 
 sonal nor national aggrandisement, but with 
 one mind seeking to ofier homage to the me- 
 mory of a poor and unfortunate, but honest 
 and independent man, who died more than 
 sixty years ago, and laying the priceless trea- 
 sures of their love at the shrine of departed 
 genius. This hearty admiration of a poet such 
 as Burns could not be really felt except by 
 honest men, and if proof is wanted that the 
 heart of the nation is still sound and untainted 
 
188 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 by the pestilence of dishonesty and overtrading 
 that stalked lately through the land, such proof 
 is here ; and every shout this day, raised in 
 memory of honest exertions and pure and lofty 
 thoughts, will help to clear the moral atmo- 
 sphere of the taint of that corruption. Amongst 
 the great mass of people of all ranks and in all 
 quarters of the globe whose hearts are to-day 
 beating in unison with yours, filled with love 
 and admiration for the name and memory of 
 Burns, perhaps none, excepting those of kindred 
 genius with himself, can have such keen delight 
 in contemplating this great national outburst of 
 feeling as the living relatives of Burns. Like 
 some great and all good men, he nourished, 
 during the whole of his life, a warm attachment 
 to his kindred, and they, on their part, re- 
 turned his love with a depth of feeling ap- 
 proaching to devotion. They admired him for 
 his genius, but, above even that feeling, they 
 loved him for his worth. His circle once was 
 small and confined within the limits of his 
 humble home; now, it is confined by no limits 
 but those of the globe itself, and his tender- 
 ness and power compel all who can think and 
 feel to own themselves his kindred. There is, 
 and there ought to be, a just feeling of pride 
 in illustrious descent from noble ancestors, and 
 in blood relationship to the great and good. It 
 increases a man's self-respect, and erects a 
 higher standard of excellence for his imitation. 
 It makes him also, if he thinks at all, more 
 careful to avoid all contaminating influences, 
 lest he bring disgrace on himself and reflect 
 discredit on an honourable name. You and all 
 true-hearted Scotsmen would liold the relatives 
 of Burns beneath contempt if they were not as 
 proud of their relationship to him as if they 
 could boast descent from kings and conquerors. 
 Although many will fail to sympathise with 
 pride of birth, there are few who will not feel 
 regret at the failure of an illustrious line. This 
 doom seems to be almost the universal fate of 
 men of genius, and especially of poets. Burns 
 is no exception to the rule ; for his name, in 
 direct descent from him, ceases with the existT 
 ence of the present generation, unless the two 
 surviving widowed sons of the poet should yet 
 take unto themselves wives. With great poets 
 this doom is less to be regretted, since the 
 world at large inherits the fruits of their life's 
 labours, and as their fame is deeply engraven in 
 the hearts of the people, they do not require 
 descendants to perpetuate their name. The 
 relatives of Burns are proud to recollect that 
 they owe every mark of public sympathy they 
 enjoy solely to their connection with our great 
 national bard, and they feel the more grateful 
 to you for the graceful and spontaneous manner 
 in which you thus honour them, that they have 
 
 no claims whatever to public recognition apart 
 from the existence of that relationship. For 
 my part, I have always felt that it has been to 
 me an open-sesame to the hearts of my country- 
 men, and, in consequence of it, all of us have 
 experienced kindnesses and derived advan- 
 tages for which we cannot be sufiiciently grate- 
 ful and for which we are altogether unworthy. 
 I feel deeply grateful to your committee for 
 their kindness to me in asking me to be pre- 
 sent on this occasion, and, in the name of the 
 whole of the relatives of Burns, I would desire 
 to express their gratitude for the kindly feel- 
 ings manifested to-night on their behalf. (Dur- 
 ing his speech, and at its close, Mr. Begg was 
 cordially applauded.) 
 
 After the programme had been exhausted, 
 there were a considerable number of other 
 toasts, songs, and readings, which added in no 
 small degree to the hilarity of the meeting. 
 Among them we may mention two original 
 poems written for the occasion by Peter T. 
 Johnstone and Mrs. Cairns respectively, both 
 of which had considerable merit. The Instru- 
 mental Band contributed greatly to the general 
 happiness throughout the whole of the evening. 
 
 A respectable and happy gathering of the 
 admirers of the " Rantin' Rovin' Boy," was held 
 in the Parish School here, which Mr. Stephens, 
 with his usual urbanity and kindness, readily 
 granted for the purpose. The company con- 
 sisted chiefly of working men, with their wives 
 and sweethearts, who were determined to take 
 part in the great demonstration of respect for 
 the memory of " Robin that's awa," which has 
 been manifested in such a variety of ways by 
 their " Brither Scots frae Maidenkirk to Johnny 
 Groat's." The bills announcing the meeting 
 were published only a few days previous to the 
 occasion ; nevertheless the tickets, which, to 
 suit the pecuniary circumstances of all parties, 
 were fixed at one shilling each, were all bought 
 up early on Saturday the 22d, and although at 
 the hour of meeting, 
 
 " The win' blew as 'twad blawii its last, 
 Tlie rattlin' show'rs rose on the blast," 
 
 Nothing could cool the ardour of the ticket- 
 holders, who 
 
 " Skelpit on thro' dub an' mire, 
 
 and filled the place of meeting so rapidly, that 
 before seven o'clock, the time for commencing 
 proceedings, every seat was occupied, and once 
 fairly within doors, 
 
 " The win' without might vair and nistle, 
 They didna min' the storm a whistle." 
 
 Several courses of refreshments, provided by 
 Messrs. Paris, Arkley and Harrison, were served 
 
BONHILL— BOWDEN. 
 
 189 
 
 during the evening, but the real enjoyment of 
 those congregated — upwards of two hundred — 
 was derived from a selection of readings from 
 the works of the immortal bard, interspersed 
 with a variety of his unrivalled songs. Mr. 
 Alexander Nisbet, sub-inspector of waggons, 
 Monkland Railway, occupied the chair in a very 
 efficient manner. The proceedings commenced 
 with a song and chorus, the words and music 
 of which were composed for the occasion by 
 two gentlemen of Bo'ness. After which the 
 Chairman gave a rapid sketch of the life and 
 characteristics of Burns. 
 
 After singing " Auld Langsyne," hand in 
 hand, in full chorus, and with great glee, and 
 having voted thanks to the parties who had 
 been more actively engaged in getting up and 
 maintaining the demonstration, the company 
 separated a little after midnight, delighted 
 with the whole proceedings, and with each 
 other, and 
 
 " Each took off his several way 
 Kesolved to meet some other day." 
 
 BONHILL. — On the evening of the cen- 
 tenary of the birth of Burns a company of 
 about twenty-four gentlemen connected with 
 Messrs. M'Allan's Printfield at Dillichip, sat 
 down to dinner in Bonhill Inn. Mr. Robert 
 Latham occupied the chair, and Mr. Archibald 
 Jardine officiated as croupier. The usual toasts 
 were given, and great enthusiasm prevailed 
 when the Chairman drew attention to the toast 
 of the evening, " The immortal memory of 
 Robert Burns." During the evening a number 
 of Burns' songs were very effectively rendered, 
 and all seemed to derive much pleasure and 
 enjoyment from the success with which the 
 meeting was carried on. The purveying de- 
 partment, by Mrs. Buchanan, was all that could 
 have been desired. On the same evening, and 
 for the same purpose, the Journeymen Bakers 
 of the Vale of Leven met in the liouse of Mr. 
 John M'Gregor, Bonhill. Mr. William M'Adam 
 occupied the chair, and Mr. James M'Farlane 
 officiated as croupier. The company having 
 partaken of an excellent supper, a number of 
 toasts appropriate to the occasion were given, 
 including, of course, the memory of the Pea- 
 sant Bard, and cordially responded to. The 
 evening was spent in a very pleasant manner. 
 
 BONNYBRIDGE.— A soiree, in honour 
 of the immortal Ayrshire ploughman, was 
 held in the New School-room here, on Tues- 
 day evening, the 25th. A. Oliver, Esq., oc- 
 cupied the chair. Tea having been served, 
 the Chairman gave an able address on the 
 "Life and genius of Burns," which was at- 
 
 tentively listened to, and warmly applauded. 
 Mr. J. Cuthbert, the respected teacher of the 
 school, n^t gave an address on " Poetry," 
 which was well received. The company were 
 highly entertained during the evening by the 
 excellent singing of the following amateurs, 
 Miss Bell and M'Lean from Dennyloanhead ; 
 M. Lennie, Esq. of Woodlee ; Mr. Somerville 
 from Greenhill ; and Messrs. Dick and Ander- 
 son of Bonnybridge. The proceedings were 
 enlivened by favourite airs on tlie violin by 
 Messrs. Scott, Forrester, and Macpherson, who 
 contributed much to the enjoyment of the 
 evening. Notwithstanding the small bills giv- 
 ing notice of the occasion, the attendance was 
 numerous, and the company broke up at a late 
 hour of the night highly pleased with the en- 
 tertainment. 
 
 BOTRIPHNIE— The Burns' centenary was 
 celebi-ated under the auspices of the Young 
 Men's Mutual Instruction Society, and in con- 
 nexion with the celebration of the second anni- 
 versary of this Society. Notwithstanding the 
 inclemency of the weather, by seven p.m. the 
 old school-room, which was very tastefully 
 decorated with holly and other evergreens, was 
 crowded by a respectable and numerous audi- 
 ence. Mr. A. Carmichael presided, and intro- 
 duced the proceedings of the evening by an 
 able address on Burns. Wines, fruits, and 
 sweetmeats were frequently sent round. In a 
 word, the affair went off in a splendid manner, 
 and all present spent a very happy evening. 
 
 BOWDEN. — A party of the admirers of our 
 national poet met to commemorate his cente- 
 nary in the Crown Inn here on the 25th. Mr. 
 Haliburton was called to the chair, and Mr. 
 M'lver acted as croupier. An excellent supper 
 was provided by Mr. Nicol, with a haggis 
 placed as centre dish, which well sustained the 
 title as " Great chieftain o' the pudding race." 
 After supper, the Chairman, in a short but 
 impressive speech, proposed the toast of the 
 evening, " The Memory of our National Poet, 
 Burns;" after which Mr. M'Dermont sung 
 " There was a lad was born in Kyle." Mr. 
 James Thomson, from Hawick, next gave an 
 animated and affecting address on the memory 
 of Burns, when Mr. Robt. Suddens sung "My 
 Nannie O" with great taste and feeling. 
 Messrs. M'lver, Henderson, Fisher, &c., sung 
 several excellent songs, which were much 
 applauded. Mr. Thomson, Bowden, sung a 
 beautiful piece, entitled, " A lament for the 
 death of Burns." Mr. Henderson, Faugh-hill, 
 sung " O' a' the airts the win' can blaw." Mr. 
 Jas. Thomson recited several excellent pieces. 
 Amongst others, "A monody on the death of 
 
190 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Burns," " Verses by Fitzgreen Halleck on wild 
 rose of AUoway," and " Tam o' Shanter." 
 
 After spending a very happy e^ning, the 
 meeting broke up, the utmost good humour 
 and harmony having prevailed throughout. 
 
 BOWLING. — On Tuesday evening, upwards 
 of forty gentlemen — principally connected with 
 the Excise branch of the Civil Service — sat 
 down to a sumptuous dinner in the Sutherland 
 Arms Hotel, for the purpose of doing honour 
 to our great national poet and their illustrious 
 brother-gauger, by commemorating the cente- 
 nary of his birthday. Collector Campbell of 
 Greenock, dressed in the Highland costume, 
 occupied the chair, and Mr. Dawson, distiller, 
 Glasgow, acted as croupier. Amongst those 
 present were Mr. Stewart, factor to Lord 
 Blantyre; Captain Rankin, of the steamer 
 Stork; Messrs. J. M'Kay and J. M'Nab, Dum- 
 barton; Messrs. Place, Davidson, Edmiston, 
 Glasgow ; Speak, Thornton, Tait, &c. 
 
 The cloth being removed, and the usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts having been given and 
 duly honoured, the Chairman, in an appropriate 
 and characteristic speech, proposed the toast of 
 the evening, "The Memory of Burns," which was 
 drunk in solemn silence. A number of other 
 toasts were also proposed, and most enthusiasti- 
 cally responded to. Tlie intervals were agree- 
 ably occupied with music by amateur musicians, 
 and the entertainment was kept up till a late 
 hour, all seemingly well pleased with the even- 
 ing's enjoyment. The dinner and other arrange- 
 ments reflected great credit upon Mr. and Mrs. 
 Moncur. 
 
 BRACO, or Ardoch. — Tiie annual dinner 
 of the Ardoch Curling Club was held in 
 Anderson's Inn here on the centenary of Burns' 
 birth, when a most sumptuous dinner was par- 
 taken of; after which the memory of Burns 
 was drunk with great spirit, several of his 
 songs sung in first-rate style, and the night 
 spent in the most agreeable and brotherly man- 
 
 BRAIDWOOD.— A ball, in honour of this 
 national event, was held in the evening, in 
 Mr. John Cassol's barn, Cutcraig. 
 
 BRECHIN. — Brechin has done well in the 
 way of celebrating the poet's birth and genius ; 
 and in no place has there been a more general 
 commemoration of his hundredth birthday. On 
 the natal centenary, most of the shops, offices, 
 and public works suspended business on the 
 afternoon, and every one apparently was on 
 the alert for a regular night's entertainment. 
 By evening, few, very few, were to be found 
 
 in their own houses; everybody seemed to deem 
 the day a national festivity — that Scotland 
 " expected that every man that day would do 
 his duty" — and that every Scotchman's duty 
 that day consisted in a personal attendance at 
 one .or other of the innumerable patriotic de- 
 monstrations which were to be found more or 
 less in every public house in town. The prin- 
 cipal celebration, in memory of Robert Burns, 
 consisted in the public dinner, which came off 
 in the large Hall of the Commercial Hotel, at 
 four o'clock. There the evergreens with which 
 the hall had been adorned for the late banquet 
 to the Provost served again to decorate the 
 room, and a first-rate dinner (including three 
 haggises — as a/propos to the occasion) was 
 served up to a company numbering from 60 to 
 70, consisting of the principal inhabitants of 
 Brechin, and a number of the leading farmers 
 and other gentlemen in the vicinity. 
 
 Dr. A. Guthrie discharged the duties of the 
 chair in a highly successful manner, and was 
 supported on the right by the Eight Hon. 
 Lord Panmure, K.T., Lord-Lieutenant of the 
 County ; David Guthrie, Esq., Provost of 
 Brechin ; and Thos. Ogilvy, Esq. ; and on the 
 left by Bailie Duncan ; Geo. H. Newall, Esq., 
 of Bearhill ; and Bailie Anderson. The crou- 
 piers were D. D. Black, Esq., of Kergord; and 
 Wm. Smith, jun., Esq., West Drums. Amongst 
 the other gentlemen present were — J. I. 
 Chalmers, Esq., of Aldbar ; Charles Lyall, Esq., 
 Kincraig ; Dr. John Guthrie ; Dr. Mackie ; 
 Dr. Stephen, Cairnbank ; Dr. Drummond ; 
 Professor Whitworth (electro-biologist) ; Messrs. 
 Alex. Strachan ; David Craig ; J. L. Gordon ; 
 Wm. Whitson ; W. Eraser ; James Smart ; 
 George Scott ; Robert Lamb ; D. Burns ; An- 
 drew Jervise ; John Lamb ; James Guthrie ; 
 Geo. Smart: A. Black; J. H. Lamb; Jas. 
 Webster, Woodstone; D. Black, Barrelwell; 
 R. Scott, Pittendriech ; W. Ogilvy, Broomfield ; 
 A. Mustard, Leuchland ; J. Watson, Ledmore ; 
 D. H. Adamson, Stannochy ; D. Fairweather, 
 Craigend ; J. Fawns, Keithock ; &c., &c. 
 
 Dinner having been concluded, and bum- 
 pers called for to the usual loyal toasts, the 
 Chairman next gave "The Health of Lord 
 Panmure, Lord -Lieutenant of the County," 
 referring in highly eulogistic terms to the valu- 
 able services rendered to this country by the 
 noble Lord during the late Crimean war. 
 
 Band — " Brechin Castle." 
 
 Lord Panmure, in acknowledging the toast, 
 expressed the great pleasure it aflTorded him to 
 be present on the occasion, and to witness in 
 his native town such an excellent demonstra- 
 tion in honour of the centenary of Robert 
 Burns. He (Lord Panmure) was not one of 
 those who think that there is any discredit in 
 
BRECHIN. 
 
 191 
 
 doing honour to the memory of the noble poet. 
 (Cheers.) His Lordship expressed his admira- 
 tion of the works of Burns, and was happy to 
 be able to state that he had come into the pos- 
 session of a vast number of the original songs 
 of Burns, in his own handwriting, communi- 
 cated, with his own corrections, to iiis publisher, 
 Mr. Thomson, along with his letters in refer- 
 ence to them. (Loud cheers.) He (Lord Pan- 
 mure) looked upon that as a most valuable 
 addition to his library. This collection his 
 Lordship acquired at Mr. Tait's sale. It was 
 not known at the time where they had gone, 
 and it was said and supposed that they liad 
 travelled to England, and been lost to this 
 country. (A laugh.) He was glad, however, 
 that this was not the case, the interesting col- 
 lection being at present in his own library in 
 the neighbourhood of Brechin. (Hear, and 
 cheers.) His Lordship coacluded by congratu- 
 liiting the company on their meeting that day, 
 and again expressing the pleasure it afforded 
 him to form one of the party. (Applause.) 
 
 The Chairman then said: — In rising to pro- 
 pose the toast of the evening to the memory of 
 our national bard, Robert Burns, whose cente- 
 nary we have now met to commemorate, I 
 must throw myself on your indulgence, and I 
 only wish that the task had been undertaken 
 by some one more competent to discharge it. 
 This is a duty I could have better performed 
 twenty years ago, for ray memory was then 
 well stored with his poetry, songs, and liistory. 
 Gentlemen, Robert Burns is an example of one 
 wiio, by the power of innate genius, had over- 
 come difficulties in attaining his favourite end, 
 before which almost any other man would have 
 succumbed, and lie at last succeeded in arriving 
 at that height of poetic perfection wliich fairly 
 entitles him to be styled " The Immortal Bard 
 of Scotland." (Clieers.) I must allow, gentle- 
 men, that the collection of his songs and poetry 
 bears something of a chequered character; but 
 had he lived to republish his own works, I 
 have no doubt anything that is offensive would 
 not have met the public eye. (Hear, hear.) 
 These must be regarded as slight stains on his 
 garments, contracted in pursuing his journey 
 tiirough a rough, uncultivated land — which 
 ought to be forgotten in the contemplation of 
 his other grand, lofty, and sublime pieces. 
 (Cheers.) It would be a waste of time in me 
 to direct your attention to those unrivalled 
 effusions with vvliich you are all well acquainted, 
 and many of which I anticipate will be said 
 and sung this evening. (Hear, and cheers.) 
 Without further comment, therefore, I beg that 
 you will drink " To the memory of that 
 wonderful genius and great poet, Robert Burns." 
 (The toast was drunk amid loud cheering.) 
 
 Blind — " Kind Robin lo'es me." 
 
 Toasts and songs of all kinds sustained the 
 cheerful harmony of the evening, till Mr. R. 
 Scott, Pittendriech, in a few well-chosen re- 
 marks, proposed the parting toast of " Auld 
 Langsyne;" and at the conclusion of his speech 
 struck up the heart-stirring air, on wliich the 
 whole company rose to their feet and heartily 
 joined in full chorus. 
 
 The Cliairman, Lord Panmure, the Provost, 
 and others, having left the hall amid the plaudits 
 of the company, Mr. Smith was called to the 
 chair by acclamation; and after a number of 
 toasts were given and responded to, and songs 
 sung by Mr. Pairweather, Craigend, &c., the 
 proceedings terminated before eleven o'clock. 
 
 Temperanch Soiree. — The Total Absti- 
 nence Society held their annual soiree in the In- 
 dependent chapel, on the evening of the 25th, 
 being the centenary of the birth of Burns — Mr. 
 David Lothian, president of the society, in the 
 chair. Notwithstanding the number of meet- 
 ings that were held tiiroughout the town on 
 that evening, the chapel was crowded. After 
 partaking of " the cup that cheers but not in- 
 ebriates," and some substantial accompaniments, 
 the company was shortly addressed by the Rev. 
 P. Davidson. He was followed by Mr. R. 
 Craig, teacher, who gave an address on " Music 
 and the Poetic Genius of Burns." The enter- 
 tainment of the evening was enlivened by the 
 juvenile flute band, and by a number of ex- 
 cellent songs, which were sung by Miss Greig, 
 Messrs. Craig, Mather, Lothian, and others, all 
 of which were warmly applauded. After spend- 
 ing a very happy evening, the meeting broke 
 up a little past ten o'clock, all highly delighted 
 with the evening's entertainment. 
 
 The brethren of St. Ninian's and St. James' 
 Lodges of Freemasons, contributed their quota 
 to the national offering at the shrine of departed 
 genius, by a supper within the Lodge room in 
 the evening. The mystic brotherhood mustered 
 strong on the occasion; and with all due form 
 and ceremony, " The Immortal Memory of the 
 Bard of Scotland " was proposed by R.W.M. 
 Thomson, and responded to in true masonic 
 style. Song, toast, and sentiment, as well as 
 mirth, fun, and jollity, reigned supreme through- 
 out the evening; and no Forbes Mackenzie 
 daiing to intrude within the sacred precincts, 
 the brethren had free and unbounded scope to 
 enjoy themselves. The supper was provided 
 by Mrs. Baird, of the Swan Inn, and called 
 forth the unqualified praise of all. The hall 
 was most tastefully and elaborately decorated 
 with evergreens, the work of brother G. Thom- 
 son, and was much and deservedly admired. 
 
 The incorporations dined in the Cross-Guns 
 Inn, accompanied by a number of strangers. 
 
192 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 A company of about sixty sat clown to an ex- 
 cellent dinner ; and Convener Scott ably dis- 
 charged tlie duties of the chair. After dinner, 
 toasts, song, and sentiment followed each other 
 in rapid succession, until seven o'clock, when 
 they had to adjourn to other rooms in the 
 house to make way for a party of joiners. The 
 latter met for supper at eight o'clock, and con- 
 tinued their happy meeting until the hour of 
 Eorbes Mackenzie made its unwelcome appear- 
 ance, when they in turn adjourned to other and 
 private quarters, where dancing was kept up 
 till an early hour next morning. The journey- 
 men tailors met in the Crown Hotel to celebrate 
 the centenary, numbering from thirty to forty, 
 and were efficiently presided over by Mr. 
 Jarron. 
 
 A company of friends, which was more of a 
 private nature, also dined in the Swan Inn in 
 honour of the occasion of Burns' centenary. 
 The duties of Chairman were very efficiently 
 discharged by Mr. Scott of tlie Royal Bank; 
 and amongst the leading toasts that of Dr. 
 Guthrie, as Chairman of the principal public 
 meeting, and the otlier social parties in town, 
 was warmly received. The singing of Burns' 
 songs was a leading feature in the enjoyment. 
 The dinner by the host was both elegant and 
 sumptuous. 
 
 In honour of Burns, a grand concert of Scot- 
 tish music was given in the Mechanics' Hall, 
 on the evening of the ever-memorable 25th. 
 Though the night turned out both wet and 
 stormy, and though all the hotels, inns, and 
 halls in the town were filled with enthusiastic 
 admirers of Scotia's peasant bard, yet a numer- 
 ous and liiglily respectable audience mustered 
 in the Mechanics' Hal], to testify their admira- 
 tion of Burns by listening to the rendering of 
 his sweet strains by a well-selected company of 
 professionals and amateurs. The vocal part of 
 the performance was well sustained by Miss 
 Russell of Dundee; Miss Watson of Brechin; 
 Mr. Eisher, Montrose ; and Mr. Morrison, 
 Brechin ; while the instrumental part was beau- 
 tifully executed by Allan's famous violin band 
 from Forfar. Miss Russell's singing took re- 
 markably well with the audience, receiving 
 rapturous applause and numerous encores. Miss 
 Watson also acquitted herself well, as also tlie 
 male singers. The president of the Institution, 
 Mr. Valentine, presided, and commenced the 
 proceedings with a few remarks well chosen," 
 and appropriate to the occasion, and introduced 
 the singers to the company. By some over- 
 look or otlier, no programme of the songs was 
 put into the hands of the audience; but this 
 defect was remedied by the Chairman announc- 
 ing the name of each song. Altogether, the 
 concert was a decided hit, and on any other 
 
 night would have drawn an over - crowded 
 house. 
 
 On the evening of the 25th, the bleachers 
 of the Southesk Bleachwork, to the number of 
 sixty, sat down to a sumptuous supper in the 
 Swan Hotel (Mrs. Baird's). Mr. Paton, 
 manager of the works, discharged the duties of 
 the chair with great satisfaction; whilst Mr. 
 John Gall ably fulfilled those of croupier. The 
 party having done ample justice to the inviting 
 viands, on the removal of the cloth, the usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts were drunk to with 
 all the honours. The Chairman tlien, in an 
 able speech, proposed " The Memory of Robert 
 Burns," going over the more salient points of 
 the bard's life, and giving many illustrations of 
 the power and diversity of the imperishable 
 genius of the noble and illustrious poet of 
 Scotland. Other toasts of an appropriate kind 
 were afterwards given and responded to, and 
 many excellent songs were sung in fine style. 
 Where all were so good, it may be invidious to 
 particularize ; but we may be allowed to notice 
 the neat and appropriate address of Mr. James 
 M'Intyre, and the excellent manner in which 
 lie sung the admirable song of " A man's a man 
 for a' that." The songs of Mr. H. Carmichael 
 and others were also capital. During the even- 
 ing, the company were gratified with a visit 
 from their respected master, Mr. Ireland, who, 
 in replying to the toast of his health proposed 
 from tlie chair, and drunk to with enthusiasm, 
 addressed them in the most kindly and cordial 
 terms. A ball then took place to excellent 
 music, which was kept up with great spirit. At 
 the close, the cordial thanks of the meeting were 
 accorded to Mrs. Baird for her excellent enter- 
 tainment. 
 
 BRIDGE OE WEIR. — Tlie great satur- 
 nalia in honour of our national poet, Burns, is 
 now over; this lively little village has once 
 more evinced that it is not altogether devoid 
 of literary taste, talent, and public spirit. Soon 
 after the proposal to do honour, on a large 
 scale, to the memory of Robert Burns, on 
 occasion of the occurrence of his liundredth 
 birth-day, it was resolved by a number of his 
 admirers in the locality, that Bridge of Weir 
 should, at least, endeavour to add one stone 
 to his cairn, or one ray, however faint and 
 feeble, to the halo of glory which encircles the 
 head of " The Illustrious Scotchman " who has 
 done so much honour to the poetical character 
 of his country. At a public meeting of the 
 villagers, called for the purpose of considering 
 the subject, it was unanimously resolved that 
 the centenary sliould be observed in the house 
 of Mr. John Millar, innkeeper, on the 25tli 
 January, 1859. A committee was appointed 
 
BRIDGE OF WEIK. 
 
 193 
 
 to make arrangements, and very soon the 
 number applying for admission exceeded the 
 accommodation that could be afforded. The 
 weather, for some time previous to the long- 
 looked for day, was both wet and stormy, 
 and, when Tuesday came, every one in this 
 quarter knows how it was " hanselled in " — 
 the entire day was boisterous and disagreeable: 
 
 " The wind blew as 'twad blawn its last; 
 The rattlin' show'rs rose on the blast." 
 
 And some few who had no great favour for the 
 celebration, would not have cared to hint, con- 
 sidering the state of the weather — 
 
 " That a child might understand 
 The deil had business on his hand." 
 
 And, certainly, as the morning had been, so 
 was also the entire day and night, but, nothing 
 damped, the preparations were carried on with 
 great activity and spirit ; and,* as the evening 
 approached, it became more and more evident 
 that, in "spite of wind and weather," there 
 would be a full and respectable muster at the 
 Wheat Sheaf in the evening. Some had tra- 
 velled miles, others had ridden through the 
 storm, to be present : — 
 
 "An' sic a nicht to tak' the road in, 
 As ne'er poor sinner was abroad in." 
 
 The Gryffe was high in flood, and all its tribu- 
 taries were sending in their contributions. The 
 winds and waters appeared as if they also had 
 agreed to celebrate the centenary — gushing 
 and whistling a welcome to the day that marked 
 the birth of Nature's own poetic child. About 
 mid-day the inhabitants were agreeably startled 
 with the sweet sounds of music. A celebrated 
 local musician had taken his stand at "the key- 
 stane o' the brig " that spans the stream, and 
 from that point, which divides the two parishes, 
 he discoursed with a keyed-bugle some very 
 fine music. The Gryffe below " ran rowin' to 
 the sea," the winds above were loud and strong, 
 but amid the roaring of the elements the strains 
 of Burns were distinctly heard pealing and 
 echoing through the village and the glen. 
 Full and clear such tunes as " Scots wha hae," 
 " Of a' the airts the win' can blaw," " The Lea 
 Eig," &c., came swelling out, and told most 
 beautifully. The devotion and enthusiasm of 
 tlie performer were sufficiently tried by the 
 wind and rain; but, as if to test them more 
 thoroughly, the famous musical Eab, being 
 unable to take the precaution of the glorious 
 drunken Tam when riding "hame frae Ayr," — 
 
 "Whiles holding fast his guid blue bonnet, 
 Whiles crooning o'er some auld Scotch sonnet," — 
 
 the wind blew off his bonnet, over it went into 
 
 the Gryffe, and he had too much respect for 
 the memory of the poet to stop and run after 
 it. He took farewell of his headpiece to the 
 tune of " I'm Afloat," and thus offering it at 
 the shrine of Burns, he remained uncovered 
 and continued his strains. 
 
 By half-past seven in the evening' the hall of 
 the Wheat Sheaf was completely filled with a 
 very happy and respectable company, fully re- 
 presenting all the interests of the village and 
 neighbourhood : — 
 
 " The storm without might rair and rustle, 
 They didna mind the storm a whistle." 
 
 The Chairman, Mr. Matthew Gemmill, teacher, 
 was supported on the right by Mr. Eobert Martin, 
 feuar, Mr. John Clark, grocer, &c., and on the 
 left by Mr. Wilh'am Baillie, carding -master, 
 Mr. William Hay, tailor, &c. Mr. John Speirs, 
 currier, and Mr. James Orr, farmer, Burngill, 
 ably performed the duties of croupiers. They 
 were supported right and left by Messrs. Wm. 
 Alexander, sen.; Wm. Lang, draper; James Al- 
 exander ; Wm. Erskine, farmer, Auchincloich ; 
 P. Caldwell, farmer, Threeply ; Jas. Whyte, 
 grocer; Eobert Alexander, feuar; Matthew Al- 
 exander, grocer ; David Houston, feuar, &c. 
 The repast was simple but substantia], and did 
 credit to the purveyors — the landlord and Mr. 
 Baillie, baker. The duties of the orchestra 
 were well sustained by Messrs. Thorburn, 
 Hunter, and Peden, who handsomely gave 
 their services gratuitously on the occasion. 
 The Chairman, before asking a blessing, said 
 that he was not ashamed to make the following 
 suggestion, namely, that as we were met, like 
 many others, " to spend a night with Burns," 
 the " Grace " should be made in the words of 
 the poet himself. (Hear, hear.) It was a 
 better grace than he could say, and as good a 
 one as any man could say. The words to 
 which he referred were entitled, "A Grace 
 before Dinner," and would be found at page 
 213 of the copy of the poet's works which he 
 now held in his hand. The whole company 
 having risen to their feet, the grace was said as 
 follows : — 
 
 " Thou, who kindly dost provide 
 
 For every creature's want ! 
 We bless Thee, God of Nature wide. 
 
 For all Thy goodness lent : 
 And if it please Thee, Heavenly Guide, 
 
 May never worse be sent ; 
 But whether granted or denied. 
 
 Lord, bless us with content ! — Amen ! " 
 
 After supper, the Chairman proposed the 
 toast of the evening, " The Memory of Eobert 
 Burns." (Applause.) The Chairman said that 
 he did not intend to detain them with a speech 
 on this occasion. They all knew about Eobert 
 
 N 
 
194 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Burns ; they knew him as Scotland's greatest 
 poet. (Applause.) They were acquainted 
 with his history and his writings, and therefore 
 he would not enter upon these just now, but 
 call upon them at once to drink to his 
 "memory." Some of our local poets, he un- 
 derstood, had been busy on the theme, and 
 perhaps at a future part of the proceedings he 
 might be able to give to the meeting a few 
 specimens of their " wood notes wild." (Hear, 
 hear, and applause.) The toast was drunk in 
 silence. 
 
 In the course of the evening the Chairman 
 introduced to the meeting a very interesting 
 and intelligent old man, Mr. Robert Martin, as 
 one of the very few links which now remain to 
 connect the poet and his times with the present 
 generation. "Auld Robin Martin" has resided 
 long, and is well known in Bridge of Weir. 
 His brother, the late Colonel Martin of the 
 East India Company's service, died some years 
 ago in Edinburgh. He had risen from the 
 ranks, and was very respectable. Robert be- 
 came a feuar in Bridge of Weir, where he still 
 resides. In , his young days he was a farm- 
 servant in Galloway. Robert Burns and Ro- 
 bert Martin knew each other; Burns was eleven 
 years older than Martin. They were both 
 present at a wedding about 1792 — it was held 
 at the farm of Laiglit, in the parish of Morton, 
 Dumfries-shire. Robin Martin was then twenty- 
 two, he is now in his eighty-ninth year, dull of 
 hearing, and almost blind. He was brought up 
 to the meeting in a comfortable conveyance. 
 Notwithstanding the pelting storm, he enjoyed 
 the affair much, was happy, told his story, and 
 sung a song. The meeting looked upon him with 
 interest, and were proud of his company as one 
 who had been " han' for neive " with the poet 
 whom they had met to honour. His health 
 was most enthusiastically drunk, with many 
 wishes that he might be spared to have a cen- 
 tenary meeting for himself. The old man re- 
 turned thanks. He described the wedding at 
 Laight as just " a decent meeting like what we 
 hae here the nicht. There was nae dancing or 
 fiddling at it ; but they were a' happy, and 
 Burns was just as douce an' decent as ony o' 
 them." 
 
 Music, recitations, and songs followed. Tlie 
 night was spent in harmony and good fellow- 
 ship, and when the programme was exhausted, 
 the company united in singing " Auld Lang- 
 syne," a song ever fresh and welcoine to 
 Scotchmen as when Burns first wrote it ; after 
 which, " up they gat, and shook their lugs," 
 and, after the fashion of honest " Luath and 
 CiBsar," 
 
 " Each took aft' his several way, 
 Resolved to meet some other clay." 
 
 BUCHLYVIE.— It being wished in this 
 place to do honour to the memory of Robert 
 Burns, the day of the centenary of the im- 
 mortal Bard's birth was respected with such 
 aiFection and grandeur as has never been 
 evinced, of a festive nature, in our locality. 
 The meeting assembled in the public school, 
 which was beautifully decorated, and, as the 
 aifair was so honourable, we cannot avoid de- 
 tailing a few particulars as the apartment pre- 
 sented itself. On entering the usual approach 
 to it, there was a porch of evergreens within 
 the walls which had an imposing effect, and 
 the interior was arched throughout with ivy 
 and other descriptions of evergreens. The 
 places allotted to the chairman and croupier 
 were tastefully set off with alcoves of the same 
 description, and formed a pleasing aspect, as 
 seen by the company. The portrait of the 
 bard encircled with a wreath of fern — a material 
 which was the more astonishing to procure 
 when we consider the season and " the blasts 
 of a Januar' win'" — and the initials of the 
 name above it, were situated behind the speak- 
 ers, while, at the opposite end of the hall, and 
 beside the croupier, were the initials of tlie 
 word "birth-day," likewise composed in a 
 wreath of the same attractive and interesting 
 material. Altogether the decorations were im- 
 posing, and grand beyond what indeed we 
 would have esteemed as the ingenuity, and 
 constructive fancy and ability, of some of our 
 youthful minds in the locality : but there can 
 be no doubt that the taste and management 
 evinced in this part of the scene can clearly be 
 traced to the discerning powers of the worthy 
 individual who presided on the occasion. The 
 company met at seven o'clock, when about sixty 
 sat down to a grand dinner, prepared by Mr. 
 James Wilson, baker. Mr. John Robertson, 
 Wright, was appointed to the chair, and A. 
 Dun, Esq. of Kepdowrie, croupier, by the ac- 
 clamations of the audience. After the cloth 
 was removed, and the usual loyal toasts dis- 
 posed of, the Chairman called the attention of 
 the meeting to the principal toast of the even- 
 ing, and which he prefaced by a eulogium on 
 the genius of the bard whom we were met that 
 night to honour, and whose fame was not con- 
 fined to the country he was a native of, but 
 celebrated throughout the world, as it would 
 be that evening wherever the English language 
 was spoken. 
 
 BUCKIE. — The anniversary of Burns here 
 was celebrated by a concert in Macdonald's 
 Hall, conducted by Messrs. Fowler, M'Kenzie, 
 and Ross. 
 
 BURGHEAD — In Burghead there was a 
 
BURNTISLAND— BURKELTOX. 
 
 195 
 
 procesaion, in which the coopers and carters 
 held a prominent position, A band of music 
 accompanied the processionists, wlio carried a 
 number of flags and devices. Upwards of 
 thirty gentlemen dined in Grant's Inn. Among 
 the company were — P. Christall, Esq. ; J. 
 Mellis, Esq., Sheriffinill ; Alex. Young, Esq., 
 Fleurs ; J. D. Grigor, Esq., Wester Alves ; 
 Mr. Jeffrey, baker ; Mr. Hutchison, Wards ; 
 Mr. Ross, fishcurer ; Mr. Dunlop, teacher ; Mr. 
 Gilchrist, teacher, &c., &o. William Young, 
 Esq. of Burghead, occupied the chair, and after 
 proposing the usual loyal toasts, gave " The 
 Memory of Burns," in a neat and appropriate 
 speech, which was heartily responded to by the 
 assembled company. 
 
 Ill the course of the evening a song by ' Manoah' 
 was sung to the tune of ' There grows a bonny briar 
 busli.' 
 
 BURNTISLAND.— Burns* Centenary ban- 
 quet was held here in the new Music Hall. 
 Upwards of ninety gentlemen partook of sup- 
 per — J. Young, Esq. of Dunearn, presided as 
 chairman, with Bailie Connel, Messrs. Hutchi- 
 son, town-olerk, and Gellatly, croupiers. After 
 proposing the usual loyal toasts, which were 
 received with the utmost enthusiasm, — 
 
 The Chaibman rose and said — Gentlemen, 
 I now rise to propose the toast of the evening, 
 and, in doing so, shall endeavour to be very 
 brief. To quote largely from the works of the 
 immortal Burns would be only telling you what 
 you already know, and, indeed, to many pi-e- 
 sent they must be ' familiar as household words.' 
 It has been said, and said truly, that ' music 
 hath charms to soothe the savage breast,' and 
 if that be true of music I think it is equally 
 true of poetry. Nay, I think in most instances, 
 poetry is the more potent of the two ; and, as 
 far as they can affect the human race, they 
 may be said to a great extent to be twin sisters. 
 Burns tells us that the genius of poetry found 
 him at the plough, and cast her inspiring 
 mantle over him ; and truly, if Genius was 
 ever profuse in her gifts it was when she in- 
 spired our national poet. There is a versatility 
 in the poetry and prose of Burns which may 
 not strike every one at first sight. Let me 
 rapidly call your attention to the characteristics 
 of the poet. Take him as a domestic and rural 
 poet, with a keen admiration for the beauties 
 of nature under its varied aspects. Look at 
 his address to a mountain daisy — the kindly 
 feeling and warmth of expression evinced in 
 ' John Anderson, my Jo,' ' The twa dogs,' and 
 ' The auld Farmer's address to his auld mare, 
 Maggie,' — and take that noble pastoral, ' The 
 Cottar's Saturday Night,' in which there is an 
 essential nationality, giving us a sketch, at once 
 
 graphic and true, of the labours, the pastimes, 
 the indoor and domestic life of that noble 
 peasantry which has done so much for the in- 
 dependence and welfare of their country. I 
 believe that this poem calls up to the minds of 
 our expatriated countrymen in distant climes 
 the most vivid thougiits and recollections of 
 old Scotia, and makes them long for that period 
 so much desired by Burns, when " man to man 
 the warld o'er, shall brithers bo and a' that." 
 Again, in his pathetic poetry you find him rich 
 and overflowing ; and without taxing your 
 patience with quotations, I would just refer 
 you to his " Mary in Heaven" — to that effusion 
 of his, beginning " Ye banks and braes and 
 streams around the castle of Montgomery," and 
 " Thou lingering star with lessening ray." As 
 to his wit, it has struck me both in poetry and 
 prose, although the palm must be given to his 
 poetry ; there is a peculiarity, and there are 
 distinguishing features in it, which cannot be 
 mistaken. Look, for instance, to his address to 
 a haggis, with favourable specimens of which 
 we have just been served at this festive board. 
 Look again to " Tam o' Shanter," " The In- 
 ventory," the bold cantata of " The Jolly Beg- 
 gars," the address to " Toothache," " Epistle 
 to Captain Grose," and in that ludicrous and 
 graphic description of a small unmentionable 
 degraded reptile, which he saw leisurely and 
 triumphantly marching over the new bonnet of 
 a young ladj', seated in church, decked out in 
 all the glory of her Sunday braws. I cannot 
 believe that the man who wrote " The Cottar's 
 Saturday Night" was a hypocrite, and who, 
 but one with a feeling of deep reverence for the 
 Deity and a conscientious desire to guide those 
 embarking on the dangerous and tempestuous 
 sea of life, could pen such lines as those he 
 addressed to a young friend. Surely then, 
 gentlemen, you will join me in the feeling — 
 " With all thy faults we love thee still." 
 Peace, then, I say to the ashes of the Ayrshire 
 peasant ! the genius, the wit, of Scotia's na- 
 tional bard ! — Peace to the ashes of Robert 
 Burns ! Gentlemen, I call upon you to pledge 
 me with all the honours to " Scotia's Immortal 
 Bard." The Chairman was listened to through- 
 out with the closest attention, and frequent and 
 enthusiastic applause. The toast, received with 
 an explosion of cheering from the audience, 
 was followed by " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace 
 bled." Various other songs and toasts diversi- 
 fied the proceedings of an evening which takes 
 rank as one in a century in the estimation of 
 all present. 
 
 BURRELTON— A number of the admirers 
 of poetic genius met here on Tuesday, the 25th, 
 to celebrate the centenary of the Ayrshire bard. 
 
196 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Mr. John Craig, postmaster, was in the chair; 
 and Mr. Thomas Thomson acted as croupier. 
 The " great chieftain of the puddin' race " was 
 on the table ; and after dinner the usual patri- 
 otic toasts were drank. The Chairman then 
 proposed the toast of the evening, " The 
 memory of Robert Burns;" and in doing so 
 gave a sketch of the poet's birthplace, the 
 cottage in which he was born, his education 
 and schoolboy days, the vicissitudes of his 
 early life in agricultural pursuits, and his re- 
 solution to leave " Old Scotia " — how he had 
 taken farewell of his friends and composed his 
 last song, when a letter from Dr. Blacklock to 
 a friend, and the patronage of the Earl of Glen- 
 cairn, made the poet change his resolution and 
 opened new prospects for his poetic ambition. 
 He then went on to describe the poet's High- 
 land tour, with various incidents which he 
 met with on his journey. He then described 
 his last illness, and recited his prayer in the 
 prospect of death, beginning thus, " Why am I 
 loath to leave this earthly scene ? " He con- 
 cluded with reading some lines composed for 
 the occasion. Song by Mr. Brodie — "A man's 
 a man for a' that." The croupier gave " The 
 Scottish Poets;" and Mr. Robertson gave a 
 humorous speech on the Dedication of Burns' 
 works. Mr. Kiellar reviewed Burns' works, 
 and concluded by proposing the Chairman's 
 health. Mr. Macdonald gave "Scotchmen 
 and their descendants," and recited " The Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night." Mr. Emmerson sang 
 " Rantin' rovin' Robin." The Chairman gave 
 the healths of Mungo Murray, Esq., Of Lintrose, 
 and J. G-. Murray, Esq., of Woodside Cottage, 
 the nephews of Euphemia Murray, the flower 
 of Strathmore, celebrated by Burns in the song, 
 " Blythe, biythe, and merry was she." A por- 
 trait of her was shown to the company. The 
 toast was received with rapturous applause. 
 Mr. Scott sang " When the kye comes hame." 
 Mr. Johnstone recited " Captain Grose " in fine 
 style. Mr. Stewart described Burns' cottage 
 and the surrounding scenery, he having lately 
 visited it. Mr. Nicoll, Woodside farm, played 
 some of Barns' beautiful airs on the accordion 
 at intervals during the evening, which added 
 much to the hilarity of the meeting. " The 
 hour of night's black arch the keystane," being 
 at hand, the company rose and joined hand-in- 
 hand and sung " Auld Langsyne ; " after which 
 they separated, highly delighted with the even- 
 ing's proceedings. 
 
 BUSBY. — A select party, numbering from 
 25 to 30, met in Mr. M'Kenzie's Tea Gardens, 
 Causeyside, on the evening of Tuesday, 25th 
 January, for the purpose of celebrating the 
 centenary of Robert Burns — Mr. Alexander 
 
 M'Gilvray occupied the chair, and Mr. Thomas 
 Cunningham officiated as croupier. 
 
 Before partaking of a substantial supper, 
 partly consisting of an excellent haggis, the 
 Chairman gravely recited, amidst roars of 
 laughter, Burns' "Address to a Haggis." After 
 the cloth was removed, the usual loyal toasts 
 were given and cheerfully responded to. The 
 song of the "Red, White, and Blue" was sung 
 with great spirit, and highly cheered, after the 
 toast of " The Army and Navy." 
 
 The Chairman then gave the toast of the 
 evening, and in so doing, went over at some 
 length the life and writings of Burns, and 
 strenuously defended both his works and char- 
 acter from what he considered the attacks of 
 silly, carping critics, and narrow-minded ca- 
 lumniators. He strengthened his position by 
 quotations from Burns' own works, and the 
 opinions held of Burns by many eminent 
 authors. He concluded his remarks, which were 
 listened to with great attention throughout, by 
 proposing " The Memory of Burns, as the Im- 
 mortal National Bard of Scotland." — The toast 
 was responded to with all tile honours. 
 
 A number of Burns' best songs were sung with 
 great taste and feeling. Afterwards an original 
 poem, on the " Land of Burns," composed for 
 the occasion, by Mr. Robert Cathcartj was read. 
 The effusion was hailed by all present with ap- 
 plause. A series of toasts followed to the 
 memories of the departed poets of Scotland, 
 which were introduced by concise speeches on 
 the prominent parts of their lives and writings, 
 
 A great variety of toasts, songs, and recita- 
 tions followed, and the night went off most 
 harmoniously. 
 
 After a vote of thanks to the Chairman, he 
 stated that he had been at many meetings, both 
 at home and abroad, but he never in his life 
 saw such a glorious meeting as this. 
 
 The Burns' Centenary was also commemo- 
 rated in one of Mr. Crum's mills, which gave 
 accommodation to 460 people. The workers 
 of Mr. Crum and Mr. Wakefield vied with each 
 other in their efibrts to render all the arrange- 
 ments worthy of the occasion. The proceed- 
 ings were conducted on temperance principles. 
 Mr. Crum of Busby presided, supported by the 
 Rev. Mr. Dick, Rev. Mr. Storry, Mr. Moore, 
 Mr. Armour, Mr. Alexander Miller, Mr. Boyd, 
 &c. After tea, the Chairman delivered the 
 opening address, giving a short account of the 
 life of Burns, and embodying a felicitous selec- 
 tion of characteristic and appropriate quotations 
 from his poems, which were read with equal 
 taste and spirit. Addresses on the poetry and 
 songs of Burns, his influence on the national 
 feelings, and the state of society in the time 
 when he lived, were delivered by Dr. Ross, Mr. 
 
CADDONFOOT. 
 
 197 
 
 Clark, tlie Rev. Mr. Dick, Rev. Mr. Storry, and 
 Mr. Boyd. After spending a happy evening, 
 the large company broke up at midnight. 
 
 CADDONFOOT.— The inhabitants of Cad- 
 don Water and its surrounding district, in 
 common with their fellow-countrymen, had re- 
 solved that the centenary of Burns should not 
 pass unobserved. Accordingly on the evening 
 of the 25th, a soiree was held in the school- 
 room of the above place, and notwithstanding 
 tlie inclemency of the weather, a large i>arty, 
 numbering 130, assembled, showing that the 
 object of the meeting was deeply sympathized 
 with. The chair was taken by Mr. James 
 Sanderson, Meigle, who delivered the following 
 address. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen — It i? almost unneces- 
 sary to say that we are met to-night to celebrate 
 the birthday centenary of Scotland's greatest 
 poet. At this moment similar meetings are 
 being held in every town, village, and hamlet 
 in Scotland, as well as in every country 
 whose people claim kindred with the British 
 race. In attempting a sketch of some of the 
 prominent elements of Burns' mind, it is as one 
 who enters for the first time a spacious hall, 
 whose walls are draped with the most gorgeous 
 paintings; his eye, instead of fixing on one ob- 
 ject, in a bewildered glance surveys the whole. 
 It is like viewing a magnificent landscape — such 
 as the valley where we now are presents on a 
 summer's day — the eye, instead of fixing on the 
 beautiful foliage of a tree, or the windings of a 
 solitary rill, embraces hill and valley, wood and 
 water, in one delighted gaze. So is it with 
 Burns ; his mind presents so many characteristic 
 yet diversified features, that it is difficult to 
 select them or sketch them separately, for we 
 find nationalism, independence, patriotism, sar- 
 casm, humour, love; — all contending for the 
 mastery. One or two of these elements I can 
 only glance at. Burns was intensely national. 
 His sympathies were closely interwoven with 
 those of his countrymen, and he described their 
 affections, tastes, and feelings as accurately as 
 if these were his own. His mind was indeed a 
 gigantic mirror, in which was reflected not only 
 all surrounding objects, but in which every 
 Scotchman could behold his own character and 
 trace his own history. A true son of nature, he 
 read it as he saw it, in the peasant homes and 
 in the rural scenes with which he mingled. He 
 sought not the sunny skies and balmy groves 
 of other lands for figures to adorn his muse. The 
 Grecian and Roman mines of philosophy were for 
 him undug ; neither did he tread the academic 
 
 halls of learning and science to enrich his pages. 
 His own country was the shrine at which ho 
 worshipped. Its mountains towering their 
 massive summits to the skies, its rivers meander- 
 ing through lonely valleys, its birks and shaws, 
 its mists and vapours, its moors and mosses, its 
 fruits and flowers, its battles and its loves, its 
 men and its mice, are the trophies of his muse, 
 and the legacies he bequeathed in undying 
 song to succeeding ages. His portraits of the 
 varied characters he sketches are so perfect that 
 they furnish a complete history of the time at 
 which he lived ; and I believe that when all 
 contemporaneous history shall have perished 
 before the scythe of time, the future historian 
 will cull from the pages of Burns a correct de- 
 lineation and a faithful portrait of Scottish 
 manners and customs during the 18th century. 
 Burns' poetry is so clear, simple, and natural, 
 that the reader not only sees hxxt feels the scenes 
 it paints. Burns was a native plant, germinated, 
 nurtured, and matured on native soil, and de- 
 veloped all his massive and colossal proportions 
 without the pruner's knife or the hewei''s hatchet. 
 Next in order to Burns' nationality, I would 
 claim a place for his manly independence. The 
 readers of his works feel that the author is 
 one with whom they could shake hands with a 
 firm grasp and witli perfect freedom, being 
 assured thai they would neither be approached 
 with disdain nor undue reverence. To Burns' 
 birth and parentage he was partly indebted for 
 this noble element iu his character, and pro- 
 bably but for these, " A man's a man for a' 
 that," and other noble lyrics would never have 
 been penned. After making some remarks on 
 Burns' love for all the animal creation, he said 
 that love at times was the all-absorbing passion 
 with Burns, and many of his sweetest poems 
 are its fruits. There is a beauty and pathos in 
 his love songs which are equalled by no other 
 poet, such as " Highland Mary," and " To 
 Mary in Heaven." With him love is the sun- 
 shine of the soul. All nature smiles around 
 him. Th« dew is kissing the rosebud, the 
 flowers are loading the air with their perfumes, 
 the trees are embracing the genial breezes, and 
 the groves are resounding with sweetest melo- 
 dies. Earth has no dark spots, no drumlie 
 waters pollute its valleys, no frosts nip its fruits, 
 nor noxious vapours mingle with its breezes; 
 but all nature is basking in summer sunshine, 
 and is draped in summer's beauty. But why 
 need I dwell on the nationality, independence, 
 and love of Burns. These are engraven on the 
 heart of every Scotchman. Men of all tastes, 
 all professions, all creeds, and in every station 
 of life do them homage. They are sung in the 
 peasant's cot as well as in the palace hall, in 
 gay saloons as well as in meanest hovels. The 
 
198 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 ploughman at liis plough, the maiden at her 
 needle, the mechanic in his workshop, the far- 
 mer in his fields — all tune their lay at Burns' 
 lyre, and make the hills and valleys vocal with 
 his muse. This is not the place, nor is it my 
 wish to touch on the blemishes of some of 
 Burns' writings; these as time rolls on will be 
 forgot, and his finer writings become more 
 esteemed, as the stream deposits its mud and 
 becomes purer in its progress. Many of liis 
 noble lyrics are destined to immortality, and I 
 believe that so long as Scottish mountains defy 
 the storm, so long as Scottisli rivers kiss their 
 pebbled shores, so long as Scottish valleys are 
 peopled with herds, so long as lovely maiden 
 chaunts her evening ditty, so long as Scottish 
 lad woos Scottish lass — so long shall the poetry 
 of Burns — like a perennial stream — shed its 
 I'cfreshing and cheering influence, or, if destined 
 to perish, it sliall perish only as the stream is 
 lost in the ocean, to be reproduced in the writ- 
 ings of succeeding poets — as the stream is re- 
 produced in rains that nourish, and in dews 
 that refresh the successive races of vegetable 
 life. (Immense applause). 
 
 An address was then delivered by Mr. 
 A. Donaldson, Clovenfords, on the wit and 
 Immour of Burns. Several songs were then 
 given, among others, the " Lea Eig," by 
 a lady, and " My Highland Mary," by Mr. 
 J. Darnley, Clovenfords, which called forth 
 universal plaudits. Pies, fruits, and sweets 
 were served by the stewards. After this Mr. 
 J. Grant entertained the assembly with a 
 good substantial speech on " Burns and the 
 Scottish peasantry as they were in his days," 
 and concluded by an eloquent peroration to the 
 memory of Burns. "Logan Braes" was then 
 sung; at conclusion of which, an excellent ad- 
 dress was delivered by Mr. T. M'Donald, 
 Ashiestiel, on " Burns and his Highand Mary." 
 The first part of the " Jolly Beggars " was 
 given by Mr. T. M'Donald in good taste and 
 humorous style. The whole company then, at 
 the Chairman's request, rose to their feet, and 
 sang in concert " Auld Langsyne," which ter- 
 minated the doings of the soiree. A ball was 
 then opened for the young people, at which 
 Mr. Darnley plied his bow with his usual vigour. 
 The party broke up at a late hour, after having 
 spent a really happy night in honour of their 
 bard. 
 
 CADDON WATEE & CLOVENFOEDS. 
 
 —The farmers in this quarter dined together 
 on Tuesday, in Whytbanklee Inn, to celebrate 
 Burns' birthday. Almost all the farmers of 
 tlie district wore present, besides others from a 
 considerable distance. Mr. James Sanderson, 
 Meigle, occupied the chair, and Mr. Thomas 
 
 Elliot, Blackhaugh, officiated as croujiier. After 
 the usual loyal toasts were given, the Chairman, 
 in a short but appropriate address, gave " Tiie 
 Memory of Burns." The evening was spent 
 with the utmost hilarity, and the party_ broke 
 up at half-past six o'clock, to join the soiree at 
 Caddon Foot. 
 
 CAIRNIE. — A soiree was held here, in the 
 spacious mill belonging to Mr. Pirie of Little 
 Daugh, who kindly granted it for the occasion. 
 There were upwards of 160 present, who wore 
 very ably presided over by Mr. Robertson, of 
 Auchanachie. Some of Burns' choicest gems 
 were dissolved into floods of melody. 
 
 CAIRNRYAN.— A grand ball came off 
 here in honour of our great national poet, 
 Eobert Burns. The music was ably presided 
 over by Mr. Andrew Blain. A number of 
 appropriate toasts were given at intervals. T)ie 
 company sang some of the poet's favourite 
 songs ; and to add to the evening's entertain- 
 ment, Mrs. Gordon of the Cross Keys, with 
 her wonted hospitality, gave a splendid Scottish 
 haggis, which for richness and delicacy of taste 
 could not be sui'passed " frae Maiden-kirk to 
 John o' Groats." Altogether the evening was 
 spent in the most happy manner. 
 
 CALLANDER.— The shops were closed, 
 and the 2oth was observed as a holiday in 
 honour of the memory of Scotia's illustrious 
 bard. In the evening the Free Gardeners of 
 Callander assembled in Brother Malcolm M'ln- 
 tyre's hall, which was tastefully decorated with 
 evergreens and characteristic emblems of the 
 Gardeners and of the poet, by Brother Mal- 
 colm M'Nie. The chair was taken at an early 
 hour by Brother Duncan Carmichael, who de- 
 livered an opening address, which did himself 
 and the occasion much honour. He was fol- 
 lowed by Malcolm M'Nie on the moral beauties 
 and universal brotherhood so exquisitely de- 
 picted in the writings of Burns. Though the 
 meeting was conducted on total abstinence 
 principles, yet the Chairman, in a manly speech, 
 expressed, and the meeting responded to, a 
 sincere wish for long life, health, and pros- 
 perity to Her Majesty and her royal family, in 
 perhaps a more loyal manner than though tliey 
 had drank her health in alcohol or rosy wine. 
 The sentiment of the evening, '.' The Memorv 
 of Burns," was then brought forward by John 
 M'Gregor in a neat and appropriate . speech, 
 which frequently called forth the plaudits and 
 approval of the meeting. As most meet, the 
 memory of the poet was followed by the 
 "bonnie lassies" who graced the meeting with 
 their presence— health, peace, and happiness 
 
CAMPBELTON. 
 
 199 
 
 with those they love best, being gallantly wished 
 them in a feeling speech by Brother Charles 
 M'Farlano — to which, it is unnecessary to say, 
 the hall rung with a heartfelt response. Several 
 songs and recitations suitable for the subjects 
 of the evening were given, and dancing was 
 kept up with great glee till a late hour, when 
 votes of thanks being duly awarded to Mal- 
 colm M'Nie for decorating the hall, and to 
 Alex. Stewart, Esq., Boman Camp, for supply- 
 ing them with evergreens, the meeting sepa- 
 rated. 
 
 CAMPBELTON.— On the evening of Tues- 
 day, a party of seventy-one gentlemen, admir- 
 ers of the genius of our national bard, sat down 
 to dinner in the Town Hall, to commemorate 
 the centenary of Eoberfc Burns. The chair on 
 the occasion was ably filled by Provost Beith ; 
 Sheriff Gardiner, William Watson, Esq., bank- 
 er, and Charles Mactaggart, Procurator Fiscal, 
 officiating as croupiers. On the right and left 
 of the Chairman we observed, George M'Neal, 
 Esq. of Ugadale, Bailie Love, David M'Dougal, 
 Esq., Clydesdale Bank, Captain George Mel- 
 ville, Beachill, &c. The usual loyal and pa- 
 triotic toasts were given and responded to. 
 
 The Chairman, on rising to propose the 
 toast of the evening, said, — Messrs. Croupiers 
 and Gentlemen, you know how ill qualified I 
 am to do justice to the toast which it now fiiUs 
 to me to propose. I have to entreat your for- 
 bearance for the mode in which I intend to 
 attempt bringing it under your notice. To 
 many of you it may not be known that in 
 youth, like most others I believe at that stage 
 of life, I paid court to the muses. I have long 
 ceased, however, to invoke their favours ; but it 
 having occurred to me that the toast of this 
 evening were best inti'oduced in the language 
 of song, I ventured to renew my addresses ; 
 and having received the permission of some of 
 the gentlemen who act as stewards of this large 
 and respectable meeting to read what has been 
 the result, I shall now, trusting to your indul- 
 gence, endeavour to do so : 
 
 The task on me by your gre.at kindness laid, 
 
 Is undertaken with unfeigned dread, 
 
 That in my failure your fair courtesy, 
 
 Its due desert may lose, and this good company, 
 
 That rapture-feeling which, aright proclaimed, 
 
 My theme from Scottish hearts till now has gained. 
 
 As on this night in many a crowded hall, 
 
 It does from peer and peasant great and small. 
 
 How shall I speak of Scotia's cherished Bard, 
 How tell the pride wherewith her sons regard 
 In memory, him, around whoso fervid brow, 
 In vision Coila wound the holly bough ? 
 Not mine the gift though albeit the desire 
 In accents meet, breath of poetic fire, 
 
 To speak the praise of that immortal song 
 
 Whose echoes sweet our native dales prolong, 
 
 And over seas are borne to every land 
 
 Where found is loving heart, or patriot hand, 
 
 Till swelling on this eve in chonis wide. 
 
 Echo no more ! but loud as ocean tide 
 
 Is heard anew the songs of other times 
 
 Round Albion's shores, and shores of other climes. 
 
 If this be homage to high talent due, 
 In right to Burns belongs it as to few. 
 
 True, his apt lyre was tuned to various strains. 
 The patriot's heart it thrilled. Quick in his yeins 
 It sent his life-blood when of Bruce it told. 
 And those oft by him led in days of old. 
 And chains and slavery and tyrant power. 
 Honour's incentives in the battle hour. 
 
 Anon he touched another chord, and sang 
 Of homely life, and puie ; from whence he sprang ; 
 Whose scenes to him were nature, ever dear — 
 Scenes breathing peace and hope, serene and clear; 
 Then measures flowed as if the sacred lyre 
 Had lent a string. 'Twas no delusive fire 
 That warmed the heart which sung the quiet eve 
 Prelude of Sabbath morn. Nor did he deceive 
 The ardent songster, when with Zion's measures 
 He sootlied his soul as witli its choicest treasures, 
 Kekindling glimpse of life's auspicious morn. 
 In words devout to every region borne. 
 Telling, wherein is found a nation's power, 
 Source of her wisdom. Of her strength the tower. 
 
 Now grave, now gay, alike resplendent shone 
 The gifts by nature lavished on her son. 
 Brighter perchance when tale of Alloway, dire. 
 On that mirk night when wrapt in Hell-born fire, 
 He sung. And he whose fire it was, for once unbent. 
 His mighty powers as gay musician lent. 
 Choosing for instrument nor fife nor drum. 
 But Highland Bagpipe with its martial hum I 
 And Shanter's canter on bis good mare Meg, 
 From loss of tail grown still more fleet of leg, 
 Though barely saved her rider, skin and bone. 
 To hear a lecture from his Kate at home. 
 Tale this of many with rich humour told. 
 Which stingless jest and sarcasm unfold. 
 
 How many a love-tale pure of maid and swain 
 Poured forth that lyre in nature's richest strain. 
 And chants whose wit and pleasantry beguile 
 The social hour! With incense fraught the while 
 For Friendship's shrine. Rehearsing Boyhood's play 
 Midst nooks and streams in youth's long summer day 
 The cherished chants of Scotia's sons become 
 As well in other lands as in tlieir home. 
 Would that our Bard had constant been and true 
 'J'o virtue as to nature. So all honours due 
 To gifts so rare had joyfully been paid. 
 By gravest critic and by purest maid. 
 
 Here end my lay. My mind to duty turns. 
 Drink to the memory of immortal Burns. 
 
 During the evening the company were enli- 
 vened by appropriate tunes played by an in- 
 strumental band. Many of Burns' songs were 
 admirably sustained by the vocal powers of 
 Messrs. Grogan, Wylie, Logie, Grant, and 
 Wilson. Altogether the meeting was a very 
 enthusiastic one, reflecting great credit on the 
 Chairman, Croupiers, Committee of manage- 
 ment, and mine host of the White Hart Hotel. 
 
200 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 CAMPSIE. — The people of Campsie demon- 
 strated on the 25th, by the various entertain- 
 ments provided, that they were not insensible 
 to the merits of the " lad born in Kyle," whose 
 centenary they commemorated. The masonic 
 body had a supper and ball in the Commercial 
 Inn ; a party of sixty dined in the Lennox 
 Arms ; and an excellent entertainment was 
 provided for upwards of 200 in the New Sub- 
 scription School-room, which was tastefully 
 decorated for the occasion. 
 
 CAELOPS. — A number of the inhabitants 
 of the village of Carlops met on the evening of 
 the 25th, in Mr. Mitchell's Inn, where they 
 sat down to a sumptuous dinner. Mr. Thomas 
 Thomson occupied the chair, Mr. Mitchell 
 croupier. After the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts, " The Memory of the illustrious Bard" 
 was drunk with all the honours. Addresses 
 were given by the Chairman and others, and 
 the beautiful verses composed by Fitzgreen 
 Halleck, of New York, to the memory of 
 Burns, were given by one of the company. 
 Toast, song, and sentiment went round during 
 the evening ; and the meeting broke up at 
 eleven o'clock, singing the beautiful verses of 
 " Auld Langsyne," to the memory of the illus- 
 ti-ious bard. 
 
 CAELUKE.— The centenary of the birth of 
 Burns was celebrated here by a public supper 
 and ball, on the evening of the 25th. 'The 
 supper took place in the hall of the Black Bull 
 Inn, at six o'clock. The hall was beautifully 
 decorated with evergreens, typical of the unfad- 
 ing memory of Burns. T. Matthews, Esq., 
 banker, filled the chair, supported on the right 
 by Mr. Eraser, teacher, Carluke; and on the 
 left by J. Barr, Esq., Law. The duties of 
 croupier were discharged by Mr. Eraser, teacher, 
 Dalserf. About eighty gentlemen were pre- 
 sent. After the party had done justice to an 
 excellent supper, served in Mr. Cassel's best 
 style, the usual loyal and patriotic toasts were 
 given and responded to, one was drunk in 
 silence to the memory of the immortal bard, 
 and others of friendly sentiment met with cor- 
 dial responses ; such as " The Poets of Great 
 Britain and Ireland," by Mr. Eraser, Dalserf; 
 " The inhabitants of Carluke," by Mr. Barr ; 
 " The peasantry of Scotland," by Mr. Eraser, 
 Carluke; a toast to the "Wives and Sweet- 
 hearts of Carluke," and a cheer to those who 
 had neither. " The Landed Interests," by Mr. 
 Eraser, Carluke, replied to by J. Eeid, Esq. ; 
 "The Iron and Coal Trade," from the chair, 
 replied to by Mr. Barr, &c., &c. Mr. Eraser, 
 of Dalserf, gave an excellent address on the 
 " Life and Writings of Burns," in which the 
 
 qualities of the poet's genius were impartially 
 and ably discussed. A recitation, " The Pa- 
 triot Toll's Speech," was eloquently delivered 
 by Mr. Andrew Wilson. A number of Burns 
 best songs were sung by Messrs. Johnston, 
 Thomson, Gilchrist, Lindsay, Eraser, and others. 
 Votes of thanks were awarded the. committee, 
 and Mr. Matthews, for his active services in the 
 chair, when the party separated at half-past 
 nine, to join their better halves (real and in- 
 tended), and re-assemble for the ball, which 
 was held in the Parochial School-room, where 
 they danced in mirth and glee till three o'clock 
 next morning, when they parted in the best of 
 order, much delighted with the whole pro- 
 ceedings. We learn that the proceeds of the 
 entertainment are to be presented to Mrs. 
 Thomson, of Pollockshaws, sister of the poet. 
 
 In honour of Burns, the Brethren of the 
 Carluke St. John's Lodge, No. 187, commemo- 
 rated the event by a supper in the Black Bull 
 Inn. Every due honour and respect was paid 
 to the name and memory of the bard, as a 
 brother of the mystic tie ; but for want of 
 particulars we cannot give details. A subscrip- 
 tion was entered into by the lodge, the pro- 
 ceeds of which will be forwarded to Mrs. 
 Thomson. 
 
 CAENOUSTIE.— Our village has not been 
 behind-hand in bearing its tribute to the genius 
 of the "lad that was born in Kyle." We 
 have had a concert of vocal and instrumental 
 music in Carnoustie School-room, by Mr. Kerr 
 Nicoll and family, with the efficient assistance 
 of Mr. Guthrie on the double baSs, and Mr. 
 Suttie on the flute. The concert has proved a 
 complete success, both with regard to the per- 
 formance of the musicians, and to the number 
 of the audience. The proceedings were com- 
 menced by Mr. Auchterlonie (the chairman) 
 giving a dissertation of the life and writings of 
 the poet, interspersed with recitations from his 
 works. The proceedings were agreeably en- 
 livened by Mr. Boath singing "My Nannie's 
 awa'," "A man's a man for a' that," and several 
 other of the poet's most popular songs. At 
 the close the audience dispersed, fully satisfied 
 that they had been joining in a wise, judicious, 
 and sensible celebration of the poet's centenary. 
 
 In addition to this public entertainment, a 
 large party of gentlemen sat down to supper 
 in Bruce's Kinloch Arms, and did ample justice 
 to the viands, which were got up in a really 
 substantial and excellent style. The evenino- 
 was spent in a most harmonious manner, 
 speeches, song, and sentiment being the ruling 
 order of the night. There were numerous 
 other small parties held throughout the vil- 
 lage. 
 
CARNWATH— CARSEPHAIKN. 
 
 201 
 
 CARNWATH.— The Burns centenary was 
 celebrated with an amount of enthusiasm rarely 
 witnessed in the parish. The Masons' Hall, 
 the largest building in the village, was crowded 
 to sufiFocation, and hundreds who were anxious 
 to be present had to be denied admittance, 
 from want of accommodation. 
 
 Dr. Wilson, of Westsidewood, presided, sup- 
 ported on the right and left by John Jackson, 
 Esq., of Hall Hill; James Logan, Esq., of 
 Eastshield; Mr. French, Park; Dr. Paterson, 
 Carnwath ; Messrs. Nimmo and Watson, Carn- 
 wath ; Mr. French, Lampits ; &c., &o. 
 
 The meeting was eloquently addressed by 
 Mr. Dyraock, who gave a sketch of the life of 
 Burns; Mr. Nimmo, who told some amusing 
 anecdotes of Burns, and of his journey through 
 the parish and upper ward on his way to Edin- 
 burgh ; Mr. Russell, on the writings of Burns ; 
 and by the Chairman, who proposed " The 
 Immortal Memory of Scotland's greatest son, 
 the ploughman poet Burns," which was re- 
 sponded to with a perfect storm of enthusiasm. 
 The Chairman, in his speech, gave a short 
 sketch of the poetic art from the most ancient 
 times down to the days of Burns. He then 
 referred to the power and influence of poetry 
 in moulding the human mind, as exemplified 
 in all ages, and so beautifully expressed by 
 PoUok— 
 
 " He touched his harp, and nations heard entranced, 
 As some vast river of unfailing source ; 
 Eapid, exhaustless, deep his numbers flowed, 
 And oped new fountains in the human heart;" 
 
 and wound up a most eloquent address by 
 special reference to the magic power and influ- 
 ence of the genius of Burns — who, as the 
 child of Nature, sympathised with her in all 
 her moods — whose heart danced with the merry 
 dancing sunbeams, or leapt for joy amid the 
 wildness of the winter's blast ; who sung in 
 strains of sweetest melody the language of 
 Nature — a language known and understood by 
 men of all ages and of every clime, and in 
 songs which will last as long as time exists, 
 moulding the mind of man to higher aims and 
 nobler aspirations. 
 
 The meeting was enlivened in the interval 
 between the speeches with songs and music 
 from an instrumental band ; and altogether it 
 was a most successful one, notwithstanding the 
 discomfort from overcrowding, every one being 
 glad at having an opportunity of paying respect 
 to the memory of the great departed. 
 
 CARRIDEN.— The centenary of the "Prince 
 of Scottish song" was celebrated here in the 
 Parish School-room, which was tastefully deco- 
 rated for the occasion with evergreens and 
 wild fern. Over the chair were the letters R. 
 
 B. neatly formed of variegated laurel, and 
 separated by a star of serrated fern. A large 
 party of gentlemen sat down to a substantial 
 dinner. On the table, occupying a conspicuous 
 place, was a huge " Scotch haggis," correspond- 
 ing in all respects with the bard's description 
 of the "chieftain." Mr. Dorward, parochial 
 teacher, occupied the chair, and the duties of 
 croupier were efiiciently discharged by Mr. 
 Hunter. The Chairman proposed the toast of 
 the evening, " The Immortal Memory of Burns," 
 which was responded to with due honours. 
 Song by the croupier — " There was a lad was 
 born in Kyle." During the evening several 
 readings and recitations from the poet's works 
 were given, and a number of his best songs 
 were sung with much taste and feeling. After 
 spending an evening such as has seldom been 
 anywhere surpassed for pleasure and harmony, 
 the company joined in singing"Auld Langsyne," 
 and separated at a late hour in the morning, 
 highly delighted with the whole proceedings. 
 
 CARBON. — A few of the admirers of Burns 
 met in Carron Inn, to commemorate the cen- 
 tenary of the poet. Mr. John Campbell, 
 accountant, Carron, ably discharged the duties 
 of the chair, and Mr. William Clark, Black- 
 mill, those of croupier. After the usual loyal 
 and patriotic toasts, the Chairman, in a speech 
 characterised by great ability, gave a very in- 
 teresting description of the life and poetry of 
 the immortal bard, and concluded by proposing 
 " The Memory of Burns." The supper pro- 
 vided for this occasion by mine host of Carron 
 Inn did great credit to Mrs. Horn's cuisine. 
 
 CARRONSHORE.— On the evening of the 
 '25th, a number of the admirers of the immortal 
 bard of Scotland met in the house of Alexander 
 Hunter, publican, Carronshore, The duty of 
 the chair was confided to Mr. John Lawson, 
 and that of croupier to Mr. Thomas Ritchie, 
 senior. After partaking of a most substantial 
 supper, which reflected great credit on our 
 worthy hostess, Mrs. Hunter, the cloth being 
 removed, and the usual loyal toasts being given, 
 the Chairman, in a most appropriate speecii, 
 proposed the toast of the evening, " The Im- 
 mortal Memory of Robert Burns," which was 
 responded to in a most enthusiastic manner. 
 The company was much enlivened by a few 
 recitations from Mr. A. Rankin, and some of 
 the poet's most choice songs were sung by 
 the Messrs. Laing, in their usual masterly style. 
 Altogether the meeting was of a very agree- 
 able nature, and reflects great credit on the 
 locality. 
 
 CARSEPHAIRN.— The inhabitants of the 
 
202 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAllY. 
 
 village of Carsephairn and the neighbourhood 
 met at the Cross Keys Inn, to commemorate 
 the centenary of Burns — Mr. Wallace, Knock- 
 grey, in the chair; and after an excellent tea 
 and an exhilarating glass, a few speeches and 
 a number of Burns' songs sung by Mr. Wal- 
 lace and Mr. Tait, the company retired, being 
 much gratified by the reminiscences of their 
 country's bard, and the enjoyment of their 
 meeting. 
 
 CASTLE-DOUGLAS.— On the evening of 
 the 25th, about eiglity gentlemen met in the 
 Commercial Inn here. The dining-room was 
 tastefully decollated, and the front windows of 
 the two upper stories illuminated, showing four 
 beautiful transparencies got up to give effect to 
 the scene, — while every now and then the bass 
 and tenor violins and bagpipes discoursed sweet 
 music. Upon the removal of the cloth, and 
 after the usual loyal and constitutional toasts 
 had been given. 
 
 The Chairman, Alexander M'Michan, Esq. 
 of Corbieton, said : — Burns, who may emphati- 
 cally be called Scotland's Poet, and who drew 
 his first breath beneath a straw roof, and whose 
 first lullaby was sung within the compass of a 
 clay-built cot, has a fame that will perish only 
 with time, — a name that has become a house- 
 hold word, and whose songs and poems are 
 read and sung, not only in the sunny plains of 
 the south, but also in the far backwoods of 
 North America. The peasant in his cot is 
 proud of him, the prince and the peer alike 
 admire him, and his works fill a prominent 
 place in the library of each. I call upon you 
 to join me in a bumper to the memory of our 
 own immortal poet. (Drunk in solemn silence.) 
 
 Mr. Sinclair, the Croupier : — The toast 
 intrusted to my care is "Burns as a Poet." 
 As a poet, he possesses a power that is irresist- 
 ible ; and there is a simplicity, beauty, and 
 sublimity about his pieces that fascinates and 
 enchants. (The toast was drunk with all the 
 honours.) 
 
 " Burns as a man," by Mr. Bkydon, who 
 said : — Possessed of an independence of mind 
 that no power on earth could bend, a benevo- 
 lence of heart that nothing could destroy, a 
 love ardent and glowing for his kind, a friend- 
 ship strong as death, and a patriotism pure and 
 holy ; his sympathies were all on the side of 
 the weak, and the outpourings of his heart were 
 given to the helpless and the distressed. " Burns 
 as a man," heartily responded to. 
 
 Tune — " A man's a man for a' that." 
 
 Various other toasts were given, and songs 
 sung during the evening. 
 
 Altogether the company spent a very plea- 
 sant evening, and the utmost harmonv and 
 
 good humour prevailed ; all parted singing the 
 song of " Auld Langsyne" at the conclusion. 
 
 A party assembled in the Douglas Arms 
 Hotel, presided over by Mr. Richard Hewit, with 
 Bailies Craig and Dobie, Treasurer Nicholson, 
 and Councillor Jardine, as supporters ; ex- 
 Provost Hewitson, and Mr. Johnstone, teacher, 
 acting as croupiers. After partaking of a most 
 sumptuous dinner, the Chairman rose, and after 
 a most eloquent address, in the course of which 
 he was loudly applauded, gave " The immortal 
 memory of Robert Burns." The toast was 
 responded to most enthusiastically, followed by 
 " There was a lad was born in Kyle," sung in 
 excellent style by Mr. James Milligan. Mr. 
 Johnstone, teacher, next recited " Tam o' Shan- 
 ter," during the delivery of which a good deal 
 of amusement was caused by the total eclipse 
 of the lights at the moment Tam, unable to 
 contain his admiration of the " supple jade and 
 Strang," shouts out " Weel done. Cutty Sark." 
 Other toasts were given, and various gentlemen 
 sung excellent songs during the evening. 
 
 CASTLETON (New.)— On Tuesday night 
 a party of the admirers of Robert Burns met 
 in the Grapes Hotel, to celebrate the centenary 
 of the birth of the great national bard, Mr. 
 Beavers, architect, was in the chair, Mr. Guth- 
 rie, slater, and Mr. Martin, C.E., acting as 
 croupiers. 
 
 The Chairman said they had met together 
 to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of 
 him whom every Scottish heart feels proud to 
 add to her immortal sons — a Scottish bard 
 proud of the name, and whose highest ambition 
 was to sing to his country's service. The poe- 
 tic genius of his country found him, as the 
 prophet Elijah did Elisha, at the plough, and 
 threw her inspiring mantle over him. She 
 bade him sing the loves, the joys, the rural 
 scenes, and rural pleasures of his native soil. 
 After reciting a few of his most favourite 
 pieces, the Chairman concluded by proposing 
 the following toast : — " Long may the Memory 
 of Robert Burns be cherished in every Scottish 
 bosom." 
 
 The toast was most warmly responded to. 
 
 A number of short addresses were delivered 
 by members of the company. 
 
 The party separated at a late hour, highly 
 delighted with the evening's entertainment. 
 The supper was served up in the most appro- 
 priate style for the occasion, reflecting great 
 credit on the worthy hostess, Mrs. Elliot. 
 
 A number of the villagers assembled in the 
 Commercial Inn, and had a friendly glass to- 
 gether. Several of Burns' songs were sung by 
 Messrs. Crozier, Cloggers, and Mr. A. Inglis, 
 teacher of music. The party spent a most 
 
CATRINE— COLDSTREAM. 
 
 203 
 
 liarnioiiious evening, and separated at eleven 
 o'clock. 
 
 CATRINE. — Ti'uly, as the correspondent of 
 A. & S. Herald has said, there was no public 
 meeting held iiere, yet no fewer than five social 
 meetings connected with the centenary took 
 place in the village on the evening of Tuesday. 
 At one of these, held in the Burns Inn, Robert 
 Wright, Esq., a poet of no mean intellect, ably 
 filled tiie chair, and in an excellent speech pro- 
 posed the toast of the evening, " Tiie Memory 
 of Robert Burns." Several other toasts, and a 
 number of Burns' songs were sung, reflecting 
 great credit upon the singers. The evening 
 was spent in a most happy manner. 
 
 CAWDOR. — A dinner and ball was held in 
 tlie Cawdor Arms Hotel — Dr. Gregor in the 
 chair. After an address from the chair, " the 
 memory of Burns," the Telegraph adds, was 
 drunk with loud cheers, three times three, and 
 one cheer more for "Highland Mary." A 
 number of the company then joined in singing 
 "Ye Banks and Braes;" Mr. Eraser, Brackla, 
 sung "Tam Glen;" and Mr. Falconer, Croy, 
 recited "Death and Doctor Hornbook" with 
 great gusto. 
 
 The dinner was succeeded by a ball. The 
 ball-room was tastefully decorated. The atten- 
 dance was numerous, about thirty couples join- 
 ing in the dance. 
 
 CERES. — There were many parties in our 
 tillage seeking to do honour to Burns. There 
 was the Curlers' Dinner, in Mr. Gourlay's ; 
 the Supper of the Ofiice-bearers of the Soiree 
 in Ceres, also in Mr. Gourlay's ; so that the 
 only thing open to the public was a dinner in 
 Mr. Balfour's, which was a very respectable 
 aflair. And if anything else was required be- 
 sides a first-rate dinner in making a happy 
 ])arty, it was amply supplied by Mr. D. Brown 
 in tlie excellent way in which he discharged the 
 duties of Chairman, and Mr. Wallace that of 
 croupier. The evening was enlivened by a 
 very choice selection of Burns' songs, poems, 
 anecdotes, &c. ; and at ten o'clock the party 
 adjourned to the Masons' Hall to finish the 
 evening's entertainment with a dance. 
 
 CHAPEL OF GARIOCH.— The Mutual 
 Instruction Society here, in testimony of their 
 admiration of genius, held their soiree on the 
 evening of Tuesday, in the Parish School-room. 
 A happy, and', we hope, a profitable evening 
 was spent. The Rev. Mr. Storie, Culsalmond, 
 ^■indicated, in his individual capacity as a clergy- 
 man, his approval of doing honour to the name 
 of our national bard. 
 
 CHlRNSIDE.^The village of Chirnside 
 lias not been behind the rest of our towns and 
 villages in showing respect for the memory of 
 our immortal bard, who has many admirers in 
 the village and surrounding district. A meet- 
 ing of about thirty individuals, comprising the 
 principal farmers in the neighbourhood, was 
 convened in the Red Lion Inn, Robert N. 
 Slight, Esq., Chirnside Bridge, in the chair ; 
 Mr. Cowe, Oldcastles, and Mr. George Wilson, 
 Harelaw, croupiers. The dinner was excellent 
 and served in first-rate style, and the thanks of 
 the gentlemen present are due to the landlord, 
 Mr. Davidson, whose arrangements and cour- 
 tesy were everything that could be wished. 
 Exactly at 11 o'clock, the ghost of Forbes Mac- 
 kenzie appeared, and the company dispersed. 
 
 A party, also numbering about foi-ty me- 
 chanics, tradesmen and others, met at 7 o'clock 
 in the Waterloo Arms. Mr. John Amos, 
 Ciiirnside Bridge, was called to the chair, and 
 after the invocation of the Divine blessing, all 
 present partook to satisfaction of the very 
 splendid dinner that had been prepared by 
 Mrs. Peacock, which did the utmost credit to 
 her culinary art. A pleasing excitement was 
 kept up till a late hour, when the party sepa- 
 rated highly satisfied with their happy evening. 
 
 CHRYSTON.— The centenary of our poet 
 Burns was celebrated with every demonstra- 
 tion of enthusiasm in this village. The ar- 
 rangements were of the most appropriate and 
 complete description. The parish school, 
 where the demonstration took place, was most 
 beautifully decorated. Altogether about eigh- 
 ty sat down to supper, and at seven o'clock 
 the Rev. J. N. M'Leod took the chair, and 
 Dr. M'Donald ably officiated as croupier. 
 The Chairman, having given the usual toasts, 
 proposed in eloquent and glowing terms the 
 toast of the evening — " The Immortal Memory 
 of Burns." Several other toasts followed, which 
 were interspersed with readings and songs from 
 Burns, including "Tam o' Shanter" and the 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night." The companj', 
 after singing " Auld Langsyne'' standing, broke 
 up at half-past eleven, and left the younger 
 members to enjoy themselves tripping it on the 
 light fantastic toe to a fine orchestral band from 
 the Blind Asylum, Glasgow. 
 
 COATBRIDGE.— Burns' centenary was cel- 
 ebrated in Coatbridge by upwards of thirty gen- 
 tlemen sitting down to supper in the Eagle Inn. 
 
 COLDSTREAM.— Two grand demonstra- 
 tions were held in honour of the centenary of 
 Burns. In the afternoon a dinner was held in 
 the Newcastle Arms Hotel, at which nearly 
 
204 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 eighty gentlemen sat down. William Cun- 
 ningham, Esq., bailie, occupied the chair, and 
 J. Haliburton, Esq., the vice chair, and both of 
 these gentlemen well sustained the honour of 
 their elevated situations. The dinner was ele- 
 gant and substantial, consisting of everything 
 desirable, and was set out with much precision 
 and judgment. 
 
 On the removal of the cloth the Chairman 
 proceeded with the business of the evening, 
 and proposed the usual loyal toasts, with some 
 excellent remarks, which were duly respond- 
 ed to. 
 
 The Chairman, in proposing the toast of 
 the evening, " The immortal memory of Robert 
 Burns," spoke as follows : — Gentlemen, we have 
 assembled this evening in common with many 
 thousands of our countrymen all over the world, 
 to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the 
 birth-day of our national poet, Robert Burns 
 — to testify our regard for his memory and 
 admiration of his genius, his patriotism, and 
 philanthropy, as well as the other praiseworthy 
 qualities of head and heart which, in so remark- 
 able a manner, distinguished him. There has 
 been so much said and written during the 
 greater part of a century regarding this highly 
 gifted and extraordinary man, and you must 
 all be so familiar with his history and writings, 
 that anything I can say about him on this oc- 
 casion must appear something like an often told 
 tale ; but there is a charm associated with the 
 inemory of Robert Burns, which the mere 
 mention of his name never fails to awaken, 
 and in his works we find strains of consummate 
 beauty, genuine pathos, and true poetic fire. 
 Whether we take his poems, his songs, or his 
 correspondence, we find the stamp of true ge- 
 nius eligibly impressed on them all ; but while 
 this will readily be admitted, it has at the same 
 time been universally acknowledged that his 
 songs have done more than any of his other 
 writings to excite our admiration and keep his 
 name ever as a household word amongst his 
 countrymen. It has been truly said that 
 though the printer's ink should dry up, ten 
 thousand melodious tongues would preserve 
 the songs of Burns to remote generations. 
 Burns possessed also most fascinating powers 
 of conversation, and he was equally at home 
 amongst the lads and lasses of Kyle, as amongst 
 the learned men and accomplished women of 
 our Scottish metropolis. His visit to Edin- 
 burgh in November, 1786, was, in one point of 
 view, an unparalleled triumph. We find him 
 fresh from the plough, taking leave of his 
 mother and walking off to Edinburgh, buoyant 
 in spirit and full of new hopes. He was not long 
 there until he found his way into the polished 
 circles of the great and the learned of the city. 
 
 and amongst them our humble poet not only 
 held his own in argument, but was ready with 
 a sally of wit ; and when occasion justified its 
 use, could point a sarcasm with the best of 
 them — showing indeed an amount of informa- 
 tion and intelligence which excited the surprise 
 and admiration of all with whom he came in 
 contact ; and we find the witty and accom- 
 plished Duchess of Gordon declaring that in 
 conversation no man ever carried her so com- 
 pletely off her feet as Robert Burns — we can- 
 not doubt that his influence in this direction 
 must have been peculiarly fascinating and po- 
 tent. Before proposing the toast I will just 
 refer to one effect of signal importance, which 
 Burns has been doubtless instrumental in pro- 
 ducing, and which sheds additional lustre on 
 his memory. He has done more to promote 
 and strengthen a feeling of genuine friendship, 
 philanthropy, and patriotism amongst his coun- 
 trymen, and to make one and all contented and 
 satisfied with the position in life in which Pro- 
 vidence has placed them than any single indi- 
 vidual of whom we have any record. Take 
 him for all and all, we shall seldom, perhaps 
 never, look ujwn his like again, and he will 
 live in the hearts of his countrymen to remot- 
 est ages. (The toast was then drunk by the 
 company in solemn silence.) 
 
 Many toasts followed; and theparty,led by Mr. 
 Walter Redden, then joined in the song, "Auld 
 Langsyne," which was sung with much enthusi- 
 asm, when the gentlemen left the room to join 
 the Soiree at the Townhall, which was being 
 conducted by the ladies. The hall was pro- 
 fusely decorated with flowers and evergreens. 
 At the head of the hall were inscribed in leaves 
 the words, " To Commemorate the Immortal 
 Bard of Scotland." The tables were most taste- 
 fully arranged on each side of the room, each 
 one under the charge of a lady, when upwards 
 of two hundred were plentifully regaled with 
 tea, cake, and fruit, which was served up in 
 superior style. The effect on the whole was 
 very striking. After tea, the Rev. Mr. Mearns 
 delivered an excellent address on the poetry and 
 genius of Burns, which he admirably sketched, 
 giving evidence of his thorough acquaintance 
 with the bard and his works, and which was 
 well received by the numerous audience. The 
 company was from time to time enlivened with 
 a_ variety of Scottish airs performed on the 
 pianoforte and violin, and many of Burns' fa- 
 vourite songs were sung botli by ladies and 
 gentlemen, which added much to the pleasure 
 of the evening. All seemed highly gratified 
 with the handsome entertainment which had 
 been provided for tlieni, and the evening was 
 spent in the most happy and convivial manner 
 till about 12 o'clock, when the company joined 
 
COLINSBURGH— CORGARFF. 
 
 205 
 
 in the song, "Auld Langsyne," holding by each 
 otlier's hands, and marking the time with the 
 usual accompaniment. A dance was then pro- 
 posed to conclude the meeting, and Mr. Beloe 
 having kindly agreed to furnish music a little 
 longer, dancing commenced, which was kept 
 up till nearly 1 o'clock, when the assembly 
 broke up, all happy to meet, sorry to part, and 
 happy to meet again. 
 
 COLINSBURGH.— A meeting in comme- 
 moration of Robert Burns was held in the 
 School-room here on the 25th, at which about 
 140 persons of both sexes attended. The 
 room was tastefully decorated with evergreens, 
 and a full-sized portrait of the bard, painted in 
 oil for the occasion by our talented artist, Mr. 
 Thomson, both of which had a most imposing 
 effect. The chair was ably filled by Mr. Briggs, 
 who opened the proceedings by reciting the 
 Selkirk grace of Burns. The CJhairman pro- 
 posed the " Queen and Royal Family," after 
 which was sung the "Queen's Anthem." Then 
 followed the toast of the evening, " The Im- 
 mortal Memory of Burns," following which was 
 " Scots wha hae," with most thrilling effect. 
 The song "Rantin Robin" was followed by 
 glees, duets, songs (both vocal and instru- 
 mental), recitations, &c., the whole being con- 
 fined to the productions of Burns. The forms 
 having been removed, all tried the metal of 
 their heels. The meeting was a most happy 
 one, the grandeur of which was not a little en- 
 hanced by the gay attire of the ladies. Dancing 
 was kept up till about two o'clock, when all re- 
 tired home decently and in good order. The 
 ball music was furnished by our own villagers. 
 
 praise is due to the musicians for so readily 
 volunteering their services, and to the excel- 
 lent arrangements of the worthy chairman and 
 his committee, for owing to them pleasant re- 
 collections of the Burns centenary at Colliston 
 will live in the memory of those who were pre- 
 sent at it for many a day to come. 
 
 COLPY. — The inhabitants of Colpy and 
 surrounding friends, joined heartily in the 
 national celebration, by a festival. Mr. Ro- 
 bert Livingstone, merchant, was called to the 
 chair. Tea was served by Mrs. Walker. 
 Several of the company delivered addresses on 
 the "Life and Writings of Robert Burns," 
 which was followed by readings and recita- 
 tions, likewise vocal and instrumental music, 
 selected from the poet's works, spending a very 
 harmonious evening. 
 
 COLLISTON— We have not been behind 
 our neighbours in celebrating the centenary of 
 Burjis. Nearly 100 sat down to tea in East 
 Colliston Mill, which was very tastefully deco- 
 rated with evergreens — the poet's name and 
 other designs, all neatly formed of leaves, 
 adorning the walls. The chair was ably filled 
 by Mr. Samuel Bowden, Mill of Colliston. 
 After tea, when the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts had been responded to, the Chairman, 
 after giving a slight sketch of the life and times 
 of our great poet, with a few remarks on his 
 principal compositions, illustrated by appropri- 
 ate quotations, proposed " The Immortal Me- 
 mory of Robert Burns." After several songs, 
 exclusively Burns', from the chair and various 
 individuals present, and when "Auld Langsyne" 
 had been sung by the whole company, tables 
 were removed, and to the stirring strains of 
 half-a-dozen fiddles, dancing was commenced 
 and kept up with undiminished spirit until a 
 \ery far advanced hour in the morning. Much 
 
 COLVEND— A party from the united par- 
 ishes of Colvend and Southwick, met in South- 
 wick School-room, — Mr. Wilson, teacher, in the 
 chair, and Mr. Hazles, Drumstenshall, vice- 
 chairman. The company sat down to an ex- 
 cellent tea. " The Immortal Memory of 
 Burns, the Scottish National Poet," was given 
 from the chair, and drunk in solemn silence. 
 But later in the evening a rapturous cheer suf- 
 ficient to startle all the pheasants in Southwick 
 was given for Burns ; not Burns the Ayrshire 
 ploughman, but Burns living in Hallowe'en 
 and Tam o' Shanter. " The Memory of Wal- 
 lace, the Champion of Scottish Independence," 
 was given by Mr. Macfie, in a speech of truly 
 patriotic and strong Scottish feeling, which was 
 received with tremendous cheering. After this 
 were given in succession, " The Sons of Burns ; " 
 "The Members for the County and Burghs;'' 
 and "Absent Friends," coupled with a party of 
 friends enjoying themselves in a similar way at 
 Whitecroft, in the same parish. Dancing then 
 commenced, and Scotch Reel, Quadrille, Hou- 
 lakin, and Contra-dance, were kept up with 
 unabated spirit till an advanced hour in the 
 morning, to spirit-stirring music by Mr. Dun- 
 can, Dumfries. During the evening many na- 
 tional and local toasts were drunk. Wines, 
 spirits, fruits, &c., were distributed with un- 
 abating liberality. Many excellent songs were 
 sung, and last, " Auld Langsyne," by the com- 
 pany standing, after which each took off his 
 several way, highly delighted with the manner 
 in which they had spent the evening. 
 
 CORGARFF.— Not to be behind the spirit 
 of the age, so vividly illustrating the feelings of 
 a nation's pride in claiming as a~ son of the 
 Muses the immortal hero of Scottish song and 
 poetry, Robert Burns, " the ploughman poet of 
 
206' 
 
 THE BURIVS CENTENARY. 
 
 Ayrshire," the good folks in this Higliland 
 Strath met at fhe Bridge-end of Allargue Inn, 
 on 25th January, to pay their tribute of re- 
 spect and homage to his departed worth. Al- 
 though the night blew such another blast as it 
 did that night a hundred years ago, when the 
 " auld clay biggin' " in which Burns was ushered 
 into the world was made a ruin, it did not pre- 
 vent some three score of the CorgarfF men from 
 meeting at dinner, where their worthy pastor, 
 the Rev. Mr. M'Hardy, ably filled the chair — 
 Dr. Profeit acting as croupier. It would be 
 only a reiteration of hundreds of similar speeches 
 on the occasion to particularise the admirable 
 and graphic sketch of the poet's life and writ- 
 ings — his charitable allusion to his faults and 
 failings — and his quotations from some of his 
 finest compositions, which the worthy Chairman 
 dwelt on in giving the toast of the evening. 
 Suffice it to say, that all were more or less im- 
 pressed with the powerful vigour of mind with 
 wliich the poet was gifted, and the independence 
 with which he upheld the sway of right pver 
 might. The toast was received with every 
 feeling of deep respect — the assemblage stand- 
 ing. Next in order followed " Mr. Farquharson 
 of Allargue," (the proprietor of the premises in 
 which they were met,) by Dr. Profeit; "Mrs. 
 Farquharson," by Mr. Donald Cumming, Cock- 
 bridge ; " Sir Charles Forbes, Bart., of Newe," 
 by Mr. George Mackie, Badenshellach ; " Lady 
 Forbes of Newe," by Mr. Charles M'Hardy, 
 Ordachoy; "The Clergy," coupled with the 
 Chairman, tlie Rev. Mr. M'Hardy, Corgarif, 
 by Mr. Symon, schoolmaster; "The School- 
 masters," coupled with Mr. Symon, school- 
 master, Corgarflf, by the Croupier; " Major John 
 Forbes, C.B., of Inverernan," by Mr. Joseph 
 Downie, Colnabechan; " The Army and Navy," 
 coupled with Col. Burns, by Mr. J. Dunbar (of 
 the Scottish North-eastern Railway ;) " The 
 Memory of Burns' wife, Jane Armour," by Mr. 
 A. Walker, Castle Newe; "The Scotch Poets," 
 by Mr. M'Hardy, Luib; "The Medical Pro- 
 fession," coupled with Dr. Profeit, by the Chair- 
 man ; " The English Poets," by Mr. James 
 Farquharson, Dujrick ; " The Tenantry of 
 Allargue," by Mr. M'Hardy, Luib ; " The Ten- 
 antry of Skellater," by Mr. Q. Farquharson, 
 Dummindhu; "Agriculture," by Mr. A. Dur- 
 ward, Dykehead ; " The Host, and Hostess," 
 by Mr. Robert Philip, Garchory; with various 
 other patriotic and local toasts. By nine 
 o'clock, P.M., the lads and lasses began to drop 
 in, and the Chairman proposed " Good Night," 
 to allow mine host to clear the premises for 
 those about to join in the merry dance. Many 
 excellent songs of the poet were sung by gentle- 
 men present, and Mr. Walker, Castle Newe, who 
 kindly gratified the request of the company by 
 
 playing appropriate airs on the violin to the 
 various toasts. The dinner and other refresh- 
 ments did the greatest credit to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Coutts. 
 
 CORSTORPHINE.— A demonstration in 
 honour of Burns took place in the village on 
 the 25th. Upwards of forty gentlemen sat 
 down to dinner — Mr. Lawrie occupying the 
 chair, and Messrs. Wright and Whitwright 
 acting as croupiers. The evening's enjoyments 
 were very much enhanced by numerous appro- 
 priate songs and toasts. Tiie demonstration 
 was conducted in a manner that did credit to 
 all concerned. 
 
 COTHAL MILLS.— Between thirty and 
 forty of the Cotlial Mills operatives met in the 
 School-room — Mr. J, Nicolson in the chair. 
 Messrs. P. Forbes and John Bonnyman acted 
 as croupiers. After giving the Queen all due 
 honour, the Chairman gave the toasts of the 
 evening — " The Memory of Burns," " The Land 
 of Burns," &c. Between the toasts, several of 
 Burns' songs were sung, concluding with " Auld 
 Langsyne ; " and, on a vote of thanks to the 
 Chairman, all parted, highly delighted with 
 the evening's proceedings. 
 
 COVE. — The Centenary was celebrated at 
 the Cove by a public dinner — the Rev. Mr. 
 Fairweather, minister of the parish, in the chair, 
 under whose very able presidency the company 
 spent a most agreeable evening. Francis Far- 
 quharson, Esq., Kirkhill, and John Ferguson, 
 Esq., M.D., Cove, were the croupiers. Up- 
 wards of forty gentlemen sat down to an ex- 
 cellent repast provided by Mr. M'Leod, Cove 
 Inn. After the usual loyal toasts, the Chair- 
 man gave " The Army and the Navy," which 
 was replied to by Captain Gordon, R.N.,in a 
 telling speech. The Rev. Chairman gave the 
 toast of the evening, and we give extracts from 
 his very able and eloquent address. In alluding 
 (said the rev. gentleman) to the private personal 
 history of Burns, our motto and our maxim is 
 contained in the words of Shakspeare — 
 
 " Nothing extenuate, 
 Nor set down aught in malice." 
 
 That Burns had faults — grievous faults — the 
 more dangerous because of his genius — faults 
 which, in his own words, " laid him low and 
 stained his name " — that he had such faults, we 
 are not here to deny ; our eulogium this even- 
 ing shall not be fulsome and false, but generous, 
 just, and true. A thorough Christian Scots- 
 man will ever read the narrative of his life with 
 the mingled feelings of pain and pride. Tiie 
 perusal of his personal history awakens feelings 
 
COVE— CRAMOND. 
 
 207 
 
 similar to those wliicli must arise in the breast 
 of one when reading the official war dispatch 
 announcing the death of a brother or friend 
 fighting manfully for the honour of his father- 
 land — he is proud of his bravery, he is pained 
 by his fall. So of Burns — we are proud of his 
 manly patriotism, his magnanimous self-depen- 
 dence, his unaffected sympathy with the sor- 
 rowing, the desponding, and despairing, his 
 generous and overflowing love for all his fellow- 
 men, his withering invective and righteous in- 
 dignation against all that savoured of the low, 
 the tricky, and the cunning, as well as the hy- 
 pocritical and dishonest, his masterly exposures 
 of Pharisaical cant and religious imposture, the 
 stern, unbending, and indomitable front which 
 he ever, with an almost Herculean energy, pre- 
 sented against injustice, together with his firm 
 and fearless efforts to advance and extend the 
 interests of that cause which has rendered our 
 sea-girt isle the palladium of freedom, the asy- 
 lum of the oppressed and expatriated, the refuge 
 of them whom a high-handed despotism had 
 " doomed to die" — that invaluable and im- 
 perishable cause — a cause so closely and indis- 
 soUibly interwoven with the fibres of the men- 
 tal, and moral, and physical constitution of 
 every leal-hearted Scotchman — the cause of 
 civil and religious liberty all the world over. 
 Proud of all this, and justly proud of our na- 
 tional Bard, yet pained — profoundly pained — 
 we are, that one so highly gifted by nature, 
 so piously and religiously educated, should have 
 allowed himself to be withdrawn from those 
 liallowing influences of the domestic hearth and 
 family altar, so graphically and touchingly de- 
 scribed in his own inimitable and imperishable 
 poem, " The Cottar's Saturday Night." I be- 
 lieve these influences were never forgotten, but 
 were only in the turbid conflux of adverse 
 circumstances partially effaced, when, with a 
 nervous temperament early unstrung and after- 
 wards harshly and heavily strained, the smart- 
 ings of a spirit severely wounded, and the 
 promptings of a morbid melancholy, drove him 
 to excesses which, in the hour of calm reflec- 
 tion, none more tlian he bitterly repented and 
 remorsefully deplored. I drop the curtain of 
 charity over the memory of Scotland's noblest 
 Poet, in the words of a sweet son of the Muses, 
 now no more — 
 
 " Owning his weakness, 
 His evil behaviour, 
 And leaving with meekness 
 His sins to his Saviour. 
 
 I wish not to mar the pleasure of our happy 
 social meeting — I wish not to throw a damp 
 over our present enjoyments, but I cannot fail 
 to remind you that when the Second Centenary 
 of our national Poet is celebrated, it will be by 
 
 our children's and our grand-children's children. 
 One hundred years hence, others than we, or 
 our immediate descendants, will be at the fes- 
 tive board enjoying far higher advantages than 
 we, with philosophy, science, and literature in- 
 comparably transcendent over what we now 
 possess, and I add the solemn and fervent 
 prayer that the pilot-engine of this triple-loco- 
 motive will then and for ever be the religion 
 of Jesus. (Loud cheering.) A number of toasts 
 followed, interspersed with excellent .songs 
 from Mr. Smith and others, and the evening 
 was spent in the best of harmony. 
 
 CRAIGSTON. — Burns' centenary was cele- 
 brated here by a ball at the home-farm of 
 Craigston, got up by a committee of the Craig- 
 ston tenantry. The spacious building in which 
 it was held was kindly granted the use of by 
 Mr. Pollard Urquhart, and was decorated with 
 evergreens and holly, while suspended from the 
 walls were several appropriate mottoes, made 
 of leaves, in a style reflecting great credit on 
 Mr. Steele, gardener, and his assistants. The 
 ball, which commenced at eight o'clock, was 
 attended by upwards of three hundred. At 
 intervals, the company were enlivened by songs 
 from several gentlemen, and, towards the close, 
 a graphic sketch of the life of Burns was de- 
 livered by Mr. Robert Hay, blacksmith. Slap, 
 which was loudly applauded. 
 
 CRAIL. — This event was celebrated by a 
 dinner here in the Town Hall, to which about 
 fifty gentlemen sat down — Provost Brown in 
 the chair ; Bailie Fowler and Alex. Bell, Esq., 
 croupiers. After dinner the usual loyal and 
 patriotic toasts were given from the chair and 
 heartily responded to. The Chairman then 
 called for a special bumper to " The Immortal 
 Memory of Burns," which was drunk in solemn 
 silence. Then followed speech, toast, recita- 
 tion, song, and sentiment, which were all en- 
 thusiastically applauded. Taken altogether, a 
 most delightful evening was spent, every one 
 vieing with his neighbour to add to the general 
 harmony of the meeting. We cannot close this 
 brief account of a happy meeting without pay- 
 ing a compliment to our new landlord of the 
 Golf Inn (Mr. Moore) for the sumptuous dinner 
 placed on the table — it being the opinion of 
 every one present that a better they never sat 
 down to. After votes of thanks to the chair- 
 man, croupiers, &c., the meeting broke up an 
 hour or two before the " wee short hour ayont 
 the twal." 
 
 CRAMOND.— Tuesday the 25th was cele- 
 brated here in honour of the national poet. 
 Games were held in the park in front of Fair- 
 
208 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 a-Far, and were well attended, and keenly con- 
 tested. In the evening a large company as- 
 sembled in the Royal Oak Inn, and partook 
 of an excellent supper provided by mine hos- 
 tess. Miss M'Ara, in her usual excellent style ; 
 of course the " great chieftain o' the puddin' 
 race," with his honest, sonsie face, was not 
 awanting. William Cadell, Esq. of Almond 
 Bank, chairman ; and Mr. Watson, school- 
 master, croupier. The Chairman, in an able 
 speech, gave " The Memory of the Immortal 
 Bard." Several appropriate toasts were given 
 in the course of the evening, and many of 
 Burns' songs were sung with great glee, and 
 " Auld Langsyne" closed the meeting. 
 
 CRATHIE.— The great day of Burns' Cen- 
 tenary was celebrated in this quarter and sur- 
 rounding district with great enthusiasm. At 
 six o'clock in the evening a respectable body of 
 farmers and others met at Inver Inn, and sat 
 down to an excellent supper, prepared by Mrs. 
 Leys. The chair was occupied by Mr. Wallace, 
 builder, while Mr. Webster, wood- forester, Bal- 
 moral, fulfilled the duties of croupier with tact 
 and ability. Among the gentlemen present 
 were — William Herron, Esq., Newton of Cra- 
 thie ; J. Symon, Esq., Easter Balmoral ; Mr. 
 Stewart, farmer, Bulgaugh ; Mr. J. Morison, 
 Invergelder; Mr. Smith, manager, Lochnagar 
 Distillery ; Mr. John Morgan, jun., Abergeldie, 
 &c., &c. After doing justice to a sumptuous 
 repast, the loyal and national toasts were given 
 in succession from the chair, and warmly re- 
 sponded to in true Highland fashion. The 
 Chairman then, in proposing the toast of the 
 evening, " The Memory of Burns," illustrated 
 the worth of Burns in a very able speech. The 
 Croupier then gave " The Sons of Burns" in 
 a speech fitting the occasion, which was warmly 
 responded to with all the honours. The after 
 speeches were interspersed with songs, glees, 
 and recitations from the works of the immortal 
 bard ; while Mr. George Williamson, Lochna- 
 yard, at intervals throughout the evening 
 played some fine old Scotch tunes on the ac- 
 cordion, which were very much admired. 
 Eleven o'clock having arrived, the company 
 broke up, one and all delighted with the even- 
 ing's proceedings. 
 
 CRAWFORD.— Upwards of thirty gentle- 
 men sat down to a sumptuous dinner, at six 
 o'clock, in Crawford Inn, when the table liter- 
 ally groaned with viands varied and delicious. 
 The chair was ably filled by David Murray, 
 Esq., Newmains, supported on the right by Mr. 
 A. Cranstoun, on the left by David Menzics, 
 Esq., Belfield. Mr. Cranstoun, Stonneyburn, 
 officiated as croupier. After the usual loyal 
 
 toasts, the Chairman gave the toast of the 
 evening in a very appropriate, social, and 
 talented manner, too lengthened for the re- 
 porter to give verbatim. Many other appro- 
 priate toasts were given, both from the chair, 
 croupier, and other gentlemen. The songs 
 were select, and chiefly of the Bard's own 
 composition ; the first was led off by Mr. N. 
 Murray, in his usual musical style, " There was 
 a lad was born in Kyle," which was received 
 with deafening applause. Many other endear- 
 ing songs were sung during the evening, and 
 altogether there has not been such a happy, 
 joyous meeting seen in the quiet village of 
 Crawford since the coronation of Queen Yic- 
 toria. 
 
 CREETOWN.— A public dinner was held 
 in the Town-hall, when about sixty gentlemen 
 assembled to do honour to the memory of 
 Scotia's favourite son. Major Hannay of Kirk- 
 dale, presided ; Mr. Lindsay, Ravenshall, and 
 Mr. George Ross, Creetown, croupiers. After 
 the usual loyal toasts, the chairman, in a neat 
 address, gave the " Immortal Memory of Burns," 
 which was drank in solemn silence. Many 
 other appropriate toasts were given, and en- 
 thusiastically responded to, while songs and 
 recitations greatly enhanced the pleasure of the 
 evening. After a cordial vote of thanks to the 
 chairman for having discharged his duties so 
 eificiently, the company separated highly grati- 
 fied with their entertainment. The dinner was 
 both elegant and substantial, and reflected 
 great credit on the culinary skill of Miss Mar- 
 garet Rae, Creetown. The hall was then 
 cleared for the ball, which was opened about 9 
 P.M., and attended by upwards of eighty 
 couple of the youth and beauty of the district. 
 The hall was artistically decorated by Mr. 
 William M'Cracken, gardener to Capt. Grant 
 of Barholm. 
 
 CRIEFF.— Tuesday the 25th, being the 
 hundredth birthday of our national poet. Burns, 
 business was for the most part totally suspended, 
 and the day observed as a general holiday. A 
 number of the members of St. Michael's Lodge 
 visited Ochertyre in procession, during the day, 
 but the weather was rather unfavourable. There 
 were a number of entertainments in the even- 
 ing, all of which were characterised with great 
 enthusiasm, and passed off with the utmost 
 success. 
 
 Curling Club.— Tuesday the 25th, being 
 the centenary of Burns, tweny-one of the mem- 
 bers of this club sat down to dinner in M'Lean's 
 Inn, here — Mr. Peter Lawrence in the chair; 
 Mr. Duncan M'Laren, jun., acting as croupier! 
 An elegant and sumptuous dinner was on the 
 
CEIEFF. 
 
 209 
 
 table at six o'clock. After the company had 
 paid ample justice to the good things provided 
 for them, a number of toasts were proposed 
 and warmly responded to. " The Memory of 
 Burns " was then proposed, and was drunk with 
 all the honours. A number pf other toasts 
 were also given, having special reference to 
 curling, &c. During the course of the evening 
 a number of Burns' songs were sung by the 
 several gentlemen present, which added much 
 to the night's enjoyment. 
 
 The brethren of' St Michael's Iiodge of Free- 
 masons met in their hall on Tuesday, at one 
 o'clock, and, preceded by the instrumental 
 band, walked in procession to Ochtertyre, the 
 seat of Sir W. K. Murray, Bart., and on their 
 return sat down to dinner in their lodge. The 
 duties of the chair were ably performed by 
 brother Dr. Baxter, the B.W.M., and brother 
 Thomson, S.M., in the absence of the depute 
 master, discharged the duties o^ croupier. The 
 cloth being removed, the usual loyal and patri- 
 otic toasts were given and warmly responded to, 
 after which, brother Thomson, in an independent 
 and spirited speech, gave the "Memory of 
 Burns," illustrating his remarks with passages 
 from his life and writings, and forcibly defend- 
 ing his name from the accusations laid against 
 him, and concluded his remarks amid much 
 applause. The viands were prepared by Mr. 
 M'Oall of the Drummond Arms, apd, as usual, 
 to the entire satisfaction of all present, 
 
 A Liberal Treat in Honour of Burns' 
 Centenary. — On the evening of the 25th, 
 twenty-nine respectable individuals were enter- 
 tained to tea in M'Donald's Crown Inn here, 
 through the kind liberality of Mrs. M'Rae, 
 Carshalton, Surrey, jn honour of the centenary 
 of the poet Burns. Mrs. M'Rae was a resi- 
 denter in Crieff upwards of fifty years ago. She 
 has a distinct recollection of seeing the poet. 
 Mr. Peter Gilchrist, feuar, aged 89 years, occu- 
 pied the chair. We may state that the aggre- 
 gate age of seven persons present, amounted to 
 upwards of 570 years. ' Tea was on the ^^ble 
 at five o'clock. After the tables were cleared, 
 jnd the usual loyal and patriotic toasts were pro- 
 posed and drunk with the utmost enthusiasm, the 
 following, with other toasts, vrerethen proposed 
 —"The Memory of Mrs. Burns," "Mrs M'Kae," 
 " Mr. M'Rae and family of Mitcham Common, 
 London," "Son of Mrs. M'Rae," 4o. The 
 management of the entertainment was intrusted 
 to Mr. John Cuthbert, and every arrangement 
 gave general satisfaction. We must not omit 
 to notice that the very sumptuous repast set 
 before the recipients reflected great credit on 
 Mr. M'Donald. The enjoyments of the even- 
 ing were much enljapped by the singing of a 
 number of Burns' songs. The meeting broke 
 
 up at nine o'clock, every one appearing to be 
 more happy than another. 
 
 Total Abstinence and Debating Socie- 
 ties' SoiBBE.-,-A soiree was held in the even- 
 ing in the Weavers' Hall here, under the 
 auspices of the Total Abstinence and Debating 
 Societies, to do honour to the memory of Burns. 
 The hall was gracefully decorated with ever- 
 greens, from Ochtertyre, by the tasteful fingers 
 of Mr. Croucher, gardener there, and was liter- 
 ally crowded; some could not even gain admit- 
 tance. A blessing having been asked by B. G. 
 Dakers, the company partook of a hearty tea, 
 accompanied with cakes and cheese; and which 
 being over, and the tables cleared, Mr. Peter 
 Gow was called to the chair, when the active 
 duties of the evening commenced by James 
 Dow singing, in his own quaint style, " The 
 Social Cup o' Tea," which was loudly applauded. 
 The Chairman then made some remarks as to 
 the object for which they were congregated — to 
 celebrate the hundredth birthday of Scotland's 
 national poet-— Robert Burns ; not in the intoxi- 
 cating cup, not with "the usual patriotic toasts," 
 but by a " social cup o' tea," and congratulated 
 the meeting on this derogation from the manners 
 and customs of their fathers, as a change for 
 the better. Addresses were subsequently de- 
 livered by Messrs. M'Ewan, on " Burns as a 
 poet;" Thomson, on "Burns as a Man;" 
 Scrimgeour, on " Burns as a Patriot ;" and 
 Dunbar, from Madderty, in a very humoursome 
 and graphic style, on " Burns on Rustic Man- 
 ners;" but of these addresses we are sorry that, 
 owing to the press on space, we can only give 
 a mere notice. In the absence of the waltz 
 band, Mr. James Crerar played some favourite 
 airs on the concertina; and a number of other 
 musical friends contributed in no small degree 
 to the hilarity of the evening, particularly Miss 
 Katie G. D. Arnot, a young lady, regarding 
 whose musical abilities it would be superfluous 
 to say anything, as the long-continued plaudits 
 and the encores of the audience sufl[iciently tes- 
 tified the approbation with which she was re- 
 ceived. After various votes of thanks being 
 awarded, and especially to Sir William and Lady 
 Adelaide Keith Murray, of Ochtertyre, in pro- 
 curing the decoration of the hall, the meeting 
 dispersed, all seemingly satisfied with the 
 Right's proceedings. Numbers of those present 
 conveyed away a memento of Burns, in twigs 
 of an oak-tree — the oldest on Ochtertyre estate 
 — which was growing there when the poet 
 visited its lovely scenes, 
 
 CiHErp Literary Society The members 
 
 of the Crieff I^iterary Society met and partook 
 of a sumptuous dinner, in the Drummond Arms 
 Hotel, on the evening of Burns' centenary — 
 Matthew Baillie Gairdner, M.D., F.R.C.S.E., 
 
210 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 in the chair. Throughout the evening a great 
 variety of songs, chiefly Burns', were sung by 
 Messrs. M'Ewan, M'Innes, M'Bostie, Graham, 
 and several readings were likewise given 
 from Burns' works by Mr, Knox. Many 
 of the speeches were characterised with great 
 ability. Dinner over, and the usual loyal and 
 patriotic toasts having been duly given and 
 responded to, 
 
 The Chairman spoke as follows: — I rise to 
 propose a toast to " The Memory of Burns." 
 Thousands have met for a similar purpose to- 
 night. The eulogiums which have been written 
 on Burns furnish the truest monument erected 
 in his honour. His dearest wish as a poet 
 was — 
 
 " That I for puir auld Scotland's sake 
 Some usefn' plan or beuk could make, 
 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 He did not come from ancestral halls or lordly 
 palaces — a clay-built biggin was his home. So 
 ill constructed was it that its stability gave 
 way. Burns and his mother had to be carried 
 to a neighbouring house while it underwent the 
 necessary repairs. His father was no ordinary 
 man. From him, Burns seemed to inhale his 
 independent spirit. His mother, too, was fond 
 of legendary tales, and she may have been the 
 means of aiding to form the youthful poet's 
 taste for poetry. Burns was sent to school 
 when he was about six years of age, and re- 
 mained two years, which was all the regular 
 schooling he received. The works, however, 
 which he read in his early years show that his 
 reading was of no superficial kind. He lived 
 with his father till the age of twenty-five, and 
 after his death, he and his brother took the 
 farm of Mossgiel, since rendered famous as the 
 residence of Burns. Here he first seemed to 
 feel the stirrings of ambition. At this period, 
 too, he met Jean Armour. Burns was always 
 the victim of some fair enslaver or other. He 
 loved Jean Armour dearly; Mary Camp- 
 bell was a creature of his imagination. When 
 he was forbidden Jean Armour's house, it must 
 have put such a mind as his to the utmost dis- 
 traction. But he loved her still. His prospects 
 at this period became so dark that he resolved 
 to leave his native land. Meanwhile he met 
 with several friends, and the result was, that a 
 volume of his poems was published in Kilmar- 
 nock. This changed his position. He rose 
 rapidly to fame. He afterwards visited some 
 of the finest scenery in Scotland, and at one 
 time the Sma' Glen, Taymoutli, Crieff, &c. He 
 speaks of the romantic scenery between this 
 and Aberuchill, to which place he drove. His 
 reception must have been cold ; it evoked 
 nothing from his muse. His reception at 
 
 Ochtertyre by the present kind-hearted baro- 
 net's grandfather was very different. His 
 visit is recorded in the beautiful song, " Blythe, 
 blythe and merry was she," and his lines on 
 seeing wild-fowl in Glenturret. 
 
 " An original poem on Burns " by Mr. Dun- 
 can Graham, was then read, which was well re- 
 ceived. 
 
 Many happy speeches and songs contributed 
 to the admirable harmony of the meeting. 
 "Auld Langsyne " was then sung, which ter- 
 minated the proceedings. 
 
 All the festivals passed off with the utmost 
 success and enthusiasm ; and we are proud 
 that, notwithstanding the stormy state of the 
 weather, the inhabitants of the capital of Upper 
 Strathearn testified their devotion so strongly 
 to the gifted bard of Scotland, Robert Burns. 
 
 CROMAR. — A number of the working-men 
 of the western district met at Mill of Logie, to 
 celebrate the birth of Burns. The chair was 
 occupied by Mr. James Clark, who rose amid 
 much applause and gave a lengthened speech, 
 dwelling at great length on the bard's princi- 
 pal productions. After supper, the Chairman 
 gave the toast of the evening, " The Immortal 
 Memory of Burns," which was drunk in pro- 
 found silence. The meeting was then enlivened 
 by a number of Burns' songs being sung, the 
 principal of which were " Auld Langsyne," 
 " A man's a man for a' that," " Green grow 
 the rashes." After a few other toasts were 
 drunk, preparations were made for the merry 
 dance, and in less than half-an-hour, the light 
 fantastic toes of a dozen ploughmen, with as 
 many of the fair sex, were tripping over the 
 floor to the sound of the district fiddle. The 
 meeting dispersed at a late hour in the morn- 
 ing, highly delighted with the proceedings of 
 the night. 
 
 CROMARTY.— A soiree took place here on 
 the evening of Tuesday, the 25th, in comme- 
 moration of the centenary of the birth of Burns. 
 It was held in Ross's Hall, which was very 
 neatly arranged and artistically decorated for 
 the occasion. AVilliam Watson, Esq., one of 
 the magistrates of the burgh, ofiiciated as 
 chairman, and introduced the object of the 
 meeting in an able and appropriate address, 
 with which were incorporated some of the fa- 
 vourite poems of Burns. Lieutenant Patterson 
 gave a lecture on education and temperance, 
 which was delivered with much effect. Mr. D. 
 Boss, merchant, afterwards, in a forcible ad- 
 dress, called the attention of the assembly to 
 some points having a striking similarity in the 
 lot and character of Robert Burns and Hugh 
 Miller. Mrs. James Grigor presided at the 
 
CROSSGATES— CRUDEN. 
 
 211 
 
 pianoforte (assisted by Miss (J rigor, and Miss 
 Humphrey, Bayfield, &o.), and conducted the 
 musical part of the entertainment with much 
 Sclat, the greater portion of the pieces played, 
 and the songs sung, being selections from 
 Burns' works. The general arrangements of 
 the soiree were under the immediate superin- 
 • tendence of Lieutenant Patterson, who, al- 
 though an Englishman, threw into the whole 
 festivities of the evening an enthusiasm worthy 
 of a Scotchman. The meeting broke up at 
 ten o'clock. 
 
 CROSSGATES To celebrate the centen- 
 ary of the renowned bard of Scotland, a supper 
 took place on Tuesday evening at seven o'clock 
 in the Farm-house of Netherbeath, Crossgates 
 — Mr. David Crichton in the chair ; Mr. John 
 Muir, croupier — the Chairman being supported 
 by Mr. James Whyte, and Mr. Charles Carlow, 
 manage!-, Cuttlehill Colliery, wBen about thirty 
 of the admirers of the poet, ladies and gentle- 
 men, sat down to an excellent supper prepared 
 by Mrs. Crichton, to whom great thanks is due, 
 the supper being got up altogether in a supe- 
 rior style, and the arrangements everything 
 that could be desired. After supper and the 
 cloth being removed, and the usual loyal toasts 
 drunk, the Chairman then stated that the ob- 
 ject of the meeting was to do honour to the 
 father of Scotland's poets, and in a neat and 
 highly complimentary speech upon the charac- 
 ter of the poet as being worthy of our admira- 
 tion and imitation, proposed the toast of the 
 evening, " The Memory of the Immortal Burns," 
 who, though dead, yet liveth and speaketh in 
 the heart of every true Scotchman, which was 
 entliusiastically drunk in solemn silence, the 
 whole company meanwhile standing. Mr. J. 
 Muir then made a few remarks upon the true 
 manliness, the dignity and true greatness of 
 Burns, who had gained an immortal fame to 
 himself — who had raised to himself a monument 
 that would be lasting as time itself — whose 
 character was truly national. He loved Scot- 
 land and Scotchmen ; in fact, he was an enthu- 
 siastic admirer of everything connected with 
 his native Caledonia, the friend and lover of 
 freedom, and the enemy of tyranny and op- 
 pression. The evening being throughout " a 
 nicht wi' Burns,"' it was spent in the most 
 agreeable manner, nothing but harmony and 
 good humour prevailing, every one present 
 vieing with each other to add to the hilarity 
 and pleasantness of the evening. 
 
 " My heart, it was sae fain to see them, 
 That even for joy I barked wi' them." 
 
 Toast, song, and sentiment followed each other 
 in quick succession, until 
 
 " The wee short hour ayout the twal," 
 
 wlien the meeting broke up, all highly satisfied 
 with the evening's enjoyment, and 
 
 " Each took aff his several way, 
 Besolved to meet some ither day." 
 
 CROSSBILL.— Determined not to be be- 
 hind in doing honour to "Ayrshire's Bard," 
 upwards of seventy gentlemen sat down to an 
 excellent supper in the Schoolroom here. Mr. 
 Wallace, teacher. Crossbill, ably discharged the 
 duties of the chair, and Mr. M'Clymont, Bal- 
 saggart, oificiated as croupier. After the usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts, the Chairman, in a 
 beautiful and appropriate address, proposed the 
 toast of the evening, " The memory of the 
 Immortal Burns." The toast was received with 
 great enthusiasm. The croupier then gave the 
 surviving relatives of Burns' family. He also 
 gave the Lord of the Manoi", Sir James Fer- 
 gusson. The Peasantry of Scotland were next 
 given by Mr. M'Creath, Garpin, and our Edu- 
 cational Institutions by Mr. Andrew Merkland. 
 Several other toasts were pledged, in which 
 due honour was paid to departed genius. 
 We were favoured with several of Burns' finest 
 songs by Mr. M'Crindle, Bairds Mill, Mr. 
 M'Taggart, Crossbill, and several other gentle- 
 men, which tended in a high degree to the en- 
 liveument of the evening. After singing " Auld 
 Langsyne," the company broke up about the 
 wee short hour ayont the twal, and it was 
 acknowledged by all to be one of the most 
 enthusiastic and agreeable meetings they had 
 ever the pleasure of attending. 
 
 CROSSMICHAEL.— The inhabitants of the 
 village and neighbourhood, to the number of 
 fifty-nine, celebrated the Centenary of the birth 
 of the Poet by a public dinner in the Square 
 and Compass Inn. J. W. Stewart, Esq., Cul- 
 gruff, in the chair; Mr. W. Affleck, Nether 
 Airds, Croupier. The savoury viands having 
 been despatchied, and the usual loyal toasts 
 disposed of, the Chairman, in an excellent and 
 suitable speech, gave " The Memory of Burns," 
 which was drunk with due solemnity. Song, 
 toast, and sentiment filled up the remainder of 
 the evening, which quickly fled on the wings 
 of enjoyment. The ladies also showed their 
 appreciation of the Poet's genius by holding a 
 tea party in commemoration of the event, 
 which was most numerously and respectably 
 attended. 
 
 CRUDEN Mr. Thomas Hutchison, our 
 
 spirited and extensive cattle-dealer and farnier 
 (never behind in anything of a li\'ely and social 
 
212 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 nature), entertained a party, comprising some 
 of the youth and beauty of the place, and also 
 a few gentlemen fi-om Peterhead, who added 
 greatly to the conviviality of the evening. 
 Dancing was kept up to a late hour, and, at 
 intervals, songs were sung by several of the 
 ladies and gentlemen present, chiefly from the 
 heart-thrilling effusions of the immortal Burns. 
 A vote of thanks was proposed by Mr. M'Rae, 
 seconded by Mr. Hay, and carried by acclama- 
 tion, to Mr. Hutchison for his kindness, after 
 which the company separated, highly pleased 
 with their evening's enjoyment. 
 
 CUMBERNAULD. — The centenary of 
 Burns was celebrated here by dinners, soirees, 
 balls, and small evening parties. A select dia-- 
 ner party met in the Spur Inn in honour of the 
 centenary of the immortal bard. Thomas Dun- 
 can, Esq. of Wester DuUatur, occupied the 
 chair, supported on the right by Messrs. Wil- 
 liam Finlayson and David Thorn, and the left 
 by Messrs. William Wilson and William Finlay. 
 Mr. Thomas Inglis of Carrickstone discharged 
 the duties of croupier, supported on the right 
 and left by Messrs. John Whyte and James 
 Shaw. After dinner, which was served up in 
 excellent style by Mr. Greenhorn, the cloth 
 was removed, when the Chairman in succession 
 proposed the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 which were responded to with the greatest en- 
 thusiasm by the large party present, Mr. Dun- 
 can, the Chairman, in proposing the toast of tlie 
 evening, adverted to the genius of the immor- 
 tal bard, and showed an intimate acquaintance 
 both with his life and works, which he analysed 
 with great correctness and felicity of expres- 
 sion. Suffice it to say that the toast was drunk 
 with all the honours. Our space does not per- 
 mit us to advert to the many excellent speeches 
 delivered during the evening in connection 
 with the toasts proposed. A number of the 
 choicest of Burns' song were sung with great 
 effect by some of the gentlemen present, and 
 greatly delighted the company. 
 
 Masonic Supper and Ball. -^ On the 
 evening of Tuesday, the Brethren belonging to 
 the Lodge of St. Andrews, here, met in the 
 Lodge Room to celebrate the centenary of the 
 immortal Bard. Thirty-two of the Brethren 
 sat down to dinner in the Inn of Mr. Charles 
 Rochead. After the cloth was removed, the 
 R. W. Master, Daniel M'Gregor, proposed the 
 usual loyal and patriotic toasts with all the 
 honours of masonry. The toast of the evening 
 was drunk with the utmost enthusiasm. Some 
 of the best and most popular of the songs of 
 tlie Bard were sung during the evening by the 
 Brethren assembled. The Lodge was closed 
 at 10 o'clock precisely, and immediately there- 
 
 after the Brethren, along with their wives and 
 sweethearts, retired to Mr. Calder's large hall, 
 where dancing was kept up till an early hour. 
 Altogether the meeting was one of the best 
 held in Cumbernauld for many years. 
 
 CUMNOCK.^Here, as in city, town, vil- 
 lage, and hamlet of our native land, the 25th 
 was observed with commemorative festivities 
 in honour of the centenary birthday of the 
 once despised and neglected, but now revered 
 and cherished bard of independence, Robert 
 Burns. The soiree came off on the auspicious 
 occasion with great eclat. And while we at 
 this distant era are not able to realise the 
 potency of that "blast o' Januar' win','' which 
 a hundred years ago " blew hansel in on Robin," 
 we may remark thai though the 25th proved 
 one of the most boisterous nights of the season, 
 it failed to cool the ardour or damp the enthu- 
 siasm of the large assemblage which filled the 
 capacious Parish School-room on this occasion. 
 The duties of the chair were performed by 
 Mr. Beveridge, writer, who was ably supported 
 in ministering to the intellectual enjoyment of 
 the meeting by Messrs. Wm. Thomson, Lugar; 
 and M'Kinnon and Mitchell, of Cumnock; who 
 severally addressed the meeting in terms suit- 
 able to the occasion. Many of the poet's songs 
 were given in the course of the evening, and 
 we doubt not the services of Messrs. Smith of 
 Stranraer, Bryce of Ayr, and Wylie, White, 
 and Wilson of Cumnock, were duly appreciated. 
 The meeting, which was very agreeable, sepa- 
 rated about eleven o'clock, and reflects con- 
 siderable credit on the zeal and perseverance 
 of the committee who undertook the manage- 
 ment. 
 
 CUMNOCK (New).— On Tuesday evening, 
 upwards of fifty gentlemen sat down to a 
 sumptuous dinner, at three o'clock, in Mr. 
 Logan's — Mr. Daniel Craig, Blackwood, chair- 
 man ; Mr. James Giltnour, croupier ; Mr Thos. 
 Brown, land-steward to Miss Guthrie of Mount, 
 vice-croupier. Mr. John Walker asked a bless- 
 ing; and after all doing ample justice to the 
 good things of this life, the cloth being removed, 
 the Chairman gave the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts. The Chairman then gave the toast of 
 the evening, at great length, and in an eloquent 
 manner. In concluding, he stated that he 
 hoped all would endeavour to follow out the 
 wise precepts of the poet's calmer moments, to 
 imitate his noble dignity of soul, his manliness 
 of heart, and his independence of mind; and 
 may we by our actions never taint that halo of 
 honour which his genius has thrown around 
 the work, the homes, and the hearths of the 
 peasantry of Scotland. He then gave a piece 
 
CUMNOCK (Old)— CUPAR-ANOUS. 
 
 313 
 
 of original poetry, and ])roposed the toast of 
 the evening, " The Memory of our immortal 
 Bard, Robert Burns," which was dranlt in 
 solemn silence. Song — " Rantin roving Robin," 
 by Mr. A. M'Donald. The Croupier then 
 gave his address on the character and writings 
 of Burns. A number of other toasts and songs 
 were given, and after the usual compliments, 
 the meeting broke up. 
 
 Another dinner was held in the Crown Inn, 
 Mr. Hugh M'Kerrow, flesher, chairman; Mr. 
 Campbell, Dalgig, croupier. " The Memory of 
 Burns" was given by the Chairman in an able 
 speech. Numerous toasts and songs enlivened 
 the evening. After singing "Auld Langsyne," 
 all joining, the meeting broke up. 
 
 CUMNOCK (Old).— Seventy gentlemen sat 
 down to dinner in the Dumfries Arms Hotel. 
 The chair was occupied by Mr. A. B. Todd, 
 Wellhill, and Mr. J. Baird, architect, Cumnock, 
 acted as croupier. The meeting comprised 
 most of the leading men of the town and sur- 
 rounding district. After partaking of an excel- 
 lent dinner, and giving the usual loyal toasts, 
 the Chairman gave " The Immortal Memory." 
 He said — Burns is perhaps the greatest literary 
 wonder that has ever appeared. Born in a 
 lowly clay-built cottage, and nursed on the 
 lap of poverty, with little time, and few oppor- 
 tunities for mental culture, and for ever 
 struggling with the ills of life, he yet, by the 
 strength of his genius, triumphed over every 
 adverse circumstance, and raised himself to the 
 very highest pinnacle of the Temple of Fame. 
 (Cheers.) In the poetry of no other will you 
 find so many truthful maxims, such noble senti- 
 ments, such exalted views of true greatness 
 and goodness, such generous emotions, such 
 glowing patriotism, such manly independence, 
 such melting pathos, conjoined with such bril- 
 liant wit, and power of satire, all expressed in 
 the most vigorous language and embellished by 
 the most beautiful imagery. In these poems 
 we have the most powerful denunciation of 
 every form of hypocrisy, falsehood, and dis- 
 honesty, we have wailing for the oppressed, 
 and the deep heavings of a benevolent heart 
 for the injured, and we have pictures of virtue 
 held up to us for imitation and admiration. 
 (Cheers.) Could he have but foreseen the 
 occurrences of this day, as with failing health 
 and a wounded spirit he approached the end of 
 his weary pilgrimage, how it would have cheered 
 his sad heart, and kindled afresh the fading 
 brightness of those eyes that were about to be 
 obscured in the valley and shadow of death. 
 He could not but know that he had written 
 some things that the world would not let die ; 
 but he was too modest ever to dream that his 
 
 name would become a household word in 
 almost every land from Indus to the Pole, or 
 that his productions would continue to exercise 
 a mighty influence on the literature of the 
 land, long after the hand which had penned 
 them had crumbled into dust. (Cheers.) After 
 some other remarks, couched in glowing lan- 
 guage, the toast was enthusiastically pledged. 
 
 After other toasts and songs, the whole com- 
 pany joined in singing " Auld Langsyne," and 
 the meeting separated. 
 
 A ball, attended by the youth and beauty of 
 the town and neighbourhood, was afterwards 
 held in the same place, which was kept up with 
 great spirit till a seasonable hour, when the 
 company broke up, every one highly pleased 
 with the whole proceedings. 
 
 CUPAR-ANGUS.— Tuesday will be a day 
 long remembered by Scotia's sons, over the 
 length and breadth of the land. The good 
 people in and around this locality met in the 
 Strathmore Inn at 4 p.m., and sat down to a 
 most substantial dinner, in honour of the 
 memory of Scotland's Own poet. The chair 
 was most ably filled by Hugh Watson, Esq., 
 Keillor; while the duties of croupier were 
 alike ably discharged by J. Geekie, Esq., Bal- 
 dowrie. After the usual loyal toasts, the Chair- 
 man gave the one of the evening. After ad- 
 verting to Burns' early days, he said that it 
 could have been desired that some of Burns' 
 poems had not appeared; but still his manly 
 virtues were conspicuous in his poems, and if 
 he had his faults, we must bear in mind that we 
 all had ours, and let him that was without sin 
 cast the first stone. " The Memory of Burns " 
 was then drunk in silence; but when the poetic 
 genius of Burns was mentioned, the company, 
 en masse, gave three times three for the never- 
 dying genius. Other toasts followed in suc- 
 cession, when, after singing " Auld Langsyne," 
 the company separated, after spending a very 
 happy evening. 
 
 Therie was a festival in the Strathmore Hall 
 in the evening, under the auspices of the in- 
 strumental band, and presidency of Mr. C. 
 Baxter. Able speeches connected with Burns 
 were delivered by Messrs. Stewart, Forbes, and 
 Lament. Singers — Messrs. Winter, Stewart, 
 Slidders, and Ogilvie. There was a large at- 
 tendance. Fruit and confections were served; 
 and the dancers held on merrily until an early 
 hour on Wednesday morning. — There was also 
 an excellent soiree in the meeting-room of the 
 Mutual Improvement Society — Mr. J. Geekie, 
 president of the society, in the chair. Messrs. 
 Robertson, Ferguson, Wilson, &c. gave appro- 
 priate addresses; and music, both vocal and in- 
 strumental, was not wanting. We looked in 
 
214. 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 upon this oouthio and intelligent party, and 
 joined in " God save the Queen " at two o'clock 
 next morning, Mr. Donn leading with a splen- 
 did accordion. The shops, banks, offices, <fec. 
 were shut at two p.m.; and the bell of our 
 venerable steeple tolled long in honour of 
 Burns' centenary. 
 
 CUPAR-FIFE. — The Barns centenary cele- 
 bration came off here under favourable auspices. 
 The working men, amounting to TOO, had a 
 supper in the Guild Hall, served up by Mr. 
 Sharp, of the Temperance Coffee-room. The 
 proceedings commenced at seven o'clock — Mr. 
 Christie, bookbinder, in the chair. After sup- 
 per, they finished off with a ball, when dancing 
 was kept up to a late, or rather early, hour. 
 As they had secured the services of the fine 
 militia band, a procession through the town was 
 contemplated before supper, biat, as it com- 
 menced to rain heavily at the time, this part 
 of the programme was cut short. The more 
 aristocratic part of our citizens celebrated the 
 occasion by a dinner in the County Hall. 
 Covers were laid for 140, and we understand 
 that 141 gentlemen sat down to dinner. Ex- 
 Provost Mitchell occupied the chair, supported 
 by Bailies Douglas and Duffus, and John 
 Mitchell, Esq., as croupiers. After dinner, 
 about 40 ladies were admitted, and served with 
 cake and coffee, whose presence tended to en- 
 liven the proceedings of the evening. After 
 the cloth had been removed, the Chairman in- 
 troduced the business of the evening, and gave 
 the usual toasts; after which the following 
 toasts and sentiments were proposed — " The 
 Immortal Memory of Robert Burns," " The 
 Memory of Mrs. Burns," " The Sons of Burns," 
 " The Land of Burns," " The Memory of Pro- 
 fessor Wilson." Several suitable addresses were 
 delivered, including " Man," " The Poet," with 
 special reference to Robert Burns, by Mr. 
 Stewart, writer; "The Religious Character 
 of Burns," by Mr. Lochhead, teacher; and 
 " Burns as a Patriot," by Mr. Hay, teacher. 
 Several of the best songs of the poet were 
 sung during the evening by Messrs. H. C, 
 Clark, D. Ferguson, A. Patrick, G. Kennie, D. 
 Russell, W. Hay, &c. After spending about 
 five hours in the most happy and agreeaWe 
 manner, the company broke up shortly before 
 eleven o'clock. Although some of the leading 
 members of the Committee of the Tot«l Ab- 
 stinence Society were present, and took a more 
 or less active part in the proceedings, the 
 majority of the Committee held aloof, not be- 
 cause they do not appreciate the merits and the 
 genius of Burns, or are not fully sensible of the 
 high honour ho has reflected upon the land of 
 his birth ; but that, having lifted up a testimony 
 
 against the drinking manners and usages of 
 society, they considered it quite improper in 
 celebrating this centenary to use the agent 
 which, more than anything else, hung like a 
 dark doud around his chequered career, and 
 hurried him to a premature grave. The scholars 
 attending the Madras Academy met as usual 
 iu the morning, but demanded a holiday on 
 the occasion. Representations having been 
 made to the Trustees, they acceded to their 
 request. 
 
 CYRUS (St.). — The centenary was observed 
 here by a few choice spirits — an "enlightened 
 few" — who had the good sense to assemble in 
 one of our respectable inns, and " O'er reamin' 
 swats that drank divinely," gave full vent to 
 their patriotic and fraternal feelings in " Scots 
 wha hae," " Willie brewed a peck o' maut," 
 and " Auld Langsjne." 
 
 DALBEATTIE.— The celebration liere was 
 quite a success. The shops were all shut, and 
 business of every kind suspended during the 
 whole of the day. On an eminence to the 
 north of the town a large bonfire was lighted 
 early in the afternoon, whose lofty spires of 
 flame were for some hours the observed of all 
 observers in the district. At four o'clock 
 upwards of one hundred and twenty gentle- 
 men sat down to dinner in the Free Church 
 School-room, Mr. Thomas Maxwell presiding, 
 and Mr. Elliott of Maidenholm Forge, occupy- 
 ing the vice-cliair. In addition to the toast of 
 the evening, " Tl>e Memory of Nature's Min- 
 strel, Robert Burns," which elicited from the 
 Chairman a series of remarks on the genius 
 and poetry of the world-famed peasant, with a 
 few extracts from his writings, confirmatory of 
 the opinions the speaker held, there was a 
 variety of other toasts given, all pertinent to 
 the occasimi. Each toast was followed with an 
 appropriate song of Burns^ production. There 
 was a beautiful recitation given by one of the 
 company. The Rev. Duncan Stewart, Dal- 
 beattie, said grace and returned thanks. The 
 dinner was provided by Mrs. M'Coskrie, of the 
 Maxwell's Arms, and was both abundant and 
 excellent, 
 
 Mr. Muir, of the Commercial Hotel, got up 
 a sumptuous tea for the ladies of the place, 
 who were determined not to be behind their 
 lords in doing honour to the poet's memory, 
 and of whom nearly one hundred partook of 
 the cup that cheers but not inebriates, in the 
 hall attached to the Commercial Hotel. By 
 the time tea was finished the dinner party had 
 
DALKEITH. 
 
 215 
 
 broken up, and the gentlemen naturally found 
 their way to the ladies' place of meeting, where 
 dancing was immediately commenced, and kept 
 up with great spirit till " the key-stane hour o' 
 night's black arch," when the company sepa- 
 rated, all being highly satisfied with the entire 
 proceedings of the jubilee. 
 
 DALKEITH. — The centenary was celebrated 
 here by an admirable procession of the trades, and 
 by two large public gatherings, a dinner in the 
 Cross Keys, and a soiree in the Corn Exchange, 
 besides a number of minor meetings in connec- 
 tion with some of the trades. 
 
 The soiree was presided over by Mr. Alex- 
 ander Mitchell, merchant, who was supported 
 on the platform by Messrs. Wm. Barrie, Ralph 
 Elliot, James Tod, Wm. Thomson of Dalkeith 
 Gardens, John Young, Hugh Gillies, Wm. Tod, 
 John Wallace, George Blair, David Jerdan, 
 Peter Buncle, &c. The Excliange Hall was 
 beautifully decorated with evergreens, under 
 the direction of Mr. Thomson of Dalkeith 
 Gardens. The number present was upwards 
 of 600, of whom about one-third were of the 
 fairer sex. 
 
 The Chairman, in an admirable address, 
 which was frequently applauded, proposed the 
 great toast of the occasion. In the course of 
 his remarks, he said — Our northern land has 
 supplied its full proportion of illustrious men, 
 warriors, divines, philosophers, and poets ; but 
 for no Scotchman except Eobert Burns has 
 tliere ever been such a national movement as 
 tlie present. It was reserved for Robert Burns 
 so to enshrine himself in the hearts of his coun- 
 trymen as, at the end of three generations, not 
 only to retain that proud position, but to be 
 still growing in his country's love, and still 
 adding to the lustre of his imperisliable fame. 
 I suppose there is not a hamlet, and not many 
 liearths, in Scotland where at this hour some 
 such tribute as we now bring is not being 
 oflfered to the memory of Robert Burns. All 
 ranks share in the devotion. The peer and 
 the ploughboy, the countess in her castle- and 
 the rustic maiden in her straw-roofed cottage, 
 join equally in a tribute to him by whose 
 magic versos their tenderest and most secret 
 affections have been so deeply and pleasingly 
 stirred. Nor is the movement confined to 
 Scotland, but extends to every quartw of the 
 globe. The Centenary of our national bard 
 will be observed, with more or less enthusiasm, 
 on both the great continents, in every British 
 colony, and on the broad bosom of every ocean 
 — wherever, in short, there are Scottish hearts 
 to throb to the sounds of Scottish song — wher- 
 ever the vision of Scottish woods and waters 
 rise up in the busy memory of her pilgrim sons 
 
 and daughters. Burns is our great national 
 bard, and has reached the highest degree of 
 excellence in every department of lyrical poetry. 
 He has sung the joys and sorrows of the Scot- 
 tish peasantry with a degree of truth, tender- 
 ness, and power which no other native poet has 
 approached. Nor is he less pre-eminent for the 
 strength and subtlety of his intellect, the ardent 
 patriotism and broad and irrepressible humour 
 that breathes in so many of his works, his ex- 
 quisite sympathy with external nature, and the 
 truthfulness and beauty of his pictures of niral 
 and domestic life. And while admitting that 
 Burns had grave and serious faults, it is but 
 right to say that these faults have been fre- 
 quently very much overstated. His treatment 
 of hypocrisy is unparalleled for its severity ; but 
 of humble piety he has said nothing but good. 
 And, then, with regard to his social habits, — 
 although Burns wrote many Bacchanalian songs, 
 and was much too often in the public-house, he 
 was never a systematic and habitual drunkard. 
 His intemperate and licentious practices, too, 
 were to a large extent the vices of the age, a 
 circumstance which it is well to remember in 
 mitigation of his offences, while it is also to be 
 borne in mind that with his strong passions 
 and feeble will he was peculiarly liable to fall 
 before temptation. But, passing from this, let 
 me say a few words on the peculiar merits of 
 our author's poetry. Like all true poets. Burns 
 had a profound sympathy with the aspects of 
 external nature, whether these were grand or 
 gloomy, beautiful or tender — a sympathy that 
 awoke within him with the first stirrings of 
 poetic life, and remained undimmed to its 
 close. It is but seldom, however, in the writ- 
 ings of Burns that we meet with descriptions 
 of external nature apart from their immediate 
 connection with human life or human passions. 
 But probably nothing has done more to endear 
 the poetry of Burns to his countrymen than its 
 strongly national and patriotic character. Love 
 of country may be said to breathe in every line. 
 It appears even to have dictated his choice of 
 the Scottish dialect; it prompted his earliest 
 efforts for poetic fame. Eobert Burns is un- 
 questionably and incomparably our greatest 
 and best-beloved native poet. The influence 
 of his writings on our countrymen at home and 
 abroad is incalculable ; and, notwithstanding 
 the faults of some of them, that influence, on 
 the whole, is salutary and ennobling. They 
 sparkle with the light of genius — ^they glow 
 with the genial and joyous warmth of human 
 feeling; and have a strong tendency, therefore, 
 to enlarge the national heart and to elevate the 
 national character. 
 
 The meeting was afterwards addressed by 
 Mr. Gillies, Mr. Tod, Mr. Barrie, and Mr. 
 
216 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Blair, and the evening was spent in a most 
 agreeable manner. 
 
 At the Cross Keys, nearly a hundred sat 
 down to dinner — L. R. Thomson, Esq., M.D., 
 acting as chairman, and John Gray, Esq., Edin- 
 burgh, as croupier. The former was supported 
 by Bertram Brown, Esq., of Hardengreen, and 
 A. Gray, Esq., the oldest member present of 
 the Dalkeith Burns Club— the latter by AV, P. 
 Anderson, Esq., and Thomas Alison, Esq. Dur- 
 ing the evening the militia and Buccleuch bands 
 performed appropriate airs after toasts and 
 songs, and the dining-room, which was com- 
 pletely filled with the company, was decorated 
 with evergreens, through the kindness of Mr. 
 Thomson, Dalkeith Gardens. 
 
 After the usual loyal toasts the Army and 
 Navy were given, and replied to by Major 
 Shaw, who said that he had served under Lord 
 Clyde, and could vouch for all that had been 
 said about that noble soldier. 
 
 The Chairman, on rising to propose the 
 toast of the evening, " The Immortal Memory 
 of Robert Burns," said — This evening, gentle- 
 men, in all parts of the world, the celebration 
 of the birth of Robert Burns will be held with 
 all honour due to genius. Not only in Edin- 
 burgh, " Edina, Scotia's darling seat," and in 
 every town and hamlet of Scotland — not only 
 in England and Ireland — not only throughout 
 many &f the cities of continental Europe — not 
 only in Calcutta, Bombay, and Delhi — not only 
 in American cities north and south — but in 
 whatever quarter of the globe British enter- 
 prise is to be found, there will be to-night men 
 gathered together to do honour and justice to 
 the memory of Burns. Never was any poet 
 honoured in this manner before. How comes 
 it? It isn't that he is the greatest poet. No! 
 I take it to be the great fact of his possessing 
 the conditions necessary for universal admira- 
 tion — to his possessing what may be called a 
 cosmopolitan soul! As Leigh Hunt has it, "He 
 is allied to the greatest minds by his genius — 
 to the gravest by his grave thoughts — to the 
 gayest by his gay ones — to the manliest by his 
 independence — to the frail by his frailties — to 
 the conscientious by his regrets — to the humblest 
 ranks by his struggles with necessity ; above all, 
 to the social by his companionship, and to the 
 whole world by his being emphatically a human 
 creature." (Applause.) His universal sympa- 
 thy caused him, not only to grieve over the 
 misfortunes of his fellow-mortals, but the fate 
 of the "Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower" — 
 the " Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', timorous beastie " 
 — the sheep "smoored" in the snaw-drift — the 
 "happing bird," with " chittering wing," on 
 the frozen twig — ay, and even to pity the very 
 " Deil himsel'." Our poet's want of hypocrisy 
 
 — in other words, his honesty, was another 
 reason why his memory is now calling forth 
 this wide-spread jubilee. Here the Chairman 
 quoted an apposite passage from Carlyle, and 
 after telling his audience that he was not going 
 to inflict on them any lengthened oration, and 
 alluding to the sublime essay on the genius 
 and character of Burns by Professor Wilson, a 
 nephew of whom, he said, he was glad to see 
 present, he made some striking valuable remarks 
 on the "mixed character" of Burns' mental 
 and moral faculties, and concluded by saying : 
 — ^Whatever view we may take of his moral 
 aberrations, and it is now clearly shown that 
 in many cases they have been grossly exagger- 
 ated—there can be no doubt that his writings 
 have exercised a greater influence over the 
 minds of men than has been exercised by any 
 other modern poet, and I speak for myself 
 when I say that, so far as I know my own 
 nature, I have gained much more good than 
 evil from the perusal of the life and writings 
 of this illustrious and gifted man. (Applause.) 
 
 The toast was drunk with tremendous cheers. 
 
 The Croupier gave " The Relatives of Burns ;" 
 Mr. Brown, "The Poets of Scotland;" Mr. 
 Edwards, "The Poets of England and Ireland;" 
 Several other toasts were given, many of Burns' 
 songs were sung in excellent style, and the 
 meeting separated at a late hour after having 
 spent a most agreeable evening. 
 
 The brethren of the Dalkeith Kilwinning 
 Lodge, No. 10, met in their own Lodge Room 
 at five o'clock. Nearly fifty brethren assem- 
 bled, and the lodge was duly opened. At six 
 o'clock the brethren left the hall, and accom- 
 panied by the Buccleuch brass band, walked in 
 procession by torch-light through the palace 
 grounds, leave having been kindly granted by 
 his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch. On arriving 
 at the front of the palace, the brethren gave 
 three hearty cheers severally for his Grace, the 
 Duchess, and the other members of the illus- 
 trious family. His Grace appeared and ex- 
 pressed great pleasure in being so honoured by 
 the masonic body of Dalkeith, and accompanied 
 the procession from the palace till it left the 
 grounds. They then proceeded through the 
 principal streets of the town, and arrived at the 
 lodge at seven o'clock, where a substantial din- 
 ner was awaiting them, to which the brethren 
 did ample justice. After the cloth had been 
 removed, and the usual patriotic toasts given, 
 the respected R.W. Master, Brother James 
 Thomson, in an able and feeling speech, gave 
 the " Memory of our illustrious bard," which 
 was drank in solemn silence. The hours passed 
 cheerfully with songs and toasts with true ma- 
 sonic feeling. Among the excellent songs sung 
 was " Auld Langsyne," by brother Urquhart, 
 
DALLEAGLES— DALRYMPLE. 
 
 217 
 
 to which he added three appropriate stanzas 
 composed by himself, which were rapturously 
 applauded. At ten o'clock the lodge was 
 closed in ancient form, when a splendid ball 
 took place, which was kept up till six o'clock 
 next morning. The lodge had a piece of the 
 original masonic flag which waved o'er the 
 head of Brother Burns when he was first initi- 
 ated a brother in the St. David's Lodge, Tar- 
 bolton. 
 
 DALLEAGLES. — A supper, in honour of 
 the centenary of Burns, was held in Dalleagles 
 School-room, under the auspices of the Debat- 
 ing Society, w'hich meets in that place every 
 fortnight. The meeting consisted of the mem- 
 bers of the Society and a number of farmers 
 and others in the neighbourhood. The chair 
 was occupied by Mr. Railton, farmer, Dalleagles, 
 Mr. M'Bae, teacher,. acting as croupier. On 
 the removal of the cloth, and 4he introduction 
 of that 
 
 " Wliioh makes a man forget his woe, 
 And heightens all his joy," 
 
 the usual loyal and constitutional toasts were 
 given and duly honoured. The Chairman, in 
 proposing the toast of the evening, " The 
 memory of Scotland's immortal Bard," delivered 
 an address in rhyme and prose. Essays were 
 read on the occasion by most of the members 
 of the Society, on subjects more or less con- 
 nected with the cause of the evening's meet- 
 ing. Numerous pieces of original poetry were 
 also read or recited at intervals during the 
 evening. Song, sentiment, and recitation were 
 tastefully interspersed in the evening's enter- 
 tainment; and the hearty cheer and the loud 
 huzza which greeted the mention even of the 
 name of Burns, showed how enthusiastic and 
 heartfelt was their admiration of our immortal 
 bard. 
 
 DALMELLINGTON.— There was a dinner 
 party of about fifty gentlemen, who met at six 
 o'clock, in the Black Bull Inn — Mr. M'Whirter 
 in the chair; and Dr. Candlish, croupier. The 
 various usual toasts and sentiments were given, 
 and heartily responded to, with all the honours; 
 and the evening was enlivened by Mr. Grant, 
 lately of Dairy, and other amateur vocalists, 
 singing some of Burns' favourite melodies. The 
 party broke up highly delighted with the happy 
 proceedings. 
 
 DALRY.— The Dairy Bums Club held their 
 meeting on the 25th, being their thirty-fourth 
 anniversary in commemoration of the immortal 
 Burns, under the same roof, and under the 
 same hostess (Mrs. J. Montgomerie). On this 
 
 occasion, the chair was ably filled by Archibald 
 Gray, Esq., who, on rising to propose the toast 
 of the evening, was heartily received, and on 
 finishing his talented speech, in which he char- 
 acterised the works of the bard as having a 
 far greater influence than all the other authors 
 of Scotland, in working a moral reformation 
 upon her people, demanded a full bumper to 
 "The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns" — ■ 
 a sentiment responded to with a burst of 
 applause which made the rafters ring. Mr. D. 
 Cameron, teacher, ofiiiciated as croupier. The 
 evening was spent in a happy and agreeable 
 manner, song and sentiment prevailing by turns. 
 The Brethren of the Dairy Blair Lodge, to 
 the number of nearly seventy, sat down to 
 supper in their Lodge Room, which was served 
 up in Mr. Walker's usual good style. After 
 supper the lodge was opened in due form, 
 when toast and song went round, — 
 
 " But ere the business was half o'er, 
 A gentle hint came to the door, 
 ' Men, ye maun toast and sing no more,' 
 And wha was it, hut Forbes." 
 
 And in the lines of the immortal bard, — 
 
 " Each ane took aff his several way 
 Resolved to meet some other day." 
 
 DALRYMPLE The Dalrymple Burns 
 
 Club held their thirtieth meeting in Kirkton 
 Inn, to celebrate the centenary birthday of the 
 poet. Between fifty and sixty gentlemen sat 
 down to dinner, at five o'clock. In the absence, 
 from indisposition, of Mr. Baird, Cassillismill, 
 who was to have presided, Mr. Campbell, 
 Knockjarder, occupied the chair; while Mr. 
 Craig, Holmes, officiated as croupier. After 
 the usual loyal and constitutional toasts, the 
 Chairman, in a few brief remarks on the genius 
 of Burns, his love of country, and his increas- 
 ing fame, gave " The Memory of our Ayrshire 
 Poet." (Drunk with all the honours.) The 
 Croupier, in a neat speech, gave "Burns' Bonnie 
 Jean," and sang " Of a' the airts the wind can 
 blaw." In the course of the evening, the 
 memory of Sir Walter Scott, Byron, Ferguson, 
 Sir A. Boswell, Sir Wm. Wallace, Sir G. Cath- 
 oart, and almost all our great Scotch authors, 
 and Ayrshire patriots were pledged, accom- 
 panied with appropriate songs. " Winged with 
 joy the moments flew," till about half-past ten 
 o'clock, when the chieftain of the pudding race 
 graced the festive board, and, being heartily 
 discussed, the company joined in singing " Auld 
 Langsyne," and parted remarkably well pleased 
 with the night's proceedings. The dinner and 
 liquors did great credit to Mr. and Mrs. Gibson, 
 of Kirkton Inn. 
 
 A " Social Centenary Soiree," on abstinence 
 principles, was also held in the Female School- 
 
218 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 room, which was ably presided over by Mr. 
 William Hart, Tannock Park. After partaking 
 of tea, with its sweet concomitants, and after 
 a short but highly appropriate address from 
 the Chairman, several original and very clever 
 poetical pieces, relative to the occasion, were 
 read. A number of excellent and appropriate 
 songs were also given by several of the com- 
 pany, which, together with some readings from 
 the works of the honoured bard, and some 
 social conversation, made it a very happy and 
 agreeable meeting. After singing in concert 
 "Auld Langsyne," and our gude "Queen's 
 Anthem," they, at a late hour, dispersed — some 
 to convoy their lasses, and others to think over 
 their entertainment at their " ain fireside." 
 
 DARVEL. — However difficult it may be for 
 some (through their own spectacles) to see how 
 Burns centenary could be properly celebrated 
 without the customary libations from the 
 " Lethean cup," we are glad to testify that the 
 feat was accomplished in Hastings' School- 
 room here, on that illustrious evening. An 
 entertainment was provided at one shilling, 
 consisting of a sixpence pie, tart, orange, &c., 
 with which a company of eighty were very 
 agreeably regaled. The Chairman (Mr. R. 
 Tarbet) and Mr. A. Wylie, from Belfast, gave 
 addresses and verses upon Burns and his cen- 
 tenary. Mr. R. Lawson recited " Tam o' 
 Shanter," and the " Twa Dogs ;" whilst Messrs. 
 Woodburn, Millar, Cleland, Bryce, and Morton, 
 varied the evening's hilarity with original com- 
 positions, sentiments, and songs. A quadrille 
 band at intervals admirably performed the airs 
 of some of his imperishable songs. The fre- 
 quent bursts of laughter and applause during 
 the evening afibrded indubitable proof of the 
 pleasure at the meeting. 
 
 DELNASHAUGH.— Here there was a sup- 
 per in the Inn, Dr. Creyk in the chair, and 
 Mr. Stewart, schoolmaster, croupier. After 
 the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, the Chair- 
 man, in an able speech, gave the Memory of 
 Burns. Th«re then followed — Sir George 
 Macpherson Grant, by the Croupier ; T. Mac- 
 pherson Grant, Esq. of Craigroy, by Mr. Ro- 
 bertson, Burnside ; the Memory of the late Sir 
 George Grant, by Mr. Grant,' baker ; the 
 Chairman, by Mr. Hay ; the Clergy, by Mr. 
 Fleming, Marionburgh ; the Younger Members 
 of the Ballindalloch Family, by Mr. Burgess, 
 Phonas ; the Inveravon Mutual Instruction 
 Society, by the Chairman ; Mr. Fleming, as 
 Factor for the district, by Mr. Fleming, Tom- 
 farclas, &c. 
 
 DENHOLM.— Notwithstanding the tempes- 
 
 tuous day, this village presented a scene of no 
 ordinary character. About eleven o'clock fore- 
 noon the Instrumental Band proceeded round 
 the village, accompanied by the villagers bear- 
 ing the standards which have " braved the bat- 
 tle and the breeze" of many a political conflict 
 in days gone by. The day being very unfa- 
 vourable, the musicians, with part of the pro- 
 cession, retired to the east end of the Parochial 
 School, and there, under shelter from the furi- 
 ous blast, again played a few of Burns' popular 
 airs. The shades of evening began rapidly to 
 close around, and ere long darkness prevailed ; 
 happily, however, it was not allowed long to 
 continue, as the villagers quickly placed their 
 lights in their windows, and darkness almost 
 "flew away." 
 
 Soiree. — About half-past five o'clock group 
 after group might have been seen wending 
 their way to the Old Swan Inn ball-room, 
 wherein a soiree was held in commemoration of 
 the centenary of our national poet. The room 
 was tastefully decorated, and filled to overflow- 
 ing with a company of which Scotland's fair 
 daughters formed a very conspicuous part, — 
 bearing ample testimony to the amount of en- 
 thusiasm for the talent and genius of Robert 
 Burns. The chair was taken a little after six 
 o'clock by Mr. Robert Laidlaw. A blessing 
 having been asked by Mr. William Oliver, the 
 company, numbering 140, partook of a plenti- 
 ful repast, which was served up in excellent 
 style. The tables having been cleared. 
 
 The Chairman rose and addressed the meet- 
 ing in a brief but very appropriate mannei- or 
 the occasion. 
 
 Mr. J. Scott next addressed the company at 
 some length on the early part of the poet's life, 
 which was received with great applause. 
 
 Refreshments of oranges and otlier fruits 
 were distributed abundantly during the even- 
 ing; and the company were much enlivened 
 with some of the poet's most popular songs, 
 sung by Mr. J. Wilson and Mr. A. Oliver, ac- 
 companied on the accordion and flute, by 
 Messrs. J. and A. TurnbuU. Two humorous 
 songs were sung by Mr. Oliver Taylor, gar- 
 dener, which contributed greatly to the enjoy- 
 ment of the evening, and the meeting broke up 
 about eleven o'clock well pleased with the plea- 
 sure they had enjoyed at the Burns' Centenary 
 Soiree. 
 
 DiNNEE. — A numerous party dined here to 
 do honour to the memory of the immortal bard. 
 At five o'clock seventy-five gentlemen sat down 
 to a most excellent dinner, provided by Mr. 
 Leyden. Mr. Haddon, Honeyburn, occupied 
 the chair, the croupiers being 'Mr. Carruthers 
 and Mr. Malcolm. 
 
 The Chairman proposed the toast of the 
 
DENNY. 
 
 219 
 
 evening, The Memory of Scotland's Illustrious 
 Bard, and spoke nearly in the following terms : 
 — We are, gentlemen, met here this evening — 
 the centenary of the birth of Kobert Burns, 
 Scotland's own and greatest poet — to show our 
 respect for and honour to his memory. Biu'ns 
 could with an eagle eye pierce the gloom of 
 the future, and see the day — this day — when 
 his name would be revered and honoured by 
 his country — that country of which he sung so 
 sweetly and loved so dearly, whose scenes he 
 painted so truthfully, and the manners of whose 
 people he described with a pathos which is now 
 resounding through all lands. Will we now 
 follow him from the cradle to the grave 1 No ; 
 not now. Most of us have done that already ; 
 but we cannot help admiring the sturdy plough- 
 man, with his seven pounds a-year, struggling 
 to keep the auld clay biggin up above the head 
 o' the parent pair. No merqpnary was Kobert 
 Burns ; he disdained to write for pay, and a 
 hundred of his best productions were given to 
 the world without reward. His life in Dum- 
 fries, where the cold shoulder was given to him 
 by the rich and great, was not all that could be 
 wished; but, gentlemen, we are not here to 
 extenuate his failings, it is his good qualities 
 and transcendent genius that we are met to 
 exalt and admire. Let his failings warn us to 
 avoid the sunken rocks and quicksands of this 
 world, and aspire to all that is noble and loving 
 in his character and life. Mr. Haddon then 
 read some of the bard's finest pieces, which 
 gave great satisfaction, and concluded in these 
 words — I am sure, gentlemen, I am uttering the 
 heartfelt feelings of every one present, when I 
 say that we, as a people, aj-e much indebted to 
 Burns for the pure and elevating sentiment of 
 much of his poetry, and that we are here as- 
 sembled to do honour to his manly courage, 
 indomitable perseverance, unflinching indepen- 
 dence, and great and honoured name. 
 
 Various other toasts were given, songs were 
 sung, and the evening was spent in a very 
 ■ liappy manner. 
 
 DENNY.— The festival came off here on 
 Tuesday evening, in the Odd-Fellows* Hall. 
 The place of entei'tainment was fitted up in the 
 most tasteful and elegant fashion, with festoon- 
 ed evergreens and paintings around the room. 
 A water-coloured drawing of the immortal bard 
 in full stature, the production of our respected 
 townsman, Mr. John M'Donald, was placed 
 above and behind the chair. The picture 
 seemed to view with complacent delight the 
 proceedings of the evening. The other ar- 
 rangements were unique and complete. The 
 hall thus ornamented, when filled with the 
 " Honest men and bonnie lassies" of Denny, to 
 
 the number of 280, produced the most animat- 
 ing and cheering feelings. The chair was taken 
 at six o'clock by the Rev. Mr. Falconer, who 
 was supported right and left by the Rev. Mr. 
 Stevenson of Dennyloanhead, and Dr. Cuthell, 
 Denny, respectively, surrounded by the com- 
 mittee. Around the platform, and on the same 
 level with it, we observed Mr. John Gow of 
 Milton and family ; Mr. Robert Binnie and 
 family ; Mr. Thomas Grey of Stoneywood and 
 party ; Mr. John Gray of Hall and party ; 
 Mr. John Gillespie of Seamores and party ; 
 Mr. Shearer of Dunipaee Mill, &c. &c. After 
 blessing being asked by the Rev. Mr. Steven- 
 son, the company partook of tea, served up in 
 Mr. Carmichael's best style. The company 
 was then cheered and reminded of Scotia's 
 struggles for liberty by the animating strains of 
 " Scots wlia bae wi' Wallace bled," harmonised 
 and sung by Denny vocal band, accompanied 
 by the harmonium, over which Mr. A. Stark 
 ably presided during the evening. 
 
 The Rev. Chairman then rose and address- 
 ed the meeting as follows: — We have assembled 
 this evening to celebrate the centenary of the 
 immortal poet, Robert Burns. And at the out- 
 set I must be permitted to say that I f«el proud 
 of my country when I consider that, although 
 one hundred years have coine and gone since 
 the poet first beheld tlie eye of day, .and al- 
 though the snows of more than sixty winters 
 have fallen upon his resting-place since " stern 
 ruin's ploughshare" laid him low, yet, with an 
 impetuosity of enthusiasm the like of which 
 was never heard of before, wherever "Scot- 
 land's might and Scotland's right" are sung — 
 and where will they not be sung this night — 
 her sons and her daughters have rallied toge- 
 ther to shower fresh laurels upon the honoured 
 grave of their nation's bard. You, too, with a 
 unanimity and zeal befitting the occasion, have 
 prepared to add your meed of praise, while 
 your programme bears witness to your deter- 
 mination, that this night no songs shall be sung 
 save the songs of the poet — and no praises, 
 save his, celebrated. Others will address you 
 upon the golden lyre that charmed a nation's 
 heart, upon the withering satire that forced 
 hypocrisy " to hide its diminished head," and 
 upon the posthumous fame that enshrines the 
 memory of the illustrious bard. I shall not 
 venture to trench on themes allotted to them, 
 nor expatiate on fields which they will ably 
 occupy. But I may be permitted, speaking 
 from the place to which, with far too flattering 
 voice, you have called me, to inquire into the 
 causes of the great phenomenon which now 
 attracts the gaze of the world — the honours as 
 universal as they are enthusiastic, which after 
 so long a lapse of time are now heaped upon 
 
220 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 the memory of Robert Burns. For the sake of 
 justice and for the sake of gratitude, then, has 
 this demonstration been made. That Burns 
 had faults great and glaring — "passions wild 
 and strong," not unfrequently hurrying him 
 into excesses of speech and behaviour — -he has 
 himself lamented. That he penned what he 
 regretted and fain would have destroyed, is no 
 less true. These were dark shadows in his 
 otherwise noble portraiture. But who that 
 saw him raised by the force of his own com- 
 manding genius from the lowly clay cottage on 
 the banks of the Doon to the highest pinnacle 
 of fame in the metropolis, even in its gayest 
 days, would not tremble lest from so giddy a 
 height he should fall or be precipitated. " It 
 was a wonder that his head was not turned,'' 
 said Dugald Stewart, the accomplished philo- 
 sopher. Let us do justice to the memory of 
 Robert Burns. He sprung into notice like a 
 meteor in the midnight sky. His poems were 
 to be found in the drawing-room of the peer, 
 and in the humble cottage of the peasant, where 
 perchance no other book was to be found save 
 " the big ha' Bible," of which he sung so 
 sweetly. Seven and twenty summers had not 
 yet passed over his head when he was admitted 
 into the society of the most learned men of the 
 day, and invited to the festive boards of the 
 nobles of the land. There he shone as a star 
 whose radiance added lustre to the dignity of 
 their assemblies. There he sat, though untu- 
 tored in the polished arts of fashionable life, yet 
 comporting himself as one of nature's own true 
 nobility. There he listened in deferential si- 
 lence to the voice of learning, while genius 
 flashed from his big bright black eyes and 
 sat enthroned upon his broad expansive fore- 
 head; and when, on invitation, he lifted up 
 his deep melodious voice, every eye was rivet- 
 ed upon him, and every heart electrified with 
 the easy, uninterrupted flow of eloquence that 
 streamed from his lips, flashing and sparkling 
 with the scintillations of his genius. Had rank 
 and influence then lent their weight to procure 
 for our poet an appointment suitable to the 
 unpretending, although independent, aspira- 
 tions of his heart, he might have continued to 
 acquit himself with the dignity of the noblest. 
 But titled rank would almost seem to have ele- 
 vated him to lofty turrets, whence the broad 
 field of ambition might be scanned, just to cast 
 him down to his native earth with blighted 
 hopes and blasted prospects. They took him 
 from his plough, and honoured and petted and 
 encouraged him to hope in their smiles ; and, 
 when their curiosity was satiated, they left him 
 to return to his plough, with a commission in 
 his hands to crush the rough and dangerous 
 smuggler, and to enter into the distillery and 
 
 into the public-house to gauge the articles of 
 excise. Thus, with the golden cup of ambition 
 dashed from his lips ere it had been scarcely 
 tasted, and the Cup of intoxication held out to 
 him, there is not one amongst a thousand who 
 would not have drunk it to the very dregs to 
 steep his senses in oblivion. Not so did Ro- 
 bert Burns. He associated now with friends 
 more lowly, yet more genial, leal, and true; 
 and if sometimes he prolonged the midnight 
 revelry, he never drank alone — never drank of 
 a forenoon, and never unfitted himself for his 
 complicated and multifarious duties, as an ex- 
 cise oflScer riding two hundred miles a-week, 
 as a farmer working a stubborn soil, and as a 
 poet still delighting to sweep Old Scotland's 
 lyre. And it is now in the years of his honest 
 poverty, rather than in the days of his delusive 
 exaltation, that I love to trace the footsteps of 
 the poet — to image him, with his plaid on his 
 shoulders and his sword by his side, chanting 
 the independent ditty — 
 
 " I am naebody's lord, 
 
 I'll be slave to naebody ; 
 I bae a guid braidsword, 
 
 I'll tak' dunts frae naebody ; " 
 
 or, lovelier still, sitting in that home where the 
 eye that had flashed in the heat of controversy 
 with the fire of the eagle's now melted into the 
 love of the turtle's, and, with his wife by his 
 side and his children by his knee, asking her to 
 sing the song — 
 
 " Contented wi' little and canty wi' mair;" 
 
 or (to prove that the love of Bums was no ephe* 
 meral emotion, but a sentiment that could not 
 die) on the return of that autumnal day on 
 which he parted for ever from his first fond 
 love, his Highland Mary ; moving about discon- 
 solately as the hour of midnight drew nigh, 
 throwing himself down upon the cold ground, 
 gazing intently upon the bright evening star, 
 the tears coursing down his cheeks, and his 
 heart throbbing with emotion, until his feelings 
 found vent in that most plaintive of songs — 
 
 " O Maiy, dear departed shade." 
 
 Yes; Burns had his faults, but he himself has 
 taught you 
 
 " Gently to scan your brother man," 
 
 while he apologises for those faults, and reads a 
 warning to you in the lines — 
 
 " Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us 
 To see ourselves as others see us, 
 It would from many a blunder free us, 
 And foolish notion. 
 
 Yet, with all his faults, he was one of our 
 greatest reformers, for he was the reformer of 
 
DENNY—DINGWALL. 
 
 221 
 
 our national song, and effected such a regenera- 
 tion of it, that what could not have been listened 
 to by the ear of modesty before, is now heard 
 with rapture by the ear of lovely purity. Had 
 he lived, we cannot tell what poems the author 
 of the " Cottar's Saturday Night " might have 
 hymned ; but he fell into an untimely grave at 
 the age of thirty-seven. Neglected when liv- 
 ing, he was honoured when dead. Thousands 
 flocked to his funeral, and many went away in 
 tears ; and then many a lovely woman made a 
 pilgrimage to strew flowers upon his grave. 
 And it was a just tribute, too, for Burns de- 
 served well of his country. He has done more 
 to perpetuate its nationality, to enshrine its 
 memories, and to promote its renown, than 
 ever Scotchman did. Under his magic touch 
 our scenery surpasses in beauty and grandeur 
 that of other lands. Its cloudy sky is curtained 
 with the warm drapery of heaven; its bleak 
 mountains are gilded with happy radiance; its 
 streams dance with conscious joy as they kiss 
 the weeping willows and bound laughing from 
 their embrace ; its little birds sing the songs of 
 their loves ; while the poorest hut is converted 
 into a temple of love and joy. Nothing that 
 belongs to Scotia is beneath the dignity of his 
 immortal numbers. " The Kail Brose of Auld 
 Scotland " is noble fare; " The Haggis," " the 
 chieftain of the puddin' race ;" and " Scotch 
 Drink " far beyond the wines of sunny lands. 
 The " bonnie lasses " of his country are the 
 loveliest on earth ; and the " honest men " the 
 bravest. The might of Scotland can bid defi- 
 ance to the world ; while 'tis from its religion, 
 above all things, that " Auld Scotia's grandeur 
 springs." Disdaining foreign aid, he will not 
 clothe his verses in English — elegant and forci- 
 ble as his English is. As a Scotchman, he must 
 send down his poems to posterity in their native 
 garb — the language of Scotland's old parlia- 
 ment and her pulpit and her bar. So that 
 now, although it should cease to be spoken, it 
 will be as immortal as the poems of Burns, and 
 as classic as the Doric of the Greeks. Himself 
 belonging to the humble peasantry, although, 
 like 
 
 " The lai-k that builds the lowest neat, 
 Soars on the loftiest wing," 
 » 
 he has contributed more to the amusement and 
 happiness of the sons and daughters of toil than 
 any other. For them he possesses a charm un- 
 known in other poets. He speaks in their lan- 
 guage, he enters into their feelings, or portrays 
 them to themselves. Like the old masters he 
 studied only from the living model ; nor until 
 he was familiar with it, in every lineament and 
 in every feature, did he begin his happy deli- 
 neation. He is, therefore, not only classical. 
 
 because true to nature, but he speaks home to 
 the heart, moving with ease its secret springs, 
 as he incites to laughter, to tears, to indigna- 
 tion, or to love. He enters into the home of 
 honest povert)', and inspires the poor with con- 
 tentment as he teaches them to sing — 
 
 " Contented wi' little, and canty wi' njajr." 
 
 He makes his appearance in the social circle, 
 and as he joins hand to hand — he binds them 
 in friendship while they sing — 
 
 " Should auld acquaintance be forgot." 
 
 He impresses us with the true dignity of man 
 as he inspires us with the ennobling sentiment — 
 
 " X'le rank is but the guinea stamjj^ 
 The man's the gowd for a', that." 
 
 and on the blood-stained banks of the Ganges 
 now the weary soldier's heart is inspired with 
 fresh courage, and his arm nerved with new 
 strength while he listens to the glorious song, 
 
 " Scots wha bae wi' Wallace bled." 
 
 He could well be permitted to teach content- 
 ment, for he had a wife and family to support 
 on less than thirty shillings a- week ; friendship, 
 for he suffered the desertion of his friends ; the 
 real dignity of man, for he knew the vanity of 
 trusting to earthly grandeur and lordly pomp ; 
 and patriotism, for Scotland neglected him, yet 
 in spite of that neglect, when he stood on the 
 field of Bannockburn, on the spot where Bruce 
 planted the standard of liberty, he lifted his 
 hat from his honoured brow and breathed to 
 heaven a prayer for Caledonia. Yes, Bums 
 deserved well of his country ; and Scotland 
 will then only forget him when she forgets her- 
 self. All honour to his memory. (The rev. 
 gentleman was cheered loudly during the de- 
 livery of his speech and at its close.) 
 
 Dr. Cuthell spoke on " Burns as a Lyric 
 Poet ;" Mr. Cousland on " Burns as a Satirist." 
 A poem for the occasion was recited by Mr. 
 Dun. Many of Burtis' songs were beautifully 
 sung, and after " Auld Langsyne," by the whole 
 company standing and joining hand in hand, the 
 meeting separated, sorry to part and happy to 
 meet again. 
 
 DINGWALL. — The centenary was cele- 
 brated here by a banquet and ball in the 
 County buildings. The large hall was bril- 
 liantly lighted up for the occasion, and very 
 tastefully decorated with flags and evergreens 
 -^■principally by the exertions, we believe, of 
 Major Hirst and Mr. Frank Harper. The 
 company began to assemble at nine o'clock, and 
 shortly after that hour the chair was taken by 
 Sir James Mackenzie of Seatwell, Bart., who 
 
222 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 was supported by Major Wardlaw, Belmaduth y ; 
 C. L. Mackenzie, Esq. of St. Martins, Provost 
 of Inverness ; John Maciver, Esq., Provost of 
 Dingwall; Major Hirst; the Rev. Dr. Gibson 
 of Avoeh ; and Dr. Miller, Dingwall. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. G-ibson having said grace, the 
 Chairman in eloquent and appropriate terms 
 proposed the usual loyal toasts. 
 
 Sir James then rose and addressed the com- 
 pany as follows: — Ladies and Gentlemen — In 
 rising to propose to you that toast, which is 
 specially the toast of the night, I hope I may 
 be permitted thus publicly to express to the 
 originators of this demonstration how deeply I 
 feel the great compliment they have paid me in 
 placing jpe in the chair on an occasion of such 
 national, such heart-stirring interest. (Cheers.) 
 Though absent in England when the invitation 
 reached me, and though somewhat uncertain as 
 to the precise period at which I might have it 
 in my power to return, I accepted the most 
 gratifying proposal with pride and with ala- 
 crity, though not without serious misgivings as 
 to my ability to do justice to so great an 
 occasion. But, ladies and gentlemen, I felt I 
 had no choice in the matter; for he must be a 
 degenerate Scotchman indeed who could hesi- 
 tate for one moment to respond to the invita- 
 tion of any portion of his fellow-countrymen to 
 do homage to the memory of one who was such 
 a glorious representative of his country's genius ; 
 who was indeed the noblest peasant that ever 
 trod the green sward or the heather hills of 
 old Scotland. (Loud cheers.) Sprung from 
 the people, bom in an " auld clay bigging," 
 brought up to " whistle at the plough," but at 
 the sanie time nurtured in the paths of virtue, 
 and under the guidance of religious parental 
 love, Robert Burns rose, by the force of his 
 genius, to distinction and influence, and won 
 for himself a proud position in that greatest of 
 all aristocracies, the aristocracy of merit. (Ap- 
 plause.) I do not mean to deny that Robert 
 Burns had his failings, but I do mean to say 
 that, " taking him all in all, we ne'er shall 
 see his like again." (Cheers.) He chronicled 
 the events which occurred in his own sphere of 
 life not only with the brilliant imagination of a 
 poet, but with the heart and soul of a man. 
 Patriotism, tenderness, humour, friendship, 
 sublimity, are the leading characteristics of his 
 poetry; in it you find neither delusion nor 
 affectation ; neither exaggeration nor falsehood ; 
 and though, as I have already said, I do not 
 mean to assert that all his poems are perfect, I 
 do maintain they possess the greatest of all 
 merits, life -pervading, life -breathing truth. 
 (Great applause.) Though sixty -two years 
 have elapsed since Robert Burns was gathered 
 to his fathers at the early age of thirt3'-eight, 
 
 the enthusiasm of his countrymen (and may I 
 not say of his fair countrywomen too?) has in 
 no degree subsided. The east and the west, 
 the north and the south, the Highlands and the 
 Lowlands, are now vieing with each other in 
 doing homage to his memory, and I am proud 
 to think that, as regards the north, the county 
 town of Ross-shire has led the van in mani- 
 festing feelings so thoroughly national. (Loud 
 cheers.) And is it surprising such feelings 
 should still exist? Surely not, for no poet ever 
 lived so constantly and so intimately in the 
 hearts of a people. (Hear, hear.) Associating, 
 as he did, the words and music of his songs with 
 the every-day life of the Scottish people, and 
 with the romantic and lovely scenery of their 
 country, his compositioins are peculiarly calcu- 
 lated to bind Scottish hearts to their native 
 land, and to cherish those feelings which, under 
 proper restriction, form the purest happiness of 
 humanity. (Cheers.) It is thus that Burns' 
 poems have been not only popular, but lasting; 
 thus has been engrafted on the works of man 
 some degree of that stability which belongs to 
 the works of nature. It is thus that Burns' 
 poetry is even now as familiar to the Scottish 
 people as " household words." It delights 
 them in their prosperity; it comforts them in 
 their adversity; they know that those who, in 
 the spirit of Burns' poetry, love their homes 
 and their fatherland; they feel that those who, 
 in the spirit of Burns' poetry, fear God and 
 honour their sovereign, may walk as equals 
 with any noble in the land, however proud his 
 lineage, however great his name — 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a that." (Loud cheers.) 
 
 I have said that the leading characteristics of 
 Burns' poetry are patriotism, tenderness, hu- 
 Vnour, friendship, sublimity ; and who can 
 doubt this who is at all familiar with his beauti- 
 ful style? Does not " Bruce's Address to his 
 Troops" (more generally known as " Scots wha 
 hae") overflow with the most glowing patriot- 
 ism ? Sir James then alluded to the report 
 that Burns was a Republican and a Revolution- 
 ist. He believed there never was a greater 
 calumny uttered, and in refutation read the 
 patriotic song, beginning — , 
 
 "Does haughty Gaul invasion threat? " &o. 
 
 Sir James then continued — I knew with what 
 cordiality you would respond to this sentiment, 
 and you will therefore fully appreciate the 
 beautiful lines of another celebrated poet, who 
 says : — 
 
 " 111 fares the land to liastening ills a prey 
 Where wealth aocumulates, and men decay • 
 
DINGWALL— DOLLAR. 
 
 22.3 
 
 Princes and lords may flourish or may fade, 
 A breath can make them as a breath has made ; 
 But a bold peasantry, their country's pride. 
 If once destroyed, can never be supplied." 
 
 (Cheers.) But, to return to Burns, what can 
 be more perfect as a specimen of tenderness, 
 and of the purest love and fidelity, than that 
 beautiful song, " Of a' the airts the wind can 
 blaw," addressed, as you know, by the poet to 
 her who became his wife, and to whom he was 
 a most devoted husband. Then there is " John 
 Anderson, my jo," the words of which breathe 
 a strain of connubial bliss which is as undoubt- 
 edly moral as it is deeply affecting. As a speci- 
 men of Burns' humour, " Tam o' Shanter" 
 stands pre-eminent. The next characteristic is 
 fi'iendship — 
 
 " Friendship ! mysterious cement of the soul, 
 Sweetener of life, and solder of society." 
 
 (Cheers.) As a specimen of tie fidelity of his 
 friendship and the depth of his gratitude, what 
 can be more touching than his " Lament for 
 the Earl of Gloncairn," who was one of Burns' 
 chief benefactors. [Sir James here read the 
 poem.] I have said sublimity was another 
 characteristic of the poetry of Burns ; and per- 
 mit me to ask what can be more sublimely 
 beautiful than " The Cottar's Saturday Night," 
 which, as you are aware, represents Burns' fa- 
 ther and his family at their evening devotions. 
 Of this masterpiece it has been truly said, " It 
 is charged with those sacred influences which 
 connect the human heart with Heaven." 
 (Cheers.) Sir James read some of the more 
 striking stanzas of the poem, dwelling with 
 particular emphasis on the concluding stanzas, 
 and then resumed. I have now finished. I 
 am deeply sensible how inadequately I have 
 performed the duty your kindness intrusted to 
 me, but I have the consolation of knowing that 
 no eulogium which the greatest orator could 
 pronounce could add to that enthusiasm with 
 which, not only here — not only throughout 
 Scotland, but in distant climes, and in every 
 country to which an adventurous spirit has at- 
 tracted her sons — will the . centenary of Eobert 
 Burns be this night celebrated. Ladies and 
 gentlemen, I give you " The immortal Memory 
 of Robert Burns." (Sir James was repeatedly 
 and loudly cheered during the delivery of the 
 above address, and the toast was received with 
 the greatest enthusiasm.) 
 
 Provost Maciver, after thanking Sir James 
 for his eloquent address, then proposed as a 
 toast " The relatives of Burns" — his two sons 
 and his nieces — inheritors of his blood and 
 name, and who were bequeathed by the poet 
 to his country. 
 
 Dr. Miller gave " The Lady Anne Mac- 
 
 kenzie and the other Lady Patronesses," which 
 was acknowledged by Sir James. 
 
 Major Wardlaw then rose and proposed the 
 health of the Chairman, Sir James Mackenzie. 
 (Great cheering.) 
 
 Sir James, in acknowledging the toast, allud- 
 ed to the infrequency of such meetings as the 
 present, and regretted that there were so few 
 of them. He would suggest an annual meeting. 
 (Cheering.) 
 
 The banquet having concluded, dancing 
 commenced, and was maintained with great 
 vigour till an early hour in the morning. Dur- 
 ing the evening some of Burns' finest melodies 
 were sung bj' Sir James Mackenzie and others 
 — " Green grow the rashes," " John Anderson, 
 my jo," " Scots wha hae," " A man's a man for 
 a' that," and " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 This celebration was a great success. The 
 rooms were crowded by a large and fashionable 
 audience. Amongst those present, besides the 
 gentlemen already mentioned, were : Lady 
 Anne Mackenzie ; Mrs. Douglas of Scatwell ; 
 Mrs. Wardlaw ; Alex. Matheson, Esq. of Ard- 
 ross, M.P. ; H. M. Fowler, Esq. of Raddery, 
 and Mrs. Fowler; G. G. Munro, Esq. of 
 Poyntzfield ; Mrs. L. Mackenzie of St. Martins, 
 and party ; Mrs. Grogan of Inverness ; the 
 Misses Gibson, Avoch ; the Rev. P. Mackenzie, 
 and Mrs. Mackenzie ; Hugh Davidson, Esq. of 
 Cantray ; Mrs. Fraser, Brackla ; Rev. C. Mac- 
 kenzie, Contin ; Lieuts. Grant and Williams, &c. 
 
 Mr. Macgillivray's band was in attendance, playing 
 appropriate tunes after the toasts and supplying the 
 dancers with a selection of appropriate and excellent 
 music. 
 
 DOLLAR.— On Tuesday the 25th a half- 
 holiday was observed here in honour of our 
 national bard. Joy and glee sat on every 
 countenance, and the greatest enthusiasm pre- 
 vailed at both the festivals held in the town ; 
 this was especially the case at the large and in- 
 fluential meeting in the Campbell Hotel, where 
 the enthusiasm and happy feeling was very 
 much promoted by the great tact and good hu- 
 mour of the chairman. Dr. Lindsay, aided by 
 the equally efficient services of Dr. Strachan 
 and John M'Arthur Moir, Esq. of Hillfoot. 
 The chairman gave the toast of the evening, 
 " The immortal memory of Robert Burns," 
 which was received with such enthusiasm and 
 rapturous applause as proved that every one 
 present had a leal and true- Scottish heart. 
 The pleasures of the evening were greatly di- 
 versified through the alternation of speech and 
 song. Mr. Moir contributed in no small de- 
 gree to the enjoyment of the evening, by his 
 numerous recitations from the works of Scotia's 
 best-loved bard. 
 
224 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 A large bonfire was erected by the young 
 folks of Hillfoot House, on the top of Gloom- 
 hill, and after partaking of haggis and pies pre- 
 pared by the amiable and generous lady of 
 Hillfoot for the occasion, dancing was kept up 
 till " a blast of Januar win' " sent them hame 
 to enjoy the sports and comforts of their ain 
 firesides. 
 
 In commemoration of the hundredth birth- 
 day of Burns, Scotland's gifted son of song, a 
 party of working men, to the number of twenty- 
 three, sat down in Mr. Dickie's, Old Town, to 
 a substantial repast, — Mr. William Tainsh, 
 chairman; Mr. Robert Kirk, croupier. The 
 room, which was tastefully decorated for the 
 occasion, presented a snug and comfortable ap- 
 pearance,—' 
 
 " The win' without might rair and nistle, 
 They didna min' the storm a whistle." 
 
 Justice having been done to the good things of 
 this life, and the usual preliminary toasts pro- 
 posed and disposed of, the Chairman rose, and 
 in a few brief but happy remarks, gave the 
 toast of the evening, " The immortal memory 
 pf Scotland's peasant poet, Robert Burns." 
 The toast was responded to in a characteristic 
 and becoming manner. Toast, song, and senti- 
 ment then went round, Mr. John Blackwood, 
 violinist, played several Scottish tunes with his 
 usual exquisite skill and taste. Throughout 
 the evening the greatest good humour and 
 good feeling prevailed, while happiness and 
 satisfaction reigned in every bosom. The sup- 
 per, with its varied accompaniments, was of the 
 highest order, while the attention of Mr. Dickie 
 and his assistants to the comfort of the com- 
 pany was all that could be desired. 
 
 DOUGLAS.— The Burns Centenary was 
 celebrated here by a public dinner, within the 
 Douglas Arms Inn, upon Tuesday the 25th 
 Jan. The attendance was numerous and high- 
 ly respectable, and the evening was spent with 
 the greatest hilarity and harmony, interspersed 
 with excellent specimens of recitation and songs 
 apropos to the occasion. Mr. Hamilton, 
 Millbank, presided, supported on the right and 
 left by Mr. Scott of the commercial bank ; Mr. 
 Gillespie, Gateside ; Mr. Patterson, Glentag- 
 gart ; Mr. Swan, Collierhall ; Mr. Thorburn of 
 the city bank ; and Mr. Soott, Braehead, &c. 
 Mr. Wood officiated as croupier, supported on 
 the right and left by Messrs. Park, Maxwell, 
 D. Thorburn, and More. After the usual pre- 
 liminary toasts, the Chairman rose and said, — 
 Gentlemen, the next toast which I have now 
 the honour to propose is the great toast of the 
 evening, — a toast which I approach with pro- 
 found humility, — yet, at the same time, I ouglit 
 
 to feel proud that my feeble voice should at 
 this moment be mingling with so many of my 
 fellow countrymen, in doing honour to the 
 memory of that illustrious genius, whose pro- 
 ductions have sunk so deeply into the hearts of 
 Scotia's sons, — whose productions have for 
 more than fifty years contributed to amuse, en- 
 liven, and instruct the inmates of every village, 
 hamlet, and cottage throughout the length and 
 breadth of Scotland, and have found an hon- 
 ourable place in the palace of the great, as well 
 as in the lowly cot of the poor. After some 
 other remarks illustrative of the causes which 
 had led to the universal appreciation of the 
 poetry of Burns, the Chairman proposed the 
 toast of the evening. Among the various suit- 
 able toasts proposed by the gentlemen present, 
 Mr. Park, in his usual pithy and graphic style, 
 gave " The Memory of Allan Ramsay," as the 
 great prototype of Burns. Mr. David Thor- 
 burn gave " The Memory of Sir Walter Scott." 
 Few meetings of this kind have occurred in 
 which so much good humour and kindly feeling 
 prevailed ; and from the excellent arrange- 
 ments made by the committee of management 
 the comfort of every one was duly attended to. 
 The only regret was that the hour approached 
 too soon when " Tam maun ride." 
 
 DOUNE. — The idea having been mooted of 
 celebrating the centenary of Scotland's cele- 
 brated poet Robert Burns, the members of the 
 Kilmadock Agricultural Association and Doune 
 Curling Club resolved to unite together, and, 
 throwing their separate interests aside, join 
 heart and hand in the great and popular cele- 
 bration, at the same time giving a cordial in- 
 vitation to all who revered the memory of 
 Scotland's bard to unite in the celebration, 
 doubting not that a large assembly would join 
 in the movement, the result proving the cor- 
 rectness of the anticipations. Mr. M'Farlane, 
 Doune, occupied the chair ; Mr. Dewar, Doune 
 Castle, and Mr. M'Laehlan, Milton, discharged 
 the duties of croupiers. After the loyal and 
 patriotic toasts, the Chairman, in a concise and 
 perspicuous address, gave " The Memory of 
 Burns" — the bard of hall and cottage — the 
 bard of independence and patriotism — ^the bard 
 in whom true genius shone both in song and 
 poetry. The toast was received with long and 
 enthusiastic cheering. Throughout the even- 
 ing appropriate toasts, songs, and recitations 
 were given in happy succession — some of 
 Burns' songs being sung with beautiful and 
 telling effect. The meeting broke up at a late 
 hour, fain to meet but wae to part. Dinner 
 was provided by Mr. Menzies, Woodside Inn — 
 the Scotch haggis, sheep head and trotters, 
 among other dishes, figuring on the board. 
 
DUFFTOWN. 
 
 DUFFTOWN No fewer than three differ- 
 ent public entertainments were held here, 
 and one and all of them numerously attended 
 by the most respectable inhabitants; and it is 
 even asserted that after all the public halls had 
 been engaged a number of old gentlemen were 
 very much inclined to take to a barn and do 
 honour to their favourite poet by partaking of 
 the haggis he has celebrated, and drinking to 
 his immortal memory. We have had dinners, 
 suppers, gatherings, and balls many a time, but 
 never anything equal to this. Excitement, en- 
 thusiasm, gossip, and scandal were at their 
 highest pitch for weeks, and when the day 
 at last arrived we were afraid that it was too 
 much for us to give anything like an adequate 
 representation of our feelings, and no doubt so 
 it was; but had any one come and taken but a 
 peep into each of our lively companies he would 
 have not only seen but felt th^t in Dufftown 
 Burns was appreciated and his memory cher- 
 ished. 
 
 To begin with the meeting in Innes' Hall. 
 Here everything was got up in the most gorge- 
 ous style. The decorations were very much 
 admired, and the supper and entire arrange- 
 ments were such as to reflect the highest credit 
 upon Mr. Webster, who had cliarge of these 
 matters. At the end of the Hall, where the 
 Cliairman sat, was a fine arch of evergreens, 
 and in the opening between the columns hung 
 a large painting of "the auld clay biggin'" 
 where the poet was born, and over it a gilded 
 harp half hidden by the bushes, and entwined 
 with " holly boughs " and Scotch thistles. At 
 the other end, behind the croupier, was a cor- 
 responding arch, encircling a large painting of 
 the poet's " resting place " in Dumfries, and on 
 the side wall, opposite the orchestra, a picture 
 of his coat of arras, on a white ground, taste- 
 fully surrounded by spruce, holly, find ivy. 
 From the ceiling waving festoons of ivy were 
 suspended, with a number of oranges tempt- 
 ingly peeping from among the green leaves, 
 while around the whole hall the spruce and 
 holly bushes were tastefully spread. The gas- 
 aliers, too, were in holiday attire, and when 
 their whole flood of light was expanded, the 
 place looked more like a garden of Eden than 
 a hall in Dufftown. Beside the unusual ex- 
 ertions made in decorations, the fact that the 
 principal ladies in the quarter had been in- 
 vited to supper added much to the eclat, and 
 made the meeting not only the most brilliant 
 but altogether the greatest novelty of the kind 
 ever witnessed in Mortlach. Dr. Grant oc- 
 cupied the chair, and Mr. Geddes, Glass, acted 
 as croupier. Among the strangers present were 
 the Rev. Mr. Mason, and Misses Mason, Bo- 
 ti'iphnie; Mr. Thurburn, and Misses Thurburn, 
 
 Keith; Mr. William Asher, Keitli; Mr. Simp- 
 son and Mr. Mitchell, Montreal ; Miss Marquis, 
 Fochabers, &c. Supper, which included " the 
 chieftain o' the puddin' race," over, and the 
 liouse warmed by the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts from the chair, the Chairman after a long 
 and eloquent speech proposed the toast of the 
 evening. Mr. Hepburn then sang, " Eantin', 
 Koviii' Robin," in his own masterly style. The 
 Croupier then gave Burns as a Husband and 
 Father, Mr. Webster then proposed Burns as 
 a lore Poet. " My Nannie O " was then sung 
 by the band. Mr. Little gave Burns' Inde- 
 pendence as exhibited in his Correspondence. 
 He believed that the individuality of his char- 
 acter was equally, if not more fully, brought 
 out in his correspondence than in his poems. 
 Mr. Thurburn, Keith, gave the living Poets of 
 Scotland. Mr. Cowie gave the Clergymen, 
 coupling the toast with the Ivev. Mr. Mason. 
 
 Mr. Mason said it might be thought that he 
 was out of place, but he would be very sorry to 
 find that the time would ever come when any 
 clergyman would be out of place at such a 
 meeting as this, or in doing honour to the 
 memory of a man of genius like Burns. Differ- 
 ences existed between Burns and some of the 
 clergymen of his day; but he had ever found 
 these were men of particular idiosyncrasies of 
 temper, and perhaps of not too much intellect, 
 and who provoked the satire of the bard by 
 many of their eccentricities. Many of the best 
 and most gifted of the clergymen in Edinburgh 
 were among his correspondents and warmest 
 friends, and for these Burns ever cherished the 
 warmest feelings and highest respect. Dr. 
 Grant expressed his impatience to get the ball 
 opened, which was soon done, and the spirit- 
 stirring notes of the band soon put " life an' 
 mettle in their heels." 
 
 A Soiree and Ball were also held here in 
 Wilson's Hotel. The attendance numbered up- 
 wards of 250, including a good many members 
 of the Total Abstinence Society — Mr. William 
 Craib, New Castle of Balvenie, in the chair. 
 Addresses were given by Mr. John Symon, jun., 
 saddler, and Mr. Stewart, Malt-Kiln, on the 
 Life, Character, and Genius of Burns; and a 
 number of songs were sung in the course of the 
 evening. A ball followed, and dancing was 
 kept up till an advanced hour in the morning. 
 The music was conducted by Messrs. John 
 Myren and Robert Green, jun., Auchindown. 
 
 The Freemasons and other inhabitants of 
 Mortlach took supper together in Mr. A. 
 Craib's Inn, Dufftown — Mr. John Grant, Dul- 
 lan Cottage, in the chair, and Mr. A. Forbes, 
 croupier. The supper, including a Scotch 
 liaggis, was served out in style by Mrs. Craib. 
 
 The Chairman, after the usual loyal and pat- 
 
226 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 riotic toasts, craved a bumper to the memory of 
 Burns. He (the speaker) had the honour of 
 being the oldest freemason in Mortlach. Giv- 
 ing an outline of the poet, he observed that, 
 among other poems, Burns composed his ad- 
 dresses to the Deil, to Death and Dr. Hornbook, 
 while returning from meetings of Freemasons 
 at Tarbolton, and that when the poet was about 
 to leave his native country for Jamaica, he 
 wrote a beautiful song to the Brethren of that 
 Lodge, and expressed sorrow for leaving them 
 in the following words — " By that hieroglyphic 
 bright, which none but craftsman ever saw," 
 &c. Througli the kindness of Captain Brown, 
 Tullich Cottage, (whose health, amid many 
 other local toasts, was heartily drunk to,) his 
 ])iper was in attendance during the evening, 
 and played happily suitable airs to each toast. 
 The supper was followed by a hearty dance. 
 
 DUMBARTON On the evening of the 
 
 25th, a party of six-and-twenty .admirers of 
 our national bard sat down to dinner in the 
 Elephant Hotel. The chair on the occasion 
 was ably filled by R. G. Mitchell, Esq., procu- 
 rator-fiscal; supported on the right by Provost 
 Risk, and on the left by Mr. T. M'Intosh. The 
 duties of croupier were discharged in an effi- 
 cient manner by Dr. B. M. Richard, supported 
 on the right by Mr. James Ure, and on the 
 left by Mr. Henry Adams. After the usual 
 loyal toasts had been disposed of, the Chair- 
 man, in proposing the toast of the evening, 
 alluded, in a brief but pointed manner, to the 
 seemliness there was in celebrating, with world- 
 wide rejoicing, the centenary of a poet, not 
 more remarkable for the brilliancy of his genius 
 than the depth, purity, and comprehensiveness 
 of liis love — qualities which distinguished him, 
 he would not say above our other national poets 
 oiily, but above the poets of any other nation 
 whatever. The main features of Burns' char- 
 acter and writings were enlarged upon and 
 commended by the Chairman, with much appro- 
 priateness; while, to vary the usual routine — 
 and it was certainly not the least attractive 
 feature of "the speech of the evening" — he 
 introduced before closing the very suitable 
 song, " There was a lad was born in Kyle." 
 At its conclusion, " The Immortal Memory of 
 Burns" was drunk with the greatest possible 
 enthusiasm. Among the other toasts proposed 
 were " Honest men and bonnie lasses," by the 
 Croupier ; " The Scotch Regiments in India," 
 by Mr. C. Riddell ; " The Peasantry of Soot- 
 land," by Mr. R. U. Lowe ; " The prosperity 
 of Dumbarton," coupled with tlie health of the 
 Provost, who, having acknowledged it, proposed 
 " Our Educational Institutions," coupled with 
 the health of Mr. Hay, the recently-appointed 
 
 teacher in the English and Classical department 
 of the Burgh Academy. Mr. Hay having replied, 
 proposed " The memory of Sir Walter Scott." 
 Next followed " The Literature of Scotland," 
 by Mr. J. Irving; readings from the "Twa 
 Dogs," by Mr. J. M'Lean ; " Our Representa- 
 tives in Parliament," by Mr. John Denny, 
 town-clerk ; " The Committee of Management," 
 by Mr. T. M'Intosh; acknowledged by Mr. 
 Irving, who also proposed "The Memory of 
 Tobias Smollett, a son of Dumbartonshire." 
 "The health of the Chairman" was proposed 
 by Mr. Henry Adams, and that of "The 
 Croupier" by Dr. Grahame, , The entertain- 
 ment of the evening was greatly added to by 
 the appropriate songs sung by the Chairman, 
 Mr. Ure, Mr. Riddell, Provost Risk, Mr. James 
 Denny, Mr. Whyte, Mr. James Rankin, Mr. 
 Callan, and Mr. Archd. Denny. The dinner 
 was of a truly first-class description, and re- 
 flected the highest credit on the host, Mr. 
 Norris. Altogether a happier or more har- 
 monious company has rarely assembled in the 
 burgh, and we. are sure that all present will 
 entertain the most pleasant recollection of it 
 for a long time to come. 
 
 Dumbarton Odd-Fbllows' Festival and 
 BaIiL. — The Loyal Dixon Lodge of Odd-Fellows 
 in Dumbarton celebrated the centenary of 
 Scotia's bard, on the evening of the 25th, by a 
 grand festival and ball, in their Lodge-room, 
 Artisan Place. The attendance, particularly at 
 the close of the soiree, and at the ball which 
 succeeded, was large and respectable. Mr. 
 Charles Stewart, P.P.G.M. of the Lodge, pre- 
 sided, supported by Mr. Geo. Bell, Mr. John 
 Grant, and other office-bearers of the Society. 
 
 The hall was gaily decorated for the occasion, 
 and had a lively and graceful appearance. Sur- 
 mounting the platform, and on each of the 
 side walls, were beautiful canopies draped with 
 scarlet cloth, and representing the name, &c., 
 of the Lodge in gold letters — "Loyal Dixon 
 Lodge of Odd-Fellows: No. 1901, M.U."— 
 and the mottoes, " Integritas," " Veritas," &c. 
 The other parts of the room were ornamented 
 with evergreens and the insignia of the order, 
 while the beautiful white silk flag of the Lodge, 
 with the Union Jack in the corner, hung grace- 
 fully from the roof about the centre of the 
 room. The Bonhill Quadrille Band occupied 
 a place in front of the platform, and in the 
 course of the evening played a selection of 
 appropriate airs with fine efiect. 
 
 At eight o'clock the Chairman commenced 
 the proceedings by delivering an able speech. 
 He said— It is an undisputed fact, that, as time 
 advances, the fame of Burns increases, and that 
 is the surest sign of true greatness. Never 
 was such a general fervour displayed on any 
 
DUMBARTON. 
 
 227 
 
 similar occasion. Tiie feeling is universal — 
 high and low, all are eager to do honour to 
 the bard of Scotland. That Burns erred, as 
 had been said — that he h%d the frailties of 
 humanity as we all have — no sensible man will 
 deny. Had he come into the world with a 
 robe of superhuman righteousness, he was not 
 our brother — he was above us. But a "clay 
 biggin' " was his birth-place — his school was 
 the "harvest rigg " and the "ploughtail" — ^the 
 lark singing her song at heaven's gate his 
 model — and universal nature the source from 
 which he drew his inspiration. As it was, he 
 was just what nature "made him, and for that 
 we love him.' If the lessons which he taught 
 were better understood, we should ha\'e less 
 Pharisaism and cant ; we should not have one 
 saying to his neighbour, " Stand back, I am 
 holier than thou." If a duchess felt herself, as 
 she says, " carried off her feet^' with the witch- 
 ing gracefulness of his conversation, and Edin- 
 burgh professors elbowed each other in eager- 
 ness for his company — if travellers encroached 
 upon his privacy, and his good nature gave 
 them audience, and evil to himself resulted 
 from it — is the blame altogether his ? He 
 might have been strong in resolution, but he 
 was one of Eve's children, and she was beguiled 
 in Paradise, The Chairman resumed his seat 
 amidst great applause. 
 
 Services of tarts, fruit, &c., &c., in great 
 abundance, were distributed in the course of 
 the evening, agreeably diversified by a number 
 of excellent songs, recitations, &c., by Messrs. 
 Alexander Hodge, T. Muir, J. M'Leod, A. 
 Pliillips, T. Paxton, J. Livingstone, Pollock, 
 Cairdy, &c., and several airs on the concertina, 
 executed with great taste, by Mr. J. Black. 
 About eleven o'clock the hall was cleared for 
 dancing, which, under the able direction of 
 Mr. Hodge, as master of the ceremonies, was 
 kept up with great spirit till far in the morn- 
 ing. 
 
 The Dumbarton Lennox Society's Festi- 
 val. — This Society held a centenary meeting 
 in the Abstainers' Hall, on the evening of the 
 25th. The hall was crowded with a most re- 
 spectable company. A large sprinkling of 
 " bonnie lasses" graced the festive board. Mr. 
 Irvine, president of the society, occupied the 
 chair. 
 
 After a liberal supply of tea and accom- 
 paniments, the evening's proceedings were com- 
 menced by the Chairman, who opened with an 
 able and interesting speech, briefly reviewing 
 the progress of the Society, and eulogising the 
 Society for its resolution to celebrate Burns' 
 centenary. 
 
 Mr. James M'Kay then gave an address on 
 the "Genius of Burns," revealing a matured 
 
 mind, and a thorough acquaintance with the 
 bard's works. 
 
 Songs and recitations followed with great 
 acceptation. " The Cottar's Saturday Night " 
 was rendered very well by Mr. Edward M'Inty re. 
 
 Mr. James Tierney then gave an address on 
 " Passages in the life of Burns," sketching with 
 vividness his birth, his boyhood, and youth — 
 his first love and first lyre — descanting largely 
 on his erratic career, with light and graceful 
 touch— concluding with a notice of his career 
 in Edinburgh, amidst the applause of the 
 meeting. 
 
 Mr. Donald Macintyre gave an address on 
 the life and character of Burns. He said: — 
 Robert Burns has raised the standard of the 
 poetry of our land. He was the purifier of 
 religious faith in an age of sectarianism and 
 infidelity. How fearlessly and how woll he 
 lashed these moth-eaters of that sacred faith 
 which our forefathers shed their blood to main- 
 tain and uphold! It is a popular idea among 
 a great many of his countrymen, and no less a 
 popular error, that such pieces as " Holy Willie's 
 Prayer" and the "Holy Fair" have a ten- 
 dency to inspire a feeling of contempt for 
 sacred things, and that Robert Burns has 
 railed and mocked at religion with a levity 
 unworthy of his name. These productions 
 were the scourges that swept away the corrup- 
 tions that had been interwoven with holy 
 things, and which disappeared before his 
 withering sarcasms and pointed satire. Thiit 
 Robert Burns had a great reverence for true 
 piety no one can with truth deny. He cherished 
 a deep feeling of love for his kindred, and those 
 whom he honoured with his friendship. As a 
 husband, he was affectionate and tender ; as a 
 father, he was indulgent and kind. He had a 
 heart susceptible to every fine feeling that 
 adorns humanity. He had a tear for his 
 "Maillie" — he sympathised with the mouse 
 when he had driven it from its little home in 
 bleak December, when winds were snell and 
 keen. Mr. Macintyre then eulogised Burns for 
 the noble spirit of patriotic independence which 
 he had so consistently manifested, and con- 
 cluded his address amidst loud cheers. 
 
 Songs and recitations followed in quick suc- 
 cession till a late hour. 
 
 This demonstration in honour of Burns was 
 particularly characterised as being that of the 
 working men. 
 
 An original song, prepared for the occasion 
 by Mr. James M'Kay, was sung during the 
 evening by Mr. Williamson, with great accept- 
 ance. 
 
 Soiree op the Dumbarton Choral Union. 
 — The members and friends of this Society 
 celebrated the Burns centenary at a soiree in 
 
228 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 the E. U. Hall. Mr. Newlands officiated as 
 chairman, and Mr. Moodie as vice-chairman. 
 After an excellent service of tea, &c., had been 
 partalien of, the Chairman introduced " The 
 Memory of Burns." 
 
 The evening was spent in the most agreeable 
 and harmonious manner; and of the many 
 meetings held to do honour to Burns, there 
 were few, if any, happier or more successful. 
 A great variety of songs, many of them Burns', 
 were sung in good style; and addresses, con- 
 versation, &c., diversified the proceedings. 
 
 Supper and Ball op the Dumbarton 
 Mechanics' Instrumental Band, — The mem- 
 bers of this musical association, with their 
 wives, " lasses," and friends, met in their prac- 
 tising hall, to celebrate the Burns centenary. 
 Mr. Alex. Gilchrist acted as chairman, and Mr. 
 Matthew Corbet, leader and master of the band, 
 officiated as croupier. After partaking of an 
 excellent supper, provided by Mr. Dale, baker, 
 the evening was spent in an agreeable manner, 
 due honour being done to the memory of 
 " Scotia's bard." The proceedings were wound 
 up with a ball, the dancing being kept up with 
 great spirit to an early hour of the morning. 
 
 Trades' Meetings. — In addition to the 
 Burns centenary meetings above noticed, the 
 sawyers, engineers, painters, and other bodies 
 of tradesmen, held separate meetings, at all of 
 which due honour was paid to the memory of 
 the poet. The tailors met in Mr. Robertson's 
 — Mr. C. Clark in the chair, and Mr. T. 
 M'Cann in the vice-chair. The evening was 
 pleasantly spent. 
 
 DUNBAR. — One of the largest, most re- 
 spectable, and successful social meetings that 
 ever occurred in Dunbar, took place in the 
 Corn Exchange, in honour of the one hundredth 
 birth-day of Scotia's bard. The hall was most 
 tastefully decorated with evergreens, liberally 
 supplied by the neighbouring gentry, and the 
 Duke of Roxburgh sent two of his gardeners 
 to assist in the decorations. At seven o'clock 
 the chair was taken by Bailie Wood, R. W. 
 Master of the Dunbar Castle Lodge. Upwards 
 of 200 sat down to dinner. About twelve 
 o'clock the assembled company rose, and with 
 one accord joined in that touching strain so 
 dear to the heart of every Scotchman, " Auld 
 Langsyne;" after which the Chairman vacated 
 the chair, and the company broke up, each and 
 all delighted with the "Burns Banquet," which 
 will long be remembered with pleasure in our 
 ancient burgh. 
 
 DUNCRIVIE, — A large and respectable 
 audience, admirers of our national bard, con- 
 vened in Mr, Allan's large loft, for the purpose 
 
 of commemorating the 100th birth-day of Ro- 
 bert Burns, our ever-to-be-remembered Poet. 
 Mr. Doig being unanimously invited to dis- 
 charge the duties of the chair, which he did in 
 a very able manner, bestowed eulogiums on 
 the illustrious bard of Caledonia both as a poet 
 possessing a genuine understanding of human 
 nature, and as a man of true moral courage 
 and highest independence of mind. The chair- 
 man by request sung one of our bard's favourite 
 songs, " My Nannie, O." After the company 
 were served with pies, they then proceeded 
 with the toast of the evening, " The Memory 
 of Burns," which was drunk with great enthu- 
 siasm. Many appropriate songs were sung by 
 several individuals, after which the floor was 
 cleared for a dance, which was kept up with 
 great spirit to the well-strung violin of Mr. D. 
 Doig, who put life and mettle in their heels. 
 Never was a happier company met to do honour 
 to any man than the assemblage on the above 
 night. " Auld Langsyne " was led off by Mr. 
 A. Keltie, the whole company joining in the 
 chorus, and at an early hour the meeting broke 
 up, extremely gratified with the evening's pro- 
 ceedings. 
 
 DUNDEE. — A public Festival, commemora- 
 tive of the Burns Centenary, took place in the 
 Corn Exchange Hall. Upwards of 2,000 were 
 present ; and such was the demand for tickets, 
 that a hall twice the size would have been easily 
 filled. Alexander Stuart Logan, Esq., Sheriff 
 of Forfarshire, occupied the chair ; and on the 
 platform were Sir John Ogilvy, Bart., M. P., 
 Sheriff Hendei-son, Sheriff Ogilvy, Rev, George 
 GilfiUan, Provost Jobson, Bailies Webster, Hean, 
 and Welch, Dean of Guild Hean, Charles Guth- 
 rie, Esq., of Taybank, P. H. Thoms, Esq., of 
 Aberlemno, Alexander Wighton, Esq., Grange 
 of Barry, William Thoms, Esq., John Sturrock, 
 Esq., John Sturrock, jun., Esq., George LI. 
 Alison, Esq., Thomas Neish, Esq., David Small, 
 Esq., Thomas Couper, Esq., William Reid, Esq., 
 &e. 
 
 The proceedings were commenced with a 
 Scottish overture by the orchestra, introducing 
 "Auld Langsyne," " Scots wha hae," &c., com- 
 posed expressly for the occasion by Herr Her- 
 mann. 
 
 Sheriff Logan, who was received with great 
 cheering, then delivered an eloquent and spirit 
 stirring essay on the life and writings of the 
 poet, of which we regret that our limits only 
 
 permit us to give a few extracts. He said, 
 
 Some one, I forget who, has said that of all 
 contemporary men Burns was the most fit to 
 have guided the destinies of his country. Of 
 that I shall say nothing ; it being much easier 
 to blame, than to be, a great statesman. Thus 
 
DU2v"DEE. 
 
 229 
 
 nnicli, however, is certain that, apart quite from 
 tlie creative faculty and the sympathetic tem- 
 perament which made him a great poet, he pos- 
 sessed, in the way of general intellectual capa- 
 city, what would have made him a distinguished 
 man in any department of human exertion. 
 (Hear, hear.) .... Much as we owe to 
 Burns, we owe still more to truth ; and in 
 practical morals there can be no greater mis- 
 take than, when dealing with the aberrations 
 of a man of distinguished genius, to ascribe 
 them to other than the true causes, which 
 causes, indeed, will usually be found to be pre- 
 cisely what operate like results in the case of 
 more ordinary men. (Cheers.) Burns was the 
 offspring of pious parents ; and in particular 
 his father, in many respects a remarkable man, 
 was in no respect more remarkable than for the 
 care with which he instructed his children — not 
 merely in human learning, but in the nurture 
 and admonition of the LorcL His labour, as 
 regards his eldest son Eobert, though indeed 
 not altogether in vain, was far from being quite 
 successful. At no period of his life indeed, 
 was he other than a man of strong religious 
 sensibilities and of impressions even ; still I 
 greatly fear. — indeed after much inquiry, anx- 
 iously directed towards the issue least unfa- 
 vourable — I have been forced to the conclusion, 
 that at no time of life later than his early man- 
 hood was he under the influence of sound or 
 solid religious convictions. That he saw and 
 felt the beauty of holiness, and that for the 
 time he could even experience something of its 
 power, the " Cottar's Saturday Night " forbids 
 any one to doubt. But that his own Christian 
 faith — belief, that is to say, in the cardinal 
 points of Christian truth, without which Chris- 
 tian faith does not exist — was at the same time 
 wavering and weak, at the best, indeed, an 
 aiFair of sentiment rather than of substance, we 
 have, on his own confession, more evidence 
 tiian enough. In what the great practical 
 error of his life consisted every one knows so 
 well that I need not even allude to it ; but that 
 he should unhappily have fallen into it need 
 not surprise any one who, knowing something 
 of the headlong strength of his natural passions, 
 knows also that they acted without the effective 
 restraint of a sound religious belief. Launched 
 as he was on the sea of life — and with such 
 passions as well as such powers, what a sea was 
 that to Burns!— a thoughtful observer, however 
 he may grieve, can no more wonder at the 
 moral shipwreck which partly at least ensued, 
 than he would wonder at the literal destruction 
 of an actual ship, adventured upon a tempestuous 
 ocean without either a directing helm or a guid- 
 ing compass. There are two matters which I feel 
 tliat I must notice. I say must; for that, on such 
 
 an occasion as this, they should be placed on a 
 proper footing, on which in many quarters they 
 do not at present stand, is due at once to Burns 
 himself as well as to what he ever valued more 
 even than himself, the country and the country- 
 men of Burns. With that matter, which affects 
 the latter of these, I shall deal first. I allude 
 to the opprobrium, long and industriously cast 
 upon Scotland, for having stooped to the im- 
 puted degradation of permitting her great poet 
 to be created, and to continue, an exciseman. 
 (Hear, hear.) In 1796, Samuel Taylor Cole- 
 ridge, a great English poet, but also a man who 
 never did much for himself, and for whom 
 England, his country, never did anything, thus 
 sung of Burns, and, as connected with him, of 
 the most exalted of the countrymen of Burns — 
 
 " Is thy BuiTis dead ? 
 And sliall he die unwept, and sink to earth 
 ' Without the meed of one melodious tear ? ' 
 Thy Burns, and Nature's own beloved bard, 
 Who to the ' Illustrious of his native Land 
 So properly did look for patronage.' 
 Ghost of Mseoenas, hide thy blushing face! 
 They snatched him from the sickle and the plough 
 To gauge ale-firkins. 
 
 O ! for shame return ! 
 On a bleak rook, midway the Aonian Mount, 
 There stands a lone and melancholy tree 
 Whose aged branches to the midnight blast 
 Make solemn mu.«ic: pluck its darkest bough 
 Ere yet the unwholesome night-dew be exlialed, 
 And weeping wreath it round thy Poet's tomb. 
 Then in the outskirts, where pollutions grow. 
 Pick the rank henbane and the dusky flowers 
 Of nightshade, or its red and tempting fruit, 
 These, with stopped nostrils and glove-guarded hand. 
 Knit in nice intertexture so to twine 
 The illustrious brow of Scotch Nobility." 
 
 This strain came forth in 1796, being the very 
 year in which Burns died; and its echo, doubt- 
 less much deteriorated in quality, but also much 
 augmented in volume by many a prolonged 
 and dissonant bray from inferior vocalists, has 
 at intervals been more or less audible down to 
 the present hour. It is high time, therefore, 
 that it should now be put to silence ; and, as I 
 am firmly convinced that the original key-note 
 is essentially a false one, I shall be happy 
 should I be able to contribute somewhat to- 
 wards that good end. (Hear, hear.) First of 
 all, then, I regard it to be a sound axiom of 
 moral economics that it is no part of the duty 
 of those who direct the public affairs of a coun- 
 try such as ours to provide employment for, or 
 otherwise directly to reward, a man of genius ; 
 further, and as a corollary, that such a man gets 
 all that is his due provided that his countrymen 
 accept his efforts, with considerate candour while 
 their quality is as yet unknown, and, that when 
 known and seen to be good, then with warm 
 and cordial approbation. Beyond that neither 
 
230 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 government nor people are bound to go ; and 
 to excellence, particularly to excellence of the 
 highest order, it would, indeed, be fatal were 
 either to presume to advance further. Genius, 
 however much to be admired and even honoured, 
 confers on its possessors no dispensing powers 
 in reference to matters of universal obligation. 
 In particular, it does not absolve them from the 
 seemingly hard but truly merciful condition, 
 which imposes on every man, born into a world 
 where labour and self-support are the necessities 
 of all, the duty of doing for himself what he 
 cannot allow to be done by others for him 
 without loss of self-respect as well as indepen- 
 dence — the duty, I mean, of supporting himself, 
 and those whom he is bound to support, by 
 the labour of his own proper hands or head. 
 (Cheers.) So Burns himself was accustomed 
 to think ; and, as ho thought, so likewise he 
 acted. [The learned Sheriff then touched 
 upon the poet's exciseman life — noticed how 
 faithfully he did his duty in serious cases, and 
 how he would pass kindly over small things, 
 thus] — From Professor Gillespie we learn that 
 on a fair day in August, 1793, in tlie village 
 of Thornhill, a poor woman, Kate Watson by 
 name, had, for that day only, and doubtless by 
 the particular desire of a thirsty population, 
 converted without license her cottage into a 
 public -house. "I saw the poet," says the Pro- 
 fessor, "enter the door, and anticipated nothing 
 short of an immediate seizure of a certain grey- 
 beard and barrel, which, to my personal know- 
 ledge, contained the contraband commodities 
 our bard was in quest of. A nod, accompanied 
 by a significant movement of the forefinger, 
 brought Kate to the doorway or trance, and I 
 was near enough to hear the following words 
 distinctly uttered : — ' Kate, are you mad ? 
 Don't you know that the supervisor and I will 
 be in upon you in the course of forty minutes ? 
 Good-bye t'ye at present.' Burns was in the 
 street and in the midst of the crowd in an in- 
 stant, and I had access to know that the friendly 
 hint was not neglected. It saved a poor widow 
 from a fine of several pounds for committing a 
 quarterly offence by which the revenue was 
 probably subject to an annual loss of five shil- 
 lings." (A laugh.) The incident, preserved 
 by Allan Cunningham, is as follows : — " The 
 poet and a brother exciseman one day suddenly 
 entered a widow woman's shop in Dunscore, 
 and made a seizure of smuggled tobacco. 
 ' Jenny,' said the poet, ' I expected this would 
 be the upshot. Here, Lewars, take note of the 
 number of rolls as I count them. Now, Jock, 
 did you ever hear an auld wife numbering 
 lier threads before clieck-reels were invented 1 
 Tiiou's ane, and thou's no ane, and thou's ane 
 a' out — listen.' As he handed out the rolls he 
 
 went on with his liumorous enumeration, but 
 dropping every other roll into Janet's lap. 
 Lewars took the desired note with much gra- 
 vity, and saw, as if he saw not, the merciful 
 conduct of his companion." (Cheers.) Tlie 
 following is the circumstance preserved by Mr. 
 Train :—^" Jean Dunn, a suspected trader in 
 Kirkpatrick-Durham, observed Burns and Ro- 
 bertson — another exciseman — approaching her 
 house on the morning of a fan-, slipped out of 
 the back door, apparently to evade their scru- 
 tiny, leaving in her house only her attendant 
 for the day and her daughter, a little girl. 
 ' Has there been any brewing for the fair here 
 to-day ?' demanded the poet as he entered the 
 cabin. ' no, Sir,' was the reply of the ser- 
 vant, ' we hae nae license for that.' ' That's 
 no true,' exclaimed the child, ' the muckle black 
 kist is fu' o' the bottles o' yill that my mother 
 sat up a' night brewing for the fair.' 'Does 
 that bird speak?' said Robertson, pointing to 
 one hanging in a cage. ' There is no use for 
 another speaking-bird in this house,' said Burns, 
 ' while that lassie is to the fore. We are in a 
 hurry just now ; but as we return from the fair 
 we'll examine the muckle black kist.'" (Laugh- 
 ter.) [After declaring his belief that there was 
 no foundation for the charge that Burns was a 
 drunkard, he concluded] — Before I sit down, 
 allow me to say that, in place of being open to 
 censure for our proceedings this evening, the 
 object, which by those proceedings we desire 
 to accomplish, is altogether a good and grate- 
 ful, a just and honest, and therefore a thorough- 
 ly right and proper object. Hard words in 
 various quarters have been thrown out against 
 any solemn recognition of the hundredth birth- 
 day of Burns, and it has even been said that 
 such as join in its commemoration are guilty of 
 the great sin of false worship. The imputation 
 is foolish as well as untrue. To honour human 
 genius is not sinful, if the sentiment proceed 
 from worthy motives ; and any such tribute ta 
 one who has for sixty years been in his grave 
 must be at least disinterested. Our object this 
 evening is simply to pay a debt, which in the 
 opinion of most has lain over too long already. 
 But, as fortunately the moral emotions by whose 
 exercise our sensitive human hearts are elevated 
 and made better, and by which, in order to that 
 end, they have been so thickly sown, can undergo 
 no prescription, and are subject to no statute of 
 limitations, our debt, from having been delayed 
 so long, lias only been rendered now more justly 
 due. In your name, therefore, and for myself, 
 for all the delight and instruction which we 
 and three generations of our fathers have de- 
 rived from his ever-memorable poetry and sono-s, 
 by means of which, harmoniously working to a 
 good and common end with the writings of 
 
DUNDEE. 
 
 231 
 
 other aiitliors like miiuled though difFerently 
 gifted, they and we were rendered eminently 
 happier and therefore better men, I hereby 
 devoutly thank Robert Burns. (Great cheering.) 
 
 Mr. Charles C. Maxwell delivered an 
 eloquent address as chiefly illustrating the 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night." 
 
 The Rev. George Gilfillan, on rising, was 
 received with repeated and long continued 
 rounds of cheering. He said : — I rejoice, Sir, 
 to bo present at the meeting to-night, and to 
 know that I do not stand alone among the 
 clergymen of Scotland in doing homage to the 
 genius of our great poet. In many other of 
 tlie towns and cities of Scotland which are 
 this night honouring themselves in honouring 
 Burns — Dunfermline, Dumfries, Perth, Edin- 
 burgh, and Glasgow — I observe that ministers 
 of all denominations — and some of them of 
 great eminence in their pr(i|fession, as well as 
 in general literature — are appearing on the 
 platforms of Burns' festivals, and doing so, not 
 merely because they have been invited, or that 
 the cause is popular, but from spontaneous en- 
 thusiasm. (Cheers.) The religion we profess. 
 Sir, is a religion of charity and long-suffering, 
 of love and hope — a religion which sympathises 
 with all genuine excellence, beauty, and intel- 
 lectual power ; and all these qualities of our 
 holy faith combine in teaching its ministers to 
 pity the fallen, to be charitable to the erring, 
 to hope all things, bear all things, and believe 
 all things in reference to noble natures, even 
 when partially eclipsed — 
 
 " Gently to eoan their fellow-man, 
 Still gentler sister woman," 
 
 — to do this without sacrificing one atom of 
 moral feeling or of Christian principle; and, 
 on the other hand, to acknowledge the claims 
 of great genius wherever it is to be found, 
 without compromising the far grander claims 
 of the writers of the word of God. And I 
 may say still farther, that I have no sympathy 
 with the rancorous abuse which some clergy, 
 both in England and in Scotland, have been 
 heaping upon the memory of Burns — an abuse 
 springing in some of them from one-sided 
 habits of view — in others from religious zeal 
 pushed to fanaticism — in others from sheer 
 envy and malignity, or from the spirit of con- 
 tradiction — and in a few from downright stupi- 
 dity, their attacks being just the baa of cer- 
 tain animals against the author of a certain 
 well-known poem. (Laughter and cheers.) I 
 noticed, Sir, with astonishment, in to-day's 
 paper, a statement reported to be made by an 
 Edinburgh clergyman, whom I and all of us 
 greatly respect, namely — that Burns "never 
 loved a woman but to betray her, and never 
 
 made an acquaintance among either young men 
 or women, but he injured and corrupted." 
 Now, Sir, not even my profound respect for the 
 eminent name of William Lindsay Alexander 
 will prevent me from denouncing this, if the 
 report is correct, as a gross calumny. (Great 
 cheering.) Did Burns betray Highland Mary i 
 I have heard this asserted, but asserted only on 
 suspicion — a suspicion that could only have 
 entered foul and prurient imaginations. (Cheers.) 
 What I know is that Mary Campbell died while 
 preparing for her marriage with the poet, and 
 that Burns addressed her as "Mary in Heaven." 
 Would he have done this had she been his 
 victim ? Who ever ventured to hint that he 
 betrayed Charlotte Hamilton ? And would Dr. 
 Alexander specify a young man whom Burns 
 corrupted ? It was not his brother Gilbert or 
 William. To the one he repeated on a Sabbath 
 day the " Cottar's Saturday Night," and to the 
 otlier, a humble saddler in London, he wrote 
 letters of kind and brotherly counsel. It was 
 not James Candlish, student in physic, to 
 whom he writes, expressly warning him against 
 Spinoza, and saying that he has, after some 
 doubts, returned to revealed religion. It was 
 not Alexander Cunningham, to whom we find 
 him inditing that noble letter where he describes 
 his soul in a stormy day rising up to " Him 
 who walketh on the wings of the wind." And 
 it was not Robert Ainslie — even in youth, the 
 devout, the pious — and who in after life pro- 
 duced that useful manual, " A father's present 
 to his children." And I cannot but wonder how 
 a man of Dr. Alexander's great German lore 
 should set Goethe above Burns — Goethe, whose 
 life, as every well-read man knows, was that of 
 a systematic sensualist — who went in cold blood 
 to practices on which Burns was hurried by' 
 passion. And yet even of Goethe, I would 
 not say what he says of Burns, that " he never 
 loved a woman but to betray her," although he 
 did betray some in a manner from which the 
 soul of the Scottish poet would have shrunk 
 back in abhorrence. There was once a clergy- 
 man to whom Dr. Alexander and myself, and 
 indeed all ministers now alive, might look up — 
 I mean Edward Irving — and I know that while 
 he detested Goethe (wliile admitting his extra- 
 ordinary powers) as a Pagan idol, he has in his 
 orations poured out a noble panegyric and 
 lamentation, both blending together in the 
 unity of love, over Scotland's ploughman bard. 
 (Loud cheers.) Burns, Sir, as a man, had his 
 faults, and as a poet his limitations. He did 
 not, like Milton, maintain his life and his song 
 to the same high pitch, nor did he ever pro- 
 duce any large elaborate master- piece of 
 genius. To gain the Miltonic position he lacked 
 learning, experience of men and manners, 
 
232 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 elevation of moral nature, as well as length of 
 life. Nor had he that wondrous imaginative 
 faculty of Sliakspeare, which, had Burns pos- 
 sessed, would have enabled him to make his 
 smallest poems typical of universal truth, and 
 overflowing with everlasting significance. But 
 the quality of Burns which entitles him to his 
 truest fame — great as were his gifts of humour, 
 pathos, sense, and fancy — and which like a 
 shield protects him from all his enemies, intel- 
 lectual or moral, is his nationalism. He was 
 the poet of his people — elected at once by 
 Nature, circumstances, his own and his coun- 
 try's choice as the bard of Caledonia. (Cheers.) 
 In this spirit he sung the well-known lines — 
 
 " Even then a wish, I mind its power, 
 A wish that to my latest Iiour 
 
 Shall strongly lieave my breast, 
 That I, for puir anld Scotland's sake, 
 Some usefu' plan or hook might make. 
 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 (Loud cheers.) And let it be remembered that 
 the poet who identifies himself with a country 
 in his sympathies and Iiis song, identifies him- 
 self with it in its work, wisdom, and valour. 
 It becomes his quite as much as he becomes its. 
 Even as an algebraic sign stands for a multitude 
 of inferior numerals, so the name of a single 
 genuine poet stands at once for the millions 
 composing a country, and for the country which 
 includes the millions. There are thousands of 
 the human race who know little of Persia, 
 except that there the poet Hafiz sung. There 
 are many that never heard of Ionia or of Cliios, 
 except that on one of their shores was born 
 Homer — 
 
 " The blind bard who on the Chian strand 
 Beheld the Iliad and the Odyssey 
 Rise to the swelling of the voiceful sea." 
 
 Ireland, in some quarters of the globe, is chiefly 
 known on account of its miseries and its Tom 
 Moore, 
 
 "The sweetest lyrist of its saddest wrong." 
 
 And I know that to many in England, Wales, 
 France, Germany, Italy, America, India, and 
 China, the name of Scotland has little interest, 
 except as associated with these two — for we 
 fortunately have two representatives of our 
 national character and genius — Sir Walter 
 Scott and Robert Bums. (Loud cheers.) Here, 
 Sir, I dare challenge a comparison between 
 this country and our sister in the south. She 
 has produced many noble spirits, such as 
 Spencer, Shakspeare, Milton, Dryden, B3Ton, 
 and Coleridge, with some of whom I would not 
 compare the Scottish ploughman in point of 
 genius, any more than of culture; but none of 
 these — not even Sliakspeare — can be called the 
 
 Poet of the English nation. Spencer is the 
 poet of Fairy land, not of Mother Anglia. 
 Milton is the poet of Heaven and of Hell, and 
 these are not ])eculiarly connected with Eng- 
 land. Dryden is the poet of the Court and 
 age of Charles II., and that Court and age 
 were not fair specimens of the country. Byron 
 fought like Harry Wynd for his own hand, and 
 is mainly the representative of his own moody 
 passions, one-sided power, dark unrest, and 
 shallow infidelity. Coleridge belonged to what 
 he himself calls 
 
 " Cloudland, gorgeous land " — 
 
 and you might read his works for a long time 
 without being certain, except from the mere 
 diction, whether he came from England or 
 Germany, shall I say from the earth or the 
 moon ! Shakspeare was of all time — he was 
 an Englishman by accident — a man by con- 
 descension — a cosmopolitan by courtesy — by 
 nature he belonged to the universe, in the 
 broadest sense of that term. (Cheers.) But 
 Burns and Sir Walter were " Scotch of the 
 Scotch." They lived, moved, and had their 
 being in the atmosphere of their own country 
 — national tradition was their life and revenue 
 — the red heather was their regal crown — the 
 thistle of Scotland, "the thistle sae green," 
 was their poetic sceptre — the mountains of their 
 native land, from Criflfel and Corsincon, to 
 Benlomond and Bennevis, were their chosen 
 thrones — (loud cheers) — and they both delibe- 
 rately and gloryingly sacrificed much that was 
 universal in their powers to the special purpose 
 of celebrating the country of their birth, and 
 
 " To Scotland gave up what was meant for mankind." 
 
 And if they gave up so much for Scotland, 
 what should Scotland do for them? What, 
 especially, should it do for Burns, who, to 
 parody an expression of Byron's — 
 
 " Did for love, what otliers did for hire" — 
 
 who sung of Scotland during his brief but 
 brilliant career, and sung of nothing else, and 
 was rewarded — how ? Why, first, to be sure, 
 by the rapid sale of a large edition of his poems, 
 and his admission into the aristocratic circles of 
 the land, where he, by his conversational elo- 
 quence, electrified duchesses, silenced moder- 
 ators of the General Assembly, and surprised 
 fashionable circles into humanity, enthusiasm, 
 and tears — (cheers) — rewarded, secondly, by a 
 far more exceeding great reward, unbounded 
 popularity among the peasantry and the arti- 
 zans of his country, who, as Elliott says 
 
 " Gave him more than gold ; 
 They read the brave man's book" 
 
DUNDEE. 
 
 i'3;i 
 
 and admired it as a perfect picture of tlieir 
 life, in its joys and sorrows, heights and howes, 
 depressions and aspirations, folly and wisdom, 
 faults and virtues, as well as for its marvellous 
 genius. (Great cheering.) So far all was 
 well. But then came the reaction. Tlie people 
 did not tire of their poet ; but the aristocracy 
 tired of their plaything. They had bound this 
 Samson in golden chains, and brought him into 
 their convivial assemblies to make them sport, 
 but they found that though in chains, he was 
 a Samson still ; dangerous in his bondage, 
 strong in his humiliation — and that, though 
 tliey had bound his limbs, they had not been 
 able to blind his eyes. And then they gradu- 
 ally drew off from him ; when he knocked at 
 their doors, they were not at home. Treated 
 formerly like a fiddler at a feast, the feast now 
 dispensed with the fiddler, and to excuse them- 
 selves, they exaggerated his real errors, and 
 ascribed to him failings that he never had. 
 Tliey, however, although it was chiefly one of 
 their number, the kind-hearted Qlenoairn, did 
 raise him one step in tlie social scale — they 
 made him a gauger. (Hear, hear, and laugh- 
 ter.) They appointed him to rummage stores, 
 to gauge ale firkins, to inspect the making of 
 tallow candles, to unload cargoes of Jamaica 
 rum, and to cjiase smugglers over the dales of 
 the Nith, and the mountains of Galloway. 
 (Laughter.) The giant feeling himself insult- 
 ed, but not daring, on account of his wife and 
 " wee anes," to resent it, retired growling to 
 his Ellisland Den, and thence to Dumfries, and 
 after a few years' struggle with hard labour, 
 poverty, fierce passions, and comparative ne- 
 glect, closed his miserable career at the age of 
 37. And then, when kindness could be of no 
 earthly service to him, a stir of sympathy, sub- 
 scription, and stone-cutting, arose in the land. 
 He had asked for bread, and he received a 
 stone ; ay, and soon the other part of the sen- 
 tence became applicable to him, he had asked 
 for fish, and he received a serpent, the serpent 
 of foul-mouthed detraction and hissing calum- 
 ny. (Cheers.) And what availed it to his 
 shade, tiiat in a " late remorse of love " Scot- 
 land provided for his widow, cherished his 
 children, and erected splendid monuments to 
 his memory ; he was away ! tlie last sounds in 
 his ear being the importunate demands of cred- 
 itors for certain paltry sums of money, if not 
 the cries of his famishing children for bread. 
 It was thus that up to the beginning of this 
 century Scotland rewarded her greatest bard. 
 Let me here, however, say once for all, that I 
 am no apologist for the errors- of Burns. (Hear, 
 liear.) Some years ago, if I may be pardoned 
 a personal allusion, I underwent much obloquy 
 for what was deemed undue severity to his 
 
 character. But I am not here, however, to say 
 peccavi, but to say that it is diflicult to look at 
 two sides of a question fairly, or at once, and that 
 I am not proposing Burns as a model of every 
 virtue, or denying that, in some instances, both 
 in life and in pen, he grievously erred ; and let 
 all, especially the young, be warned by his fate, 
 and shun his follies. But Scotland loves him,, 
 not on account of, but in spite of, his errors ; 
 and in so doing she cannot help herself. 
 (Cheers.) She must honour him as she is do- 
 ing in all her borders to-day, because, fii'st of 
 all, he was her greatest natural genius, and po- 
 tential man ; because, secondly, he possessed 
 many high and noble qualities, being an honest 
 man — a true man — a man of rugged indepen- 
 dence — a man of warm heart — (clieers) — and a 
 man who, at times at least, showed a fervid re- 
 spect for the Christian religion, and sang one 
 strain which has, I know, made many erect 
 family altars to their fathers' God — (loud 
 cheers) — and, because, especially, he loved the 
 people, protested against their wrongs, sang 
 their sorrows and joys, fanned the glow of their 
 well- placed love, sympathised with their toils, 
 and strove for their elevation. (Cheers.) And 
 therefore all ranks, high and low, all creeds 
 and denominations, all varieties of opinions, 
 nobles, cottars, cotton lords, artizans, church- 
 men, dissenters, teetotallers — (laughter) — and 
 men of Mason Lodges ; ay, and many English- 
 men, Irishmen, and foreigners, are this day 
 commemorating the centenary birthday of 
 Burns ; and doing so, not in riot and revelry, 
 but in calm, sober, although merry and multi- 
 tudinous assemblages, like the present. Scot- 
 land has this day proclaimed an act of oblivion 
 to her poetfs errors ; she may remember them 
 to-morrow and be instructed and warned by 
 them, but to-day she cries out in the language 
 of the poet, a little altered,— 
 
 " Seek not to-day 
 To draw liis frailties from tlieir dread abode." 
 
 To-day let there be solemn silence in reference 
 to all that was unworthy in his life, and loud, 
 reverberated, and enthusiastic applause as to 
 what was noble in his character and immortal 
 in his song. (Cheers.) I recur a moment to 
 my text ; Burns was the poet of the people ; 
 not the slavish pet of the aristocracy, as South- 
 ey, Scott, and Wordsworth, to some extent all 
 were, — not, on the other hand, as Byron and 
 others, the flatterer of the people's passions, the 
 encourager of their every wild and ungovern- 
 able wish, and the shaker of their faith, he told 
 the people wherein their great strength, like 
 his own, lay, namely, in themselves. He sung 
 " A man's a man for a' that." (Cheers.) He 
 
234 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 darted his withering scorn upon those who had 
 pelf, power, and rank, without brain, heart, or 
 worth. He sung — 
 
 " D'ye see that biikie, ca'd a lord, 
 
 Wha stares, and struts, an' a' that? 
 Though thousands tremble at his word, 
 He's but a coof for a' that ! " 
 
 (Laughter.) He slept during his brilliant 
 course in Edinburgh with a writer's apprentice, 
 an old Mauohline friend. He married a wife, 
 not from the proud dames who fawned upon 
 him, but one of his own order, a mason's 
 daughter, Jean Armour. Wlien living in the 
 country, he busied himself in erecting libraries 
 for his fellow workmen, and in founding debat- 
 ing societies, where he himself figured, measur- 
 ing his stalwart strength of genius against the 
 powerful intellect of the weavers, the grieves, 
 and the shoemakers around him. Above all 
 he hailed the advent of advancing liberty among 
 his countrymen, and saw their ripening fitness 
 for it. He saw and sung — 
 
 ' A man o' independent mind 
 Is king 0' men for a' that ! " 
 
 (Cheers.) 
 
 And in these lines I cannot but see a prophecy 
 of our present time, when, if the people be but 
 true to themselves, industrious, sober, disposed 
 to learn, to labour, and to wait, they may soon 
 rise, I cannot tell how far, in the scale of social 
 progress, and of social power, and realise the 
 old adage, " Vox populi vox Dei — the voice of 
 the people is the voice of God." (Cheers.) 
 Burns, sir, has had no poet or song-writer en- 
 tirely worthy of following in his steps. Still 
 it would be unjust not to remember the im- 
 pulse he has given to Scotland's national and 
 popular poetry, written in Scotlaitd's own ex- 
 pressive language. A whole host of sweet 
 singers liave since arisen, to sing in chorus with 
 the Bard of Coila — 
 
 " Auld Scotland's plains and fells, 
 Her moors red-brown wi' heather bells. 
 Her banks and braes, her dens and dells, 
 
 Where glorious Wallace 
 Aft bure the gree, as story tells, 
 Fra Southron billies." 
 
 Need I name Tannahill, the poet of " Gloomy 
 Winter's noo awa' ;" Alexander Wilson, the 
 author of "Watty and Meg;" M'Neil, with 
 his " Scotland's Scaith," and " Waes o' War ;" 
 or, in our day, Lady Nairn, the authoress of 
 the " Land o' the Leal," " Caller Herrin'," and 
 " He's ower the hills that I lo'e weel ; " James 
 Ballantyne, author of " Castles in the air," and 
 " Ilka blade o' grass keps its ain drap o' dew ;" 
 Hogg, the immortal shepherd of Ettrick, with 
 his " Kye come hame;" Rogers, with his "Be- 
 have yoursel' before folks;" Robert GilfiUan, 
 with his "Why did I leave my hamo;" John 
 
 G. Lockhart, author, amid his many other im- 
 mortalities, of " The broad swords of Auld 
 Scotland ; " William Thom, the author of 
 " The Mitherless Bairn." But one will I men- 
 tion dearer than the rest, because his name is 
 connected with our own town ; I mean Robert 
 Nicol. (Cheers.) " Unstained and pure," says 
 Ebenezer Elliot, " died in Nicol, Scotland's 
 second Burns." Yes, perhaps of all modern 
 Scotch poets, he approached nearest to Burns 
 in nature, in strength, and simplicity, and has 
 surpassed him in purity and elevation of tone. 
 And he lived two years in Dundee, from 1834 
 to 1836. I knew him not ; he having lived 
 ere I became a resident here, but some whom I 
 now address probably remember his pale face 
 and bright eyes, as passing meekly along your 
 own streets, or seen behind the counter of a 
 humble circulating library in, I think. Castle 
 Street. He, too, in his own sphere, and up to 
 twenty-four years of age, at which early period 
 he died, was the poet of the people — nay, he 
 perished in their cause. Both Burns and Nicol 
 were in different ways the martyrs of the aris- 
 tocracy ; the one losing his constitution in 
 singing at their feasts, the other — more noblj' 
 — in wielding his midnight pen against their 
 tyranny. (Loud cheers.) And I call on you 
 now, as Dundee men, to rank the name of the 
 Perthshire Poet, and your former fellow-citizen, 
 the author of " Bonnie Bessie Lee," " Orde 
 Braes," " The Bursting of the Cliain," « We 
 are free," and other immortal melodies, near, 
 if not beside, the older and still more distin- 
 guished names of Scott and Burns, whom I 
 have ventured to proclaim as Scotland's two 
 noblest and most national poets. (Loud and 
 repeated cheering.) 
 
 Miss Robertson then sung — "My heart is 
 sair;" Mr. Milne gave "Highland Mary," and 
 " For a' that and a' that;" Miss Fleming, " My 
 tocher's the jewel;" "Scots wha hae," and 
 along with Miss Robertson, the duet of "O 
 wert thou in the cauld blast." " Where are the 
 joys I have met," was given by the Peoi)le's 
 Chorus; and Master Carl Rosi performed an- 
 other grand fantasia, introducing " Gala Wa- 
 ter," " Duncan Graj'," &c., &c. Mr. Thomas 
 Powrie was announced to read " Tarn o' Shan- 
 tor ;" but a communication had been received 
 stating that, on account of severe indisposition, 
 he would not be able to be present. 
 
 Mr. William Thoms rose and said— Ladies 
 and gentlemen, an agreeable duty has been im- 
 posed upon me, in which I calculate on receiv- 
 ing your cordial and unanimous support. It is 
 to propose that the best thanks of this assembly 
 be tendered to the learned gentleman who has 
 this evening so ably presided over us. (Cheers.) 
 I have to acknowledge, on the part of the Coni- 
 
DUNDEE. 
 
 2,35 
 
 inittee, the readiness and courtesy with which 
 he complied with tlieir invitation — (cheers) — 
 and I cannot but consider it fortunate that we 
 have thus had an opportunity of listening to 
 the singularly able and eloquent essay which 
 was read in your hearing. (Cheers.) It is 
 pleasant to find that amid the engrossing en- 
 gagements of an arduous profession, he has not 
 lost his taste for the more genial pursuits of 
 poetry and song. (Cheers.) And although he 
 holdif a high official position amongst us, I 
 congratulate the meeting that no occasion has 
 arisen for the exercise of his judicial authority. 
 (Laughter and cheers.) 
 
 The Chaiuman rose and said — I thank you 
 warmly for your kindness. I never had to dis- 
 charge a more agreeable or a more easy duty 
 in my life. The appearance of this vast assem- 
 blage has been throughout most striking, and 
 its conduct has been most admirable. (Cheers.) 
 I thank you warmly again fof your kindness, 
 and I am glad to see, by the way in which you 
 received the vote of thanks, that you are of 
 opinion that a man may be a strict disciplina- 
 rian in his proper functions, and may even have 
 to do things disagreeable in another function, 
 and may yet, without going out of his sphere, 
 mingle with those over whom in a certain sense 
 he is placed in their innocent and rational en- 
 joyments. (Loud cheers.) Before we sing 
 " Auld Langsyne," I beg to propose a vote of 
 thanks to the speakers. (Cheers.) Of Mr. 
 Gilfillan I need say nothing. He is, and may 
 lie long continue to be, " a man for a' that." 
 (Cheers.) In regard to Mr. Maxwell — who, 1 
 believe, never addressed so large an assembly 
 before — he showed good nerve, good sense, 
 and good taste — qualities which, I have no 
 doubt, on some future occasion, when his ser- 
 vices may be required, will render him accept- 
 able. As for the musical performers, they need 
 not my eulogy ; but this I will say, that as 
 " a thing of beauty is a joy for ever," some of 
 the songs they have sung to-night, although 
 the tones have left our ears, the sentiments will 
 tingle in our heart-strings. (Cheers.) One 
 word to my young friends in the gallery. They 
 have exhibited something better than their 
 music — moral courage and determination. 
 (Laughter and cheers.) King Robert the Bruce, 
 after having lost seven battles, was lying in a 
 barn an outcast and desponding, and for one 
 moment that independent mind having lost its 
 balance, the independence of Scotland was in 
 suspense. He saw a spider, after failing eleven 
 times to reach its object, succeed at the twelfth 
 time; and was thus encouraged to persevere 
 and also succeeded. I am glad to see that my 
 young friends in the gallery have been acting 
 on the same principle, whether they ever heard 
 
 the story of tlie spider or not. I would just give 
 them one word of advice, and that is " practise, 
 practise, practise." (Cheers and laughter.) 
 
 " Auld Langsyne," along with Mr. Taylor's 
 additional verses, for which the prize had been 
 awarded, were then sung, the entire company 
 joining, which terminated the proceedings of 
 the evening. 
 
 All the vocalists performed their parts well ; 
 but Miss Eobertson is worthy of special men- 
 tion for her admirable rendering of the songs 
 assigned to her in the programme. There 
 were, perhaps, too few of Burns' festive and 
 cheerful songs in the programme ; but we be- 
 lieve it had been intended to give these in the 
 encores, for which, unfortunately, there was no 
 time. 
 
 Operative Lodge, No. 47. — The members 
 of this lodge celebrated the centenary of tlie 
 birth of Burns by a substantial dinner, pro- 
 vided by brother James Denholm, to whicli 
 about eighty sat down. Tlie lodge hall was 
 beautifully ornamented for the occasion. Above 
 the R.W.M.'s chair was a bust of Burns, and 
 on draperies of green and gold were appropriate 
 mottoes from the works of the poet. The lodge 
 was opened at seven o'clock, and after the 
 routine toasts were gone through, 
 
 The R.W.M. brother Fairweather gave the 
 toast of the evening, " The Memory of Burns." 
 He said: — Wardens and Brethren, — I believe 
 all the meetings held to-night throughout the 
 Land of Burns, will be animated by one soul, 
 for all are assembled to do honour to one of 
 Scotland's greatest and most gifted sons. 
 (Cheers.) Can a worthier tribute or a higher 
 honour be paid to any man, than for a whole 
 nation, from the humblest cottar to the proudest 
 peer, to unite on the centenary of his birth in one 
 clear expression of heartfelt admiration of the 
 genius of him who, by his matchless songs, de- 
 lights every one at his own fireside? No other 
 country possesses a poet so deservedly dear to 
 the hearts of the people. (Cheers.) Sprung 
 from the very bosom of the people — living and 
 dying among them — the heart of Burns lay 
 wholly with them. His songs, speaking to the 
 peasantry in a language they could understand, 
 exercised a refining, a purifying, and an en- 
 nobling influence on their habits and feelings. 
 His muse chose the lowliest and most familiar 
 subjects; but, touched with the inspiration of 
 his genius, they stood out beautified and glow- 
 ing in the light of the truest poetry. (Cheers.) 
 He sung of love, that passion which moves alike 
 the hearts of the whole human race, in the most 
 tender and pathetic strains. He sung of friend- 
 ship, which unites soul to soul. He sung of 
 independence, which makes a man a man for a' 
 that. He sung of patriotism, which makes a 
 
236 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 man " do or die ' in defence of his country. 
 Burns as a poet lives, and will live, constantly 
 and intimately in the hearts of the people, be- 
 cause he mingled much of the business of life 
 •with his verse, and the reader finds every throb 
 of his heart — the feeling, or sentiment, or pas- 
 sion which possesses him — ^brought forcibly and 
 clearly out in language which he himself could 
 never have used, but which expresses exactly 
 his own position. His songs and poems par- 
 take of his own many-sided mind — they are 
 soft, mournful, tender, pathetic, humorous, or 
 outrageous in their fun, but all full of the glo- 
 I'ious genius with which he was endowed so 
 largely. (Cheers.) In his sublime poem of 
 " The Vision," he represents Coila, the Muse of 
 Scotland, as crowning him — the peasant — as 
 the Poet of Caledonia; and faithfully did he 
 fulfil his mission. He poured out the visions of 
 his inspired fancy with a lavish variety, a natu- 
 ral simplicity, and impassioned power, truly mar- 
 vellous. (Cheers.) Brethren, — I need hardly 
 remark that the name of Burns is a household 
 word among us. His works occupy an honoured 
 place in every house. What a wealth of sweet 
 enjoyment to the toil-worn labourer — what 
 pleasant remembrances of rural scenes — that 
 small volume possesses. The songs in it have 
 a charm beyond all other songs, which makes 
 them welcomed and cherished alike in the low- 
 liest cottage and the most lordly hall. It has been 
 said — and can anything mark more strongly the 
 popularity and immortality of Burns' songs? — 
 that, should the printer's ink dry up, ten thou- 
 sand melodious tongues will preserve them 
 to remote generations. (Cheers.) Since the 
 poet's death, brethren, monuments have been 
 erected to his memory — select clubs have ob- 
 served the anniversary of his birth — to-night 
 the whole nation of Scotland, and our kindred 
 in all parts of the world, are doing honour to 
 the dear Ayrshire ploughman. But during his 
 short life of thirty-seven years he built in his 
 poems and songs a memorial to his own fame, 
 more enduring than structures of stone or sta- 
 tues of marble — a memorial of admiration and 
 love which advancing time will never destroy — 
 nay, rather, which it will brighten and deepen. 
 (Loud cheers.) As you all know, brethren. 
 Burns as a man was not perfect. So far re- 
 moved from ordinary men in his heaven-born 
 gift of genius, he was yet linked to them by his 
 human frailties. He himself was keenly aware 
 of all his failings, and bewailed them more than 
 his bitterest detractors. Let us think only of 
 him as the warm-hearted friend, the honest and 
 independent man, the kind husband and father. 
 Before requesting you, brethren, to drain your 
 glasses to the memory of Burns, allow me to 
 «ay that the poet deserves especial honour from 
 
 us, as a member of our ancient order of free- 
 masonry, (Cheers.) He seems from the re- 
 cords of the lodges with which he was connected 
 to have been a diligent, inquiring, and active 
 mason, and his labours were appreciated by his 
 brethren, for as depute-master he often " pre- 
 sided o'er the sons of light." His generous and 
 social disposition — his intelligent and witty 
 conversation — his broad-hearted sympathy with 
 nature, animate and inanimate — his love for the 
 universal brotherhood of man — all fitted him 
 for being an honoured and useful member of 
 freemasonry, (Cheers.) We can easily under- 
 stand how the brethren of St, James' Lodge, 
 Tarbolton, were affected to tears, when he, 
 much moved himself, recited his affecting " Fare- 
 well," on the near prospect of his departure to 
 the West Indies. Among masons Burns met 
 with men of rank and power, who were kind to 
 him in many ways during his chequered life, 
 and he met also some of the greatest minds of 
 the day. They were friends who appreciated 
 and helped him, and in a great measure first 
 made him famous. We are proud indeed that 
 his name was inscribed in the roll of our ancient 
 order, and may we all emulate him in our dili- 
 gence, zeal, and warm - hearted sympathy. 
 (Loud cheers.) Now, brethren, as I do not 
 wish to detain you longer, I call upon you to 
 drink to the memory of Burns, the poet, whose 
 immortal strains are sung by the maidens on 
 the heathery braes, and beside the crystal 
 streams of our land — by the ploughman as he 
 walks behind his team — by the town-labourer 
 at his daily toil — by the sailor when far from 
 home, with the wild waves dashing round his 
 vessel — by the soldier on the eve of battle — by 
 all, wherever dwelling, who speak our native 
 tongue. (Cheers.) I call upon you to drink 
 to the memory of Burns, the man who has our 
 sympathies for his sorrows and trials — our love 
 for his kindly heart and manly independence, 
 and our pity for his errors. (Cheers.) I call 
 upon you to drink to the memory of Burns, the 
 mason, who deserves from us especial honour, 
 as one of the brotherhood of that " mystic tie " 
 which binds man to man throughout tlie world. 
 (Great cheering.) 
 
 Toast, song, and music characterised the rest 
 of the evening, which was spent in a happy and 
 harmonious manner; and after the singing of 
 " Auld Langsyne " by the brethren the lodge 
 was closed. 
 
 St. David's Lodge. — The members of this 
 lodge dined in the Royal Hotel — George Milne, 
 Esq., in the chair, E. Erskine Scott, Esq,, and 
 L, LI, Alison, Esq., croupiers. After the pre- 
 liminary toasts, the Chairman introduced the 
 toast of the evening, " The Immortal Memory 
 of Burns," in an eloquent speech, sparkling with 
 
DUXFERMLINE. 
 
 237 
 
 genuine humour and characteristic originality. 
 The other brethren contributed to the general 
 harmony by songs, recitations, or readings of 
 Burns' works, after which the lodge was opened 
 in due form, and the celebration continued 
 with masonic honours. Mr. John Wilson in 
 his own person performed the functions of an 
 efficient band, " discoursing sweet music " on 
 the cornopean and pianoforte simultaneously to 
 the great delight and satisfaction of the party 
 present. In the course of the evening, an ori- 
 ginal " apostrophe to the shade of Burns " was 
 spoken by one of the brethren. 
 
 DUNFERMLINE.— Never has Dunfermline, 
 even in periods of greatest political fervour, 
 witnessed a more enthusiastic demonstration 
 than that of the 25th. 
 
 At an early hour, flags streaming from the 
 principal public works gave tj)e usual holiday 
 indications. The bells of the Abbey and Town- 
 house rang merrily all day, and at three o'clock 
 a numerous procession, consisting of the United 
 Burns Club and the trades, accompanied by two 
 bands of music, promenaded the principal streets. 
 In the evening the St. John's and Union 
 Lodges walked by torchlight, though, from the 
 high wind and heavy rain falling, the sight was 
 less eifective than such processions generally 
 are. 
 
 Succeeding the afternoon procession, the 
 soiree in the Music Hall took place at six 
 o'clock. The hall was densely filled, about 800 
 being present; Bailie Whitelaw in the chair, 
 supported by Bailie Duncanson, the Rev. 
 Messrs. Young and Hutchinson, E. Beveridge, 
 J. Davie, and Wm. Sharp, Esqs., and Messrs. 
 Brown of the Grammar School, and Thomson 
 of the Commercial Academy. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Hutchinson then oiFered thanks, 
 after which a service of tea and its customary 
 accompaniments were served. 
 
 The Chairman stated he had received letters 
 of apology from several gentlemen, including 
 the Rev. Charles Marshall, who expressed their 
 sympathy with the meeting, but regretted that 
 circumstances prevented their being present. 
 After tea, the Chairman rose and made the fol- 
 lowing introductory remarks : — Ladies and 
 gentlemen, — I feel highly honoured by being 
 called upon to preside over this large and re- 
 spectable meeting, assembled to do honour to 
 the memory of our National Bard. Come of 
 the working classes — reared in poverty, and 
 early inured to toil — all his feelings and sym- 
 pathies were akin to theirs, and he sang of 
 the loves and joys, the hopes and fears, the 
 cares and sorrows of their work-a-day life 
 in gushing strains of sweetest melody. 
 Hence the hold he at once obtained on the 
 
 public mind in this country ; a hold and an 
 influence ever deepening and extending, till 
 at this moment its vibrations are felt on every 
 shore and in every land where Scotchmen are 
 to be found. The love of the Land of Cakes 
 led him, it has been truly said, to sing of all 
 things Scottish — from her mountains to her 
 field mice — from her forests to her daisies — 
 from her rivers to her burnies — from her heroes 
 to her haggises — from her nobles and poets to 
 her "Jolly Beggars" — from her churches to 
 her smithies, and all found expression in flow- 
 ing numbers and graceful verse. What won- 
 drous deeds of prowess have been achieved by 
 our Scpttish Brigade under the inspiration of 
 " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," let Alma's 
 heights, and India's Sepoys tell ! What social 
 and festive meetings of the Scotch at home or 
 abroad, new style or old style, can part without 
 "Auld Langsyne?" What man among us is 
 so dead to all that is pure, lovely, and of 
 good report, that he can read " The Cottar's 
 Saturday Night" without wishing from h's 
 inmost soul that every Iiome and every hearth 
 in our land were so consecrated ? Burns died 
 at the early age of thirty-seven, but in his short 
 lifetime he gave to the world " thoughts that 
 breathe, and words that burn." His fame 
 grows brighter and brighter as time rolls on, 
 and the universal festivities of this day prove 
 that he lives in grateful remembrance in the 
 hearts of his countrymen, and in the hearts of 
 all, of every country, who can appreciate the 
 nobility of the man who dignified labour, and 
 taught honest poverty to stand erect in the face 
 of the world. (Great applause.) 
 
 The Chairman then called on Mr. Sharp, 
 who, in an address on the " Times of Burns," 
 spoke of the social and intellectual influences of 
 Burns' age, the great men, statesmen, philoso- 
 phers, and poets, who were his contemporaries. 
 He considered that Burns was neither better 
 nor worse than the men of his age, and thought 
 if Burns had been a better man he would have 
 been a worse poet, as a model man could no 
 more write some of his best poems than a tee- 
 totaller could write " Tam o' Shanter;" and if 
 we took into consideration the character of the 
 songs which Burns' songs supplanted, we would 
 give him the credit which was accorded to a 
 Roman Emperor, who found Rome wood and 
 left it marble. Burns found the songs of his 
 country a mass of obscenity and ribaldry, and 
 he took the base metal, and by the alchemy of 
 his genius transmuted it into pure gold. He 
 then replied to the charge of Burns being 
 irreligious and a scoffer. He owned that he 
 was a scoffer, but then he scofled at the false 
 professors of religion, at cant, bigotry, and 
 hypocrisy, at that spurious Christianity which 
 
238 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 neither did justice, loved mercy, nor walked 
 humbly. If it was irreligious to reverence God 
 and love man, Burns was irreligious ; if to teach 
 that the atheist's laugh was a poor excuse for 
 an offended Deity, and that honour and honesty 
 were Grod's patents of nobility, was irreligion, 
 then Burns was irreligious ; but our Anglo- 
 Saxon tongue gave no such interpretation of 
 tlie term. 
 
 The Re^'. Mr. Young followed in an elo- 
 quent and impassioned oration, of which we 
 have only space for a brief extract from the 
 peroration : — " But what has he done ?" say 
 some. He has given us songs such as no other 
 country possesses — songs which shed a joy over 
 Scottish life, and make our homes more cheer- 
 ful and happy whether we dwell in the manse, 
 the mansion, or the cottage. Look at " Scots 
 wha hae." Did it never thrill your soul ? Did 
 it never fan your love of freedom, and load you 
 to rejoice in your birthright ? Ay, and to stir 
 the Scottish blood that is in you, and to nerve 
 your arm if need were to fight for your coun- 
 try and her liberties against all who should 
 assail them ? He has done much to beget and 
 cherish in the hearts of his countrymen a spirit 
 of manly independence and manly bearing in 
 the presence of their social superiors. The 
 man wlio wrdte "A man's a man for a' that" 
 did not write in vain. Burns' history tells the 
 great, the gifted, and the good to struggle on, 
 for the time will come when the reward they 
 have struggled for will come — when the seed 
 they have sown will yield its fruit. 
 
 The remainder of the proceedings were spent 
 very pleasantly in toast, song, and sentiment — 
 and after singing " Auld langsyne," the assem- 
 bly, on the suggestion of the Rev. Mr. Young, 
 gave three lusty cheers for Her Majesty the 
 Queen, and thus was finished one of the most 
 interesting and enthusiastic meetings ever held 
 witliin the ancient burgh of Grey Dunfermline. 
 
 DiKNER OF THE SENIOR BURNS ClUB. Tlie 
 
 members of this club, one of the oldest in Scot- 
 land, met in Milne's Hotel at four o'clock, when 
 thirty sat down to dinner — Walter Brown, Esq. 
 of Colton, in the chair ; P. Matthew, Esq., 
 Gallowbridge Hill, croupier. Among the gen- 
 tlemen present were — John M'Donald, Esq., 
 Procurator-Eiscal ; James Kirk, Esq., Transy ; 
 James Carr, Esq., Bank of Scotland ; James 
 Melville, Esq., Torryburn, &c. 
 
 United Burns Club Dinner.— At eight, 
 the United Burns Club dined in Queen Anne 
 Place Hall, which was most tastefully orna- 
 mented for the occasion. Mr. Wm. Sharp, 
 President of the Club, filled the chair, Dr. 
 Whyte and Mr. Thomas Blair acting as crou- 
 piers. The Chairman, after the usual loyal 
 toasts, gave the toast of the evening in an ap- 
 
 propriate speech, and " The Memory of Bonnie 
 Jean," and the "Land of Cakes," were given 
 by the croupiers. Treasurer Morrison propos- 
 ed, in an eloquent and appropriate speech, 
 which was listened to with the greatest atten- 
 tion, " The Memory of Sir Walter Scott." Mr. 
 W. Stewart proposed the " Early Patrons and 
 Friends of Burns." Mr. Menzies, Land Sur- 
 veyor, then gave "Professor Aytoun, and the 
 Living Scottish Poets." Several other toasts 
 were given in the course of the evening. After 
 each of the toasts, appropriate songs, selected 
 from Burns, were sung. The company num- 
 bering nearly a hundred, passed a happy and 
 agreeable evening. 
 
 Masonic Dinner. — In the Masons' Hall, 
 Maygate, the Union and St. John's Lodges 
 dined — Deputy R.W. Master James Beveridge, 
 St. John's Lodge, in the chair ; R.W. Master 
 Thomas Stevenson, of the Union, croupier. 
 The chair and croupier were supported by 
 Brothers David Birrell, Thomas Tuckett, An- 
 drew Beveridge, and D. M'Intyre. The usual 
 loyal toasts being given, " The Memory of our 
 Bard" was proposed, and drunk with all the 
 honours. During the evening. Sir P. A. 
 Halkett was affiliated a Brother of St. John's 
 Lodge. 
 
 These meetings were the only ones of a pub- 
 lic nature, but many gatherings of a private 
 kind took place in all parts of the city. The 
 inhabitants of Dunfermline were of one heart 
 in commemorating the hundredth birthday of 
 the greatest and noblest of Scottish poets. 
 
 DUNKELD. — In addition to a dinner and 
 ball at Birnam Hotel, and a concert and ball in 
 our Masons'-Hall, a select party of young 
 men met on the 25th of January in the Royal 
 Hotel to render their humble tribute to the 
 bard of their country. A superb supper being 
 duly discussed. 
 
 The Chairman (Mr. James Brodie, junior), 
 appropriately commenced the convivialities of 
 the evening by calling on the company to join 
 him in drinking a bumper to the " Memory of 
 Burns;" after which he reviewed, with exqui- 
 site taste, the claims of the poet on our sympa- 
 thies and honour, illustrating his remarks by 
 reciting a portion of " The Cottar's Saturday 
 Night," and the verses addressed " To Mary in 
 Heaven." In the course of a pleasant evening, 
 the compa,ny proved, by songs grave and gay, 
 by the recital of the burning sentiments of pa- 
 triotism, the noble language of manly indepen- 
 dence, the broad humour and exquisite pathos 
 in which Burns moved his fellows alternately to 
 laughter and to tears, that tiie genius of the 
 bard had lost none of its wondrous power over 
 the human heart. 
 
DUNLOP— DUNNIXa. 
 
 239 
 
 A working-man's celebratioa of the centenary 
 was held in tlie Masons'-Hall, with dancing and 
 singing at intervals. Selections from Burns' 
 songs were sung, and the proceedings lasted 
 from eight o'clock evening, until five o'clock 
 next morning. The entertainment was con- 
 ducted by Messrs. G. Lauder, A. Brown, and 
 H. Fraser. Mr. Patton's band played Neil 
 Gow's reels and strathspeys in a very superior 
 style ; and the vocalists were Miss M'CoU, 
 Messrs. A. Patton, J. Menzies, A. Stewart, and 
 H. Fraser. Refreshments to suit all palates 
 were handed round occasionally ; and we must 
 say, that a more harmonious and agreeable 
 party has not met in our town for a number of 
 years. 
 
 DUNLOP. — A soiree was held here, in the 
 Free School-room, in honour of Burns' cen- 
 tenary. The large room was» tastefully deco- 
 rated with flowers and evergreens. The chair 
 was filled by Mr. Somervail of Hopeland Mills. 
 
 DUNNING. — The villagers of Dunning, 
 like the inhabitants of other places, celebrated 
 the centenary of Scotia's Bard in a mode and 
 manner worthy of his fame and genius. Al- 
 though they had no public procession or out- 
 ward demonstration in honour of the poet, they 
 appeared second to none in admiration of his 
 genius, and high esteem of his worth. 
 
 A public dinner took place in the Kirkstile 
 Inn, ably presided over by Mr. Andrew Pater- 
 son, land-steward to the Right Hon. Lord 
 RoUo, who was supported on his right and left 
 by Mr. Welsh and Mr. Alexander M'Donald, 
 his Lordship's butler and gamekeeper. Mr. 
 James Morrison, farmer, Rossie, did the duties 
 of croupier, supported by Dr. Young and Mr. 
 Donaldson, teacher. A blessing having been 
 invoked by Mr. James Boag, farmer, Millhaugh, 
 and justice done to the many good things pro- 
 vided, and the usual loyal and patriotic toasts 
 attended to, the Chairman in an eloquent speech 
 proposed the toast of the evening, which was 
 drunk in the most enthusiastic manner, and 
 was followed by vociferous cheering, which 
 lasted for a considerable time. 
 
 The croupier gave the relatives of Burns, 
 which was rapturously received. Other toasts 
 followed, as Lord RoUo, Lady RoUo and Miss 
 RoUo, and the other members of the Rollo 
 family — the Heritors of the Parish— Clergy of 
 the Parish— Teachers of the Parish— Agricul- 
 tural Interest — His Lordship's Factor, John 
 Conning, Esq. — The Town and Trade of 
 Dunning — The Ladies — The Press — The 
 Chairman — The Landlady, Mrs. Robertson. 
 Songs were sung between the toasts with great 
 glee, principally from the poet's works. The 
 
 instrumental band, in an adjoining room, dis- 
 coursed sweet music between the toasts, mostly 
 airs set to the poet's songs, which produced a 
 fine effect upon the party. The large room 
 was most elegantly decorated for the occasion. 
 On the wall, behind the Chairman, was the 
 motto, " Should auld acquaintance be forgot," 
 surrounded with laurel and other floral orna- 
 ments ; while the viands and liquors provided 
 were of the most sumptuous and varied descrip- 
 tion, fully sustaining Mrs. Robertson's already 
 justly-earned reputation. We never witnessed 
 such an amount of hilarity and good feeling as 
 pervaded the whole evening's proceedings, 
 which continued until the very threshold of 
 Forbes' inexorable hour. 
 
 While one party met in the Kirkstile to pay 
 their tribute to the poet's memory and genius, 
 another very large, respectable, and influential 
 meeting (in which there was a very consider- 
 able sprinkling of the fair sex) took place in the 
 new Town-Hall for the same purpose. Peter 
 Hill Graham discharged the duties of chairman 
 in a very able and talented manner, giving a 
 pithy and talented opening address on the 
 characteristics of the poet. The night's pro- 
 ceedings consisted of addresses, songs, and re- 
 citations, all from the bard's works, some of 
 which were sung in character. The musical 
 society did their part well, as also a number of 
 amateur vocalists and reciters, among the latter 
 of which we specially mention the names of 
 James Rutherford and William Somerville as 
 being rapturously applauded. The addresses, 
 which were of a very high order, on the beauties 
 of Burns, his wit and humour, his sympathy 
 with the working classes, were delivered by 
 Messrs. Fisher and Kippen of Crieff, and Mr. 
 James Taylor of this place, and were highly 
 appreciated by the audience, who gave hearty 
 signs of their approval. The hall, beauti- 
 fully decorated for the occasion, was crowded 
 almost to suffocation, and so great was the de- 
 mand for tickets that double the number could 
 have been sold. The bill of fare was so attrac- 
 tive, and so great was the enthusiasm of the 
 inhabitants to testify their love and esteem for 
 the poet and his writings, that the hall was 
 filled in the course of a few minutes after the 
 doors were opened. A goodly number were 
 present from the adjoining parishes of Auchter- 
 arder, Gask, Forteviot, Aberdalgie, and For- 
 gandenny. 
 
 During the evening, deputations from both 
 meetings visited each other, and were received 
 in the most enthusiastic and gratifying manner, 
 and both passed off in such a way as to please 
 the most zealous of the poet's friends and ad- 
 mirers. We omitted to add, that on the front 
 of the platform was suspended a beautiful por- 
 
240 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 trait of the poet, surrounded with a garland of 
 flowers and ivy, which was eagerly gazed on 
 by the audience. 
 
 DUNOON. — The centenary was celebrated 
 here by the brethren of the Dunoon Argyle 
 Lodge. 
 
 DUNSE. — A very large and enthusiastic 
 party of the admirers of Burns in this town 
 dined together on Tuesday in the Swan Hotel 
 — Bailie Crawford presided, and the duties of 
 croupiers devolved upon Messrs. James Thom- 
 son and James Cunningham. " The Memory 
 of the Immortal Burns " was given in an 
 effective speech by the chairman, and a suc- 
 cession of toasts followed, prefaced by remarks 
 which did credit to the heads and hearts of the 
 speakers, every one appearing, in the poet's own 
 words, to have " kittled up their rustic muse " 
 till it " streamed and richly reamed," in the 
 outpourings of true Scottish feeling. A num- 
 ber of Burns' best songs were sung during the 
 evening with much expression and taste. The 
 dinner was entirely a " town's meeting,'' and 
 was the largest, most intelligent, and orderly 
 of any ever held in Dunse. Several other 
 meetings were also held in the town in honour 
 of the event, and in every case the utmost har- 
 mony of feeling prevailed. 
 
 DUNTOCHER.— A large number of the 
 admirers of our national bard, belonging to 
 Duntocher and the neighbourhood, met upon 
 Tuesday evening, 25th January, in the house of 
 Mr. James Johnston, to celebrate the centenary 
 of our national poet. The room was splendidly 
 decorated with evergreens and shrubs, and the 
 initials of Robert Burns were suspended from 
 the chandelier, made up of the gowan he loved 
 so well. The chair was taken at a quarter past 
 seven o'clock by Mr. James D. Grant, who in- 
 troduced the business of the evening by a neat 
 address, dwelling upon the genius and worth of 
 Burns. After the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts were given, and responded to with en- 
 thusiasm, the Chairman proposed the toast of 
 the evening, " The memory of Burns," which 
 was drunk in silence. This was followed by 
 the national anthem, " Scots wha hae wi' 
 Wallace bled." " The poets of Scotland," given 
 from the chair, was responded to by Mr. John 
 8. Tulloch, who, in the course of his remarks, 
 showed that poetry tends to the elevation of 
 man. An original song was sung by Mr. Alex- 
 ander Russell, made for the occasion. " The 
 health of Alexander Dunn, Esq., our respected 
 employer," was then given and responded to 
 with enthusiasm. This was followed by the 
 celebrated poem of the bard, " Man was made 
 
 to mourn,'' by one of the company, who de- 
 livered it in so able and touching a manner, 
 that it drew forth bursts of approbation. 
 Afterwards, toast, story, and song enlivened 
 the meeting; and after an evening spent in the 
 feast of reason and the flow of soul, such as 
 each declared he had nae spent before, " each 
 took aflf his several way, resolved to meet some 
 other day." 
 
 DYSART.— The Working Man's Festival 
 was held in the Subscription School, on the 
 evening of Jan. 25th, the number present of 
 both sexes being upwards of 450. The greatest 
 credit is due to the workmen in the employ- 
 ment of Provost Normand, for their spirited 
 efforts in carrying out the celebration of Burns' 
 centenary, — for, had it not been for these work- 
 people, Dysart would have been alone among 
 the other towns and villages which were cele- 
 brating the hundredth birthday of one whose 
 undying name is an honour to Scotland and to 
 Scotsmen. The Chairman, Mr. William Skin- 
 ner, addressed the meeting, with a short, glow- 
 ing eulogy on the genius of Burns, which was 
 followed by Mr. Charles Cumming singing 
 " There was a lad was born in Kyle." Mr. 
 John Eraser and party sang " Scots wha hae," 
 in admirable style. " My Nannie, O," was sung 
 by Mr. James Brodie in a masterly manner. 
 David Young, millwright, next addressed the 
 meeting at some length, showing a lively appre- 
 ciation of the genius of Burns, and introducing 
 some capital anecdotes, from among which the 
 following may be quoted : " On a beautiful 
 summer Sabbath morn, Robert and I (says 
 Gilbert Burns) were travelling to Ayr, and on 
 the road overtook an old man travelling in the 
 same direction. The old and new light doc- 
 trines about this time were causing much con- 
 troversy. Robert and the old man firmly de- 
 bated the question, my brother advocating the 
 new light, this reverend sage the old light. 
 My brother finding the old man more than his 
 match, says, ' Come awa, Gibbie, I've met the 
 apostle Paul this morning,' ' Na, na, my young 
 friend, ye hae na met the apostle o' the Gentiles, 
 but I hae met ane o' the wild beasts he fought 
 wi' when at Ephesus.' On one occasion, a wag 
 in the company overheard Burns and a friend 
 talking about the funeral of a townsman which 
 was to be on the following day, the wag, in a 
 very polite manner, asked the poet for the loan 
 of his 'sables.' Surveying him from head to 
 foot. Burns answered in the negative, but, says 
 he, I'll furnish you with a substitute ; take your 
 character and throw it over your shoulders, and 
 that will be the blackest dress you can wear." 
 
 Mr. David Briggs sang ' A man's a man for 
 a' that;" Mr. Grahame sang "Now westlan' 
 
EARLSTON— ECHT. 
 
 241 
 
 winds;" Miss Robertson sang " Of a' the aii-ts;" 
 and Miss Anderson, " The Bivka of Aberfeldy," 
 in beautiful style; Mr. William Robertson sang 
 (Vedder's) " Riiymin' Robin, rantin' Robin," 
 which was received with much applause. Sing- 
 ing and reciting succeeded each other until a 
 quarter past eleven, when the meetipg, which 
 was both large and respectable, separated. 
 
 The centenary was also celebrated here by 
 a dinner in the Town Hall, which was filled to 
 overflowing. 
 
 EARLSTON".— The popularity of the cele- 
 bration of this event caused an excitement in 
 this village quite unprecedented. The whole 
 of the shops were shut, and a complete suspen- 
 sion of business took place throughout the af- 
 ternoon. Three o'clock was^xed upon as the 
 hour for the procession, but long before that 
 hour people were crowding in from every quar- 
 ter. It was understood that the procession 
 would start from the public reading room, 
 around which the people gathered until the 
 numbers became quite imposing. Exactly at 
 three the instrumental band announced in 
 cheering strains that the hour was oome when 
 that debt of gratitude due to Scotia's dearest 
 bard must be paid. Hundreds joined arm in 
 arm and proudly followed the beating drum 
 and numerous flags that were wafted to the 
 breeze. The procession over, the band sat 
 down to dinner — the most conspicuous dish 
 being one containing the great ' chieftain o' the 
 puddin' race.' Little after five o'clock the 
 band again paraded the streets, and when the 
 hour of meeting approached, they led the van 
 to the Messrs. Wilson's mill, where the large 
 flat now used as a store-room was comfortably 
 seated in a very short time after the doors 
 were opened ; the place was completely crowd- 
 ed, there being little below 700 of an audience. 
 The chair was taken at half-past six o'clock by 
 Mr. George Wood. The evening's entertain- 
 ment commenced by the whole audience sing- 
 ing " Auld Langsyne ;" after which the Chair- 
 man spoke as follows : — I believe it is generally 
 imderstood that when a stranger is invited to 
 attend a party, he is formally introduced to the 
 company by one of his friends. Thus a pleas- 
 ing duty devolves upon me this evening, to in- 
 troduce to you a very unexpected guest ; but 
 though unexpected, I am sure made heartily 
 welcome by all. In this guest we have none 
 other than the immortal Burns, tlie great mov- 
 ing spirit and presiding genius of this meeting. 
 I believe that this bust may be confidently re- 
 lied upon as a correct likeness of the original, 
 
 and in saving tliis no higher compliment can 
 be paid to any artist. I have great ])leasure in 
 informing you that we are wholly indebted for 
 this valuable present to Mr. Currie of Darnick, 
 who has also honoured us with his presence 
 here to-night. I therefore request that this 
 meeting tender to Mr. Currie their warmest 
 thanks for this handsome gift. (Loud and con- 
 tinued applause.) 
 
 Mr. Currie advanced to the platform and 
 thanked the meeting for the manner in which 
 they had responded to the thanks proposed to 
 him. 
 
 The Chairman then rose, and eloquently 
 proposed tlie toast of the evening. 
 
 Tlie following gentlemen who occupied the 
 platform were in their order introduced to the 
 meeting : — Messrs. Wm. Shiels, Wm. Robert- 
 son, J. Watson, Wm. Mercer, G. Fisher, Wm. 
 M'Vitie, T. Walker, and T. Happer, who, in 
 addition to reading select pieces from the po- 
 et's works, gave short addresses upon the life 
 and writings of Burns, amongst which many 
 an able argument was shown in defence of his 
 highly honoured name. 
 
 The meeting broke up about eleven o'clock 
 by singing the national anthem to two stanzas 
 composed by Mr. James Sanderson, of Earls- 
 ton, in honour of this memorable occasion. 
 
 ECCLEFECHAN.— Nowhere was the cen- 
 tenary celebrated with more real enthusiasm 
 than in Ecclefeehan. At first, supposing that 
 demonstrations upon the occasion would be 
 confined to the metropolitan and county towns, 
 it was not mooted to have anything of tlie 
 kind here until nearly the end of last week. 
 Yet so heartily was the proposal, when made, 
 responded to, that a party of upwards of eighty 
 met on the evening of the 25th, at dinner, in 
 the large new school-house, which was hand- 
 somely decorated for the occasion. Mr. Wm. 
 Sharpe, of Knockhill, was chairman ; and 
 Messrs. Ewart and Graham, of Ecclefeehan, 
 were croupiers. The ordinary preliminary 
 toasts were given, and then " The Immortal 
 Memory of Burns" was proposed in his usual 
 able and felicitous manner by the chairman. 
 It was followed by other appropriate toasts, 
 and by songs from various parties. Altogether 
 the meeting was one the like of which, for 
 number, unanimity, and enthusiasm, has sel- 
 dom, if ever, been held in Ecclefeehan. 
 
 ECHT. — Burns' Centenary was celebrated 
 here by the workmen at Dunecht House, giv- 
 ing an amateur theatrical performance, &c. 
 The attendance was numerous and respectable, 
 there being upwards of 300 assembled in a 
 commodious loft, provided through the kind- 
 
242 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 ness of Mr. Samuel Farquhar. On the rising 
 of the curtain, Mr. Kidd, Teacher, Waterton, 
 stepped forward, and in a neat address, men- 
 tioned the cause of the meeting, following up 
 his observations by some well-timed remarks on 
 the works of Burns, and thereafter singing a 
 few of his most choice and popular songs in a 
 masterly way. The play of Rob Roy then 
 commenced ; the various parts being well exe- 
 cuted, especially those of Rab, Baillie Nicol 
 Jarvie, and the Dougal Cratur ; in fact, all ac- 
 quitted themselves so admirably that we refrain 
 from farther particularizing ; merely adding 
 that the dresses and accoutrements were hand- 
 somely got up, and were deservedly much ad- 
 mired. The after-piece, viz., Gildero}', being 
 also well performed, weis deservedly much ap- 
 plauded. At intervals songs and recitations 
 enlivened the meeting; Mr. Kidd and others 
 ably doing the former, while Mr. Adam Philip, 
 Ui)per Mains of Echt, added much to the even- 
 ing's amusements by the efficient manner in 
 which the latter were performed. The pro- 
 ceedings closing a little after the " wee short 
 hour ayont the twal" by the whole company 
 singing " Auld Langsyne," the audience with 
 one accord joining in the chorus. * 
 
 EDDLESTON.— The centenary here was 
 celebrated by a public dinner, in the Parish 
 School-room — the Rev. A. J. Murray in the 
 chair ; W. H. Bayly, Esq., croupier. Upwards 
 of sixty gentlemen sat down to a sumptuous 
 dinner ijrovided by Mr. Mathieson of the 
 Crown Hotel, Peebles. After the cloth was 
 removed, the Chairman, in felicitous terms, 
 proposed the toast of the evening, which was 
 enthusiastically received. Toast and song fol- 
 lowed in quick succession, and the evening was 
 spent in a pleasant^ and harmonious manner. 
 The dinner-party terminated with a ball, which 
 commenced at nine o'clock, and dancing was 
 kept up with great spirit until an early hour 
 next morning. 
 
 The young men of the parish of Eddleston, 
 determined not to be behind their neighbours 
 in celebrating the centenary of the birth of 
 " Scotland's ain poet," held a public ball, at 
 which about fifty assembled, on the evening of 
 Tuesday the 25th, in the barn at Boreland, 
 kindly granted for the occasion by Mr. Plender- 
 leith. The company broke up at a very late 
 hour in the morning. 
 
 EDINVILLE. — A company of about seventy 
 ladies and gentlemen sat down to an excellent 
 supper in the school-room here — James M'Ker- 
 ron, Esq., Lyntean, in the chair; with A. Rich- 
 ardson, Esq., J.P., and A. Innes, Esq., Lyne, 
 croupiers. After the usual loyal and patriotic 
 
 toasts, the Chairman, in an able speech, gave 
 the toast of the evening. All went off in a 
 happy manner, ending with an excellent ball. 
 
 EDZELL.— On the 25th, between forty and 
 fifty gentlemen sat down to a sumptuous dinner 
 in the hall of the Star Hotel, to celebrate the 
 centenary of our great national poet. The 
 duties of the chair were ably discharged by Mr. 
 Ayre, Edzell; while Mr. Robertson, Westside, 
 and Mr. Guthrie, banker, efficiently acted as 
 croupiers. The Chairman, in a special bumper, 
 gave " The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns." 
 Among other toasts given during the evening 
 we may notice " The Scottish Peasantry," by 
 the chair ; " The Poet's Surviving Sons ;" and 
 " The Memory of the late Lord Panmure," 
 taking special notice of the generosity of that 
 nobleman as the benefactor of the poet's widow. 
 During the evening the Chairman and Mr. For- 
 rest read several of the poet's best productions ; 
 and some of his popular songs were given by 
 Messrs. Belford, Scott, Forrest, and others. 
 
 ELGIN. — In Elgin, the centenary of Burns 
 was celebrated in a manner as enthusiastic and 
 picturesque as anywhere in Scotland. Al- 
 though nominally only observed as a half-holi- 
 day, business was virtually suspended through- 
 out the day — every one being deeply interested 
 in the proceedings, and having little inclination 
 to work. Considerable preparations had been 
 made to celebrate the event ; and so numerous 
 were the flags required on the occasion, that 
 some of our painters had been working all night 
 for a week past, in order to meet the demand. 
 Throughout, affairs were conducted in a very 
 enthusiastic manner; and we are glad to say 
 that, to the credit of our townsmen, very gene- 
 ral order and decorum was preserved. 
 
 The Young Gentlemen's Ball took place 
 in the Assembly Rooms, on the 24th. There 
 were upwards of 100 persons present, and the 
 ball was one of the most brilliant ever held in 
 Elgin. 
 
 According to previous arrangement, a grand 
 Masonic and Trades' procession took place on- 
 the 25th. The parties intending to join the 
 procession, met at twelve o'clock in the New 
 Markets — their respective places in the proces- 
 sion having been previously decided by ballot. 
 For days before, the greatest activity and spirit 
 prevailed among the various craftsmen of our 
 good city— the result of which was only seen 
 as the various bodies began to assemble. 
 
 The number of persons who walked in pro- 
 cession could not be much less than a thousand ; 
 and from first to last the greatest order and 
 decorum were observed. 
 
 At four o'clock, between 170 and 180 of our 
 
ELGIN. 
 
 243 
 
 citizens sat down to dinner in Iionour of the 
 occasion. Sheriff Cameron occupied the chair. 
 The croupiers were — Provost Grant; Mr. John 
 Gordon, R.W. Master of the Kilmolymock 
 lodge ; and Convener Mackenzie. The Rev. P. 
 J. Mackie said grace and returned thanks. 
 
 The Chairman gave the health of the Queen, 
 of Prince Albert, and the other members of the 
 Royal Family ; and the Army and Navy. 
 
 The Chairman introduced the toast of the 
 evening by a very graphic sketch of the life and 
 character of Robert Burns, after which he con- 
 tinued: — Why have we met here to-night? To 
 celebrate the centenary of the most extra- 
 ordinary man of modern times. A ploughboy, 
 born and bred lA the very humblest class of 
 society, with the scanty advantages of education 
 which I have stated — ^lie culled the beauties of 
 nature as he found them strewed around the 
 cottage he inhabited, or th% field he ploughed, 
 and he wove them into garlands of imperish- 
 able beauty; or his vivid fancy converted the 
 homely girl of the district into the greatest 
 beauty, by impassioned strains raising liis High- 
 land Mary and others to the rank of deities. 
 (Cheers.) But it has been said he contaminated 
 his muse by singing the praises of those rural 
 beauties in strains more warm than delicate, 
 and one of his critics, if I recollect well, objects 
 to this warmth of expression, because he ap- 
 peared to wish to strain the beauty at once to 
 his breast, in place of laying languishing odes 
 at their feet like a court poet. The criticism 
 in point of literature probably is correct, but did 
 Anacreon not write warm love sonnets ? Did 
 not also Tom Moore, and did not Horace write 
 odes, many of which the fastidious think are as 
 well clothed in a dead language? Then, again, 
 the religious world is scandalised by two or 
 three of his earlier productions, where he has 
 given rein to the exuberance of his fancy and 
 his powerful satire, and lashed what he con- 
 ceived to be hypocrisy or pretension with un- 
 merciful severity. Now, what is satire but the 
 exposing the follies and the foibles of others in 
 the strongest colours; and I believe it will be 
 admitted that a feeble satire is a very vapid and 
 milk-and-water draught. I therefore maintain 
 that though those poems are bold and daring, yet 
 when one considers that the battle of the old 
 and new light was raging about the country, it 
 is not to be wondered at that this enthusiastic 
 man, then little above twenty years of age, 
 should, when he got hold of fun, have his joke 
 against hypocrisy and superstition, or that the 
 Pharisaical hypocrisy of William Fisher should 
 be exposed in Holy Willie's Prayer. These 
 offences, be it recollected, were perpetrated be- 
 fore his visit to Edinburgh, where his taste was 
 chastened if his morals were not improved. 
 
 His more moral and more chastened productions 
 are principally composed thereafter. But it is 
 well known the charm of this gifted man was 
 not alone in his poetry. There was fascination 
 in his conversation. The lightning of his eye 
 was always the forerunner of some flash of wit 
 or humour ; while his melodious voice varied 
 with the subject, whether satirical or social; or 
 scorching his opponent with the vehemence of 
 sarcasm; and it is admitted on all hands that 
 he was received by the fair sex at all times with 
 the greatest cordiality, from the highest to the 
 lowest, so that the famous Duchess of Gordon 
 said she never was so led off her feet as by 
 Burns' conversation. But, Gentlemen, how 
 does it happen that on this day, one hundred 
 years since the birth of this ploughman bard, 
 not only all Scotland, but where the English 
 language is spoken, or where our countrymen 
 are, from Australia to the shores of the Pacific, 
 their hearts are stirred like one man to do 
 honour to hia memory! Gentlemen, he has 
 told you himself, in his dedication to the mem- 
 bers of the Caledonian Hunt, that the first di- 
 rection he got from the Genius of Poetry was 
 to sing the loves of his native soil. From his 
 character, as I have studied it, and endeavoured, 
 though feebly, to depict it to you, it was a 
 labour of love, and how well he has done it, the 
 innumerable songs he composed tell — which are 
 sung in every continent of the world, to the 
 delight and solace of all parties. Were I to 
 attempt anything like a criticism on those, I do 
 not know where I should begin, and I fear that 
 my slight knowledge of them would soon tire 
 you, as many of you are, I am sure, much more 
 familiar with them than I am, and I trust we 
 shall be delighted by hearing various of them 
 sung to-night. (Cheers.) But it is not the 
 love passages alone by which those songs are 
 filled ; there are many of reckless fun and hu- 
 mour, which seem, as it were, dropped uncon- 
 sciously from his pen; but on running over an 
 index of the songs, the beauties are so numerous 
 and various that I must forbear, and leave the 
 delightful exercise to yourselves. But if our 
 great poet has been accused of a few slips of 
 thoughtless raillery, and a few blemishes which 
 are thought to trench upon too sacred ground, 
 has he done nothing to compensate for such 
 faults, even admitting them to exist. It appears 
 to me that there was in the original constitution 
 of Burns' mind a considerable tint of melancholy. 
 This bias was originally, I have no doubt, a 
 little fostered by a deep Calvinistic feeling which 
 pervaded old William Burns' mind — and this 
 feeling of melancholy was evidently accom- 
 panied by a nervous temperament ; and those 
 two infirmities, in an otherwise highly gifted 
 mind, probably when accompanied with de- 
 
244 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 pressing poverty, accounted for much of the 
 irregularities of his after life. But let us take 
 up any of his numerous poems, and his epistles 
 to his familiar friends, there is scarcely one 
 where you do not find some deep moral reflec- 
 tion — frequently accompanied with the most 
 appropriate scripture allusions. (Cheers.) The 
 Sheriff concluded by asking the company to 
 drink the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns. 
 (The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm — 
 the Band playing " Auld Langsyne.") 
 
 Many admirable speeches and excellent songs 
 contributed to make this meeting most agree- 
 able and memorable. We cannot refrain from 
 adding the speech of the Rev. Mr. Mackie, in 
 acknowledging a toast to the " Clergy of all 
 Denominations." . Mr. Mackie thanked the 
 company for the manner in which they had 
 drunk the health of the clergy. I am sorry 
 (continued the rev. gentleman) that of the seven 
 or eight clergymen who labour in this town, 
 there is only present the humble individual now 
 addressing you. (Cheers.) While I consider 
 it my duty to discharge the more particular 
 duties of the ministry — to preach the gospel of 
 Jesus Christ and Him crucified, to reprove the 
 sinner and to visit the widow and the fatherless, 
 I consider it no less a duty and a privilege to 
 meet my fellow-townsmen on such occasions as 
 this, to show that we are of the same bone and 
 flesh as the people we address every Sunday 
 from the pulpit. (Hear, hear.) I think that 
 the clergy, of whatever denomination, do not do 
 justice to themselves if they forego the pleasure 
 of attending such meetings as this. Wherever 
 such meetings are convened, the clergy will be 
 received with respect, and their presence will 
 have a wholesome influence. (Cheers.) I came 
 to Elgin a very young man. I came when about 
 twenty-three years of age ; and you. Sir, were 
 one of those who called me to the important 
 charge which I now hold. I have received 
 from all classes — from Eree Churchmen, Dis- 
 senters, Independents, Baptists, Episcopalians, 
 and Roman Cathohcs- — so much kindly feeling, 
 that I would be most ungrateful, indeed, if I 
 did not cherish to the people of Elgin feelings 
 of affection and gratitude. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Mackie again rose, and, in proposing the 
 " Peasantry of Scotland," said — The toast which 
 has been put into my hands requires feiv words 
 to commend itself to your regard. Met, as we 
 are, to celebrate the centenary of Burns, it is 
 most becoming that the peasantry of Scotland 
 should not be overlooked. The great poet 
 sprung from them, and in his songs he cele- 
 brates them in strains which come home to the 
 feelings of thousands, and find an echo in every 
 well-regulated and constituted mind. (Cheers.) 
 The peasantry are an honour to their countrv. 
 
 They have contributed to their country's wealth 
 — they have converted barren heaths into fer- 
 tile fields — and have produced, in spite of cli- 
 mate, crops of luxuriant grain, which will cope 
 in abundance with the fairest provinces of the 
 civilised world. Not only have they done this, 
 but, by their reverence for God and the ordi- 
 nances of His appointment, they have " exalted " 
 this country among the nations of the earth. 
 (Applause.) They have taken advantage of its 
 educational institutions, and have scattered the 
 seeds of knowledge far and wide. They have 
 carried into practice the eternal principles of 
 honesty, and are trusted with the management of 
 their masters' property to such an extent, that 
 peculation and the false balance are words almost 
 unknown in their vocabulary. (Cheers.) They 
 have done their duty as citizens, and their pa- 
 triotism is such that in the hour of their coun- 
 try's danger they have laid aside their plough- 
 shares and girded on their swords to fight in 
 defence of right against might, and maintain 
 liberty against oppression. They have shed 
 their life-blood in defence of their Queen and 
 their country, and they have stood in the midst 
 of danger with a courage and a determination 
 as unflinching as the rocks of their native 
 land. (Cheers. The band playing " Speed 
 the plough.") 
 
 ELGIN (New).— The Magistrates and Coun- 
 cil of this thriving little village having resolved 
 to celebrate the centenary of Burns by a public 
 supper, and the inhabitants generally having 
 taken up the matter, nearly fifty gentlemen sat 
 down to a sumptuous repast in the work-shop of 
 Messrs. William M'Kissack & Son, millwrights 
 and engineers, which was kindly placed by 
 them at the disposal of the Council, and nicely 
 fitted up for the occasion. 
 
 Mr. James M'Kissack occupied the chair, and 
 Provost Brown acted as croujaer. After the 
 usual loyai and patriotic toasts, the Chairman 
 said : — One hundred years have passed this 
 night since our Scotch bard first entered on 
 this earthly stage. It is now to do honour to 
 his memory we are assembled here to-night — 
 and well worthy is his memory of such from 
 Scotchmen ; for what poet has given his coun- 
 trymen such lasting memorials in their native 
 tongue. No language will touch the feelings 
 so ready as his native expression. To Burns 
 are we indebted for such, and his love for Scot- 
 land. The herd-boy on the hill-side can chant 
 and sing his country's songs and lyrics in ex- 
 pressions familiar to him, which but for Burns 
 would have been unknown ; and what fireside 
 or evening company has not been enlivened by 
 the stirring strains of Burns ? ^yho can spend 
 
ELLON— EALKIllK. 
 
 245 
 
 a night in looking over his works without feel- 
 ing a pleasure in 
 
 " Crooning o'ei' some anUl Scotch sonnet," 
 
 or in bright imagination seeing witches and 
 warlocks in a dance by some auld howlet 
 biggin'. Burns was a man of singularly inde- 
 pendent mind, and every verse he wrote bears 
 the impress of the feelings of his heart. I 
 fear I am better at making mills tlian making 
 speeches, so I will now call upon you to do 
 honour to "Tlie Memory of our Immortal 
 Bard, Robert Burns," and long may his me- 
 mory be cherished in his native Scotland. 
 (The toast was drunk in solemn silence.) 
 
 Various toasts followed, and several of Burns' 
 best songs were sung, and a number of recita- 
 tions given with great taste and effect, and 
 thus a very happy evening was spent. 
 
 ELLON — Tlie great day was duly cele- 
 brated at Ellon by a dinner in the afternoon 
 and a ball in the evening, both of which were 
 held in the Town-hall. The whole proceed- 
 ings of the day were conducted with the ut- 
 most propriety, but with the greatest enthusi- 
 asm. 
 
 At three o'clock a highly respectable body 
 of gentlemen sat down to an excellent dinner, 
 prepared by Mr. Ellis of the New Inn. The 
 chair was occupied by Mr. Hay, Tillydesk; Mr. 
 Milne, Mains of Waterton, and Mr. Cowie, 
 Cromblybank, were croupiers. The usual loyal 
 toasts having been duly honoured, the Chair- 
 man, in proposing the toast of the daj', in a 
 speech of some length, remarked upon the ex- 
 tent and universality of the movement that had 
 that day taken place, to celebrate the centenary 
 of Scotland's national poet, not only in his 
 native land — ^in every city, town, and village 
 " frotn Maidenkirk to John o' Groat's," — and 
 not only on British soil, but throughout the 
 civilized world — such a tribute of respect and 
 honour — such a world-wide ovation — as, he 
 believed, had never before in the world's his- 
 tory been accorded to any single individual. 
 More especially wherever Scotchmen had found 
 their way — (and where had they not found 
 their way ?) — would the name of their country's 
 poet be that day remembered. On the ftirthest 
 shores of Asia — ^in Chinese and Indian isles — 
 in many an Indian city, from the Hoogly to 
 Bombay, and from Madras to Lahore and Delhi 
 — and along the banks of the blood-stained 
 Ganges — would they assemble that day to do 
 honour to the Scottish peasant. They owed 
 much to Burns — not as a nation only, but each 
 of them individually. How had they aU ad- 
 mired, and read, and read again, his graphic 
 descriptions of the manners and customs of 
 
 their native land, and of the scenes conjured 
 up by his own fertile imagination — with wliat 
 zest had they enjoyed his trenchant satire and 
 his unrivalled wit and humour in " Tam o' 
 Shanter," " Death and Dr. Hornbook," &c. 
 And how had they felt all their finer feelings 
 touched as they had read— and read again — 
 the "Cottar's Saturday Night," and "Man was 
 made to Mourn;" and he envied not the leaden 
 soul of the man who had not, at some time or 
 other in life, found vent for his warmest and 
 most refined and tender feelings of afi'ection 
 in those songs — so sweet and so musical — so 
 plaintive and so tender — those love songs of 
 Burns. We will not, said the Chairman, drink 
 to the memory of Burns in silence as to the 
 dead ; for Burns cannot die : he is immortal ! 
 I give you simply — " Burns," — with all the 
 honours to his great and glorious name. (Great 
 cheering.) 
 
 Many speeches and songs followed, and by 
 eight o'clock, the comfortable and commodious 
 Town-hall of Ellon was well filled by a select 
 party of youth, beauty, and fashion — not only 
 of Ellon and the surrounding country, but from 
 Aberdeen, Peterhead, &c. Dancing was kept 
 up with great spirit till an early hour next 
 morning, when all separated, highly delighted 
 with the proceedings of the evening. 
 
 Mr. Morrison, who had aflforded admirable 
 and appropriate music during dinner, &c., con- 
 ducted the music at the ball to the high satis- 
 faction of the company. 
 
 FALKIRK. — The dinner, by which this 
 event was celebrated here, came ofi" in the Red 
 Lion Hotel. The large room was elegantly 
 decorated with evergreens, festoons of which 
 depended from the cornices. The tables, in 
 addition to the substantial viands which had 
 been provided by mine host, were decorated 
 with silv«r vases filled with flowers, and pre- 
 sented a very handsome appearance. The 
 viands themselves we need not describe, fur- 
 ther than to say that, in addition to everything 
 appropriate to the season, there were two ex- 
 cellent specimens of the "great chieftain o' the 
 pudding race." Provost Kier presided with 
 his usual ability, and the vice-chairs were ably 
 filled by Bailie Adam and ex -Bailie Wyse. 
 The quadrille band of the Ealkirk Foundry 
 was stationed in an ante-room, and discoursed 
 excellent music during the progress of the even- 
 ing, and the town's bells rung a merry peal 
 while the dinner was in progress. On the re- 
 moval of the cloth, the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts were proposed by the Chairman, and 
 
246 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 cordially responded to by the company. In 
 proposing the toast of the evening, " The 
 Memory of Eobert Burns," 
 
 Provost KiBR spoke as follows: — In rising 
 to propose the toast of the evening, I do so 
 v?ith very peculiar and altogether very different 
 feelings from any that I ever experienced be- 
 fore. When I think of the great name whose 
 memory we have met this day to commemorate, 
 and how utterly unable I am to express in lan- 
 guage that will convey to you how deep and 
 warm are my feelings for the greatness of our 
 immortal poet, I certainly could have wished 
 some other in my position who would have 
 done more justice to the toast. As my official 
 position as Provost of the' burgh is the reason 
 why I am placed in this honourable chair, it is 
 an honour which I will never forget. I believe 
 that a demonstration, such as this day has seen, 
 never took place in our land before; but is it 
 to be wondered at, when we know that the 
 fame of Burns is co-extensive with the litera- 
 ture of the world, and his memory enshrined 
 with love in every household? At this moment, 
 while I am addressing this meeting, there are 
 assembled over the land, in every town, and 
 almost in every village, countless thousands of 
 men and women, young and old, dining, dan- 
 cing, and singing, each in their own way doing 
 honour to the memory of him who has left a 
 legacy to the sons of toil, that gladdens and 
 cheers the heart, and brings joy to every fire- 
 side. How proud should Scotia's sons be of 
 the universal testimony thus offered to the 
 genius of the ploughman poet, who, although 
 of humble birth, stands high as a giant tower- 
 ing over the magnates of the land — so high, 
 indeed, that our Robert Burns is by far the 
 greatest that ever sprung from the bosom of 
 the people, and lived and died in humble life, 
 and in a manner, I grieve to say, neglected by 
 his country ; but now, after the lapse of sixty- 
 three years, he is regarded as the glorious 
 representative of the genius of his people. 
 (Cheers.) He was really and truly born a 
 poet. I may speak of our poet as having warm 
 affections: he loved all and every one with 
 whom he associated. In one of his letters he 
 says, "I would wipe away all tears from all 
 eyes if I could, and I do all I can." Never 
 was a truer friend. Although conscious of his 
 great superiority over the companions of his 
 youth, yet at no time did he ever forget those 
 first friendships; and although flattered and 
 pampered by the great, this did not prevent 
 his affections clinging around the poor whom 
 he had known and loved in his early days. 
 (Cheers.) He was a man of independent mind. 
 Road his song, " A man's a man for a' that." 
 J may quote his own words, where he says that 
 
 " The patronage he received was honourable, 
 and he felt it to be so, but still it was patron- 
 age;" and had he, for the sake of it or its 
 givers, forgotten for a day the lowest of his 
 friends, how could he have borne to read his 
 own two bold lines — 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 (Cheers.) It would be wrong on my part were 
 I to take up the time of the meeting longer. 
 Everything I could say has been said better by 
 others ; and knowing that all present are inti- 
 mate with his works, his character, his genius, 
 and his worth, I will finish my remarks by 
 saying that, for all his sins and shortcomings 
 he bitterly repented, and forgiveness is pro- 
 mised by the Giver of all good, and shall man 
 dare to be less merciful ? I ask you to drink a 
 bumper to " The Memory of Burns," our own 
 immortal poet. (Loud and prolonged cheering.) 
 
 Many appropriate toasts, prefaced with much 
 feeling and eloquence, enlivened the evening ; 
 and after the various songs mentioned in the 
 programme had been sung, the company stood 
 up and ^ang "Auld Langsyne;" after which 
 they broke up at half-past ten, with " Happy to 
 meet, sorry to part, and happy to meet again," 
 and the band playing " Good night, and joy be 
 wi' ye a'." 
 
 Working Men's Festival. — The working 
 men in this district had a grand festival in 
 Bank Street Chapel. The Messrs. Kennard & 
 Sons, Falkirk Foundry, generously contributed 
 the platform, which was finely decked with 
 evergreens by Mr. James Don, gardener to 
 James Russell, Esq. of Arnotdale, the latter 
 gentleman handsomely furnishing the ever- 
 greens. Eight above the seat of the chairman 
 there was placed a colossal head and bust of 
 Burns, painted for the occasion by Mr. James 
 Stewart, artist, and the work reflected great 
 credit upon that gentleman. Beautiful silk 
 banners, furnished by the Messrs. Kennard, 
 representing the three nationalities — Scotland, 
 England, and Ireland — were displayed on each 
 side of the portrait, their brilliant colours con- 
 trasting finely with the evergreen arches which 
 constituted the background of the platform. 
 The artistes engaged for the festival were— MisS 
 Aitken, Theatre-Royal, Glasgow; Miss Mari- 
 anne Smith, from the Glasgow Concerts, &c. ; 
 Mr. Julian Adams, the celebrated pianist; 
 Mr. Rennie, leader of psalmody. West U. P. 
 Church ; and Mr. H. Weir, the favourite local 
 comic singer. 
 
 The chair was occupied by William C. Hep- 
 burn, Esq., who delivered an eloquent lecture 
 on the life and genius of Burns, in the course 
 of which he said: — Whence this universal hom- 
 
FALKIRK— FETTEIINEAE. 
 
 247 
 
 age? whence this love and respect? whence 
 this potent sentiment, which for the time being 
 dominates thus over the hearts of people of all 
 ranks, conditions, and ages? Mere intellect 
 and genius could not of themselves, however 
 exalted, thus stir the human heart. These 
 could produce wonder, awe, respect, but other 
 qualities are required to draw forth the love 
 which has elicited the demonstrations of this 
 night. It is to the noble qualities of the man 
 ratiier than the peerless gifts of the poet that 
 the homage of this day is accorded — to that 
 truthfulness which dignified his life even in its 
 darkest moments — to the emphatic detestation 
 of the mean and unmanly, which at all times 
 he expressed — to the tender sympathy which 
 glowed in his bosom with weakness and suffer- 
 ing — and to that stalwart independence which 
 never once bent to flattery nor fear. We have 
 been told by reverend lips iJiat this commemo- 
 ration is an idolatry of intellect, a deification 
 of man. It is no such thing. It is the godlike 
 which was incarnated in this man that we com- 
 memorate, and that will be a bad day for the 
 world when the great qualities which Burns 
 possessed cease to call forth a commemoration 
 such as the present. I would ask those men 
 who condemn these festivals to sit in judgment 
 upon their own hearts, and see if their hostility 
 to Burns does not proceed from that spiritual 
 pride, and that deification of self, upon which a 
 greater than Burns has pronounced an emphatic 
 denunciation. While we cherish in our dearest 
 remembrance the deeds of the patriot, wliile 
 we hold in our highest estimation the memory 
 of that statesman who, by the splendour of his 
 talents, the rectitude of his conduct, and the 
 wisdom of his policy, has given stability to the 
 institutions of a country and happiness to a 
 people, while human gratitude is accorded to a 
 teacher of noble lessons, of virtue, courage, 
 independence, and truth, so long must we 
 admire a poet like Burns, whose songs bind 
 our hearts more firmly to our country, make us 
 cherish more deeply those national and indivi- 
 dual rights and liberties which our fathers pur- 
 chased for us with their blood, and remind us 
 that nobility in man is not dependent upon the 
 outward circumstances of his lot. Working- 
 men especially have a right to be proud of 
 Burns, and are bound by the greatest possible 
 considerations to revere his memory as the man 
 of all others who has taught them self-respect. 
 His genius is the exclusive property of no one 
 class, but much of his teaching is specially 
 addressed to those who earn their bread by the 
 sweat of their brow. 
 
 Miss Aitken read "The Cottar's Saturday 
 Night" with a force and appreciation of the 
 spirit of the poem, which drew down the 
 
 warmest plaudits of the crowded audience; 
 and in " Scots wha hae" she fairly electrified 
 her hearers. This lady also read the fine poem 
 " The Mountain Daisy," and a portion of " To 
 Mary in Heaven," with exquisite taste and feel- 
 ing. Miss Smith in every one of her songs 
 achieved a decided success, proving still more 
 emphatically the correctness of the opinion, that 
 as a singer of Scotch songs, more especially of 
 the songs of Burns, she has no living superior in 
 Scotch concert-rooms. Mr. Eennie was loudly 
 applauded in all his songs. Mr. Weir also accom- 
 plished wonders, not only as a singer, but as a 
 reader. His rendering of " The Haggis " 
 would have satisfied Burns himself, and satisfied 
 the audience so much that he had to repeat it. 
 Mr. Julian Adams performed in his usual effi- 
 cient style. 
 
 The chapel was crowded in every part, and 
 so great was the demand for tickets after every 
 one had been disposed of, that the chapel could 
 have been filled twice over. We have, in fact, 
 never seen the enthusiasm of the "bairns" 
 more emphatically displayed with reference to 
 any event. 
 
 FETTERCAIRN.— The commemoration of 
 the first centenary of the natal day of the im- 
 mortal bard of Scotland, Robert Burns, was 
 celebrated at Fettercairn, on Tuesday, in a 
 manner becoming the auspicious occasion, and 
 the respect and gratitude cherished by the in- 
 habitants of the village and district for the 
 genius and inimitable poetry of the great poet. 
 A numerous party sat down to an excellent 
 dinner in Mr. Lindsay's Inn — Sir John S. 
 Forbes in the chair, supported by Mr. A. 0. 
 Cameron, Mr. John Diirie, Denstrath, Mr. 
 Smith, Balmain, and Mr. D. Durie, Fettercairn. 
 Major M'Inroy of The Burn acted as croupier, 
 and discharged the duties with his accustomed 
 ability and tact. After dinner, the Chairman 
 proposed in succession, " The Queen," " The 
 Prince Consort and the Royal Family," and 
 " The Army and Navy." Sir John next pro- 
 posed the toast of the evening, " The Immortal 
 Memory of Burns," in a highly eloquent and 
 effective speech, in which he traced the genius 
 of Burns, and pointed out the peculiar char- 
 acteristics and striking beauties of the inimitable 
 eiTusions of the Poet of Scotland. The toast 
 was drunk with enthusiastic applause; and Mr. 
 J. Durie sung in fine style, " Robin's awa." 
 Altogether, the celebration was very successful, 
 the evening was spent with great harmony and 
 hilarity, and will be doubtless long remembered 
 by those who had the happiness to be present. 
 
 FETTERNEAR. — Burns' centenary was 
 celebrated in this usually quiet neighbourhood 
 
248 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 in a style worthy of, and in keeping with, the 
 occasion. A ])arty of about fifty, farmers and 
 others, met to dinner in the School. The 
 duties of chairman were very efficiently per- 
 formed by Mr. Black, schoolmaster, ably sup- 
 ported by Mr. Taylor, gardener, as croupier, 
 who contributed greatly to the hilarity of the 
 evening. The Chairman gave, in an appropriate 
 speech, " The Memory of Burns," whose char- 
 acter he beautifully portrayed. The croupier, 
 after some excellent remarks on Burns and his 
 writings, gave " The health of the Poet's Sons." 
 A choir, got together on a few days' previous 
 notice, contributed greatly to the entertain- 
 ment of the evening by singing several of 
 Burns' admirable songs in excellent style. The 
 youth and beauty of the district, to tlie number 
 of about 200, celebrated the event by a spirited 
 ball in the evening. 
 
 FOCHABERS.— The Burns centenary was 
 celebrated here by two parties — the one in the 
 Gordon Arms Hotel, and the other in the Star 
 Inn. Both were well attended, and passed off 
 in the happiest possible manner. At the Gor- 
 don Arms, Mr. Lilly, overseer of salmon fish- 
 ings, was in the chair, and Mr. John Grant, 
 innkeeper, acted as croupier, both of whom per- 
 formed their respective duties with much in- 
 telligence, taste, and feeling. Several good 
 speeches were delivered in the course of the 
 evening, and the hilarity of the meeting was 
 enhanced by the singing of some of Burns' best 
 songs by Mr. Mitchell, jun., and two or three 
 others of the party. 
 
 EORFAR. — This great national festival was 
 celebrated in Forfar with all due honours. At 
 three o'clock the steeple bells began to ring a 
 merry peal. The meetings were many and 
 various. The only public one, which was held 
 in the Town Hall, was decidedly a bumper, the 
 hall being completely filled; and the Provost 
 occupied the chair. In introducing the toast 
 of the evening, the Provost (James Craik, jun.) 
 made an eloquent speech of considerable length, 
 going over in detail the principal points in the 
 poet's life, and alluding in feeling language to 
 the part that the late Lord Panmure took in 
 providing for the family of the poet. In the 
 course of his speech the Provost made the fol- 
 lowing remarks: — Gifted with an imagination 
 of the finest quality, possessed of a command 
 of language that seems perfectly inexhaustible, 
 and with a large stock of common sense and 
 prudence to guide him in the proper arrange- 
 ment of his materiel, he has all the elements of 
 a great poet. But besides he is especially the 
 poet of the j)eople. He is not one of the upper 
 ten thousand, who sing of the joys and sorrows, 
 
 the habits and pursuits of those beneath him as 
 hearsay things, giving them a false or distorted 
 colouring, from want of intimate practical know- 
 ledge. Belonging to the people by birth, and 
 by predilection too, having studied them in all 
 their aspects, in their loves, their hates, their 
 joys, their sorrows, their virtues and vices, 
 when he awoke into song his feelings gushed 
 forth with a fullness and freshness, a truth and 
 pathos, that charmed while it astonished. The 
 people by him were never misrepresented, and 
 hence placed unbounded confidence in him. 
 They honoured him when alive, and revere bis 
 memory now that he is dead. " The Cottar's " 
 Saturdtiy Night " is one of the noblest poems in 
 any language, and as we read it, and remember 
 that the picture here so beautifully drawn was 
 by no means over-coloured, but, in fact, a true 
 representation of the family to which he be- 
 longed, and besides, that it was a picture which 
 delineated the mode in which the week was 
 closed at hundreds of cottars' firesides at that 
 day, need we wonder that the man who sketched 
 it with so masterly a hand was all but idolized 
 by the class whose tone of morality he exhibited 
 in so pleasing a light. 
 
 The Free Masons had also a numerous meet- 
 ing, presided over by their R.W.M., Dr. Ed- 
 ward. In fact, the meetings were so numerous 
 that to describe them all would be endless. 
 The ladies even could not forget that the poet 
 was an admirer of the fair sex; and they, too, 
 had their meeting in honour of the occasion. 
 Taking the celebration all in all, the 25th was 
 a day that will long be remembered in Forfar. 
 
 FORRES. — 'The Burns centenary was cele- 
 brated here with great enthusiasm. There was 
 first a grand procession of the trades, who were 
 marshalled at the Court-House at one o'clock, 
 and marched through the different streets of 
 the town. The procession, when formed, ex- 
 tended, three abreast, from the cross to the 
 west end of the town, and, with their sashes, 
 aprons, and other insignia, had altogether a 
 most picturesque and splendid appearance. 
 
 After the walk, the different trades adjourned 
 to their respective inns, and dined in honour of 
 the occasion. 
 
 A dinner took place in the Assembly Rooms 
 of the Mechanics' Institute — Bailie Mackenzie 
 in the chair. The croupiers were R. Davidson, 
 Esq., and W. Sclanders, Esq. The Chairman, 
 after giving the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 proposed the " Memory of Burns " in a glow- 
 ing speech, in the course of which he said: 
 Apart from the deep fountain of enjoyment 
 which Burns has bequeathed to his kind, he is, 
 through his works, a great moral teacher. If 
 he has lashed hypocrisy, meanness, and vice 
 
FORRES— FOWLIS-WESTER. 
 
 249 
 
 witli merciless severity, liis works giow with 
 every manly and generous sentiment, and have 
 done much to elevate the mind and purify the 
 taste of his countrymen. (Hear, hear.) Gifted 
 by Nature with great talents, she also imbued 
 him with strong passions, but before harshly- 
 condemning one who is now nearly threescore 
 and ten years in his grave, we must make just 
 allowance for manners and customs prevalent 
 in his time, and of which the young of the 
 Ijresent day have faint conception. True 
 Christian charity, instead of drawing his " frail- 
 ties from tlieir dread abode," would rather draw 
 a veil ovem dnat cannot be excused — (hear) — 
 But which, when compared with the influence 
 for good which his writings have exercised, and 
 still will exercise, are but as dust in tlie balance. 
 (Great applause.) But if the merits of the 
 poet are great, great also is tlie recognition. 
 The ovation this day paid- to his memory is 
 unparalleled in the annals of our literature. 
 (Cheers.) 
 
 It is needless to say that the toast was 
 drunk with great enthusiasm. Several of 
 Burns' songs were sung during the evening. 
 
 The company had a very pleasant meeting, 
 after which they adjourned to the Concert 
 Room, where the Misses Wilson of Aberdeen 
 sung a selection of Burns' songs, accompanied 
 by the piano. Tlie hall was crowded, and the 
 singing of the Misses Wilson gave much satis- 
 faction. 
 
 The proceedings of the day passed off' with 
 the greatest quietness and decorum. 
 
 St. John's Lodge. — About 40 of the bre- 
 thren of tills Lodge sat down to dinner in the 
 Lodge in Tolbooth Street — the R.W.M. in the 
 chair. Mr. James Gillan, fiesher, secretary, 
 croupier. After the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts had been disposed of, the croupier, in an 
 excellent speech, gave " The Immortal Memory 
 of Robert Burns," which was drunk in solemn 
 silence. " The Sons of Burns " were then giv- 
 en by Mr. James Hendry. Otlier toasts and 
 sentiments followed, and several songs were 
 sung with a spirit known only to the brethren 
 of the mystic tie. The dinner, prepared by 
 Mrs. Fimister, was substantial and first-rate, 
 and gave great satisfaction. 
 
 The Carpenters dined in the Eagle Inn, 
 Mr. Wm. Boyne, carpenter, in the chair ; Mes- 
 srs. John Ross and Alex. Mackenzie, croupiers. 
 The dinner, furnished by Mr. Royan, was ele- 
 gant to a degree. After the usual loyal and 
 patriotic toasts had been done amplejustice to, 
 " The Memory of Burns " was proposed by the 
 chairman in a well-set speech and warmly re- 
 sponded to, as was also " The Surviving Rela- 
 tions of Burns," by Mr. Alex. Mackenzie. 
 " The Provost and Magistrates " were given 
 
 from the chair, and thanks for the use of the 
 Court House. A number of songs were sung 
 in capital style, and other toasts followed till 
 about ten o'clock, when the happy party broke 
 up. 
 
 The Hammermen assembled in the Eagle 
 Inn to dinner — Mr. Charles Rose in the chair, 
 and Mr. Christie, croupier. After a dinner 
 which called forth great encomiums on Mr. 
 Royan, the worthy host, the tables were re- 
 plenished with whisky punch. The usual loyal 
 and patriotic toasts being disposed of, the 
 Chairman, in appropriate terms, gave the toast 
 of the evening, " The Immortal Memory of 
 Robert Burns," which was drunk with all the 
 honours. Several other toasts of the family, 
 &c., were given and responded to. The hap- 
 piness and hilarity of the evening was greatly 
 enhanced by Mr. Christie singing a number of 
 choice songs, among which those of Burns pre- 
 dominated. After spending the evening witli 
 great conviviality and good feeling, the party 
 separated at nine o'clock — good night having 
 been at that hour proposed from the chair. 
 
 The Bakers dined in Naughten's Inn, Mr. 
 Findlaj', confectioner, in the chair, and Messrs. 
 L. Bell and J. Ferguson, croupiers. The din- 
 ner was excellently prepared by ' mine hostess,' 
 and gave high satisfaction. The usual prelimi- 
 nary toasts were given, and then the toast of 
 the evening, " The Memory of Burns," was 
 proposed from the chair. A number of songs 
 were most efficiently sung by the chairman and 
 others, and after a night spent in hilarity and 
 enjoyment, the meeting broke up. 
 
 The Shoemakers dined in the Castle Inn, 
 but as we have not been furnished with the 
 particulars, as of the other trades' meetings, we 
 are unable to refer to details. 
 
 The Band or Hope Committee. — A num- 
 ber of the committee of the Temperance Band 
 of Hope met in the Coffee House on the even- 
 ing of the 25th — Mr. John Jenkins, president, 
 in the chair. After tea there were a number 
 of speeches delivered, recitations given, and 
 songs sung, even till an early hour in the morn- 
 ing, when the members left, fully persuaded 
 that tliere was much more real enjoyment in 
 the participation of social intercourse over the 
 cup which cheers but not inebriates, than in 
 that "enemy which men admit into their 
 mouths to steal away their brains." 
 
 FOWLIS-WESTER.— On the evening of 
 tlie 25th, the centenary of Burns was cele- 
 brated in the school here, under the auspices 
 of the Total Abstinence Society. Mr. M'Diar- 
 mid opened the meeting with a few appropriate 
 remarks, and President Galloway, the chair- 
 man, addressed the numerous assemblage on 
 
250 
 
 THE BURlSrS CENTENARY, 
 
 the poetry of Burns. The merry dance then 
 commenced, to the well-tuned and well-played 
 strains of Messrs. Malcolm and M'Ara. The 
 whole of this happy evening's proceedings were 
 characterised with great good harmony and 
 friendly feelings, and at an early hour the com- 
 pany parted, chanting sweetly and merrily the 
 bard's lovely national air, " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 FRASERBURGH.— Here the bells were 
 rung at intervals during the day, and many of 
 the inhabitants hoisted flags. In the forenoon, 
 about 160 of the poor in town and neighbour- 
 hood were furnished with a supply of good 
 things in the Commissioners' Hall. The funds 
 for this purpose were provided by public sub- 
 scription. 
 
 In the evening, Mr. Gordon Lyall delivered 
 a lecture in the Commissioners' Hall, on 
 ' Home,' in the course of which he treated of 
 the genial influence of the writings of Burns. 
 To hear this lecture, the largest audience ever 
 we have seen in the above hall convened, the 
 number present being upwards of 600. Mr. 
 Ewing, of the Free Church School, occupied 
 the chair. The lecture was a complete suc- 
 cess, the audience being now convulsed with 
 laughter at the humour and now carried away 
 by the eloquence of the speaker. This is the 
 first time Mr. Lyall has treated his townsmen 
 by displaying his powers in this direction, and 
 we are sure there is not one of his hearers who 
 does not sincerely hope it will not be the last. 
 
 FREUCHIE.— The inhabitants of this place 
 held a meeting in the School-room on Tuesday 
 evening, in honour of the immortal Burns. 
 There were upwards of 200 present, and great 
 numbers could not be admitted for want of 
 room. Every one present was served with a 
 portion of Scotch haggis, &c. About thirty of 
 Burns' songs were sung in grand style. A 
 meeting where more harmony and innocent 
 amusement prevailed, we are sure, was not held 
 anywhere that night. The evening's proceed- 
 ings were brought to a close with a few hours' 
 dancing, to the enlivening strains of our instru- 
 mental band. 
 
 Another party, twenty-five in number, met 
 in the Female School-room to celebrate the 
 centenary. They were amply supplied with 
 roast beef, puddings, liquors, &c. Mr. James 
 Scott, merchant, occupied the chair ; and Mr. 
 Daniel Law, church-officer, acted as croupier. 
 After a number of the choicest songs of Burns 
 had been sung by some of the ladies present, 
 and by Mr. George Forsyth, dancing was com- 
 menced, and kept up until a pretty late hour, 
 the music being supplied by the brothers Wil- 
 son. Altogether, it was one of the happiest 
 
 nights ever spent in this place by a few 
 friends. 
 
 FRIOCKHEIM. — The Centenary banquet 
 in this village was a most successful and re- 
 spectable affiiir. Shortly after seven o'clock 
 the company assembled in the West School, 
 which was conveniently fitted up and tastefully 
 decorated for the occasion. About 130 of 
 both sexes were present. Mr. A. R. Laing of 
 the Glasterlaw Manure Works, occupied the 
 chair, and was supported by Mr. Duncan of 
 Legaston Quarries ; Mr. Grant, millspinner ; 
 and Mr. PuUar, banker, Arbroath. Messrs. 
 William Clark, millspinner, D. Falconer, farm- 
 er; and D. Paterson, shoemaker, filled the 
 croupiers' chairs. After supper (at which of 
 course the haggis was a prominent dish), and 
 the loyal and patriotic toasts. 
 
 The Chairman proceeded to propose the 
 toast of the evening. He said — A great name 
 must Robert Burns' indeed be, when we, 
 standing on the threshold of the second cen- 
 tury since his birth, can from that vantage 
 ground review his public claims, and ac- 
 cord to him an almost unqualified veneration. 
 One hundred years — a century with a most 
 eventful history — have fled since the birth of 
 him whom we delight to honour as the Poet of 
 Scotland, and who by his mighty genius rose 
 from the humble rank of a ploughman to be- 
 come the "observed of all observers." This 
 day one hundred years ago, the tender infant, 
 the first-born of William Burns (an immigrant 
 from the neighbouring shire of the Mearns), 
 first drew breath within the humble clay big- 
 gin' at AUoway. No heaven-piercing salute 
 awoke the echoes of the neighbouring and now 
 classic "Banks and braes o' Bonny Doon" to 
 welcome the little stranger ; but a " cauld blast 
 o' Januar' wind" alone "blew hansel in on 
 Robin." The Latin proverb, that a poet is 
 horn and not made, became strikingly illus- 
 trated as the child grew up in years. His na- 
 tural genius urged him to repair a defective 
 education, and his thirst for knowledge was 
 doubly strengthened by an all-absorbing wish 
 which accompanied him from his early years, 
 that he 
 
 " For poor auld Scotland's sake, 
 Some usefu' plan or book could make, 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 At all times this aspiration appears uppermost 
 in his thoughts. At the plough amid the scenes 
 of nature, in the midst of the family circle at 
 home, and abroad among his companions, this 
 desire of his heart was in constant though 
 quiet operation. His contemplative and acute 
 intellect was ever impressed with touches of 
 
GALASHIELS. 
 
 251 
 
 nature or of character, which bided their time 
 to find expression in his fervent writings. All 
 Burns' poetry exhibits an unmistalcable spirit of 
 truthfulness and manly earnestness ; and to this 
 and to the characteristic that his ruling desire to 
 do something for " Auld Scotland" creeps out 
 everywhere must be attributed, in a great 
 degree, the extraordinary success of Burns in 
 possessing himself of the ardent affections of 
 his fellow-countrymen. Many of our popular, 
 especially our modern, poets exhibit a mark- 
 ed straining after effect, and their effusions 
 are frequently the mere productions of the 
 head; but those of Burns were always the 
 poetry of the heart. The impression left on 
 their perusal is that of warm sympathy with 
 the writer. Whether he be satirical or seri- 
 ous, whether he sings his love of country, 
 love of women, ay, even love of drink ; whe- 
 ther he express contempt ,of cant or con- 
 tempt of foolish pride — in fact, whatever he 
 says, you feel — he makes a Scotsman feel — a 
 fraternal sympathy with his sentiments. To 
 the great facts that this spirit of sincerity and 
 the Scottish element so strongly predominate 
 in the poetry of Burns are to be attributed this 
 day's commemoration. Is it not an extraordi- 
 nary and most gratifying sight this day wit- 
 nessed, not only " frae Maidenkirk to John o' 
 Groat's," but throughout the great globe itself, 
 of one universal demonstration in honour of 
 this disinterested and gifted son of Auld Scot- 
 land ? A whole nation — the whole world — 
 prostrating itself to do homage to the genius 
 and to reverence the memory of a ploughman 
 bard ! Never in history has such a spectacle 
 been presented. It is indeed a grand sight to 
 find unobtrusive merit receiving an ovation 
 such as the greatest monarch or conqueror 
 never received, and of which the very greatest 
 would have been proud. This high position of 
 our poet has only been reached by slow stages. 
 The neglect of poets during life has been long 
 proverbial; and many of you cannot fail to 
 recall the sarcastic couplet referring to the fa- 
 ther of Grecian poetry — 
 
 " Seven cities claim the birth of Homer dead, 
 Through which the living Homer begg'd his bread." 
 
 I would not, however, be inclined to apply this 
 sarcasm too harshly in reference to the case of 
 Burns. Recognition of genius is almost always 
 of slow growth ; and while we regret that 
 the favours of fortune were doled out capri- 
 ciously on him during his short life, we ought 
 to bear in mind that his writings had not 
 reached the hands of the general public, and 
 were then read principally by one class, and 
 chiefly to gratify the curiosity, which their ap- 
 pearance from the pen of a plain ploughman 
 
 had excited. A fictitious interest consequently 
 at that time attached itself to his writings, for 
 the public mind had not had opportunity to 
 appreciate the innate excellencies of his com- 
 positions. Daily since then, however, have his 
 poems ingratiated themselves in the Scottish 
 heart, until now in this our day and generation 
 have they become household words to all Scots- 
 men. After some farther remiirks on the indi- 
 vidual characteristics of our Poet's writings, the 
 Chairman concluded by calling on the company 
 to drink in silence to the " Memory of Kobert 
 Burns." 
 
 Altogether the meeting was a most respect- 
 able and most successful affair. 
 
 GALASHIELS. — The day was observed as 
 a holiday after 2 p.m. The whole of the popu- 
 lation turned out, and all appeared anxious to 
 do honour to the occasion. The devoirs of the 
 day were divided ; and we shall as briefly as 
 possible give the details of the public ceremo- 
 nies in the town of Galashiels. 
 
 The Pdblio Dinner at Abbotsford 
 Hotel. — Upwards of fifty assembled in the 
 Abbotsford Arms large saloon, which was veiy 
 appropriately decorated in honour of the day. 
 At the Chairman's seat, in a recess, was erected 
 a life-size bust of our immortal poet, fresh from 
 the studio of Mr. Currie of Darnick, and the 
 original of which was placed on the same occa- 
 sion in the Crystal Palace. The bust of Burns 
 was encircled with a chaplet of holly and ber- 
 ries, under a canopy of chastely arranged ever- 
 greens, and busts of Sir Walter Scott and Pro- 
 fessor Wilson were also crowned with poetic 
 bays. The whole arrangements, though simple, 
 were highly effective and appropriate. 
 
 The chair was taken at 4 p.m. by Dr. 
 M'Dougall, who had on his right hand John 
 Cochrane, Esq., Chief Magistrate, and on the 
 left John Pringle, Esq., writer. The croupier's 
 seat was filled by Mr. A. Rutherford, writer, 
 supported right and left by Mr. J. Stalker 
 and Mr. Adam Thomson. The dinner was 
 served up in excellent style, and the whole 
 arrangements were carried out with such ala- 
 crity and good taste as to call forth a very de- 
 cided expression of opinion as to the hearty 
 and considerate manner in which Mr. and Mrs. 
 Toward had entered into the spirit of the 
 event. 
 
 Tlie Chairman proposed the various loyal 
 toasts — that of the "Army and Lord Clyde" 
 being given and received with unbounded ap- 
 plause. 
 
 The Chairman then rose, and said— The 
 
252 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 special toast of this evening is to the memory 
 of our own immortal bard, Robert Burns — one 
 of nature's noblest sons — whose works have 
 lived for eighty long years in the loearts and 
 homes of Scotland ; and whose fame and genius 
 will live so long as Scotchmen are true to Scot- 
 land, and so long as the human heart beats 
 with kindred love and sympathy. After a 
 lengthened review of the state of literature in 
 Scotland and its literary men at the advent of 
 Burns, the Chairman observed — Burns pre- 
 eminently possessed the comprehensive power 
 of genius — a faculty or gift of nature which 
 elevates man to a region in ■which he intui- 
 tively perceives the divine relations of being, 
 and in which Truth, always coy, permits her 
 lovely features to be seen and known. Whether 
 at morning dawn or in the tempest — on the 
 heathery moor and fell or by the purling wa- 
 ter-brook — by the ingle of the virtuous peasant 
 or in watching the changes of the glorious 
 firmament on high — genius tracks the pathway 
 of divine harmony and beauty — leading from 
 nature to its Almighty author. Thus does she 
 become the bright medium by which the high- 
 est and noblest attributes of the human soul 
 become the common property of mankind. The 
 genius of Shakspeare was all comprehensive of 
 human nature — embracing within its grasp 
 every mood and state of the mind — " every 
 diversity of rank, age, and sex, down to the 
 exquisite prattle of childhood — the king and 
 the beggar — the hero and the pickpocket— the 
 sage and the idiot, speak and act with equal 
 truthfulness." On the other hand, the genius 
 of Bacon enabled him to descry through the 
 misty and murky atmosphere of a time-hon- 
 oured but false philosophy, the ceaseless and 
 irresistible power of divine law — regulating all 
 things, from the smallest fly which dances in 
 the sunbeam, to the mightiest spheres which 
 circulate through space. But to the genius of 
 Burns, nature added the garment of love, cloth- 
 ing his whole nature with a radiance and 
 beauty which shine in every line and thought 
 of his immortal poems. No poet has ever sur- 
 passed him in the power by which he renders 
 things, apparently the most common and indif- 
 ferent, objects of love and interest. Born in 
 poverty, and reared in a family where every 
 Christian duty was strictly adhered to — where 
 prudence, self-sacrifice, and devoted toil were 
 the stern dictators of their fortunes, he, at an 
 age when other youths are left to their gambols 
 and play, was toiling early and late to main- 
 tain the position of a worthy and venerated 
 ])arent — incurring physical toils of such a se- 
 vere nature (at his age) as strained his heart 
 and laid the foundations of that disease which 
 brought him, after years of untold suffering, to 
 
 an early grave. Amidst it all, like a hero, he 
 toiled on gallantly and cheerfully ; and during 
 his " scrimped leisure hours" poured forth 
 poems which not only led captive the hearts of 
 liis rude contemporaries, to whom they were 
 first communicated, but which have also warmed 
 the hearts of all who have since perused them. 
 This period of his life was to him the most 
 happy and satisfactory, for in it his habits and 
 his nature were in complete harmony — his 
 glorious idiosyncrasies were undefiled by the 
 world. Cast among the peasantry of Scotland, 
 he not only realized his position as one of 
 themselves, but he ennobled their habits, con- 
 secrated their pursuits, and dignified his coun- 
 try by poems full of vigour and manly beauty, 
 and which will continue to glorify them so long 
 as they are faithful to the habits and virtues 
 which Burns so exquisitely illustrated. One of 
 -the most marvellous characteristics of his ge- 
 nius was his power over " our ain gude auld 
 Scotch." With the rude Doric of Scotland 
 Burns expressed every sentiment and emotion 
 which can influence or touch the human heart 
 — with it he made every line a pictwre — every 
 verse a history. In his hands the language of 
 Scotland became the most perfect and the most 
 powerful in expression belonging to any coun- 
 try — and associated with his genius it will live 
 throughout all ages. (Cheers.) No artist 
 ever painted natural scenery with such force 
 and truth. His pictures are not only perfect as 
 exquisite sketches of nature — they are at the 
 same time jubilant with life. The song of the 
 lintwhite and mavis — the croonin of the cushat 
 fill the air with melody — ^to the bleat of the 
 lambkins which play owre the braes, while 
 nature in her green mantle arrays with a robe of 
 loveliest beauty and purity that graceful maiden 
 — whose bright image occupies the foreground. 
 Scotland for centviries before his day was rich 
 in those heartfelt lyrics which stereotype the 
 genius and idiosyncrasies of her people. The 
 heart of Burns was made drunk with the nectar 
 and sweetness of Scotland's wood-notes wild ; 
 and, in the intoxication of genius, he seized 
 the unclaimed melodies and spirit of his native 
 land, and clothed them in forms of loveliest 
 grace and purity. In them we have depicted 
 the pure rays of the morning dawn of life^ 
 when the aspirations of love — the dream of 
 life's happiness — the glowing and brilliant 
 hopes of a future — the poetry and love of 
 nature — are all made subordinate to the one 
 object of the soul — the casket of all life's 
 hopes, lovely woman. (Loud cheers.) No 
 man has rendered those intense and divinely 
 appointed relations of mankind in pictures so 
 true, so beautiful, so precious, as Robert Burns. 
 But it was not at the threshold of life that he con- 
 
GALASHIELS. 
 
 253 
 
 fined his sympathies and his genius— he entered 
 the cottage of the peasant, and there, in lines 
 of matchless power, ennobled and consecrated 
 the virtues and religion of Scotland's peasantry. 
 In his " Cottar's Saturday Night " we have a 
 poem, for graphic description, pure feeling, and 
 religious pathos, unequalled in any language. 
 If Burns had never written another line than 
 this noble poem, his genius deserved the uni- 
 \ersal anthem wliich the hearts of his country- 
 men have sung this day. The heart of Robert 
 Burns was all-comprehensive of man's most 
 sacred and hallowed feelings — there is not a 
 virtue which is not manifested in his works. 
 The poems of Burns recall to the careworn 
 man of the world the healthy and happy in- 
 fluences of his youth, when nature was all love- 
 liness and beauty to him — when religion and 
 love glowed in his heart — when " the lark, be- 
 tween light and dark, blytjje wakens by the 
 daisy's side, and mounts and sings on flutter- 
 ing wings," — and when the green hills and re- 
 joicing nature, waving her leafy locks, made 
 his heart bound with hope into a bright futu- 
 rity — alas ! but too frequently quenched in the 
 seething whirlpool of life. Even to such the 
 pages of Burns never fail to refresh and sloken 
 the weary and thirsty heart with draughts of 
 pure feeling and love. The crime of blasphemy 
 has been laid to his charge in Holy Willie's 
 Prayer, and in the Holy Fair. Do you believe 
 that Burns would treat religion with contempt? 
 No, you do not. (Cheers.) A nature so honest 
 and glorious as his was, could not for one mo- 
 ment endure to see hypocrisy stalking forth 
 with a sad face and upturned eyes, while all 
 \\itliin was dark-seething passions and sensual- 
 ity. That prayer was nailed to the door-post 
 of the hypocrite to warn others from a sin at 
 once the most grievous to the interests of reli- 
 gion, and to man's best nature. This day we 
 have met, not to do honour to a dead man, but 
 to a living genius — a genius who still waves 
 over our heads tiie banner of Scotland's faith — 
 of Scotland's worth — of Scotland's homes and 
 happiness — who inscribed love, honour, and 
 independence upon its waving pendant — (re- 
 newed cheers) — and his memory will live so 
 long as the hearts of Scotia's sons can be at- 
 tuned to harmony and love by the notes from 
 tliat harp whose strings were not derived from 
 earth, but sent to proclaim in words which 
 ravish the heart, that, after all, man can do 
 only one thing for himself — that is, to be "an 
 honest man, the noblest work of God." The 
 eloquent speech of the Ciiairman was illustrated 
 throughout by appropriate quotations from the 
 ))oems of the bard. The toast was received 
 with tremendous applause, after the subsiding 
 of which, Mr. John Crosbie sung, with fine 
 
 effect and spirit, the song of " A man's a man 
 for a' that." 
 
 The next toast was proposed by the Croupier, 
 Mr. Alex. Eutherford, who said — Mr. Chair- 
 man and gentlemen — The toast which I have 
 the honour to propose is to the " Memory of 
 Scott;" and I am sure that anywhere in Scot- 
 land, the land of Scott, and to an assembly of 
 Scotchmen, such a toast cannot fail to be ac- 
 ceptable ; but here, hard by the Tweed, the 
 district that he loved so well, and where now 
 all that is mortal of him rests, it has double 
 claims upon our enthusiasm. Upon this occa- 
 sion. Sir, it may be interesting to remember 
 that Walter Scott may be said to have derived 
 literary ordination from Kobert Burns. Once, 
 and only once, they met ; yet short as was the 
 meeting, it was characteristic of both. It was 
 at Edinburgh, amid a host of literary celebri- 
 ties, that the poet turned his dark eye upon 
 the lame lad, and said, " You'll be a man yet." 
 I need not say. Sir, that these words were pro- 
 phetic, though Burns never dreamed they were 
 to be so gloriously realized. He never dreamed 
 that the pale boy before him was to become the 
 greatest literary character of his age, and tlie 
 Shakspeare of Scotland. Yet so it was. As 
 in Shakspeare, so in Scott, we know not at 
 which of his great qualities to be most aston- 
 ished ; whether at the splendour of his concep- 
 tions, or at the profusion with which he poured 
 them forth. All the world seemed tributary 
 to his mighty genius. The magician had but 
 to wave his wand, and the past of every clime 
 seemed to live again. The gentlemen of France 
 were charging for the golden lilies ; the fierce 
 marauders of Germany were spurring through 
 the passes of the Bhineland; the Hidalgos of 
 Spain and the Chevaliers of Italy were doing 
 battle for the honour of the cross upon the 
 fields of Palestine ; and, in our own land, the 
 fiery cross was passing from hamlet to hamlet in 
 the north, and all our borders were resounding 
 with the clash of arms, and the heavy tread 
 of the marchmen. He delighted to carry us 
 back to the time when the deeds of arms 
 was the staple incident of every-day life. 
 It was his mission to bring vividly before us 
 the past of the middle ages, and to make what 
 Burke called the departed glory of Europe to 
 I'eturn. But, after all, this is only the outline 
 — the setting, if I may so speak, which con- 
 tains those gems of his fancy, his wit, his hu- 
 mour, and those touches so true to nature, that 
 are all within. Within the rough setting we 
 have graphically painted all the feelings and 
 the manners of every rank and grade of life. 
 Here we have the stately courtesies of princes 
 and courtiers — there, the lively jests and repar- 
 tee of rustics ; here the inimitable active hu- 
 
254 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 mour of Eddie Ochiltree or Cuddy Headrig — 
 there, the still more inimitable passive humour 
 of Andrew Fairservice or Dugald Dalgetty. 
 Here, there, and everywhere, we have the 
 schemes and the phases of almighty love : and 
 in " Ivanhoe," all instinct with the spear and 
 the drum as it is, has he not " embodied in a 
 Jewish maiden all our highest conceptions of 
 female loveliness," and made a daughter of the 
 despised race of Israel the very type and en- 
 sample of noble womanhood 1 (Cheers.) But, 
 Sir, it were an endless task to pick single 
 grains of wheat from a thrashing floor. It is 
 beautifully said upon the tombstone of the great 
 architect. Sir Christopher Wren, who lies buri- 
 ed in St. Paul's, " If you seek his monument, 
 look around you." Who does not feel that 
 that simple gravestone, with these noble words, 
 is a prouder monument than if a masterpiece 
 of Canova had risen over the place of his rest 1 
 It seems to say — " In the shadow of that migh- 
 ty pile — the offspring of his genius — what need 
 of a monument to the dead ? Look around 
 you." So with still greater propriety, if not 
 with so much literal truth, may we say of Scott 
 — not that the monumental marble is awant- 
 ing, for the sculptor's art has exhausted the 
 pomp of woe, and the genius of Chantrey and 
 Kemjj have given 
 
 " Bond in stone and ever-during brass," 
 
 that his lineaments will be handed down to 
 posterity for ever ; but if we would see his tru- 
 est triumph — if we would behold his proudest 
 monument — we must look through the homes 
 and by the firesides of the many tribes and 
 nations of two continents, all of whom his 
 works, in their diverse tongues, have delighted, 
 amused, and instructed. It is often, Sir, a 
 melancholy subject of contemplation to turn 
 from the genius to the man ; but the man Wal- 
 ter Scott has nothing to fear from a compari- 
 son with the genius. There was nothing little 
 about him — but singularly free from all envies 
 find jealousies, often the besetting sins of great 
 minds — he was a high-souled, noble-minded 
 man, view him in what aspect we may. We 
 all know the story of his life. With what a 
 full tide all the rarest gifts of fortune seemed 
 to flow upon him — there seemed to be no illu- 
 sion in which he might not safely indulge. He 
 had within him in that wondrous brain of his 
 the potentiality of growing rich beyond even 
 the dreams of avarice. As has been well said, 
 he made the barren sides of Parnassus yield 
 more lavishly than all the mines of Mexico or 
 Peru. All this. Sir, we know, but we know 
 also that there was a reverse ; how adversity — 
 withering, blighting ad\'fersity— -came upon him 
 as an armed man, and then, Sir, is it that we 
 
 lose sight of the poet, the novelist, and the ge- 
 nius, in the man. He might have succumbed. 
 No one could have blamed him if he had ; but, 
 like one of his own heroes, his resolute spirit 
 disdained to yield without a struggle, and in 
 old age, with failing health and the friends of 
 his youth fast dropping around him, he set 
 himself to liquidate the gigantic liabilities he 
 might have legally left undischarged. He died, 
 it is true, in the struggle, but not before he 
 had, in the space of six years, placed .£60,000 
 to the account of his creditors. (Hear.) Truly 
 of him it may be said, that "his eye, even 
 when turned on empty space, beamed keen 
 with honour." The deeds of his life are the 
 best commentary upon his own lines — 
 
 " Tlien, sound the trumpet, fill the fife, 
 And to the sensual world proclaim — 
 One crowded hour of glorious life 
 Is worth an age without a name.'' 
 
 Well may we be proud. Sir, that a man great 
 in so many walks — the great minstrel, and the 
 novelist without even a brother near the throne 
 — well, I say, may we be proud that such a 
 man was a Scotchman, especially proud that he 
 was a near neighbour — one who has walked in 
 our streets, been a guest at our festive board, 
 and was Sheriff of Selkirkshire. 
 
 The toast was received with great enthusiasm. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Dobson, in his characteristic man- 
 ner, here recited the poem of " The Twa Dogs," 
 which was welcomed with shouts of laughter 
 and applause. 
 
 Mr. A. FiSHEB then rose and spoke as fol- 
 lows: — After the graceful chaplet which the 
 croupier has laid on the mausoleum of Sir Wal- 
 ter Scott, it remains for me briefly to ]iay a 
 generous tribute to the memory of the third 
 man of letters whose name and fame will be 
 dear to us while the Scotch or English language 
 endures. Professor Wilson, if I may use the 
 metaphor, forms the third corner stone of the 
 imperishable pyramid which has been reared on 
 the soil of our national literature. True, lie 
 was not a great lyricist, or song-writer, like 
 Burns, though he was a poet of the truest 
 stamp. He was not a great novelist or histori- 
 an like Scott, though his tales of Scottish life 
 have thrilled all our heart-strings, and the sha- 
 dow of their plaintive sadness has moved many 
 minds to melancholy, and many an eye to tears. 
 But Wilson exercised in his capacity of critic 
 an influence equal and sometimes superior to 
 both, as the large-hearted, philosophic, and 
 liberal expounder of the writings and thoughts 
 of others. Next to Burns and Scott, he stands 
 forth as the largest-hearted and most devotedly 
 Scottish of any modern author. It wa^at one 
 time complained that Wilson had written too 
 
GALASHIELS. 
 
 255 
 
 little for his gigantic powers — that his muse was 
 fickle, and that all he had left were only a num- 
 ber of fragmentary, but great and magnificent, 
 blocks, rough-hewn from the quarry of his fer- 
 tile genius. That idea has been dispelled by 
 the goodly volumes which his son-in-law, Pro- 
 fessor Ferrier, has given to the world, forming, 
 as De Quincey prophesied they would, " a flo- 
 rilegium of thoughts the most profound, and 
 the most gorgeously illustrated that exist in 
 human composition." Indeed, we know of no 
 man in any country who exhibits such a prodi- 
 gality of talent of every order in his writings — 
 from gay to grave — from sad to humorous — 
 from simple to sublime — from homely truthful- 
 ness to high soaring philosophy — as does this 
 gifted Scotsman so lately removed from amongst 
 us. In many respects Wilson resembled Burns. 
 In physical form the two were cast in Nature's 
 noblest mould, though the extraordinary physi- 
 cal development of Wilson had something of 
 an ApoUonic grace, with a leonine deportment 
 about it, which no description can convey. 
 Both were ardently devoted to Scotland, her 
 manners, her peasantry, her language, and 
 equally hated alf shams and hypocrisy as cor- 
 dially as they hated fops. Cockneys, and 
 Frenchmen. The patriotism of Wilson was of 
 the most exalted and devoted order ; and never 
 is he more powerful than when dwelling upon 
 this theme in his critical articles on the genius 
 of Burns — of whom he was the warm defender, 
 and the best exponent — warmer and even more 
 heartily attached to the character of the man 
 than his great apologist, Thomas Carlyle. For 
 his noble vindication of Burns alone, his 
 memory will ever be green in our hearts. As 
 to his private character, those who, like my- 
 self, had the inestimable pleasure of sitting at 
 his feet and enjoying his friendship, know how 
 to estimate the great goodness, the tenderness, 
 the simplicity, and the manliness of his heart. 
 Hundreds of the youth of Scotland and else- 
 where have been indebted to him for a word 
 of kind encouragement, spoken in season, and 
 have sprung forward on a noble career of fame, 
 cheered by his praise. Mr. Fisher concluded 
 by some interesting allusions to Wilson's con- 
 nection with the Border district. The "Memory 
 of Professor Wilson" was drunk with hearty 
 cheers. 
 
 Mr. P. Coldwell gave "The Memory of 
 James Hogg, and the Lyric Poetry of the 
 Border." 
 
 Various other toasts were given, and the 
 evening was greatly enlivened and varied by a 
 number of excellent songs and recitations. The 
 proceedings terminated at the eleventh hour 
 by all singing "Auld Langsyne," and "each 
 taking off their several way," sorry only that 
 
 such an event is not likely to occur again in 
 the life of any one present. The arrangements 
 of mine host and hostess of the Abbotsford 
 were admirable, and were properly acknow- 
 ledged in a toast proposed by Mr. H. Monteath. 
 
 Dinner in Salmon Inn. — At this well- 
 known establishment, on the 25th, a numerous 
 company of operatives and others assembled to 
 do honour to the ploughman bard, under the 
 presidency of Mr. George Mercer, and John 
 Marshall, croupier. There was a splendid dis- 
 play of all kinds of comedibles, including the 
 " King o' the Pudding Eace," and other 
 favourite Scotch dishes. 
 
 The Chairman introduced the toast of the 
 evening in a characteristic speech, of which we 
 give an extract: — In order fully to estimate 
 the character and genius of Burns, it is im- 
 perative that we glance at the history of the 
 country about the time he wrote. Prior to his 
 birth, there had arisen a religious controversy, 
 which developed and brought about a revolu- 
 tion of ideas in the minds of many, and which 
 doubtless took a strong hold of Burns' father, 
 who had watched with great anxiety the issues 
 of the contest. A few eminent men left the 
 church, and others within her pale maintained 
 the struggle for sound religion. Burns, evi- 
 dently from the " Cottar's Saturday Night," 
 did not espouse the side of the Calvinists, who 
 introduced the system of tent preaching — 
 which system was subjected to many immorali- 
 ties, particularly at the dispensation of the 
 Lord's Supper. To crush the serpent who had 
 coiled his fangs round manj', under the guise 
 of superstition and hypocrisy, the bard buckled 
 on his armour, and invoked the muse. He 
 calculated with precision the power of his 
 opponents, and laid bare, in the production of 
 the " Holy Fair," all the naked deforjnity and 
 baseness of the tent system. Some staggered 
 at such an exposure, others railed and denounced 
 Burns as a blasphemer and a drunkard — yet 
 the production stood unopposed. A few honest 
 spirits in every parish came forward and main- 
 tained the correctness and honesty of the stric- 
 tures. The superstructure fell, and supersti- 
 tion and hypocrisy were crushed. The plough- 
 man bard then stood forth as the champion and 
 defender of a sublime and innocent religion. 
 But was he rewarded for such disinterested- 
 ness? No, he was denounced as an aide-de- 
 camp to Satan — with all the ridiculous epithets 
 which man in a state of religious frenzy could 
 indulge in. Conscious of the integrity of his 
 purpose, and the honesty of his exposure, 
 Burns looked on unmoved. He had not long 
 to wait for another opportunity to expose the 
 hypocrisy of an elder (known by the cognomen 
 of Holy Willie). The character of this elder 
 
256 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 Burns held up to the world as one of the most 
 despicable. These exposures, rough and easy 
 as they were, would not have produced their 
 effects had they been written otherwise than 
 they were. Their unmistakable plainness 
 caused conviction — which conviction excited 
 inquiry, and led to the onward progress of 
 man. Thiers, in the history of the French 
 Consulate, says that the first French Kevolu- 
 tion advanced the civilization of Europe one 
 century, so with the "Holy Fair," it hurried 
 on liberty of opinion in Scotland. It had a 
 twofold aim — viz., advancing and exciting the 
 intellectual energies, and bearing down the 
 superstition and hypocrisy of the time. The 
 bard stands, therefore, in a noble light; and 
 look from whatever corner we may, he is one 
 of the Reformers of our country. 
 
 Operatives' Dinner. — The working men 
 of the town celebrated Burns' centenary in the 
 Old Bridge Inn by a public dinner, at which 
 170 persons were present. The dinner was 
 supplied by Mr. Maxwell of the Commercial 
 Inn. The chair was taken by Mr. James Wil- 
 son, and Mr. Robert Walker officiated as 
 croupier. 
 
 Mr. James Wilson, the chairman, delivered 
 a very eloquent address in proposing the " Me- 
 mory of Burns," in the course of which he said : 
 Gentlemen, — Destined to labour so many hours 
 every day, we have no time to settle poetic ex- 
 cellency by those canons which the art of criti- 
 cism has established. We learn promptly to 
 seize on the vital points of Burns' poetry, be- 
 cause they appeal at once to our judgment and 
 our heart. Burns' life naturally divides itself 
 into two great chapters. From thirteen to 
 twenty-three includes the first, and the second 
 embraces all his future years. I think the his- 
 tory of that first chapter has yet to be written. 
 You remember the statement of his brother 
 Gilbert, how at thirteen he was inured to the 
 labour of the barn — how at fifteen he was the 
 principal labourer on his father's farm — how the 
 advanced age of their loved father, and the toils 
 and over-exertions for the sustenance of the 
 family sank into tlie souls of these noble bro- 
 thers — how the most frugal fare had to be 
 economised in order to get all ends to meet — 
 how this was continued for ten long years, and 
 how the poet was always troubled with sick 
 headache, and often with low spirits. In these 
 ten years' endurance for his father and family, 
 lies a great and heroic chapter of the poet's life, 
 worthy of far higher praise than it has ever re- 
 ceived. He was throughout this long period 
 the gentle and loving brother — the watchful 
 and obedient son — the noble provider for all. 
 In Burns' endurance of his lot, we see no flying 
 in the face of heaven, nor repinings— no sense- 
 
 less, though eas3', tears, over his own fate dis- 
 figure his pages ; and yet during the early and 
 sternest period of his life, the bulk of hi% poetry 
 was written. And did not our hero reach the 
 very sublimity of the human position when, amid 
 all this great and arduous work, his genius — 
 fettered, constrained, restricted by circum- 
 stances, such as never were surpassed — rose 
 superior to all, and gave us his works full of 
 the dignity of human nature — the beauties of 
 God's earth, and teaching a noble resignation 
 to our fate ? Where is the man who has done 
 more? More has been written on the other 
 chapter of Burns' life. I need only say, very 
 generally, that it stretches out before me like 
 one of those dreams in which pleasure and pain 
 are so blent, that while we gaze on the one it 
 passes into the other — a strange mixture of life 
 and death and changing features — now the gay 
 robes of bridal processions, and anon the cere- 
 ments of the grave. It rises on our ear like 
 the triumphant march from a battle field, but 
 before we can catch the full symphony, it passes 
 into the slow and shrill wail of a soldier's fu- 
 neral procession. Some men have said they 
 saw virtue pointing the finger warnlngly at the 
 poet. I indignantly deny it. Our religion 
 prevents all prayers for the dead. Pity it is 
 that it does not also prevent the heaping up of 
 calumny on the grave of departed genius. I 
 may be allowed to add, that I feel little respect 
 for the judgment, and far less for the moral 
 worth of that man, who, standing by the side 
 of Burns' grave, and looking down the sad and 
 chequered path of the poet's life, can find room 
 in his soul for other feelings tlian pity and 
 reverence. Need I remind you that he never 
 wrote for party purposes. He never tickled 
 the world's ear for gold. He was true, earnest, 
 independent, to the last. His patriotism was a 
 passion ever within him. He scorned all mean- 
 ness, was no hypocrite, but poured out all his 
 soul in song, and kept no reserved seats in all 
 his capacious bosom. His lyre was no wild 
 impassionate dream of old worlds, but the hopes 
 and joys and sorrows of the human heart, with 
 which, like a glorious crown, he wreathed his 
 country's brow to adorn it for ever. If his 
 love of country, and his glorious Scottish poetry, 
 thus give him a chief place in the memory of 
 his country ;— his pathos, his tenderness, his 
 fine moral maxims, his sterling wisdom, give a 
 wider basis for a more extensive fame and a 
 greater reverence — a reverence wide as the 
 whole human family, and enduring through all 
 generations of toiling, struggling humanity. 
 (This address was much applauded.) 
 
 The evening's proceedings terminated with a 
 ball, which was very largely attended. The 
 company did not break up till three o'clock. 
 
GALLOWAY— GALSTOX. 
 
 257 
 
 Soiree in Union Street Chapel. — The 
 soiree held in honour of Burns' centenary was a 
 decided success. The house was filled to over- 
 flowing by an intelligent and enthusiastic audi- 
 ence ; and, for the lack of proper accommoda- 
 tion, hundreds were prevented from enjoying 
 the treat provided in the programme. 
 
 After tea, which was served up with great 
 taste and order, Mr. Adam Cochrane, jun., 
 manufacturer, who occupied the chair, opened 
 the proceedings in a few well-arranged and 
 appropriate remarks. William Hobkirk, Esq., 
 addressed the meeting on " The Keligion of 
 Burns." Mr. J. Baton gave an oration on 
 Burns. He spoke of his early life and home — 
 drew a vivid picture of the leading traits of 
 Burns' character, of the influence his songs and 
 poetry have had upon his countrymen — and 
 altogether held him up as a model, the standard 
 which he had set up for the government of his 
 own life. The address was loudly and warmly 
 applauded throughout its delivery. 
 
 Mr. William Dobson drew forth thunders of 
 applause in his recitations of " The Twa Dogs " 
 and " Tam o' Shanter." Miss Armstrong sung 
 " Highland Mary " and " The Lass o' Balloch- 
 myle " with great taste and power. Many 
 others of Burns' songs were sung. Mr. John 
 Sanderson played at intervals a variety of airs 
 upon the accordion. The grand finale — " Auld 
 Langsyne " — was then sung by the audience, 
 led by Mr. J. Thomson, when the meeting broke 
 up after 12 o'clock. 
 
 VATiiotrs. — Besides those meetings more fully 
 reported, held in this town, there was a dinner 
 of the working classes in Mrs. Leyden's Hotel, 
 and the town's band also dined together in the 
 same place. Also at the Kailway Hotel a dinner 
 was provided, where the chief item of the fare 
 was represented by various " chieftains o' the 
 puddin' race." In all the meetings good hu- 
 mour and harmony marked all the proceedings. 
 The " brethren of the mystic tie " of the St. 
 John's Lodge, Galashiels, resolved not to let the 
 opportunity pass without doing reverence to the 
 memory of their immortal bard. A good num- 
 ber assembled in the lodge-room of the Com- 
 mercial Inn, where, under the presidency of 
 Mr. W. Haldane, senior warden, the evening was 
 celebrated in true masonic fashion. The toast 
 of the evening was given from the chair with 
 great spirit, and the E.W.M., Mr. Fraser, secre- 
 tary, and other members, contributed greatly, 
 by their speeches, songs, and sentiments, to 
 make the event a notable feature in the rising 
 success of the resuscitated lodge. 
 
 GALLOWAY (New). — At 4 o'clock on 
 Tuesday, one hundred and twenty-five sat down 
 in the Town-hall, New Galloway, to a substan- 
 
 tial dinner, provided for the occasion by Mrs. 
 Wilson of the Kenmure Arms, presided over by 
 Wellwood Maxwell, Esq. of Glenlee, whose 
 warmth of feeling towards the memory of the 
 Poet, although at great personal inconvenience, 
 brought him from Liverpool for the occasion, 
 and whose oratorical and musical powers con- 
 tributed greatly to the enjoyment of the even- 
 ing. Provost Muir and Thomas Barbour, Esq. 
 of Dalshangan, croupiers. The loyal toasts 
 were given from the chair. Song, " Scots wha 
 hae," by Mr. T. Barbour. The memory of 
 Burns was then proposed by the Chairman — 
 song, " Kantin', rovin' Ilobin," by Mr. Ballan- 
 tine. The Memory of the parents, wife, and 
 relatives of the Poet, by Provost Muir. The 
 Living Eelatives of the Poet, by Mr. Barbour. 
 The British Poets, by the Chairman. The 
 Hon. Mrs. B. Gordon, by the Chairman. Ee- 
 citation, " Tam o' Shanter," by Mr. Turner. 
 Mrs. Maxwell, by Mr. Barbour ; replied to by 
 the Chair. The Clergy, by the Chair. The 
 Schoolmasters, by Mr. Weatherly ; Mr. Muir 
 replied. The Peasantry, by the Provost. Ee- 
 citation, " Cottar's Saturday Night," by Mr. 
 Dalziel. The Plough, by Mr. Turner. Various 
 other toasts were given. Songs were also sung 
 by the chairman, and Messrs. Blacklock, Bar- 
 ton, Foulds, Shaw, and Barbour. A song and 
 recitation, composed for the occasion, were given 
 by the authors, Messrs. Anderson and Ferguson. 
 In the evening a ball was opened in the new 
 room of the hall, which was attended by a large 
 number of the youth and beauty of the district. 
 At 12 o'clock upwards of 100 sat down to sup- 
 per, provided by Mrs. M'Kelvie, Cross Keys. 
 After supper dancing was resumed, and was 
 kept up with great spirit until an advanced 
 hour in the morning. The day was kept as a 
 holiday, and there was a discharge of several 
 pieces of ordnance placed on the heights of 
 Knockdavie. The bells also rung a merry peal 
 at intervals during the day, and the Union Jack 
 floated from the spire of the ancient steeple; in 
 the evening a splendid display of fireworks took 
 place. 
 
 GALSTON. — Here, as in every other p'ace, 
 the usual amount of demonstrations took place 
 on the 25th, in honour of our National Bard. 
 The principal meeting in the town was a soiree 
 held in the U. P. Church, where upwards of 
 600 persons were present. Mr. E. Howat occu- 
 pied tlie chair, and discharged its duties in a 
 very eflScient manner. He opened the meeting 
 very appropriately by giving a short sketch of 
 the life of the great Poet. Mr. Palmer, Mr. A. 
 Howat, Mr. Jas. Hendrie, Mr. M'Donald, and 
 Mr. Dudgeon, delivered some admirable ad- 
 dresses during the evening, principally on " The 
 
258 
 
 THE BUENS OENTENAKY. 
 
 Genius and Character of Burns;" the meeting 
 was also entertained by a number of Burns' 
 songs, the manner in which they were sung 
 reflecting credit upon the singers, who were ac- 
 companied by a Quadrille Band which also 
 varied the proceedings of the evening by play- 
 ing several pieces during the intervals and while 
 the refreshments were handed round. Altoge- 
 ther the meeting was worthy of the great na- 
 tional event which it had met to celebrate — the 
 centenary of our immortal poet, the Bard of 
 Coila. 
 
 There were several other meetings in the 
 town though of a less public nature, one of 
 which was a dinner in the Black Bull, where 
 about forty gentlemen had met to celebrate the 
 centenary in a somewhat more substantial man- 
 ner than by buns and oranges. Mr. Bell, parish 
 schoolmaster, occupied the chair, and Mr. Pater- 
 son acted as croupier. Another party also met 
 in the adjoining hall of the same Inn. There 
 was also a meeting under the auspices of the 
 Galston Literary and Debating Society, in the 
 house of Mr. R. Pat on, innkeeper; while another 
 party were assembled in the Loudoun Arms 
 Inn. And as a grand finale to all the fore- 
 going meetings, there was, what may be termed, 
 a spree under the patronage of the colliers, so 
 that, upon the whole, Galston has done her 
 part in a very spirited manner on this occasion, 
 and shown her love and admiration of the 
 great poet, in the enthusiastic assemblies met 
 to commemorate his genius. 
 
 GARGUNNOCK.— The centenary was cele- 
 brated here by a supper in Mrs. Hardie's. 
 There was a numerous attendance, and the 
 chair was ably filled by the Provost, while the 
 duties of croupier were performed by a strong 
 admirer of Burns, The toast of the evening 
 was given in very felicitous terms by the chair- 
 man, and "The Memory of other illustrious 
 Scotchmen" was proposed in an appropriate 
 speech by another member of the company. 
 Several songs were sung, and a piece of origi- 
 nal poetry composed for the occasion was read 
 amid great applause. A very happy evening 
 was spent, and the company separated at a 
 ]5roper hour. The supper was got up by Mrs. 
 Hardie in first-rate style. 
 
 GATEH0U8E-0F-ELEET.— A procession 
 of the brethren of St. Stephen's Lodge, accom- 
 panied by the various trades, each carrying 
 their appropriate banners, walked through the 
 streets in marching order, having Scotia's mu- 
 sic, the Highland pipes, to enliven the pro- 
 gress, followed by the fife and drum. The 
 Masons' Hall was prettily decorated for a pub- 
 lic dinner with evergreens, while the flags used 
 
 in the procession were tastefully hung around 
 the walls. One hundred and twenty-one sat 
 down to a good substantial dinner provided by 
 Mr. and Mrs. Houston of the Commercial Ho- 
 tel ; and among other good things the famous 
 Scotch haggis was not forgotten as " chieftain 
 of the pudding race." The Rev. J. Thorburn, 
 U.P., occupied the chair, and Mr. Hume, build- 
 er, officiated as croupier. After the usual loyal 
 toasts were given and enthusiastically respond- 
 ed to, the Rev. Chairman proposed the toast of 
 the evening. His remarks were listened to 
 with profound admiration, and we select the 
 following passages : — Wherefore this pause in 
 the stern business of life and the unison of 
 heart in the congregated thousands to celebrate 
 the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Ro- 
 bert Burns ? We and others are not met to- 
 night, gentlemen, to overlook or undervalue 
 the honour due to other distinguished Scots- 
 men. High in her esteem Scotland holds the 
 men who have risen to be chiefs among their 
 equals — whether in the senate, at the bar, in 
 the pulpit, or in the battle-field, — whether in 
 sounding the depths of philosophy, investigat-. 
 ing and unfolding the laws of science — in aug- 
 menting and embellishing literature — in me- 
 chanical invention — ^in the cultivation of art — 
 or in the diffusion of knowledge, whether by 
 the pi'ess or by oral instruction. But the still- 
 est stream runs deepest : and while others have 
 dazzled and awed admiration by the brilliancy 
 of their talents or the might of their achieve- 
 ments, Robert Burns, without glare or noise, 
 has found his way down to the deepest foun- 
 tains of the hearts of the people amongst whom 
 he was born, lived, and died. Ear as his fame 
 had spread during his short life-time, it was 
 not till after his death that the full force of his 
 genius was felt, and the strength of the hold 
 which he had got upon Scottish hearts and 
 homes. Now that he has got beyond the reach 
 of living detraction, the very remembrance of 
 his faults combined with the adversities of his 
 lot, only serves — and that sad remembrance 
 will ever serve — to deepen the sense of his 
 more than compensating excellencies which 
 constitute the enduring monument of his name. 
 We are not met, gentlemen, to-night to hold 
 up to admiration either the grave faults or 
 the freaks of folly in our Scottish bard. And 
 yet, in judging these, may it not be true that 
 but for the celebrity of his name, he would 
 have escaped a large amount of renown. It is 
 demanded, besides, in forming an impartial 
 estimate of the darker shade in the personal 
 character and writings of the poet, that account 
 be taken of that dread depression hereditary 
 in his constitution which from his youth preyed 
 upon him, and with which none but those 
 
UATEHOUSE-OF-FLEET— GIRVAN. 
 
 259 
 
 similarly afflicted can sympathize — the customs 
 and spirit of the age in which he lived — and 
 the perilous influences which played around 
 him. Some, indeed, with hare-brains, or with 
 that keen perception to discern evil rather than 
 good in others, see nothing in Burns to be ad- 
 mired, because, forsooth, in some things he is 
 much to be blamed. The public voice of the 
 world has assigned, notwithstanding, to Robert 
 Burns his place ; and in the language of Gilfll- 
 lan, it will require the counter-verdict of ano- 
 ther globe to alter it. His name is honoured 
 because he loved humanity with a love so large, 
 free, and intense, that we cannot help lament- 
 ing the bitterness that love must have felt when 
 it met in many instances with a cold reception, 
 perhaps in all with an inadequate return. 
 Burns is honoured for the noble spirit of 
 patriotism and manly independence which per- 
 vade his works. Our nationgj poet is honoured 
 because of that sunshine which he has shed 
 upon the heads and homes of the tillei's of the 
 soil, and all whose brow sweats with labour, 
 not as beings made to be taken and used up — 
 but men who can furnish examples of nobility 
 of mind, moral purity, devotion, piety, affec- 
 tion, as bright as are anywhere to be found. 
 So long as the fires of the family altar are 
 lighted up, a tender thought of the " Cottar's 
 Saturday Night" will arise in the worshippers, 
 breathed in strains of simple fervour and truth- 
 ful solemnity. So long as Scotsmen retain 
 their spirit of brave patriotism and indepen- 
 dence, known and acknowledged over the 
 world, " Soots wha hae wi' Wallace bled" will 
 never be forgotten. So long as the sentiment 
 of independence, for which Scotsmen are dis- 
 tinguished, exists, " Is there for honest pover- 
 ty" will be one of their songs. So long as 
 youthful friends meet, and unite, and recount 
 to each other the past, " Auld Langsyne" will 
 be the expression of their pledge. So long as 
 the mountain daisy decks our green sward, the 
 inspiration of Burns will be felt to rest upon it. 
 So long as lovers meet, and the households of 
 Scotland are blessed with wedded love, the vir- 
 tuous songs of Burns will be sung. So long as 
 the horse, the dog, the pet ewe, the sheep on 
 the hills, the cattle in the meadows, and the 
 birds are the companions of man. Burns will be 
 honoured, for he loved and has a song for 
 them all. We are met, then, this evening in 
 concert with our fellow-countrymen, not to 
 make an idol of our national Poet, but to say 
 in the face of the world that no other country 
 could have furnished a field for such an one as 
 he ; and that whilst we recognise it to be our 
 duty to avoid the whims and hypocritical pre- 
 tences which fired the satire of the rash pen of 
 his youth ; and to exemplify those fair virtues 
 
 which he so truthfully paints : we esteem it to 
 be no less a duty to adorn his bust in the tem- 
 ple of Eame for the sake of that genius which, 
 of all the sons of Scottish song, he has most 
 powerfully wielded for the ornament and guard 
 of his and our dear "Auld Scotland." 
 
 Toast and sentiment went happily round, 
 and many queer things were said and done, 
 after which the company rose simultaneously 
 at 9 o'clock to make room for a ball to be held 
 in the same Hall. In a short time the scene 
 was changed from dining to dancing to admit 
 the fair sex to mix in the rejoicings of such an 
 eventful day, and for hours the floor was oc- 
 cupied with " Lads and lasses mony O." 
 
 GATTONSIDE.— Here, on the day, a de- 
 monstration was held in the School-room, by 
 way of a ball. This neat public room was on 
 the occasion decorated under the very tasteful 
 management of Messrs. John Johnstone, John 
 Easton, and Robert Hope, the walls being 
 almost literally clad with evergreens and holly, 
 and the chandelier was so beautifully clothed 
 with these winter shrubs that the whole thing 
 partook rather of a spring appearance. In 
 short, the entire artistic arrangements com- 
 mended themselves to all having any pretence 
 to the graceful and enlivening. At nine o'clock, 
 Messrs. Easton, Fairbaim, &c., the three violin- 
 ists, with our old friend John Anderson, and 
 the big fiddle as Jack Tar once called it, struck 
 up their merry strains, and the dancers speedily 
 took their places. During the evening the fair 
 girls of Gattonside enjoyed an evening dedi- 
 cated to the memory of one who sang their 
 charms so tenderly. Many excellent songs 
 were sung — " Highland Mary," by Mr. Gilbert 
 Thomson and his grandson ; " Rantin', Rovin' 
 Robin," by Mr. George Burnet ; " Scotland 
 yet," by Mr. James Welsh ; " Ye Banks and 
 Braes," by the entire assembly, numbering 
 about a hundred. " My Nannie'^ awa' " was 
 sweetly sung by Miss Bold. Mr. Robert Hope 
 gave a recitation, which elicited well-deserved 
 applause. 
 
 GIRVAN. — The Burns centenary was in 
 Girvan observed with every symptom of enthu- 
 siasm and delight — in truth, the celebration 
 was, in every point of view, not an ovation 
 merely, but a perfect triumph. The occasion 
 was ushered in by the ringing of bells, which 
 continued pealing throughout the day, and by 
 the display of flags, &c., from the vessels in 
 the harbour, public works, and private dwell- 
 ings. In the afternoon, the various trades 
 mustered in the public green, and, having been 
 marshalled in the order allotted them, went in 
 procession through all the principal thorough- 
 
260 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 fares in the town. They were accompanied by 
 the Brass and Elute Bands, and were cheered 
 again and again at different points of their 
 progress. At the conclusion, the whole escorted 
 the Freemasons to their Lodge-room, and here 
 the other trades disbanded in the same orderly 
 way in which they had convened. The brothers 
 of the mystic tie now sat down to an excellent 
 repast, served in Mr. Cowan's best style — Br. 
 Wm. Scott doing the duties most efficiently of 
 the chair. The memory of the immortal mason 
 Burns was pledged with rapture, and the night 
 was spent in such a manner as only merry 
 masons can appreciate. 
 
 In the evening, also, the large hall of the 
 Grammar School was the scene of unmingled 
 gaiety and gladness. A ball, on the grandest 
 scale we have ever witnessed in this quarter, 
 was held in commemoration of the day, and it 
 proved as successful as the most sanguine of 
 its promoters could have anticipated or desired. 
 The room was splendidly decorated for the 
 occasion, and lighted up in the most inviting 
 style. Above the orchestra were the words 
 " Burns' Centenary," and alongside " Auld 
 Langsyne" — both being formed of large letters 
 composed of leaves of laurel. In other parts 
 of the hall were such mottoes as these, all 
 beautifully encircled with evergreen branches: 
 — "AVoodnotesWild;" " Scots whahae;" "Ayr- 
 shire Lasses ;" and, on either side of the latter, 
 the couplets — 
 
 "Gie me a cannie hour at e'en, 
 My arms around my deary Oj" 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 The attendance was a crush, comprising a fine 
 specimen of our "Ayrshire lasses" — a complete 
 blaze of beauty — while their partners contained 
 in their number the most respectable young 
 men of the town and neighbourhood. The 
 ball was kept up till an early hour, when all 
 departed more than delighted with the joys 
 and pleasures of the night. 
 
 The most important gathering was the grand 
 banquet of the Burns- Club, which was held at 
 five o'clock, in the George Hotel. The large 
 hall, which was tastefully decorated, and at one 
 of the ends of which was a fine bust of the 
 poet, was crowded in every part, and more 
 tickets could have been issued had room been 
 found for a more numerous attendance. The 
 chair was occupied by the President of the Club, 
 J. B. Boss, Esq., Banker and Factor to the 
 Duchess de Coigny of Bargony, supported right 
 and left by Mr. J. L. H. Forrester, M.A., of 
 the Grammar School; Bailie Clachar; Mr. J. 
 Lawson, junr. ; Mr. Wm. M'Connell; Mr. 
 M'Garva; Mr. Kelly, banker; Mr. Hepburn, 
 
 &o., &c. The croupier's seat was worthily 
 filled by Wm. M'Morran, Esq., supported by 
 the Rev. Mr. Corsan, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Hannah, 
 Mr. Pringle, &c., &c. Grace was asked and 
 thanks returned by Rev. Mr. Corsan. 
 
 On the removal of the cloth, the Chairman 
 disposed of the ordinary and other loyal toasts 
 in the following order: — The Queen; the 
 Prince Consort, and rest of the Royal Family ; 
 Army and Navy; the Lord-Lieutenant of the 
 County. 
 
 The Chairman then gave " The Memory of 
 Burns," and delivered, with much feeling, the 
 following address, which was received with 
 hearty and continued cheering: — We have now 
 come to the most important work of the even- 
 ing, and I have to call upon you, one and all, 
 to join me in pledging a bumper — a heartfelt, 
 overflowing bumper — to "The Immortal Me- 
 mory of Scotland's greatest Poet — Robert 
 Burns." When I recall to your minds that this 
 is not only the anniversary of the poet's birth, 
 but the centenarj' — the hundredth anniversary 
 of that great event — that epoch in our national 
 annals — when I reflect that at the present 
 moment this great event is being celebrated in 
 every city, town, and hamlet, not only in Scot- 
 land, England, and Ireland, but by his country- 
 men in America, Canada, Australia, and, I may 
 say, in every part of the habitable globe, wher- 
 ever civilization has spread, or wherever a 
 Scotchman has penetrated — and when I reflect 
 also, that the most eloquent and gifted sons of 
 our own day, in literature, science, and the 
 arts, have this evening been enlisted to do jus- 
 tice to the memory of one of Scotland's most 
 gifted, if not greatest sons — I need not say 
 with what feelings of trepidation, approaching 
 almost to awe, so humble an individual as you 
 have this evening selected for the purpose 
 apjwoaches the subject, with any thought of at 
 all doing justice to the theme, or with the idea 
 of his voice ever being heard amidst the galaxy 
 of those eminent living men — the most eminent 
 that Scotland can produce — whose eloquence 
 will this evening be brought to illustrate the 
 life and writings of Scotland's greatest poet. 
 While, gentlemen, I admit to the fullest that 
 this is the case, and while I lament my own 
 inability to do justice to the theme, yet I will 
 yield to none in humble admiration of the 
 poetic fire — the manly sentiment, the sturdy 
 independence of him 
 
 " Who walked in glory and in joy — 
 Following his plough upon the mountain side." 
 
 A Scotchman of Scotchmen — An Ayrshireraan 
 of Ayrshiremen — born and cradled where 
 
 " Fairies light 
 On Cassillis Downans dance." 
 
GIRVAN. 
 
 261 
 
 ■within half-a-raUe of the famous hero, who, 
 while he thought 
 
 " Kings might be West, yet Tam was glorious, 
 O'er a' the ills of life victorious." 
 
 Educated for years at the same village school 
 which Burns attended for some time, and from 
 a boy, when I could scarcely lisp my letters, 
 till man's estate, I had the privilege of the 
 society of two good maiden ladies, versed in 
 all the credulity and superstition of the country 
 lore, and who 1 suppose had as large a collec- 
 tion of tales and songs concerning ghosts, 
 fairies, brownies, witches, warlocks, spunkies, 
 kelpies, elf-candles, dead-lights, wraiths, appari- 
 tions, cantrips, giants, dragons, &c., as ever 
 Burns' old woman had, and who used to recite 
 the most popular of his poems, and sing the 
 most bewitching of his songs. Can you wonder 
 then that, like the most of my countrymen, the 
 writings of Burns should still hang as a spell 
 around my heart — that the history and tradi- 
 tions, the loves, the joys, the rural scenes and 
 rural pleasures of my native country, as sung 
 by our native bard, should form part of its very 
 life-blood — " beat in every pulse and tingle in 
 every vein." The name and fair fame of Burns 
 — the living, burning, soul-stirring strains which 
 he poured forth — the general scope and ten- 
 dency of his writings have, I am convinced, 
 the more I study his life and these writings, 
 been greatly misrepresented and misunderstood. 
 But that name and that fame 
 
 "Like the stream that runs, 
 And as it runs, for ever will run on," 
 
 will live, and live for ever, in the hearts of 
 Scotland's sons. Did I say Scotland's sons 
 only ? — in the heart not only of every man 
 worthy of the name of Briton, but in the heart 
 of every man — ay, and woman, too — wherever 
 the banner of freedom has waved, or civilization 
 has ever or will ever penetrate. "Absence 
 makes the heart grow fonder;" and while we 
 celebrate the centenary of our poet's birth 
 under our own vine, in our native land, we 
 may fancy, but can never fully realize to our 
 minds, the meeting on such an occasion as 
 this, the fervent, soul -inspiring, home-sick 
 eloquence with which the event will be cele- 
 brated by our expatriated fellow-countrymen 
 in the Prairie, the Forest, or the Diggings — in 
 far-distant lands by those who have "run about 
 the braes" and "paidled in the burn," and who 
 will this evening, I have no doubt, " be their 
 pint stoup," and pledge many a cup to " Burns 
 and Scotland" "for the days o' auld langsyne." 
 (Cheers.) The name of Burns is a household 
 word, and his poetry is familiar from the palace 
 to the cottage in every region where the Scot- 
 
 tish language is known. Gifted with powerful 
 intellect, glowing fancy, generous affections, 
 noble independence, and every mental endow- 
 ment — who could seize the diversified scenes 
 of quiet loveliness and wild grandeur, in which 
 his native country abounds — who could paint 
 the rugged mountain lifting its giant head 
 amidst the clouds — the lake gleaming at its 
 foot, like a diamond — the roaring waterfall — 
 the winding river — the fertile valley — or " the 
 burn stealing under the Ising, yellow broom " — 
 who, I say, could paint such scenes like Burns? 
 All came forth glowing in immortal verse — 
 things of beauty and joys for ever. Yet sad 
 and dreary was his fate. His sun went down 
 while it was yet day, in clouds and darkness, 
 before he had reached his thirty-eighth year. 
 Although leading a life of poverty, he taught 
 his countrymen, and all men, a lesson of honest 
 independence. He never bowed down before 
 mere titled greatness or worthless wealth, and 
 in ever-living strains he asserted the dignity of 
 manhood — 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 Contempt for everything false and insincere 
 was another uf his characteristics. His patri- 
 otism also was heroic. Never did the love of 
 country burn with a warmer glow than in 
 Burns. " A tide of Scottish prejudice," as he 
 calls it, " had been poured along his veins, and 
 he felt it would boil there till the floodgates 
 shut in eternal rest." True, we are told Burns 
 had his failings. To say that Burns had vices 
 is but another way of saying that he, like other 
 men, was human; but for his errors, his human 
 weakness, men might have esteemed him more 
 than mortal — a very demigod. But we forget 
 that this day's demonstration, here and in other 
 lands, is not in honour of the sins of Burns, but 
 of his genius and his writings. If we are never 
 to pay a tribute to genius, never to say to poets, 
 " blessings be on thee, and eternal praise," ex- 
 cept in the case of those whose lives and writ- 
 ings are pure from stain, we shall pay honour 
 to no man's memory. We are told "the wisest 
 man the world e'er saw," was in many respects 
 " sublimely foolish ; " the sweet singer of Israel, 
 though a man after God's own heart, sinned, 
 repented, and sinned again with a high hand. 
 But can it be said that Eobert Burns was, in 
 some sense, a sinner above other men, and a 
 man at whom, therefore, every other man is 
 entitled to cast a stone. It is not so ; in his 
 weakness he was pretty nearly an average 
 Scotchman. We see his faults in more than 
 their real magnitude, because he stood high in 
 view, and too wantonly scorned concealment. 
 Be his faults what they may, hypocrisy was 
 
262 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 none of them, and he had an utter detestation 
 and hatred of those who cloaked their failings, 
 whatever they might be, under the zealous per- 
 formance of religion. One word and I have 
 done. It has become the habit of late in cer- 
 tain quarters to decry Scotland and everything 
 belonging to Scotland — to merge Scotland as 
 it were in the common nationality of England. 
 True, you may unite Scotland to England by 
 a band of parchment (and Ood forbid that ev€r 
 I should see them disunited) — you may even 
 try to incorporate Scotland with England as 
 Nicholas did Poland with Russia — ^you may, as 
 he did, attempt to erase her name from the map 
 of Europe, or suppress ev«n her very language 
 if you will; but notwithstanding of all this, so 
 long as the names «f Bruce and Wallace and 
 Burns shall live as they have done, and their 
 deeds and fame remain engraven on the hearts 
 of Scotland's sons, Scotland shall still remain 
 as distinct, as separate, as free and independent 
 a nation as on that day when Bruce emanci- 
 pated her on tlie blood-stained field of Ban- 
 nockburn. All honour, then, to him 
 
 " Whose soul of fire, lighted at heaven's high flame, 
 Desei-ves the proudest wreath departed heroes claim." 
 
 Drink with me, therefore, " The Immortal 
 Memory of Robert Burns." 
 
 The toast was received and drunk with great 
 enthusiasm. Many other toasts were given, with 
 songs and recitations intersjjersed, and the fes- 
 tivities of the evening were kept up till a late 
 hour, wlien, after joining in singing "Auld 
 Langsyne," the company separated. 
 
 Wobkins-Men's Temperance Soikeb and 
 
 Concert The Committee of the Girvan 
 
 Working-Men's Total-Abstinence Society cele- 
 brated the centenary of the great national poet 
 by a grand . soiree and concert in the Free 
 Church School-room here. This soiree and 
 concert was long looked forward to as an out- 
 let to tlie working-classes, and we are happy 
 to report that they availed themselves largely 
 of the opportunity. There could not be less 
 than 250 present, exclusive of the Girvan in- 
 strumental brass band, and others forming the 
 acting corps. Tlie doors of the place of meet- 
 ing were thrown open about six o'clock, and 
 long before the chair was taken (seven o'clock), 
 the house was crowded to suffocation. The 
 band, in their splendid uniforms, and composed 
 of some of the most respectable of the inhabi- 
 tants, opened the entertainment with "Auld 
 Langsyne," which was rapturously received. 
 The chair was taken by Mr, John Robertson, 
 Writer, who delivered a very able address on 
 "The Genius and Poetry of Burns." Mr. 
 Blair of Fushieton spoke on Bums as a "Song 
 Writer." Tea and fruit were served, many 
 
 speeches were made, and songs were sung, and 
 the meeting, which was of the most enthusiastic 
 description, did not separate till nearly " the 
 wee short hour ayont the twal." 
 
 OLENCAIRN. — The centenary of our na- 
 tional bard was celebrated in this sequestered 
 and now thinly peopled vale with true highland 
 enthusiasm. About 4 p.m., tenants, house- 
 holders, and ploughmen from Benaan to Mor- 
 ven, to the number of nearly forty, assembled 
 at Gairnshiel Inn, and sat down to an excellent 
 dinner, prepared by Mrs. Cameron. After the 
 usual loyal and patriotic toasts liad been pro- 
 posed and cordially responded to, that to the 
 memory of Burns was prefaced by an original 
 essay on his life, character, and writings, and 
 also by Campbell's ode on the same subject. A 
 very suitable piece of poetry in the Scotch 
 dialect, composed by an inhabitant of the Glen 
 for the occasion, was afterwards read. In the 
 course of the evening various choice songs, by 
 Burns and others, were sung. The whole was 
 appropriately concluded by a ball, at which the 
 merry dance was kept up with great spirit for 
 many hours. 
 
 GLENISLA. — A meeting to celebrate the 
 Burns centenary took place in Mr. Crombie's 
 Inn here, on the evening of the 25th. An ex- 
 cellent supper, including a haggis, "great 
 chieftain o' the puddin' race," was prepared for 
 the occasion, and served in Mr. Crombie's usual 
 liberality and good style. Mr. J. P. Macphail, 
 parochial schoolmaster, took the chair; and Mr, 
 Brough, corn-dealei", officiated as croupier with 
 good tact and ability. "The chewfu' supper 
 done," and the cloth being removed, the Chair- 
 man proposed the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts, which were drunk with all the honours. 
 Mr. Macphail afterwards gave the toast of the 
 evening, "The immortal memory of Robert 
 Burns." He gave an accurate and biographical 
 sketch of the poet in a lengthened and learned 
 speech, in the course of which he eloquently 
 spoke of Burns' merits as a poet, and the mis- 
 fortunes which attended him. He also men- 
 tioned that Burns spoke a good deal more of 
 the truth than many who were opposed to cele- 
 brating the centenary. The whole company 
 evidently felt profound compassion and esteem 
 for the immortal bard of Caledonia. The toast 
 was drunk in breathless silence. Mr. Brough, 
 in a l<»ig and elaborate speech, gave "The 
 Press, and the intellectual Improvement of 
 Glenisla." The toast was received and drunk 
 amid loud and deafening cheering. James 
 Clark, yr., Esq., Inverkeithing, gave "The 
 Ladies of Glenisla," in a neat and humorous 
 speech. The toast, of course, was drunk with 
 
GLENLUCE— GBANOEMOUTH. 
 
 263 
 
 great enthusiasm. Mr. Robertson, farmer, 
 Auchinleish, proposed "The Healtli of Mr. 
 Macphail," and conveyed to him the thanks of 
 the company for the manner in which he dis- 
 charged the duties as chairman. Mr. Macphail 
 replied. " The Health of Mr. and Mrs. Crom- 
 bie " was proposed by the Chairman, who spoke 
 in high terms of Mrs. Crombie for the admir- 
 able manner in which the supper was got up. 
 Mr. Crombie replied. The Chairman also pro- 
 l)osed "The Health of Mr. Brough." Several 
 young men sang a number of Burns' songs, in- 
 cluding " There was a lad," &c., and " John 
 Barleycorn," and likewise entertained their audi- 
 ence with recitations from distinguished authors. 
 The greatest harmony and hilarity prevailed 
 during the proceedings, and the party broke up 
 about the good hour of Forbes Mackenzie. 
 
 GLENLUCE.— The curlers of Glenluce held 
 their annual dinner on the evening of the cen- 
 tenary in Mrs. M'Micking's Inn, presided over 
 by Dr. M'Cormick; Mr. M'Culloch, Whitefield, 
 croupier. They enjoyed a fine social meeting; 
 and in the course of the proceedings " The 
 Memory of Burns " was proposed in an able 
 speech by the Chairman. 
 
 GLENOGIL.— The festival in memory of 
 our national poet was celebrated at Chance Inn, 
 on the evening of the 25th, with all due honour. 
 The chair was admirably filled by Mr. J. Scott, 
 blacksmith, assisted on the right by Mr. T. B. 
 Main, and Mr. John Kennedy, Easterogil, and 
 on the left by Mr. James Bobbie, Glennoran, 
 and Mr. James Black, Mains of Ogil. Mr. 
 John Ormeston acted as croupier. By nine 
 o'clock about fifty ladies and gentlemen, includ- 
 ing the principal farmers in Glenogil, sat down 
 to supper; and, after ample justice was done, 
 the loyal and jjatriotic toasts were attended to. 
 The Chairman, in proposing the toast of the 
 evening, gave a brief account of the life of 
 Burns and his education, craving a bumper to 
 his memory, which was responded to with more 
 than ordinary enthusiasm. Mr. T. B. Main 
 made some beautiful remarks on his character 
 and genius, which was responded to with loud 
 and renewed cheers. Among the many toasts 
 that were given was " The Health of the Chair- 
 man,'' by James Black, Mains of Ogil ; " The 
 Health of Mr. T. B. Main," by Mr. Robbie, 
 Glennoran; "The Committee" by Mr. Ken- 
 nedy ; " The Ladies," by the croupier ; " The 
 Landed Propj-ietors in Glenogil," by Mr. T. B. 
 Main ; " The Tenant Farmers," by the Chair- 
 man, coupled with the name of Mr. Davidson, 
 Milton of Ogil, all of which were duly re- 
 sponded to. Several of Burns' best songs were 
 well sung. Dancing was kept up till an early 
 
 hour, when the company broke up, returning 
 a vote of thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair for 
 their kind services. The whole affair was con- 
 ducted in a becoming manner, highly creditable 
 to all concerned. 
 
 GLENEINNES.— The folks in this district 
 got up a ball, which was numerously attended, 
 many of the heads of families being present and 
 mingling in the dance. Mr. Macconachie, Mid 
 Balandy, addressed the company on " the toast 
 of the evening." Mr. John Hay discoursed the 
 music with his wonted spirit, and the ball lasted 
 until a far advanced hour in the morning. 
 
 GOUROCK. — The centenary was celebrated 
 by a dinner in Mr. Baton's Hotel — Mr. John 
 Kilpatrick in the chair. " The Memory of 
 Robert Burns," and other toasts, were given. 
 The evening was a very happy one. 
 
 GRANGE. — A soiree was held in the Par- 
 ish School-room — Mr. A. Riddoch, merchant, 
 Berryton, in the chair. The attendance num- 
 bered upwards of 200. The room was suit- 
 ably decorated, exhibiting numerous appro- 
 priate mottoes, and a painting of Tam o' Slian- 
 ter. Music, vocal and instrumental, was forth- 
 coming at intervals. The Chairman, in the 
 course of his humorous address, alluded to the 
 enthusiastic demonstrations of 1844. Mr. Ste- 
 phenson, Edingight, also addressed the meet- 
 ing, his subject being — " There was a lad was 
 born in Kyle." Mr. George Donald, Burn- 
 mouth, gave a song on the anniversary of Burns. 
 Mr. Geo. Riddoch sang " Green grow the 
 rashes O." The Ladies gave " I'm ower young 
 to marry yet." The remainder of the pro- 
 gramme runs as follows: — "Man was made to 
 mourn," recited by Mr. Ronald, carpenter, 
 Edingight House ; " A man's a man," sung by 
 Mr. Stevenson; "A' the airts," by Mr. Geo. 
 Donald ; " Ye IJanks and Braes," sung by the 
 ladies ; " Highland Mary," sung by Mr. George 
 Donald; "Tam o' Shanter," recited by Mr. 
 Ronald ; " Thou hast left me ever Jamie," 
 sung by the ladies ; " Scots wha hae," sung by 
 Mr. Stevenson ; " Hallowe'en," recited by Mr. 
 Ronald. A number of songs were sung with 
 spirit by Messrs. Arthur Forest, Crannach ; 
 Geo. Webster, Cairnhill; and James Ingram, 
 Goukstone. The proceedings were wound up 
 by " Auld Langsyne," from Mr. Geo. Riddoch. 
 
 GRANGEMOUTH. — On Tuesday even- 
 ing, a large party of gentlemen sat down to 
 dinner in the Zetland Arms (Mr. Wallace's), 
 in honour of the hundredth birthday of 
 Robert Burns. Henry Baird, Esq., Abbot's 
 Grange, presided, and Messrs. Thomson, New- 
 
2G4 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 ton Mains, and Tliomas Morrison, Middleflekl, 
 officiated as croupiers. Among tiie gentlemen 
 present were R. P. Newton, Esq., factor to the 
 Earl of Zetland; William Walker, Esq. of 
 Wlioleflatts ; John Robertson, Esq,, Bowhouse ; 
 John Watson, Esq., Mumrills ; Rev. J. Lambie, 
 U. P. Church; A. Thomson, Esq., &c. &c. 
 After the disposal of the loyal and patriotic 
 toasts, 
 
 The Chairman introduced the toast of the 
 evening in an able speech, in the course of 
 which he remarked: — It is related by the 
 greatest orator and statesman that this country 
 has seen (the late Charles James Eox) that 
 amidst the turmoil of political and other cares, 
 he used to cheer and solace his mind by read- 
 ing the works of Robert Burns ; and I appeal 
 to this company who have seated themselves 
 around this festive board to commemorate the 
 centenary of his birtli, is there a throb, is there 
 a vibration in this bosom that he has not 
 touched? Yes, he has taught man to respect 
 himself — 
 
 " Tlie rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' tliat." 
 
 His songs have cheered the ploughboy at the 
 plough ; and has he not directed the flame of 
 pure and honourable love. Need I remind 
 you of an incident that occurred in our recent 
 struggles in the East. Upon one occasion our 
 brave countrymen were greatly overpowered 
 by numbers, when the fate of the day almost 
 trembled in the balance, that noble war ode of 
 Scotia, " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," fell 
 upon our brave countrymen like magic, when 
 the gallant 78th sprang into the deadly breach 
 and added another trophy to the martial re- 
 nown of old Caledonia. 
 
 Other toasts, songs, and recitations followed, 
 and the company, after singing "Auld Lang- 
 syne," separated at half-past 10 o'clock. 
 
 Centenary Ball. — Arrangements were 
 made by a few young men connected with the 
 port to celebrate the anniversary of Burns' 
 natal day by a ball, which accordingly came off 
 in the New Hall, and, considering the other 
 sources of attraction, was pretty well attended. 
 The hall was tastefully hung round with flags 
 of all nations, having a very trig, smart appear- 
 ance. At one end of the room was hung a 
 large flag or banner with " Burns, our Scottish 
 Poet," painted in tasteful lettering. At the 
 other end was another banner having the words 
 " In memory of Burns" painted on it, both 
 done by Mr. T. Allan. The latter had the 
 Masonic symbols displayed over it. Johnston's 
 Quadrille Band was in attendance, and dancing 
 commenced about nine o'clock, and was kept 
 up till five. A great many of the leading and 
 
 new dances were gone through, and in the 
 course of the evening the band played a waltz 
 piece composed specially for the occasion by 
 Mr. Johnston himself, and very much admired. 
 Refreshments were served in an anteroom, and 
 before the meeting broke up a toast was drunk 
 to the memory of the immortal bard ; and the 
 company, after singing together " Auld Lang- 
 syne," led by Mr. Jones, who had an active 
 hand in the preparations, separated about six 
 o'clock. 
 
 Ship Tavern. — About thirty gentlemen met 
 in Mr. M'Gilchrist's, Ship Tavern, to celebrate 
 the centenary. Mr. Henry Rodger, harbour 
 master, presided, and a huge haggis was duly 
 discussed. Many appropriate toasts, in addi- 
 tion to the essential one of the memory of 
 Burns, were given and responded to. 
 
 Total Abstinence Society's Festival. — 
 There was a social meeting in the Earl of 
 Zetland's large schoolroom, presided over by 
 Mr. William Campbell. The school was beau- 
 tifully decorated with evergreens, and there 
 was an arch of the same spanning the breadth 
 of the school. The motto, " Auld Langsyne," 
 in large letters of turned evergreens, was dis- 
 played along the wall, and a number of flags 
 and devices were placed about. A substantial 
 service of tea and cake first ; addresses by Mr. 
 Campbell, Mr. John Arnott, Rev. J. Lambie, 
 on Burns ; also several recitations from Burns' 
 works, and a number of his songs and other 
 pieces by various members of the company, 
 which numbered nearly 100. 
 
 GRANTOWN. — A party of gentlemen in 
 this village, resolved to contribute their quota 
 of honour to the memory of Scotia's national 
 bard, supped together in Dunbar's Hotel, at 
 eight o'clock in the evening of the 25th — Mr. 
 Stewart, banker, in the chair, supported by Mr. 
 Fleming, banker. Dr. Blailde, Mr. Gordon, 
 merchant, &c. Mr. Grant, Lagg, croupier, 
 supported by Mr. Eraser, Auchernack, Dr. 
 Orchard, Mr. George Harvey, Mr. Macpherson, 
 merchant, &c. After the usual loyal and pa- 
 triotic toasts were disposed of, the Chairman, 
 in a brief but eloquent speech, gave the senti- 
 ment of the evening — " The Memory of Burns," 
 which was drunk with becoming respect. The 
 toast of " Lord and Lady Strathspey, and the 
 other members of the Seafield family," was pro- 
 posed from the chair, and enthusiastically re- 
 sponded to. The Croupier next gave " Colonel 
 and Major Burns, the sons of the poet." It 
 was no ordinary position these much-esteemed 
 gentlemen were placed in by the world-wide 
 demonstration of respect towards their father's 
 reputation and writings. It was most befitting 
 that the people of this district should celebrate 
 
GREENOCK. 
 
 2G5 
 
 his birth-day, for the streets of Grantown were 
 trodden by the feet of Robert Burns. A num- 
 ber of appropriate toasts followed, and some 
 good songs were sung. 
 
 GREENOCK Burns' Club Celebration of 
 
 the Centenary in the New Town Hall was a 
 most decided success, and will long be remem- 
 bered. At six o'clock precisely dinner was 
 served in a manner which did the greatest cre- 
 dit to Mr. Glover, who catered on the occasion. 
 Provost Duff ably occupied the chair, supported 
 right and left by Mr. James MacFarlan, presi- 
 dent of the Burns' Club, Mr. T. O. Hunter, 
 Councillor Adam, Messrs. J. K. Gray, Robert 
 Wright, D. M'Nicoll, John A. MacFarlan, John 
 Macdougall, — Cole, D. Milne, J. M'William, 
 &c. &c. 
 
 James Stewart, Esq., Bailie Grey, William 
 Curtis, Esq., and John Douglas, Esq., ably ful- 
 filled the duty of croupiers. 
 
 Amongst the company we observed Messrs. 
 John Scott, yst., James M'Lean, T. P. Mac- 
 Callum, John Adam, Colin M'Millan, Captain 
 Hamilton, Robert Hendry, Dugald Campbell, 
 Stewart Allison, John Duff, James Milne, 
 James Morrison, John Morrison, Robert Muir, 
 Thomas Boag, Robert Boag, &c., &c. 
 
 The gallery was well and fashionably filled 
 by the ladies, who were admitted about seven 
 o'clock, and whose entrance was the signal for 
 the most rapturous applause. Many of them 
 were also accommodated with seats around the 
 area of the hall. 
 
 The Chairman, after giving in succession 
 the Queen, Prince Albert, and the Royal Fa- 
 mily, and Her Majesty's Ministers, each of 
 which was most warmly received, then pro- 
 posed the Army and Navy. Notwithstanding 
 the long peace which had intervened since the 
 great battles of the last French war, the events 
 of the late Russian war, and also since then of 
 the Indian struggle, have proved that there is 
 no consequent deficiency in the army ; and he 
 felt sure that should any intruder approach our 
 shores, the navy would also show themselves 
 equal, with their wooden walls and walls of 
 iron, to repel every attempt that might be made 
 against us. He would now propose the toast, 
 adding a cheer for Sir Colin Campbell (a voice 
 — " and Sir Houston Stewart"). 
 
 Colour Sergeant Dredge returned thanks 
 for the toast, regretting that the duty had not 
 fallen upon some other member of his profes- 
 sion. He would say, however, that both 
 branches of the service would be always found 
 reiidy, as in the Crimea, to discharge their duty 
 in the defence of their country. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. James M'Farlan then rose and said — 
 Worthy Provost, croupiers, ladies, and gentle- 
 
 men — It has been well said that if one knew 
 nothing of the forefathers of our Scottish ham- 
 lets, but the pure and affectionate songs and 
 ballads, and the wild and pathetic airs of 
 music which they loved, we should know enough 
 to convince the most bitter detractor that we 
 come of a race of men, strong, healthful, happy, 
 and dignified in the genial spirit which they 
 seem to have acquired from nature through the 
 external impressions which our land of moun- 
 tain, valley, streamlet, and flood are so well 
 calculated to produce. In other countries men 
 have been from all time distinguished as being 
 of peculiar classes. Labour in these countries 
 has been thought to debase the mind and to 
 chain down the energies and aspirations of the 
 working classes to a degree that has been held 
 suflficient to account for their want of that deep, 
 calm, pure, and reflecting power of mind, that 
 is not only the result of leisure and study, 
 but a condition of calm though tfulness and self- 
 possession, which it is the chief aim and object 
 of education to attain. The mind must be 
 freed from prejudice, and from envy, and from 
 all ignoble feelings before progress can begin. 
 I claim for my countrymen of every class, with- 
 out distinction, the proud inheritance of having 
 this self-reliant, calm, inquiring, and dispassion- 
 ate gift of being able to see themselves as others 
 see them. There may be exceptions to prove 
 the rule; it is, however, of national peculiarities 
 that I speak, and of course what I say is of the 
 Scottish type of character. Individuals may 
 have their shortcomings in this as in other 
 countries, but I maintain that no people have 
 shown themselves so capable of high culture as 
 the Scotch. It is of little consequence where 
 you may look for the material to be operated 
 upon. You will find men at the plough, on tlie 
 hill side tending sheep, in the carpenter's shop, 
 in the mason's shed, or in the engine manu- 
 factory, behind the counter, and at the mer- 
 chant's desk, who only require the means of 
 study and advancement to make them fill with 
 credit and honour any situation to which, in the 
 providence of God, a free, loyal-hearted man 
 may be called. This, I say, is not a distinction 
 merely, it is the distinction, the intellectual 
 Scottish brand, if I may use the expression, 
 which gives to the Scottish man the citizenship 
 of the world. (Applause.) I have but ex- 
 pressed in general terms what men of all coun- 
 tries have admitted. The pedants have asserted 
 that this intellectual superiority, or equal divi- 
 sion throughout a large population of intellec- 
 tual power, is to be attributed to the parish 
 school system ; the ministers of religion receive 
 also much of the credit, and perhaps they de- 
 serve much credit for their zealous labours and 
 great independence, in many a trying time. I 
 
266 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 shall, however, neither give all the credit to the 
 schoolmasters nor to the ministers. Had school- 
 masters to deal with a labouring class who were 
 hei-editary dunces, they would make but little 
 impression on the nation. Had our ministers 
 to deal with a thoughtless, a stupid, or an un- 
 impassioned and degraded people, their exer- 
 tions would have brought forth but little fruit. 
 No, the truth is, that the genius of Scotland is 
 an inheritance which belongs to no rank, and 
 which has thriven in spite of the poverty of the 
 country, or the isolated position in which many 
 of the population are reared. Our poets have 
 been the greatest workers, they have given us 
 national lyrics full of tenderness and truth. 
 They have given us ballads to fire the imagi- 
 nation and to soothe the affections, to make the 
 heart leap with patriotism and love of country, 
 and to make us look to our own firesides for 
 everything that can be beautiful or ennobling; 
 yes, our poets, mark the distinction; our poets 
 sing of the lonely shieling and of the humble 
 peasant girl. They know of no artificial tastes, 
 or vulgar conventionalities; they sing of the 
 heart and of the affections; their language is 
 truth, it is the language which the heart holds 
 with nature and itself; sometimes, like human 
 passion, it is full of tears; and sometimes, like 
 human frailty, it indulges in ridicule, or wails 
 in sorrow. Yes, gentlemen, our poets have 
 been great teachers, and it is but natural that 
 their works, embalmed as they are in imperish- 
 able beauty, should be highly prized by a 
 thoughtful people, for whom they have done so 
 much. After what I have said you will be pre- 
 pared to admit, and I hope I am carrying you 
 with me, and that I am but expressing your 
 own thoughts when I say that I think it unne- 
 cessary to dwell on that humble cottage and its 
 associations, on that clay biggin' built by Wil- 
 liam Burns' own hands, in the parish of AUo- 
 way, near the town of Ayr. Why should 1 
 call that cottage humble? It has been conse- 
 crated by the birth of genius. You all know 
 that in the little dwelling to which I allude 
 Eobert Burns was born, just one hundred years 
 ago — again, I ask why did I call that cottage 
 humble? I have claimed for all ranks of Scotch- 
 men equal intellectual powers. Why, then, not 
 allude to the humble cottage as a matter of 
 course? He belongs to the world who was 
 borti in that Scottish home a hundred years 
 ago. His name like his genius is imperishable, 
 he has thrown a halo of glory around all Scot- 
 land, and that cottage, the Brig o' Doon, and 
 Alloway's auld haunted kirk, are but gems set 
 nearly in the centre of the grand intellectual 
 illumination. While it sheds a glory upon our 
 dear Scotland, it also warms the heart and 
 stimulates the brain of every man of true fbeling 
 
 on earth, whether he be of our own country or 
 a foreigner. He has only to be a true man. 
 If so, Eobert Burns speaks to him in the lan- 
 guage which the heart holds with nature. In 
 every clime and in every country, whatever be 
 the language spoken, or the manners which 
 obtain, the passions and aflfections are alike. A 
 bald translation of the poetry of Burns might 
 lose its power, but the translator could not but 
 feel the warmth of the author's genius, although 
 he tliought in a foreign language, and studied 
 our great national bard with the aid of a dic- 
 tionary. Yes, gentlemen, Eobert Burns was a 
 true poet, and therefore a king among men. As 
 I have said, his having been born in acottage only 
 proves that in Scotland nature neither knows nor 
 owns the difference which may be thought to exist 
 in some countries between palaces and cottages. 
 To call Burns a peasant poet is absurd. Great 
 as was Lord Byron he was not so noble. Burns 
 was a ploughman and an exciseman, but even 
 in this respect he was a teacher, as every true 
 poet is, and must be. He showed us that the 
 discharge of ordinary homely duties does not 
 detract from a man's dignity, or from the great- 
 ness of his mind. He is not a great man who 
 neglects the most ordinary duties that come to 
 his door as it were to be discharged. Through 
 hard trials he never cringed ; he took care of 
 his own house, did not deny the faith, and 
 battled like the most ordinarily endowed man — 
 this I take to be a grand feature in his character. 
 In writing to his friend Mr. Dalrymple, he used 
 this strange and pointed simile — I don't pre- 
 tend to give the words but merely the expres- 
 sion as illustrative of how he battled in the dis- 
 charge of his ordinary duties, and to show how 
 much he valued the proper discharge of these : 
 — He said, " I can't say I am altogether at my 
 ease when I see anywhere in my path that 
 meagre, squalid, famine-faced, spectre poverty, 
 attended, as he always is, by iron-fisted oppres- 
 sion and leering contempt, but I have sturdily 
 withstood his buffeting many a hard laboured 
 day already, and still my motto is I dare.'" 
 This was the man, gentlemen, who, born in a 
 cottage, felt and acted throughout life as if he 
 had been born in a castle. That was an acci- 
 dent that happens frequently, for great Scotch- 
 men are as often born in cottages as in castles ; 
 and I am sure that Eobert Burns would have 
 thought as I do, that the Ettrick Shepherd 
 might have left the theme unsung in which 
 he used the words alluding to the Alloway 
 Cottage, 
 
 " But here in cauldrife lowly den, 
 Unheeded by the great and gay, 
 Was born the prince of Scottish men 
 That ever tuned the niral lay." 
 
 No, sirs, no house was ever cauldrife or lonely 
 
GREENOCK, 
 
 267 
 
 ■where Burns had a chair, at least James Hogg 
 never should have said so. The "prince of 
 Scottish men that ever tuned the rural lay," has 
 consecrated everything to which he directed his 
 pen, and no lesser hand, however tender, should 
 smooth his rough places or try to pity his lot. 
 Just think, sirs, how much out of place such 
 whimpering is. If Burns suffered, Scotland is 
 sorry with a manly sorrow; and we are here 
 this day, a hundred years after his birth, to 
 protest against the bare assumption of the 
 world that he, our great poet, is not appre- 
 ciated ; and if he were neglected, we are now 
 making an atonement throughout the length 
 and breadth of our native land, which he so 
 dearly loved, and which we are so proud to 
 associate with his memory. His genius has 
 lived down and soared above all detraction. 
 His faults, like his mortal part, are in the dust, 
 but even while on earth, Jie atoned for and 
 blotted out his sins against established usage. 
 Has he not left us this verse : — 
 
 " The poor inhabitant below 
 Was quick to leam, and wise to know, 
 And keenly felt the friendly glow 
 
 And softer flame, 
 Bnt thoughtless follies laid him low, 
 
 And stained his name." 
 
 Gentlemen, has he not atoned ? On that head 
 let us be for ever silent. " Nature," said Tho- 
 mas Carlyle, " bestowed Robert Burns on us 
 with queenlike indifference. She cast him 
 from her hand like a thing of no moment, and 
 it was defaced and torn asunder." But, sirs. 
 Burns was not defaced and torn asunder with- 
 out doing a great work for his country and for 
 mankind ; " he made man's life more venera- 
 ble, he gave us a glimpse of a warm, kind soul, 
 full of inborn riches and of love to living and 
 lifeless things." That should be to us a great 
 example, and slwuld teach us, and does teach 
 us to thank God and take courage, to have no- 
 ble aspirations, and to feel for our brother man 
 with all the warmth of friendship which should 
 spring from the cultivation of patriotism and 
 Christian charity. It is not for me to take 
 up your time farther, by passing in review the 
 wonderful creations of our own noble bard. 
 That these are felt to be at once illustrious and 
 humanizing is evidenced by the work which 
 Scotland performs this day. She holds as a 
 high festival the centenary of the poet's birth. 
 As president of tlie Greenock Burns' Club, I 
 have the honour to call upon you to give it a 
 formal recognition. Gentlemen, — I ask you to 
 pledge in respectful silence the Memory of Ro- 
 bert Burns. 
 
 The toast was drunk in solemn silence, after 
 which Mr. Little sung "Ran tin', Rovin' Robin," 
 which was well received. 
 
 Mr. Cole, a member of the Burns' Club, 
 read a poetical address to the genius of Burns, 
 which was loudly applauded. The Chairman 
 then called on Mr. Robert Muir for " The Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night," which was well render- 
 ed. The effect was heightened by the veteran 
 admirer of Burns requesting the Provost to 
 personate Mr. Aitken, to whom the poem was 
 originally dedicated. 
 
 Mr. Gow sang " My Nannie :" after which 
 
 Mr. David Milne, in an eloquent speech, 
 proposed " Shakspeare and the Poets of Eng- 
 land," Many other toasts were given, songs 
 were sung, and on " The Burns' Club " being 
 proposed, Mr. Colin M'Millan stated that the 
 first Burns' Club established in Scotland was 
 in Greenock in 1802. They met at the Henry 
 Bell Tavern, then kept by a Mrs. Cottar, and 
 from the night of meeting the assembly was 
 called " The Cottar's Saturday Night," 
 
 The proceedings then terminated with " Auld 
 Langsyne," in which the whole company joined. 
 
 Lodge Greenock St. John's. — This Lodge 
 celebrated the centenary in the Hall, Catheart 
 Street, which was very beautifully decorated 
 with flags and evergreens, arranged by Bro- 
 thers William Tough and Donald Sinclair, in a 
 manner which reflected the highest credit on 
 their taste. Alexander M'Master, Esq., R.W.M., 
 ably occupied the chair, and was supported on 
 the right and left by Brothers Robert Morison, 
 J. M. Tronson, B.N., John Cleland, Malcolm 
 Keith, Robert Blair, Duncan M'Alpine, An- 
 drew Boag, &c. 
 
 About 100 gentlemen sat down to dinner — 
 an excellent repast — in which the haggis form- 
 ed a conspicuous item, and which was provided 
 by Mrs. Wallace, Buck Head Inn, in her usual 
 good style. After the cloth was removed, the 
 Chairman proposed the Queen, to whose many 
 admirable qualities he paid a high tribute of 
 respect, and afterwards gave " Prince Albert 
 and the Royal Family," Both toasts received 
 all the honours, and were enthusiastically re- 
 sponded to. The Chairman then proposed 
 " The Army and Navy," which was heartily 
 cheered. Dr. Tronson, H.M,S, Hogue, re- 
 turned thanks. 
 
 Song — " Rule Britannia," 
 
 " Her Majesty's Ministers " was proposed by 
 Brother dark, and heartily responded to. 
 
 The Chairman gave "Lady Octavia Shaw 
 Stewart and Family," which was received witli 
 enthusiasm. He said that her Ladyship, since 
 she had come to this locality, had proved her- 
 self well worthy of esteem and respect from the 
 highest to the poorest classes of the communi- 
 ty. So deep was the interest she took in the 
 poor residing near Ardgowan, that, in very in- 
 clement weather, and when her state of health 
 
268 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY, 
 
 hardly warranted her doing so, she went daily 
 among them in order to relieve their wants, 
 and she never went from Ardgowan without 
 leaving instructions that their comfort should 
 be attended to during her absence. (Applause.) 
 
 Song — " Green grow the rashes 0." 
 
 Brother Robert Blair then rose and said — I 
 esteem it an honour of no ordinary kind to 
 have been deputed to propose the toast of the 
 evening — " The Memory of Brother Robert 
 Burns, the Scottish Bard." No man of this 
 country, nor of any other country, ever before 
 knit together the hearts of all classes, rich and 
 poor, learned and illiterate, at home and abroad, 
 for the common object of desiring to honour 
 one individual memory. Well may we feel 
 proud of the universality of this moment to 
 do justice, for it is but justice after all, to the 
 memory of our " Brother Robert Burns." To 
 say that Burns was a wonderful man would be 
 to use a very tame expression — that he was a 
 prodigy all will admit ; and, when we consider 
 the circumstances of his birth, in a lowly cot- 
 tage by the roadside, a cottage reared by the 
 hands of his excellent father, the struggles of 
 that father and son together with the cold 
 blasts of poverty, and the subsequent elevation 
 to which the son attained, as the acknowledged 
 bard of his native land, how true to the very 
 letter was the prognostic of the honest mid- 
 wife when, this day one hundred years, she, in 
 the hour of his birth, exclaimed — 
 
 " He'll be a credit to us a', 
 We'll a' be proud o' Kobin ! " 
 
 (Cheers.) Apart from his poetic genius, one 
 of the causes, and not the least perhaps, which 
 has called forth such universal admiration of 
 Burns, is the manliness and honest straightfor- 
 wardness of his character — ^his struggles, even 
 from the early age of fifteen, with one dire mis- 
 fortune after another, and yet the uniform de- 
 testation with which he regarded everything 
 that had the most distant approach to servility 
 or meanness. When we see him conipelled to 
 witness the distress of the good old man his 
 father, while suffering in silence the " factor's 
 snash," and the demands of an imperious land- 
 lord, he himself, all the while, toiling far beyond 
 his years, at the flail and the scythe, to lighten 
 his parent's burden, how forcibly it is borne in 
 upon us that of the " milk of human kindness," 
 he was a partaker in a very remarkable degree. 
 (Loud cheers.) It is said that wonderful as is 
 the poetry of Burns, his correspondence is more 
 wonderful still ; but when we consider his lyrics 
 in particular, and observe the pathos, the ear- 
 nestness, and the sublimity there displayed, we 
 see, as it were, the man's own heart, and he 
 communicates to us, sensibly, something, how- 
 
 ever small, of the fire and of the feeling which, 
 in such superabundant measure, were treasured 
 within his own breast. (Cheers.) And now, 
 looking back at our brother struggling with 
 misfortunes from his very boyhood ; his indomi- 
 table perseverance in midst of abounding diffi- 
 culties ; and above all, when we see him in the 
 metropolis in 1786, actually overwhelmed with 
 invitations from the noble, the fashionable, the 
 witty, and the learned, our astonishment is, not 
 that at times he yielded to temptations, such 
 as few men have ever had presented to them, 
 but that through life, and to the day of his 
 death, the manliness, the independence, and 
 the kindliness of his character shone out bright 
 above them all. (Great applause.) 
 Song — " Eantin', Eovin' Robin." 
 
 During the evening many toasts were given, 
 several of the brethren sang appropriate songs 
 in excellent style, and a capital orchestra, led 
 by Brother Wallace, discoursed admirable mu- 
 sic. Brother Cameron, piper to H.M.S. Hogue, 
 also enlivened the proceedings by playing 
 several national airs in a most spirited manner. 
 
 The Ardgowan Curling Club celebrated the 
 occasion by a dinner in the George Hotel — • 
 William M'Clure, Esq., President of the So- 
 ciety, occupied the chair, and James Gilchrist, 
 Esq., vice-President, officiated as croupier. In 
 the course of the proceedings the curling stone 
 of " Tam Samson" was" presented to the Club, 
 who resolved to commemorate the gift by plac- 
 ing on the stone a silver plate bearing a suit- 
 able inscription. 
 
 Several other parties were held in the vari- 
 ous hotels in town, in all of which the same 
 spirit of happiness and hilarity prevailed. 
 
 GRETNA. — The centenary was celebrated 
 at Gretna Green by a soiree and ball, held in 
 the Parochial School-room. There was a large 
 and respectable attendance. About 130 ladies 
 and gentlemen partook of " the cup that cheers 
 but not inebriates." After tea, Mr. David 
 Carlyle was unanimously voted to the chair, 
 the duties of which he discharged to the satis- 
 faction of all present. He delivered an excel- 
 lent address, which occupied about an hour in 
 delivery. Several songs and recitations follow- 
 ed in rapid succession. Dancing commenced 
 about half-past eleven o'clock, to the soul-stir- 
 ring strains of Mr. Harkness' band, and was 
 kept up with unusual spirit till five o'clock 
 next morning. 
 
 HADDINGTON.-In East Lothian, the 25th 
 of January was held as a holiday almost uni- 
 
HADDINGTON. 
 
 269 
 
 versally. On many farms no work was done, 
 on otliers one-half the day was kept, and 
 dinners, suppers, and dances in the evening, 
 were the means taken to celebrate the centenary 
 of the poet in every hamlet and village. The 
 shops were shut in Haddington at two o'clock. 
 There was a dinner in the George Inn, at 
 which Provost Eoughead presided, and Mr. 
 Eobert Richardson, Master of the Mason Lodge, 
 and Mr. Hope, Fenton Barns, acted as croupiers. 
 A considerable number of the company wore 
 the insignia of the Masonic body, and nearly 
 eighty gentlemen were present. Provost 
 Eoughead passed some high encomiums on our 
 national bard, and stated how glad he was that 
 Haddington was not behind the other towns in 
 the kingdom in doing homage to his genius, 
 particularly as the poet's brother, Gilbert, 
 resided long in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood, and his mother's la:^ resting-place was 
 Bolton. 
 
 Mr. Hope, Fenton Barns, in proposing the 
 toast of the evening, said — I do not for a 
 moment doubt your warm reception of the 
 toast of the day, "The immortal memory of our 
 national bard, Robert Burns." I yield to none 
 in my pride and admiration of Burns as a great 
 poetic genius, and a man of unsurpassed intel- 
 lectual endowments, but I have grave doubts 
 of my own ability to say some words fitting for 
 this great occasion. It may be said of Burns 
 what he so forcibly said of another — " he held 
 his patent of nobility direct from almighty 
 God." A poor labouring man himself, as his 
 forefathers were, he became the poet of peasant 
 life, and men saw that that life was ordained of 
 God, and fitted to train men for the glories of 
 an hereafter. He concentrated the floating 
 beauty which teems in our world, and embody- 
 ing it in his powerful language, he made it 
 patent to the moat uncultivated minds. Burns 
 is truly the poet of humanity ; lie teaches 
 reverence for our common nature. It is not alone 
 amidst the great and noble, but the poor and 
 toil-worn that he found beautiful and touching 
 themes. Like Shakspeare, his words apply to 
 all time — they speak from the heart to the 
 heart of man. It is not this or that passing 
 scene, but he embodies the hopes, the fears, the 
 aspirations, and the passions of our common 
 humanity. As long as the ' hearts of our race 
 continue to wake to the throbbings of love, so 
 long will the words of Burns give a true pic- 
 ture of the individual feelings that may animate 
 us, whether in joyful anticipation or in doubt, 
 despair, or in assured success. Does he sing of 
 the fullness of feeling of a cottage maiden, or 
 paint the love and gentleness, the grace and 
 purity, of Highland Mary; or does he place 
 before us those looks and those tones inspired 
 
 by a mother's heart — in every such circum- 
 stance we find ourselves using his language to 
 give proper utterance to the feelings of our 
 species. It is now sixty -three years since 
 Burns died, and seventy-three years since the 
 first edition of his poems was printed at Kil- 
 marnock ; they were hailed with rapture then, 
 and I may assuredly say that time has only 
 deepened the impression of their value, and 
 shown they are imperishable. Innumerable 
 editions of his works have appeared, some of 
 them beautifully and expensively illustrated. 
 His poems and songs are to be found alike in 
 the cottages of the humble, and the drawing- 
 rooms of the great. It is not easy to over- 
 estimate the influence he has had in stimulating 
 the growth, and aiding the expansion of the 
 national mind. He has made our Scottish 
 tongue a classic language, and where is the 
 Scottish heart that does not beat more warmly 
 for his country when he hears " Scots wha hae 
 wi' Wallace bled," or feels more detei-mined for 
 honour, integrity, and freedom, when he ex- 
 claims "A man's a man for a' that!" Dr. 
 Currie wrote the first biographical account of 
 him shortly after his death; it is on the whole 
 well and kindly done, but it could scarcely be 
 said that the doctor knew the poet personally, 
 and some things are stated of him that he 
 admitted with a doubt, but which succeeding 
 writers have enlarged and embellished, pretty 
 much in the way of the story of the three 
 black crows. Like all great men, if he has had 
 warm friends, he has also had implacable 
 enemies, who have foully libelled his character. 
 I am far from saying Burns was perfect ; he 
 was a man, and like all mortals, I doubt not, 
 frequently an erring man, but the ascertained 
 facts regarding his life and circumstances 
 render it perfectly impossible that he could 
 have been guilty of one tithe of the excesses 
 charged against him. But let us admit the 
 supposition for a moment that he was as black 
 as he has been painted, coupled with the truth 
 that no genius, however splendid, is any excuse 
 for breaches of the moral law — it is not his 
 vices that we have met to honour, but his im- 
 mortal genius, and the good that was in him. 
 It is often said that there is much in his writ- 
 ings gross and indelicate ; but consider the 
 period in which he lived, and the general tone 
 of feeling and morals, I may almost say the 
 example set by the highest of the land, and 
 this need not be wondered at. Few parents 
 now would put the novels in vogue in those 
 days into the hands of their children, and the 
 miserable stories styled the sayings of George 
 Buchanan, Wise Willie, and Witty Eppie formed 
 the reading of the working classes, can it be 
 doubted that even the worst of Burns' poems 
 
270 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 had on all classes a beneficial and refining ten- 
 dency. It has been said that Burns, towards 
 the close of his life, was perpetually and habitu- 
 ally under the influence of alcohol, and liable 
 to all the moral irregularities which such a 
 state of existence implies. I have said this 
 was first insinuated by Dr. Currie, and subse- 
 quently became incorporated, with additions, 
 in subsequent lives of the poet. This is wholly 
 unsupported by any reliable evidence, and, 
 besides, we are in possession of facts that ren- 
 der such a broad statement perfectly untenable. 
 The evidence of Collector Findlater is very 
 strong in his favour. He says his connection 
 with Burns commenced immediately after his 
 admission into the Excise. The superinten- 
 dence of his behaviour was a branch of his 
 especial province, and he warmly testifies to his 
 unremitting attention to business, which cer- 
 tainly is not compatible with perpetual intoxi- 
 cation. From all I can gather, the sum of the 
 charge against Burns in this respect amounts 
 to this, and nothing more, that when he met 
 friends whom he liked, he was apt to prolong 
 the social hour beyond the bounds which pru- 
 dence would dictate. Consider, too, that until 
 he was twenty-seven years of age, he never 
 had more than £1 a-year for clothes and every 
 luxury, and that the years he lived in Dumfries 
 he had only £10 a-year, that he had a wife 
 and four children, and often a horse to keep to 
 assist him to gain that sum, and that when he 
 died he had not quite £2Q of debt, the greater 
 part of which was incurred in the purchase of 
 a volunteer uniform obtained shortly before, 
 and it must be seen that these convivial excesses 
 or drunken revels must have been not a little 
 magnified. That he was incapable of relishing 
 domestic life or rational society is equally an 
 error. We have the evidence of those who 
 possessed the friendship of Burns, that no one 
 could be more affectionately attentive to every 
 conjugal and parental duty, and we have the 
 testimony of his wife, Mrs. Burns, " that she 
 never heard a harsh word from her husband, 
 and never saw a frown upon his brow." I am 
 mortified and ashamed to think it necessary to 
 make these few remarks on the moral character 
 of Burns. We have seen undisguised vices 
 enthroned in power, without one countervailing 
 virtue, in comparison with which the blemishes 
 of Burns were like a glowing twilight to utter 
 darkness. But he has fixed his own errors and 
 failings in imperishable verse, and his enemies 
 have pointed them out and exclaimed, " See 
 ■what he confesses to!" But his vaunted in- 
 ebriety was more poetical than real. His 
 boasted doings at Nance Tannoch's were met 
 by that worthy exclaiming, " Him drink ! I 
 scarcely ken the colour of his siller." A worthy 
 
 farmer also, who was neighbour to him, said to 
 some who made apologies for him, "Make 
 apologies for Burns ! Why, take half his good 
 and all his bad, and divide it amongst twenty 
 of them, and it will make them all better men." 
 After a graphic sketch of the life of Burns, Mr. 
 Hope concluded his speech as follows: — It is 
 on his songs, as we believe, that Burns' chief 
 influence as an author will ultimately be found 
 to depend ; nor, if our Fletcher's aphorism be 
 true, shall we account this a small influence. 
 " Let me make the songs of a people," said he, 
 " and you shall make its Jaws." Surely, if ever 
 any poet might have equalled himself with 
 legislators on this ground, it was Burns. His 
 songs are already part of the mother tongue, 
 not of Scotland only, but of Britain, and of the 
 millions that in all ends of the earth speak a 
 British language. In hut and hall, as the heart 
 unfolds itself in many-coloured joy and woe of 
 existence, the name, the voice of that joy and 
 that woe, is the name and voice which Burns 
 has given to them. Strictly speaking, perhaps 
 no British man has so deeply affected the 
 thoughts and feelings of so many men, as this 
 solitary and altogether private individual, with 
 means apparently the humblest. If Burns has 
 done this for all Britain, he has done more for 
 Scotland, for he was a true Scotchman. To 
 use an agricultural simile, his nationality, like 
 cream on milk, floats on th« surface of all his 
 works ; he himself said, a tide of Scottish pre- 
 judice had been poured along his veins, and he 
 felt that it would boil there till the floodgates 
 shut in eternal rest. He has influenced our 
 whole literature, rendering it more national 
 and patriotic. Travellers, too, from all quarters 
 of the globe visit Scotland, not to see the 
 birth-place of our kings and statesmen, but to 
 visit Ayr, the Banks of the Doon, Alloway's 
 Auld Haunted Kirk, and every shrine hallowed 
 by the ploughman's muse. What though narrow- 
 minded, selfish bigots cry out infidelity! His 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night," his "Prayer on the 
 Prospect of Death," and other of his writings, 
 poems and prose, rebut the charge; and as to 
 his faults and failings, he was a man. Let 
 those without sin fling the first stone. His 
 detractors may do their best and say their 
 worst — we are proud of his genius and our 
 country. Then hurrah for the memory of our 
 immortal bard! 
 
 Mr. R. Scott Sldrving gave " The Memory 
 of the Poets of Scotland;" Mr. Durie, Stand- 
 ingstane, "The Peasantry of Scotland;" Mr. 
 Taylor, Carfrae, " The immortal Bards of Eng- 
 land and Ireland." Various other toasts were 
 given, songs were sung, and the meeting alto- 
 gether was one of the most enthusiastic ever 
 held in Haddington. 
 
HAMILTON. 
 
 271 
 
 HAMILTON.— The 25th January, in honour 
 of the centenary of Robert Burns, was held 
 here as a gala day. Early in the forenoon the 
 instrumental and flute bands made their appear- 
 ance in the streets. The grocers closed their 
 places of business all day. The drapers and 
 others had their shops closed for the most part 
 by two o'clqpk, and although the rain, wind, 
 and hail fell fast and furious, the spirits of the 
 natives seemed determined not to be damped. 
 
 Meeting in Saffronhall Church The 
 
 United Societies had a Soiree in Safii-onhall 
 Church, at six o'clock, — Mr. A. Robertson in 
 the chair. Addresses were delivered by the 
 chairman, the Rev. J. B. Robertson, and other 
 friends. The company were enlivened by the 
 musical performances of Mrs. Jackson, Mr. 
 Cecil, Mr. Jas. YuiUe, and Mr. A. Richmond. 
 Mr. Crosby, from High Blantyre, recited an 
 excellent Poem of his own composition, in 
 honour of the occasion. Mr. J. Cross, poet, 
 author of " A Paraphrase on the Mausoleum," 
 also recited a piece on Burns, which elicited 
 great applause. The audience, which was large, 
 and composed chiefly of the working-classes, 
 seemed to enjoy themselves, and separated 
 about eleven o'clock. A supply of excellent 
 tea, fruit, &c., was served up. 
 
 Dinner in Mb. Cbaigen's Hall. — Upwards 
 of 140 sat down to dinner in the large hall of 
 the Hamilton Arms Hotel (Craigen's), and 
 about 20 more dined in other parts of the 
 house, in honour of the Poet Burns. The 
 dinner, which was of the most recherche de- 
 scription, was served up by "mine host" at five 
 o'clock, which did him much credit. The 
 chair was ably filled by Mr. Matthew Bowie, 
 teacher, supported right and left by Mr, James 
 Mitchell, and Mr. John Small. Messrs. Millar, 
 coachbuilder, and M'AIister, jeweller, Glasgow, 
 acted as croupiers, supported by Messrs. M'Kill, 
 druggist, Hamilton, watchmaker, Courtney, 
 grocer, &c. After doing justice to the good 
 things provided, and the cloth being removed, 
 the Cliairman gave the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts. Mr. Tiiylor next gave a recitation com- 
 posed for the occasion. The Cliairman then 
 rose, and, in a speech of great length and power, 
 proposed the toast of the evening — " The Immor- 
 tal Memory of Robert Burns, the Peasant Bard 
 of Scotland," drunk in solemn silence. Mr. 
 Wm. Courtney sung, " There was a Lad was 
 born in Kyle." Mr. Inglis also sung with tell- 
 ing effect. Mr. David Parker, a local celebrity 
 and poet, here introduced a piece of his own 
 composition, the recital of which told witli 
 powerful effect upon the company. The even- 
 ing was spent amid song and sentiment. The 
 company broke up after singing " Auld Lang- 
 syne " in full chorus. Mr. M'Gilvray, dressed 
 
 in full Highland costume (late piper to Captain 
 Aikman, of Ross,) enlivened the proceedings 
 with many select Highland and other airs per- 
 formed on the bagpipes. The room being 
 cleared for dancing, the youngsters and some 
 "wha clawed grey heads" began tripping it 
 upon the " light fantastic toe," till a late hour 
 in the morning, to the mirth-stirring strains of 
 an excellent quadrille band, provided for the 
 occasion. On the whole, a pleasanter evening 
 could not be imagined — there was not a case 
 of inebriety. 
 
 Festival in the Commercial Inn. — On 
 the evening of the 25th, a party of gentlemen, 
 numbering 35, met in the Commercial Inn (Mr. 
 N. Galloway's), to celebrate the centenary of 
 Scotia's National Bard, Robert Burns. The 
 chair on the occasion was ably filled by Provost 
 Nisbet, supported by Messrs. Rankin, Cassels, 
 Millar, Thorburn, Keith, Naismith, and Rober- 
 ton. The duties of croupier were creditably 
 l)erformed by our worthy townsman, Thomas 
 Henderson, senior, Esq., supported by Messrs. 
 Maxwell, Young, Wilkie, Turner, and Paterson. 
 
 After dinner, which was of a first-class de- 
 scription, and reflected the highest credit on 
 Mr. Galloway, the company joined, under the 
 leadership of Messrs. Thomson and Gray, in 
 singing, " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." 
 
 The Chairman, after giving the usual loyal 
 and patriotic toasts, proposed the toast of the 
 evening, " The Memory of Robert Burns," in 
 an able speech. 
 
 The evening was spent in a very happy and 
 harmonious manner, and broke up at eleven 
 o'clock, the whole company joining in Scot- 
 land's National Finale, " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 A Masonic Festival and Ball, in honour 
 of the centenary of our national bard, was held 
 by the Hamilton Kilwinning, No. 7, St. John's 
 Lodge of Freemasons, in the Masons' Hall here. 
 After the bretliren had partaken of an excellent 
 dinner, served up by Br. R. Walker, grand 
 steward, most substantially, and the cloth re- 
 moved, the usual masonic, loyal, and patriotic 
 toasts were drunk, when 
 
 Tiie Chairman, R.W. Master John Hender- 
 son, rose and said — Being a ploughman, Burns' 
 inspiration was derived from the fields, woods, 
 and streams of his native land, and gained a 
 reputation in all countries, exceeding that of 
 every other poet, from the fact, that he was 
 the poet and painter of nature. To us, who in 
 this country can judge of the fidelity of his 
 pictures, it is not surprising that his fame 
 should be so great, for he brought them home 
 to our feelings, and it is this that makes all 
 Scotland so enthusiastic in their praise of 
 Burns. But there is one point in connection 
 with Burns, which I would mention before sit- 
 
272 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 ting down, and that is, no man added more 
 dignity to the spirit of Freemasonry than did 
 our departed brother. (Hear and cheers.) We 
 find it stated by one of our first historians of 
 the day, that the signs of the order were to be 
 found on the pyramids of Egypt, and the bricks 
 of Nineveh. Masons had long been accustomed 
 to think that their order could be traced only 
 as far back as Solomon's Temple ; but it now 
 appears that Freemasonry dated back to the 
 time of Pharaoh, and even to that when Nine- 
 veh rose from the slime left by the deluge. 
 Tiiese marks which were inscribed by the 
 masons of by-gone days on their buildings, 
 ■were placed by Burns on the Bible which he 
 gave to Highland Mary. I have to request 
 that in drinking this toast you will do it with 
 the customary solemn silence, and in true 
 masonic style, " Tlie Memory of our Immortal 
 Brother, Robert Burns." 
 
 Song — " Burns' Farewell to Tarbolton Lodge," by 
 Br. M. Walkei', junr. 
 
 Other toasts, interspersed with appropriate 
 songs, were given during the evening, and the 
 lodge was closed at half-past seven o'clock. 
 
 Masonic Ball Shortly after eight o'clock 
 
 a grand full-dress assembly was convened, 
 which was attended by above 70— the brethren 
 being in full masonic costume. The youth and 
 beauty of the town was fully represented by 
 the fairer sex present. The party tripped upon 
 the light fantastic toe till four o'clock on the 
 following morning, when they severally wended 
 their way homewards. 
 
 In accordance with the evening's joyful pro- 
 ceedings, the masonic body excelled all others, 
 in giving lustre and effect to the scene by illu- 
 minating the front windows of their hall with 
 three beautiful transparencies, executed in oil 
 colours on canvas, by the hand of a well-known 
 and distinguished artist, Mr. Dudgeon, of Glas- 
 gow, and which, throughout the evening, called 
 forth numerous on-lookers outside, who stared 
 with admiration and delight. 
 
 HAWICK.— The long-looked -for day was 
 ushered in with all the strength of a " Januar 
 wind," but though the clouds were rather fore- 
 boding, there was little rain. At an early hour 
 flags were hoisted on several places both in 
 Hawick and Wilton, and in the course of the 
 forenoon, there was little thought of except 
 preparation for the afternoon's festivities. Tlie 
 Sax-horn band turned out and played for up- 
 wards of two hours a selection from the airs 
 of Burns ; and, notwithstanding the somewhat 
 unpleasant state of the weather, it was followed 
 by a large crowd. The bells rung out a merry 
 peal, and all was joy and rejoicing. By two 
 o'clock, the factories were closed, as well as the 
 
 shops and business offices, and the streets, be- 
 tween that time and four o'clock, were filled 
 with parties moving to their respective places 
 of entertainment. As a whole, there has never 
 been any festive occasion more heartily entered 
 into here by all classes. The whole of the 
 entertainments passed off with great spirit, not 
 a few of them appropriately finishing with a 
 ball, for the special benefit of the ladies. 
 
 TowBE Hotel. — The principal dinner took 
 place in the Tower Hotel, and was numerously 
 and respectably attended. In order to prevent 
 overcrowding and confusion, the tickets were 
 limited to 80, but as the hour approached, the 
 demand for tickets became so great that it was 
 thought necessary to extend the number, and 
 considerably more were sold. The dinner was 
 on the table at four o'clock, and the rich array 
 of good things provided for the occasion amply 
 testified to the desire which Mr. and Mrs. Fen- 
 wick had, that nothing would be wanting on 
 their part to make a dinner worthy of the ad- 
 mirers of the bard and of themselves. The 
 duties of the chair were ably discharged by the 
 Chief Magistrate, Bailie Paterson, while those 
 of croupier were no less ably discharged by the 
 junior Magistrate, Bailie Turnbull, supported 
 by the Rev. H. Scott Riddell. 
 
 After the removal of the cloth the usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts were given by the 
 chairman and croupier, including " The Lord 
 Lieutenant of the County," by the croupier, 
 and "The Member for the County," by the 
 chairman. 
 
 Mr. John AVilson, manufacturer, then gave 
 " Tiie Magistrates and Town Council of 
 Hawick." 
 
 Bailie Paterson acknowledged the toast, 
 and alluded to the object of the meeting in a 
 highly eloquent and powerful speech. He did 
 not mean to encroach upon the prerogative of 
 the poet who was to address them, as he was 
 quite aware that genius alone could rightly in- 
 terpret genius; but, yet as common mortals 
 could be thrilled by the poet's song, he thought 
 he might say a few words on the occasion, 
 Scotland was the land of song, and with her 
 grand and rugged scenery she was, indeed, a 
 " meet nurse for a poetic child." To give full 
 expression to the joys and sorrows, the loves 
 and hopes, which lie hid in the human heart 
 was the work of the true poet. The bard who 
 could evoke the tender sympathies and call 
 forth from a nation's heart the mighty response 
 to all that was good and true was deserving of 
 all honour. Bailie Paterson alluded to Allan 
 Ramsay and his " Gentle Sliepherd," and al- 
 though years had passed away, that sweet pas- 
 toral was still cherished and admired by the 
 youth of Scotland. Robert Ferguson was 
 
HAWICK. 
 
 273 
 
 next enlarged upon, who, altliougli he sang of 
 city life, yet performed well his task. His 
 poem of " Gude braid claith," while intended 
 chiefly for those in superfine, was not to be 
 ignored by those in fustian. But a greater 
 tlian those was at hand. Heaven struck a light 
 in a lonely cottage, and the Ayrshire plough-boy 
 rushed upon the stage. He sang of the joys 
 and sorrows, the griefs and sympathies of the 
 people, in a way in which they had never be- 
 fore heard, and at once took his place as the 
 poet of the poor. The light of his life has long 
 been quenched, but the light of his genius 
 would remain to latest ages. Much, too much, 
 had been said regarding the ftiults of Burns, 
 but, to-night, he would not draw his frailties 
 from their dark abode. 
 
 The Rev. H. Scott Riddell next gave 
 " The immortal memory of Burns." In doing 
 so he wished to enter somev^hat fully into the 
 character and genius of Burns. He thought 
 that too much had been said of Burns in a slap- 
 dash, oflf-hand style as it were, but he had an 
 idea of treating the subject in a philosophical 
 manner. He had accordingly prepared a paper 
 on the subject, and he thought by this means he 
 would give more information than by an off-hand 
 speech. Mr. Biddell then proceeded to his task, 
 and spoke for nearly an hour and a half. Of 
 course, we do not pretend to give even an 
 epitome of an oration at once highly character- 
 istic of its author and complimentary to our great 
 national bard. Burns had long gone from us. 
 His earthly career was short but bright. His 
 own dark forebodings with regard to his un-, 
 timely fate proved much more true than the 
 anticipations he had with regard to his fame. 
 It could be said of Burns what could be said of 
 few others, that while he had entwined his 
 memory with his native land, he had also estab- 
 lished his fame throughout the world. The 
 groundwork of Burns' fame was that he took 
 for his theme the human heart. The heart 
 which he thus took was no particular one. It 
 was the national heart. This heart, however, 
 could not be found anywhere but in Scotland, 
 and within the circle embraced by the British 
 sea. It was not to be found in Italy, in Russia, 
 in India, or, indeed, anywhere else. Of all 
 these lands Burns would have said — 
 
 " What are they, the haunts of the tyrant and slave ? " 
 
 The freeborn Briton despised and " viewed 
 with disdain" these lands. As for France it 
 had certainly at first beguiled him for a little, 
 but it was only for a little. He had enough of 
 shrewd tact and solid understanding to per- 
 ceive the utter worthlessness of anything which 
 might emanate from that quarter. He thought 
 that the standard of human nature was the 
 
 human heart, and it was the Scottish heart that 
 he fixed upon as his standard, as it is to be 
 found among the "heights and howes of auld 
 Scotland." The heart of other nations sets 
 little value upon liberty and independence. 
 The Scottish heart, however, prized love and 
 friendship, love of liberty and love of bravery, 
 a bravery which will plant its foot on the field 
 of the brave. Among all its defects and all its 
 deviations, it has alway maintained a strong 
 determination in the cause of liberty. It is not 
 a little to the credit of Scotland that it holds 
 what many lands have lost. Had it been the 
 lot of Burns he would have followed to the 
 field the noble Scottish heroes of old, as will- 
 ingly as he had celebrated their deathless 
 actions. Burns sympathised intensely with the 
 grand principle of liberty. Every heart knows 
 " Scots wha hae." The songs of liberty had 
 gone forth to other lands to tell the tale, and 
 there was no saying what the effects might be. 
 Right or wrong he had always accustomed him- 
 self to think Burns not only a national poet, 
 but the only national one. Mr. Riddell then 
 entered upon the faults of Burns. All who 
 had spoken and written about him had made too 
 much of these faults. If no man was to be 
 honoured except the guiltless, there would be 
 few indeed. Burns had great abilities, and he 
 erred to the extent of these abilities, and many 
 things conspired to keep his faults before the 
 public. If he was in the valley he was hunted 
 to the hill, if on the hill, back again to the 
 valley. But all this did not make the errors 
 of Burns greater to him than those of other 
 men to them. In some degree, however, Burns' 
 passions seem to have been stronger than his 
 mind. It was the strength and feeling in 
 Burns more than anything else that gave Burns 
 a love for poetry. One remarkable peculiarity 
 was his rare power as a humourist. He met 
 with subjects for his humour in every-day-life, 
 but still he kept closely to his text, the national 
 heart. Like all true poetry Burns' effusions 
 pertained more to the heart than tlie head. 
 There are wants in the human heart which can 
 only be filled up by true poetry. With regard 
 to many of his songs he found it necessary to 
 adapt them to the habits and feelings of the 
 times. The agency which Burns wielded may 
 seem a simple one to many, but it was not so. 
 After considering the genius and character of 
 Burns at great length, Mr. Riddell sat down 
 amid great applause. 
 
 Song — " A' the airts," Mr. George Hobkirk. 
 
 Song — " There was a lad was bom in Kyle," Mr. 
 Robert Laidlaw. 
 
 Mr. Robert Fraseb gave "the songs of 
 Burns," and Dr. Brydon " the town and trade 
 of Hawick." 
 
374 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Various toasts were given, among which 
 Mr. Webster gave " The living Bards of 
 Scotland," coupled with the name of H. S. 
 Riddell. In the course of an eloquent speech 
 he remarked — At the present moment there are 
 in Paisley more poets tlian are to be found in 
 the whole of England. Prolific as Paisley is in 
 poets, it is, however, by no means to be sneered 
 at. Good things have come out of Paisley. 
 Need I mention that to it we are indebted 
 for Alexander Wilson, the Scottish poet and 
 American ornithologist, for Robert Tannahill, 
 than whom a sweeter singer is not to be found 
 in the annals of the Scottish muse, and last, 
 though not least, for John Wilson, the "old man 
 eloquent" of "Blackwood" and the "Noctes 
 Ambrosianse. " But, gentlemen, throughout 
 the length and breadth of Scotland — 
 
 " Frae Maidenkirk to John o' Groats," 
 
 the whole land is melodious with the lays of 
 living bards. There is scarcely a scene of 
 beauty or of gi'andeur which has not been en- 
 shrined in song, and brought home to the hearts 
 of the people, endearing still more to them 
 
 " Auld Scotland's Iiowes and Scotland's knowes," 
 
 the 
 
 " Hills where Ossian dwelt, 
 And Coila's minstrel sang." 
 
 Among such a galaxy of honoured names as 
 that of the living bards of Scotland, to which I 
 might draw your attention, it is no small hon- 
 our, to stand in the foremost rank. This hon- 
 our I need scarcely tell you, is held, and has 
 been deservedly won, by our respected guest of 
 this evening, the man who sang " Scotland 
 Yet," and the " Hames o' our Ain Folk," Henry 
 Scott Riddell. Known and appreciated by 
 every lover of poetry and song, by every leal 
 and true-hearted Scotsman who venerates 
 
 " Auld Scotland's micht, and Scotland's riclit," 
 
 he is yet dearer to us as one of ourselves, as 
 the " Bard of the Boi-dcrs," who has " waked 
 to ecstasy the living lyre," and sung, as few 
 have sung before him, of all that is bright and 
 beautiful, of all that is great and glorious, in 
 the Scottish character. Let us hope, gentle- 
 men, that, although now " lyart and grey," he 
 may long be spared to enjoy his well-earned 
 fame, and to hear his soul-thrilling and truly 
 patriotic lyrics sung by an admiring, an inde- 
 pendent, and a happy people. 
 
 Mr. Riddell briefly replied. 
 
 Some excellent songs were sung, and after 
 singing " Auld Langsyne," under the able lead- 
 ership of Mr. Geo. Hobkirk, the company ad- 
 journed to make preparations for the ball. 
 
 During the dinner, and through the course of 
 the evening, an excellent band, under the lead- 
 ership of Mr. Teal, discoursed sweet harmony. 
 
 The ball company assembled about ten 
 o'clock. The assembly was one of the finest 
 which has been seen for many years. The ap- 
 pearance of the ladies on the scene was the 
 signal for renewed life and vigour, and dancing 
 was kept up with great spirit till an early hour 
 in the morning. 
 
 A Soiree was held in the large hall of the 
 Commercial Inn, on Tuesday evening, to cele- 
 brate the centenary of Robert Burns. The 
 attendance was about 400, the house being 
 crowded in every part, and many were refused 
 admission for want of accommodation. The 
 walls of the room were decorated with ever- 
 greens, arranged with great care and taste. 
 On that part behind the platform, and in full 
 view of the meeting, was a large picture of 
 Burns at the plough, with his cottage close by, 
 the picture being encircled in large characters 
 with the motto — " The rank is but the guinea 
 stamp, the man's the gowd for a' that." To 
 the right of this was a sketch, almost as large 
 as life, of " Tarn o' Slianter and liis grey mare 
 Meg, at the key-stane o' the brig," where 
 " Nannie flew at Tam wi' furious ettle, though 
 little wist she Maggie's mettle." To the left 
 was a sketch of two lovers, representing the 
 love poetry of Burns. Above these sketches 
 the wall was beautifully ornamented with ever- 
 greens, arranged in the form of a pair of ex- 
 tended wings, which overhung the whole, and 
 a great number of small lamps were suspended 
 against the wall, which added much to the gen- 
 eral effect. Altogether the decorations were 
 superb, and said much for the taste of Mr. 
 Guthrie, by whom we understand they were 
 designed, and chiefly executed. 
 
 The proceedings commenced at five o'clock, 
 when the chair was taken by David Dundas 
 Scott, Esq. On the platform were Mr. Walter 
 Wilson, of Orchard House ; the Rev. Mr. Mun- 
 ro; the Rev. Mr. Thomson of the Old Church; 
 Mrs. Wilson, Orchard; and the ladies and gen- 
 tlemen who were to take part in the musical 
 and other proceedings of the evening. After a 
 service of tea. 
 
 The Chairman remarked that, while this fes- 
 tival was held in other countries only as the 
 centenary of the birth of a great poet, here it 
 is that of a Scottish poet — as a national festi- 
 val. Yet it was one interesting to the whole 
 world ; for it were a mere affectation of modes- 
 ty to deny the unquestionable superiority of 
 Scottish national music. This was universally 
 admitted. But while other nations as well as 
 the Scotch were under unusual oblioations to 
 the poet who had so successfully purffled those 
 
HAWICK. 
 
 275 
 
 fountains of national melody — fountains that 
 would pour forth their treasures to generation 
 after generation, to the end of time — we were 
 most of all benefited by those inappreciable 
 labours of our great national bard. Burns' 
 qualities as a poet would be fully described by 
 otliers in the course of the evening, and he was 
 unwilling to anticipate what they might better 
 say. But there was one remark he might be 
 allowed to make. Among the many obligations 
 we owed to Burns' genius, not the least was 
 the manner in wliich, by the powers of associa- 
 tion, he had beautified and endeared to us, not 
 what was already beautiful in our native land, 
 but much that was tame, commonplace, and 
 even unsightly. Take " The Cottar's Saturday 
 Night." See the time he chooses ; — a dreigh 
 November night — nothing very beautiful in 
 that — the scene a common Scotch homestead, 
 with no architectural charms to set it off; per- 
 haps witli a good many dubs about the door. 
 Yet what a scene of exquisite beauty does 
 Burns make out of these material elements ! 
 A golden thread passes through the entire tis- 
 sue of the tale, and makes it lustrous. First, 
 we have the love of the toddlin' wee things 
 meeting their father, and the father's love in 
 return ; we have the mutual love of the guid- 
 inan and guidwife to each other ; the pure af- 
 fection of their daughter's lover to Jenny, and 
 Jenny's in return. And so on it goes, until 
 we come to the family worship, which brings 
 us to the love of all to their God and Saviour, 
 and the love of . God and of our great Fellow- 
 sufferer above for the souls thus engaged in his 
 worship. The golden thread that passes 
 through and brightens the whole is love. 
 Take another instance. What more unsightly 
 than one of our Lowland Scotch muirs after a 
 wet winter sunset. All is squash, squash be- 
 low. Around you have the wide, lonely muir, 
 broken only by tlie moss hags, on whose black 
 edges that most unsightly of all unsightly 
 plants, the muir-thistle, lifts its tall stalks, and 
 waves its head sullenly to the blast ; and 
 bounded by low hills, with none of the bold 
 picturesque outlines of tlie mountains of the 
 north of Switzerland. Above you have the 
 cloud-laden sky, and in your face the blatter- 
 ing rain. Such a scene for a poet to choose, 
 and yet all these unsightly objects he has en- 
 deared to us by that exquisite song, which you 
 are to hear to-night — "My Nannie 01" 
 After some other pertinent remarks, the Chair- 
 man concluded his speech as follows : — Those 
 who harp upon Burns' immoralities forget the 
 immense obligations Scotland and the world 
 owe him for the infinite pains he took in puri- 
 fying the fountains of Scottish song for his own 
 and all future generations. In order to judge 
 
 of our obligations to him in this matter, let any 
 one look over our older collections of Scotch 
 songs. I daresay they are not worse than those 
 of other countries; but while the tunes in other 
 cases were, with few exceptions, not worth the 
 preserving, in this case the tunes were imperish- 
 able — they were sure to keep those fountains 
 flowing as long as there were ears for fine music 
 to drink in their exquisite melodies. Thus a 
 vast amount of coarseness, indelicacy, and down- 
 right stupid nonsense was in course of being 
 perpetuated, and temptations were constantly 
 presented to introduce into the best-ordered 
 families — in the shape of songs for the voice, 
 the flute, or the piano — an intolerable amount 
 of disgusting ribaldry and trash. Well, after 
 convincing yourselves of this, take Burns' cor- 
 respondence with George Thomson ; read of 
 the infinite pains he took to separate the pre- 
 cious from the vile — to preserve all that was 
 exquisite to the ear, and along with that as 
 much as possible of what was really worth pre- 
 serving in snatches of ancient ballads or more 
 modern songs, which had become fragmentary 
 or corrupt from neglect and the intermeddling 
 of gross poetasters. See, too, the result, I 
 don't say that there is absolutely nothing ob- 
 jectionable in the whole collection ; but I do 
 appeal to Burns' own letters in proof that it 
 was his constant effort to keep out everything 
 that was objectionable, and that his success has 
 been immense. 
 
 The Kev. Mr. Thomson spoke on " Burns 
 as a Patriot." He began by saying that in one 
 respect he thought Burns was no i)atriot. His 
 example and precepts as to the use of intoxi- 
 cating drinks were, in many respects, injurious 
 to the best interests of his countrymen. He 
 was not there, however, to dwell on defects ; 
 the grave should cover every error, and from 
 its peaceful bosom should spring only fine white 
 snowdrops of fond regrets and tender recollec- 
 tions. From the example of departed friends 
 we should select the good, the beautiful, and 
 the true, and allow the sinful to lie buried in 
 the tomb of oblivion. Burns spent his life 
 chiefly in rural scenes and rural occupations, 
 and cultivating for his country the simple effu- 
 sions of his rustic muse. During the thirty- 
 seven years and five months he sojourned in 
 tliis world, we look in vain for those warlike 
 scenes in which Tell, Wallace, and Bruce were 
 engaged, still we may understand he was a 
 true patriot, when we consider the battle he 
 waged for freedom of thought — the manly, 
 independent truths he taught — the mighty in- 
 fluence of his songs in giving to Scotland a 
 distinct nationality. The distinguishing char- 
 acteristic of Burns was, his intense love of 
 everything Scottish. Scotland was to him the 
 
276 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 land of his forefathers, his hopes, his affections, 
 his language, his home, his hearth, arjd his 
 heart. Thus, having a patriot's love, a patri- 
 ot's sword would not have been wanting if re- 
 quired. A foeman's footprint on the green 
 sward he loved so dearly would have been to 
 Burns the impress of pollution, and would have 
 been washed out at the price of all he held 
 dear. Mr. Thomson illustrated his remarl?s by- 
 appropriate quotations from the poems of Burns. 
 Mr. John Guthrie delivered an excellent ad- 
 dress on "Burns the Pioneer." Mr. Peter 
 Laidlaw gave a brief address. The Rev. Mr. 
 Munro made a few remarks. Mr. Murray, 
 Academy, then delivered an address on " Burns 
 and the Scottish language." Mr. Alex. Hogg 
 made a most eloquent speech, drawing a paral- 
 lel between the life and character of Wallace 
 and Burns, tracing the homage paid them by 
 all classes to their having been intensely desi- 
 rous to promote the welfare of their fellow-men. 
 
 At intervals throughout the evening, Messrs. 
 Brown, Stainton, and Young, and Mrs. Squa- 
 rey, Mrs. Davidson, and Miss Godfrey, sang a 
 number of Burns' best songs, of which the 
 company showed its appreciation, by the en- 
 thusiastic cheering with which they were re- 
 ceived. Messrs. Lawrie, Killin, W. Murray, 
 and Tough, gave recitations from the writings 
 of Burns, which also contributed greatly to the 
 enjoyment and amusement of the meeting. The 
 Quadrille Band was also present, and furnished 
 its share towards making the soiree one of the 
 greatest and most successful ever held in Haw- 
 ick, and in rendering it in some degree worthy 
 of so great an occasion. After the usual votes 
 of thanks to the Chairman and others, this 
 great gathering broke up at half-past eleven 
 o'clock. The Committee awarded a special 
 vote of thanks to Mr. John Guthrie for the 
 tasteful manner in which he gratuitously deco- 
 rated the room. At the close of the soiree a 
 ball followed, which was kept up till an early 
 hour. 
 
 Other Entertainments. — Besides the two 
 principal ones, there were numerous others, 
 of which we can give little more than the 
 places where they were held. In the Crown 
 Inn a large pariy sat down to dinner, and were 
 ably presided over by Mr. Thomson, Roug- 
 heuoh Mill. Another large company, from 
 Weensland, dined in the Plough Inn, and an- 
 other in the Ewe and Lamb. The Half Moon 
 Hotel had also a party, and the Railway Hotel, 
 Wilton. At several of these places there were 
 balls. Many of the workshops had convivial 
 meetings of their own, and there were few who 
 in one way or another did not celebrate the 
 hundredth birth-day of our national bard. 
 
 HELENSBURGH.— The Helensburgh cen- 
 tenary festival, in celebration of the birth-day 
 of Burns, was held in the Queen's Hotel. The 
 hour of meeting was six o'clock, and shortly 
 after that time about one hundred gentlemen 
 sat down to dinner. Provost Drysdale occu- 
 pied the chair, and M. J. Martin, Esq., factor 
 to Sir James Colquhoun, officiated as croupier. 
 Among those present we observed Drs. Mar- 
 shall, Skene, Hendry, and Dale ; Bailie Brein- 
 gan, Councillor Stevenson, ex-Bailie Webster, 
 Glasgow, Messrs. William Thomson, J. Stew- 
 art, J. Thomas, D. M'Farlane, Torr, D. Wad- 
 dell, R. D. Orr, George M'Lachlan, William 
 Spence, L. M'Lachlan, D. Baxter, W. More, J. 
 B. Allan, William Macdonald, J. Lindsay, 
 Woodend, James Buchanan, James Kelly, An- 
 drew -MTarlane, F. Campbell, William Pater- 
 son, J. Neilson, Row, &c., &c. 
 
 The sumptuous and abundant repast pro- 
 vided by Mr. Williamson having been duly 
 discussed and the tables cleared. 
 
 The Chairman gave, in succession, the usual 
 preliminary toasts of the " Queen" — followed 
 by the company singing " Scots wha hae" — 
 " Prince Albert and the Royal Family," and 
 " The Army and Navy ; " after which he called 
 upon 
 
 The Secretary, Mr. D. Baxter, who read let- 
 ters of apology for absence from Sir James Col- 
 quhoun of Luss, Bart., and William Colquhoun, 
 Esq., of Luss ; the Revs. J. Lindsay, Helens- 
 burgh, and N. Brodie, Shandon ; Dr. Smellie, 
 and Messrs. Andrew Oswald, R. D. Heywood, 
 N. Macnish, and W. Bryson. 
 
 The Chairman then rose to propose the 
 next toast on the list, and in doing so he said 
 he found himself in a peck of troubles. The 
 company could see what the next toast on the 
 list was, and he had been looking about for 
 some days past for some one to propose it who 
 could do it justice, but failing to find any one 
 willing to undertake the task, it had fallen to 
 him to do so. By way of preparation, he had 
 taken an hour or two to look over the biogra- 
 phy of Burns, in order to be able to say some- 
 thing appropriate on the occasion, but, unfor- 
 tunately, he had lost the paper on which his 
 speech was written. The speech, indeed, seem- 
 ed to have had very lofty aspirations, for having 
 placed it in the inside of his hat, which had been 
 blown off with the wind, the bit paper flew clean 
 over a three-storey house, and he had seen no 
 more of it. (Laughter.) This, however, would 
 force him to set a good example by making his 
 speech short. Burns was a most extraordinary 
 man. Like his own much-loved Caledonia he 
 had been somewhat rough in his life, and per- 
 haps in his manners. Like others, the poet had 
 his faults, and Burns was not the man that 
 
HOWNAM— HUNTLY. 
 
 277 
 
 would thank them for saying otherwise. Burns 
 was becoming better known and appreciated, 
 and he believed that he would continue to rise 
 in the public estimation as he had done during 
 the past century. (Cheers.) It was not his 
 (the Chairman's) intention to expatiate on the 
 genius of Burns. There were, however, sev- 
 eral things lie would mention which endeared 
 him to Scotchmen. Burns had a strong love of 
 nature ; an intense love of his country — he was 
 every inch a Scotchman, and had a noble and 
 independent spirit. He was a prince — nature 
 had made him so — and his influence was felt in 
 whatever company he might move amongst. 
 Besides all this. Burns was not only a poor 
 man, but was also an ill-used man. He was a 
 ploughman, and that he considered no dis- 
 grace ; but to the shame of Scotland, be it said, 
 he had been allowed to live poor, and die on 
 the very brink of want. After some further 
 eulogistic remarks, the Chairman concluded by 
 proposing the toast of " The Memory of 
 Burns." 
 
 The sentiment having, as usual, been re- 
 sponded to in silence. 
 
 Dr. Dale, after remarking that he was, per- 
 haps, tlie only Englishman present to do hon- 
 our to the Scottish bard, read an original poem 
 appropriate to the occasion, and resumed his 
 seat amidst loud applause. 
 
 Dr. Hendry proposed the next toast, " Lite- 
 rature, Science, and Art," and in doing so, not 
 only made an excellent speech, but sung a song 
 of his own composition, which called forth a 
 most cordial burst of applause. 
 
 Mr. J. B. Allan, in an able speech, gave 
 " The Poets of Scotland." 
 
 The toast having been duly honoured, and 
 replied to by Dr. Dale, 
 
 Mr. Duncan M'Farlane rose, amidst loud 
 applause, to propose " The Peasantry of Scot- 
 land." He said he was proud to bring before 
 them such a toast — ^jiroud, because he was sure 
 it would be well received. There could be no 
 surer test of the state of a country than the 
 condition of its peasantry ; and the peasantry 
 of Scotland, he was happy to say, would bear 
 comparison with the peasantry of any country 
 in the world. The life of the peasant was cal- 
 culated fully to develop all his faculties ; and 
 men who stand high in all the various profes- 
 sions had sprung from the peasantry. The 
 works of Eobert Burns, he held, had done 
 much to inspire the peasantry of Scotland with 
 a noble ambition to do their duty. His writ- 
 ings had also stimulated the smaller class of 
 farmers to be pushing and enterprising, so that 
 they might not find themselves among "the 
 poor tenant bodies scant o' cash," who had to 
 " bear a factor's snash." 
 
 Several other toasts were given, and during 
 the course of the evening a variety of songs 
 appropriate to the occasion were sung in ex- 
 cellent style by Bailie Breingan, Dr. Hendry, 
 and Messrs. M'llveen, Wilson, and Smith. The 
 company were also favoured with a recitation 
 from Mr. A. Munn; and the Helensburgh 
 Flute Band, which occupied the orchestra, dis- 
 coursed appropriate music in a creditable man- 
 ner between the toasts. 
 
 Altogether the Helensburgh Burns' Cen- 
 tenary Festival passed off with great 6clat, and 
 will long be remembered with pleasure by the 
 many admirers of the peasant poet who assem- 
 bled to do honour to his memory on the occa- 
 sion. 
 
 HOWNAM The centenary of our great 
 
 national poet was celebrated here in a manner 
 worthy of the occasion. A number of gentle- 
 men sat down to dinner in the Shepherd's Arms 
 Inn. Mr. Gray, Sharplaw, occupied the chair ; 
 and Mr. Eutherford, Bearhope, officiated as 
 croupier. After the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts had been disposed of, the Chairman, in a 
 few excellent remarks, proposed the immortal 
 memory of Eobert Burns, which was pledged 
 in solemn silence. A number of other toasts 
 followed, and during the evening a number of 
 admired songs were sung by several gentlemen 
 — Mr. Burnet, Greenhill, singing with fine feel- 
 ing and effect the "Lament for Burns" and 
 " Scotland's Hills ;" while Mr. Davidson, teach- 
 er, sung very sweetly " Ye banks and braes o' 
 Bonny Doon," " My Nannie 0," and " Afton 
 Water." The company, after spending a happy 
 and pleasant evening, separated at a seasonable 
 hour. Another party, to the number of thirty- 
 two, sat down to a substantial supper in Mr. 
 Samuel Hall's Inn. Mr. James Davidson, 
 Southcote, the noted border wrestler, occupied 
 the chair — the duties of which he discharged in 
 a very satisfactory manner. With toast and 
 song the company enjoyed a few agreeable 
 hours together. — In another apartment a num- 
 ber of ladies, who admired the genius of the 
 Bard, partook of tea — which was served up by 
 Miss Chisholm in her best style.^A ball after- 
 wards took place, when the inspiring strains of 
 Messrs. Mills and Dunn put " life and mettle 
 in the heels" of old and young, who kept up a 
 succession of reels and contre dances until an 
 early hour in the morning. 
 
 HUNTLY.— On the 25th, being the cente- 
 nary of Burns, there was a half-holiday here. 
 The shops were shut, and the boys of the town 
 had their bonfire and fireworks in the Square. 
 Several parties met in different places to sing 
 some of the poet's songs. Mr. T. Taylor, pro- 
 
278 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 fessor of dancing, from Aberdeen, having had a 
 school here, held his ball also in honour of 
 Burns. The dancing was in the first style, and 
 was kept up to a late hour in the morning. 
 The music was of the first-blass and under the 
 guidance of Mr. Taylor, with a choir from 
 Aberdeen. The ball was well attended, and 
 Mr. Taylor's scholars did great credit to his 
 professional abilities. The hall was decorated 
 with evergreens and mottoes, and a splendid 
 ])ortrait of the poet holding the plough. There 
 has not been a ball in Huntly for a number of 
 years that has given greater satisfaction. 
 
 HURLFORD.— In common with other vil- 
 lages, a great many parties convened on Tues- 
 day, to do honour to the memory of the immor- 
 tal Burns. About thirty of the respectables 
 partook of an excellent dinner in Mrs. Barr's 
 Inn. A most jovial evening was spent, each 
 one evidently doing his utmost to enhance its 
 hilarity. Toast and song went cheerily round, 
 till Eorbes — that bugbear to jollity — told the 
 hour for retiring. The duties of the chair were 
 most admirably discharged by Mr. James Mur- 
 doch, shoemaker ; and those of the croupier by 
 Mr. J. Love of Crookedholm. 
 
 INNERLEITHEN— Tlie celebration of this 
 festival commenced by the gentlemen intending 
 to take part in the proceedings assembling at 
 the Parish School, where they formed them- 
 selves into a procession, and proceeded to pro- 
 menade the principal streets of the town by 
 torch-light, headed by the Innerleithen and 
 Traquair Instrumental Band. Thereafter, about 
 seventy sat down to an elegant and substantial 
 supper, provided by mine host of St. Ronan's 
 Hotel. Mr. Bathgate, banker, Innerleithen, 
 ably filled the chair, supported right and left 
 by the Rev. Messrs. Mackie and Dobson, 
 Messrs. Brown, Burns, Inglis, T. Dobson, New- 
 lands, Bonar, &c., &c. ; while Mr, Lyle, parish 
 schoolmaster, efficiently discharged the duties of 
 croupier, supported by Messrs. Miller, A. Dobson, 
 Tox, R. Euman, Keddie, &c., &c. After the 
 cloth had been removed, and the usual loyal 
 toasts given and heartily responded to. 
 
 The Chairman, in a most able and eloquent 
 speech, proposed "The Immortal Memory of 
 Robert Burns," and in doing so he spoke as 
 follows : — I think you will agree with me that 
 the enthusiasm exhibited throughout the coun- 
 try at the present time in connection with him 
 whose hundredth birthday we are met to cele- 
 brate, is, to say the least of it, something very 
 remarkable. I may almost say that throughout 
 
 broad Scotland there is not a city, town, or 
 hamlet where the lovers of poetry and song are 
 not at present met for similar purposes with 
 ourselves. And not in Scotland alone, but in 
 many other lands has the same enthusiasm been 
 manifested. The great cities of England have 
 many of them their Burns' festival to-night. 
 Our brethren on the other side of the Atlantic 
 are even more enthusiastic than ourselves ; and 
 I question much if the Burns' excitement be 
 one half as intense in Edinburgh or Glasgow, 
 or even in Auld Ayr itself, the poet's natal soil, 
 as it is in New York and other cities of the 
 New World. Nay, for anything I know to the 
 contrary, in the midst of nations kindred to 
 him neither in blood nor language, there may 
 be at this moment commemorative meetings 
 among his fervid admirers similar to our own. 
 A sentiment so universal — an enthusiasm so 
 world-wide — must have some good and worthy 
 foundation. There must be sometliing emi- 
 nently appropriate in celebrations such as we are 
 engaged in to-night, otherwise it would not 
 have found such favourable and immediate 
 acceptance among an overwhelming majority of 
 the people. A sincere and genuine admira- 
 tion of our great national bard is the moving 
 spring which has called us together this even- 
 ing, and not us only, but many thousands 
 of our countrymen throughout the world. 
 We honour all our heroes, and all our worthies, 
 in every department of excellence and worth ; 
 we would not deny to one of them an iota of 
 his appropriate meed of reverence and praise.- 
 We are as proud, nay, it may be, prouder, of 
 Wallace and Bruce, of Knox and Melville, of 
 Walter Scott and James Watt, than we are of 
 Robert Burns. We would not, if we could, 
 rob one of those mighty dead of their due 
 honour, to give it to our peasant poet. But 
 every kind of greatness and excellence demands 
 its own peculiar style of being honoured, and 
 what might do for one would be unsuitable to 
 another. John Knox would not have thanked 
 us for a commemorative banquet. He would 
 have pointed to the Protestant pulpit and the 
 Protestant Church and cried — ^That is the scene 
 with which my honour is associated. James 
 Watt would not have thanked us for a com- 
 memorative banquet. He would have pointed 
 to the mighty steamers which plough the unfa- 
 thomable deep — ^or to the railway termini— or 
 to the factory engine, and said — With these 
 my name and honour are associated ; keep im- 
 proving these if you wish to do me honour. The 
 mode we have adopted to celebrate the centen- 
 ary of Burns is not the way to do honour to 
 such as I have named, but it is just by the 
 friendly gathering and the social song that we 
 can render appropriate honour to our great 
 
INSCH— INVERAVON. 
 
 279 
 
 song writer. And where is it that his power is 
 most visible, and his memory most dear, than 
 just in the social gathering, when all old ani- 
 mosities and distinctions, and jealousies are for 
 the time forgotten, and when 
 
 " Man to man the table routi 
 Can brithers be, an' a' that." 
 
 It has been well said, the great popular poet is 
 the greatest man of his people. Homer was the 
 greatest man of Greece, and Burns is the 
 Homer of Scotland. A thousand years shall 
 not haye dimmed his glory, but refined his 
 worth. The Chairman then gave " The Im- 
 mortal Memory of Robert Burns." 
 
 The toast was received and drunk with the 
 greatest enthusiasm. The other principal toasts 
 of the evening were, " The Memory of Robert 
 Nicol," by the Rev. Mr. Mackie; " The Memory 
 of Sir Walter Scott," by the Croupier; "The 
 Health of the Poet's Sons,"' by the Chairman; 
 " The Memory of the Ettrick Shepherd," by 
 the Croupier; " The Health of the Chairman," 
 by the Croupier ; and " The Health of the 
 Croupier," by Mr. Brown. Eloquent addresses 
 ou the genius and poetry of Burns were de- 
 livered by the Rev. Mr. Dobson, and Mr. Proc- 
 tor ; and Mr. John Scott, a native poet, read, 
 amid loud cheers, some original lines composed 
 for the occasion. 
 
 INSCH. — Early in the day flags with appro- 
 priate mottoes might be seen streaming from 
 many of the house-tops about Insch ; and at 
 one P.M. (thanks to the liberal-minded masters) 
 business was entirely suspended for the day, 
 even in spite of " a' the lengthened sage ad- 
 vices " of Holy Willies and such like moral re- 
 formers. By two o'clock most of the young 
 men of the village, being summoned by the 
 " tap of the drum," assembled in Mr. Robert- 
 son's Hotel to discuss the substantial merits of 
 a real Scotch haggis — Mr. John Diack, druggist, 
 being called upon to preside. After doing full 
 justice to Mrs. R.'s excellent preparations, the 
 Chairman called for full " bumpers," and in a 
 neat and graceful manner gave the toast of the 
 day — viz., " The Immortal Memory of Robert 
 Burns," which was drunk with all the honours. 
 The Chairman next gave " Prosperity to the 
 Merchants of Insch," coupled with the name of 
 Mr. Roger, who had so generously granted 
 those in their employment the half-holiday. 
 Mr. Roger having replied, a number of Burns' 
 finest songs were then sung in a very lively and 
 spirited manner. The party shortly after ad- 
 journed. 
 
 In the evening a festival was held in Mr. 
 Russell's Hall — Mr. Geddes in the chair. 
 After partaking of an excellent tea, provided 
 
 by Mr. Robertson, Mr. Jolin Gartley delivered 
 a very able address on the "Biography of 
 Burns," gi\ing a brief sketch of the poet's 
 short but chequered career. Dr. Mackie 
 then read with great taste our poet's incom- 
 parable " Tam o' Shanter," after which Mr. 
 John Diack delivered a first-rate speech on the 
 " Poetry of Burns," shortly reviewing a few of 
 the poet's best pieces, and summing up with a 
 eulogy on his genius. He was followed by Mr. 
 Alexander Roger, jun., who was loudly ap- 
 plauded on reciting " The Epistle to a Young 
 Friend." The next speaker was Mr. William 
 Davidson, tailor, who made a few remarks on 
 the poet's capabilities of connecting high moral 
 reflections with insignificant events, and point- 
 ing out the noble, independent, and patriotic 
 spirit which characterised the poet. Mr. John 
 Collie made a few remarks on the " Love Poetry 
 of Burns," and concluded by reciting " The 
 Cottar's Saturday Night," which was warmly 
 received, as also the Chairman's recitation of 
 " Mary in Heaven." The last speaker, Mr. 
 Alexander Sangster, Moch, on the " Elevating 
 Influence of the Writings of Burns," stating 
 that, with some exceptions, they were such as 
 could be read by all classes of society. 
 
 The musical part of the entertainment was 
 well sustained throughout the evening, and 
 formed no little source of enjoyment. A selec- 
 tion of the poet's finest songs were sung with 
 great taste and feeling by Drs. Mackie and 
 Gray, and Messrs. Mitchell, Benzies, and others, 
 and last, though certainly far from least, a few 
 of the " bonnie lasses of the Garioch " sang, in 
 true style, " John Anderson, my Jo," which 
 was received with thunders of applause. After 
 the usual vote of thanks, the whole audience 
 joined in singing " Auld Langsyne,'' when the 
 meeting broke up at a little past ten o'clock, all 
 highly delighted with the evening's entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 A ball was also held here in the Aberdeen 
 Commercial Company's granary, kindly granted 
 for the occasion. 
 
 INVERAVON.— On the evening of the 23th 
 the poet's centenary was celebrated here by a 
 supper in Delnashaugh Inn. The chair was 
 ably filled by Dr. Creyk, Georgeston, supported 
 by Mr. Fleming, Marionburgh, and Mr. Robert- 
 son, Burnside. Mr. Stewart, schoolmaster, 
 acted as croupier. After the usual loyal toasts, 
 the Chairman gave the memory of Robert 
 Burns, giving an outline of his life, and bring- 
 ing out with great humour, clearness, and 
 effect, the prominent features of his character. 
 A number of toasts followed, including Sir G. 
 Macpherson Grant, by the croupier, and ac- 
 knowledged by Mr. Fleming; Thomas Mac- 
 
280 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 pherson Grant, Esq., of Craigroy, by Mr. 
 Robertson, Burnside ; the Memory of the late 
 Sir G. Macpherson Grant, by Mr. Charles 
 Grant, baker; the Chairman, by Mr. Hay, 
 tailor ; the Clergy of the Parish, by Mr. Flem- 
 ing ; the Junior Members of the Ballindalloch 
 Family, by Mr. Burgess, Phonas ; Prosperity to 
 the Inveravon Mutual Instruction Society, by 
 the Chair ; Mr. Fleming, the district factor, by 
 Mr. Fleming, Tomfarclass ; the Press, by Mr. 
 EUice, &c., &o. 
 
 The supper and spirits were of the most 
 sumptuous character, reflecting great credit on 
 mine host and hostess. A number of Burns' 
 songs were sung, and the meeting broke up 
 about 11 o'clock. 
 
 INVERKEITHING.— Burns' centenary was 
 held here with all honour. There were two 
 meetings. The bells sent forth a merry peal ; 
 and in the evening, the brethren of St. John's 
 Lodge had a grand procession by torch-light, 
 headed by the instrumental band ; they were 
 accompanied by the representatives of the dif- 
 ferent trades, carrying banners, &c., after which 
 they met in the lodge, and were there joined 
 by many others. Provost Miller, R.W.M., in 
 the chair, who, in his usual eloquent and feli- 
 citous manner, proposed " The Memory of 
 Robert Burns," when a number of his best 
 songs, readings, &c., were given by a number 
 of gentlemen present. After which a vote of 
 thanks to the Chairman, &c., was given. The 
 meeting separated, having spent the evening in 
 a very happy and harmonious manner. 
 
 A Soiree was also held in the Town Hall, 
 which was tastefully decorated with evergreens. 
 Mr. Wm. Miller, jun., occupied the chair, and 
 opened the meeting with a very concise and 
 appropriate speech, after which songs, speeches, 
 readings and recitations were given with great 
 feeling and humour, by amateur gentlemen of 
 the burgh and district. The hall, which was 
 filled to overflowing (many being unable to ob- 
 tain entrance) with a mixed company, were 
 merry and happy all ; the many " bonnie lassies " 
 present gave a life and impetuosity to the soci- 
 ality. After singing " Auld Langsyne " toge- 
 ther, with three cheers to the memory of Burns, 
 the Chairman, the performers, and the lassies, 
 the company separated at 11 p.m. We never 
 witnessed a happier meeting in the auld burgh 
 — many expressing a wish that the annual as 
 well as the centenary anniversary should be 
 held. 
 
 INVEBKIP. — Seventy gentlemen sat down 
 to dinner in the Commercial Inn, which was 
 handsomely decorated with evergreens. The 
 chair was taken by the Rev. Thomas Brown, 
 
 minister of the parish. The duty of croupier 
 was ably discharged by Mr. Brunton. The 
 numerous toasts, including, of course, "The 
 Immortal Memory," were pleasantly interluded 
 with choice selections from the songs of the 
 peasant bard. At nine o'clock the company 
 adjourned to the ball, which was given in the 
 schoolroom of the village. Upwards of 300 
 were i^resent. 
 
 INVERNESS. — The weather proved most 
 unpropitious here on Tuesday. Rain, sleet, 
 and snow poured all day, and though it had 
 been intended by nearly all the shopkeepers to 
 give their assistants a half-holiday, very few 
 felt disposed to avail themselves of this kindly 
 intention, and for the most part business pro- 
 ceeded as usual. 
 
 The members of the Inverness Curling Club 
 dined together at the Caledonian Hotel — the 
 President, Colonel Houstoun of Castlehill, in 
 the chair ; and having offered to all desirous of 
 joining in the demonstration an invitation to 
 attend, a very large body of the citizens of In- 
 verness and neighbourhood assembled on the 
 occasion. Colonel Houstoun was supported by 
 Mr. May, C.E., Mr. Dallas, Town-clerk, and 
 Mr. W. Carruthers, as croupiers. 
 
 After a substantial curlers' dinner — consist- 
 ing chiefly of beef and greens — ^the Chairman, 
 in very happy terms, proposed the usual loyal 
 and patriotic toasts, which were cordially re- 
 sponded to- — Lieut. Cameron, of Tallisker, re- 
 turned thanks for the Army and Navy. 
 
 The CiiAiEMAN then proposed the toast of 
 the evening. After some preliminary remarks 
 he said — The 25th January 1759 gave birth 
 to one of whom his country is justly proud, and 
 it is very gratifying to find that, countenanced 
 as they are by the large party of friends and 
 acquaintances collected round these tables, the 
 Inverness Curling Club has acted wisely in 
 holding this demonstration, thereby doing hom- 
 age to the memory of a countryman whose po- 
 etry and. songs have become the chief literary 
 glory of Scotland. (Loud cheers.) This is an 
 occasion on which, in every city, town, and 
 village throughout this vast empire, wherever 
 Scotchmen are to be found, meetings are being 
 held in celebr.ition of the event. This day the 
 name of Robert Burns will be on every Scot- 
 tish tongue, and this night his songs will be 
 sung amidst the enthusiastic plaudits of thou- 
 sands — songs that have become the most inti- 
 mate and familiar expression for the sentiments 
 of our nation, and raised high above that of the 
 poets of succeeding times the fame of Scotland's 
 bard. (Loud cheers.) I think I must now 
 bring my remarks to a conclusion, for I cannot 
 be forgetful of a warning we have received, as 
 
INVERNESS. 
 
 281 
 
 to the serious errors we are guilty of in hold- 
 ing this meeting. I would refer to an adver- 
 tisement which appeared in last week's Courier, 
 our excellent local paper, wherein very serious 
 charges are laid at our doors, for we are ac- 
 cused of idolatry, and Heaven linows how many 
 other sins. (Great cheering.) Be all this as it 
 may, to me it appears very evident that the 
 autlior of the paragraph in question has yet to 
 learn that " toleration for the opinions of others 
 is true Christian charity," and that whether it 
 is that of a Milton or tliat of a Burns, genius 
 and ■ talent will ever, in this country, command 
 admiration and homage. (Prolonged cheering.) 
 Admiration for the poetry of our national bard 
 has collected us here this evening, and, as 
 Scotchmen appreciating the land of their nati- 
 vity and independence, we are met together to 
 commemorate the first centenary celebration of 
 the birthday of a countryman, whose affections 
 were ever concentrated in his native land, and 
 his genius ever employed in her praise. Hold- 
 ing it, then, to be no very great idolatry or sin 
 to oflFer, as we now do, a sijnple tribute to de- 
 parted greatness, I ask of you to join with me 
 in drinking to the memory of Bobert Burns, 
 who, though dead in body, is still alive with 
 us in song, whose name is therefore to be re- 
 ceived with three times three and Highland 
 honours. 
 
 The toast was received with tumultuous 
 cheering and with Highland honours. 
 
 Mr. Roy here struck up " Auld Langsyne," 
 in which the whole company joined with great 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 Mr. May proposed the health of the Lord- 
 Lieutenant of the county. Lord Lovat, more 
 especially in his capacity as patron of the In- 
 verness Curling Club. The toast was given 
 with curling honours, and cordially respond- 
 ed to. 
 
 Mr. Dallas had the next toast assigned to 
 him, namely, " Curling and the Caledonian 
 Curling Club.'" 
 
 Mr. Wisdom here favoured the company with 
 a spirited curling song, which was warmly en- 
 cored. 
 
 Mr. W. Carruthers proposed the Provost and 
 Magistrates of Inverness, which was responded 
 to by Bailie Andrew Eraser. 
 
 Mr. Macevven gave the Inverness Curling 
 Cla]j._taJ8duMH the strangers were indebted for 
 an opportunity of joining in this demonstration 
 of respect to the memory and genius of Burns. 
 
 Mr. Dallas returned thanks. The few allu- 
 sions to curling in Burns' works were so pithy 
 and appropriate that he could not deny himself 
 the pleasure of believing that Bums, who de- 
 liflrhted in all manly out-door sports, was also a 
 " keen, keen curler." He was glad to say of 
 
 the Inverness Curling Club that it was in a 
 more prosperous condition at present than it 
 liad ever been in before. 
 
 The Chairman said — All members of tlie 
 Curling Club would, lie was sure, join him in 
 the next toast. They had been honoured by 
 the presence of a great many friends and ac- 
 quaintances, who sympathised with their wish 
 to do honour to the memory of Burns. He 
 wbhed to dedicate a bumper to their health, 
 and to say that the members of the Club were 
 exceedingly glad to have their company on tlie 
 present occasion, hoping that many of them 
 would cease to be strangers before another year 
 passed. With the toast he begged to couple 
 the name of a gentleman who had come many 
 miles to be present, and who belonged to a very 
 old Highland family — Dr. Mackinnon of Corry. 
 (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Dr. Mackinnon returned thanks. He was 
 determined to be present at any demonstration 
 that might take place in Inverness on tliis oc- 
 casion, for having been some thirty years of his 
 life in foreign countries, he could say that no- 
 thing so much soothed the pains of exile, as the 
 fine national poetry of Burns. (Cheers.) The 
 chairman had done no more than justice in 
 passing so high an eulogiura on the poet, and 
 he trusted he might be allowed to say that 
 he was pleased by nothing in the speech from 
 the chair, more than by that part of it in which 
 he had a fling at the " unco guid." (Cheers.) 
 Who should blame or find fault with the man 
 who wrote the " Cottar's Saturday Night" — 
 whose goodness and genius was that very night 
 celebrated all over Scotland, one of the most 
 virtuous nations on earth 1 Very often had he, 
 when in India, taken up a volume of Burns' 
 poetry, and never did so witliout feeling his 
 nationality quickened — never without finding 
 fresh cause to be proud of his native land. 
 (Loud cheers.) In the Scotsman he had seen 
 some verses that morning which recalled the 
 feelings with which he used to read Burns' 
 poetry in India ; and one of them was as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 " And wherever the exile doomed to roam, 
 For his country and kindred only yearns, 
 'Mid the treasured thoughts of his heart and home 
 Be the echoes rung from the harp of Burns." 
 
 He begged to thank the company for the 
 honour done him, and for the opportunity given 
 him to join in the national demonstration in 
 honour of their greatest poet. (Cheers.) 
 
 Captain Turner proposed the health of the 
 Chairman, and passed a warm eulogium upon 
 his qualities as a " keen, keen curler," and as 
 their chairman at this and every other social 
 meeting where he did the Club the honour to 
 
282 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 preside. The toast was drunk with " curling 
 honours," and the chairman returned thanks. 
 
 Several other toasts and a number of excel- 
 lent songs were given in course of the evening, 
 but the majority of the meeting adjourned at 
 half-past eight o'clock to the festival held in 
 the Northern Meeting Rooms, under the aus- 
 jiices of the Inverness Mechanics' Institution. 
 
 The festival was completely successful. The 
 room was crowded by about 600 ladies and 
 gentlemen, and the entertainment went off 
 without a hitch. Sheriff Thomson, President 
 of the Mechanics' Institution, occupied the 
 chair, and delivered a short but exceedingly 
 appropriate address on the character and works 
 of Burns. He said — At this moment several 
 thousands of our fellow-countrymen are doing 
 the same thing as we are now about to do — 
 commemorating, in a variety of ways, the fact, 
 that on this day one hundred years, a genuine 
 poet was born to Scotland — not that our coun- 
 try may not boast of many such, but on that 
 day was produced one who is far excellence the 
 Scottish bard. That we have met to do this, 
 requires no apology. We are, as the Mechanics' 
 Institution, a body of persons associated for 
 mutual improvement and intellectual enjoy- 
 ment. In this view, the most appropriate 
 method for us to celebrate the centenary of 
 Burns, is by making it a literary evening, in 
 which we may contemplate the character and 
 genius of the great poet. We are here not to 
 celebrate his many errors, but to commemorate 
 his genius; yet his personal character, were it 
 merely a psychological phenomenon, is not un- 
 worthy of our study. We shall there find, 
 along with poetic genius of the highest order, 
 a strange association of great virtues with great 
 weaknesses, exquisite sensibility and tender- 
 ness, the most fervid passion, wonderful power 
 of humour and sarcasm, and, more strongly, 
 perhaps, than any other quality of mind, strong 
 common sense, with a most manly truthfulness, 
 and an utter scorn for whatever appeared to 
 him (erroneouslj', often, no doubt) to be hypo- 
 critical or unreal. But all these qualities were 
 neutralised in practice by the weakest self- 
 indulgence, total want of restraint — alternately 
 giving full play to the passion of the moment, 
 and indulging in spasmodic and most pathetic 
 outbursts of bitter remorse. When we contem- 
 plate all this, we shall learn at least a lesson of 
 charity, and rather than pass too severe a sen- 
 tence, we shall be inclined to drop a tear over 
 so much genius and strength, mixed with so 
 much weakness. So much for the man. As to 
 the poet; he is at the same time one of the 
 most truly local and national poets that ever 
 lived — thoroughly catholic, he is at the same 
 time thoroughly Scotch. But I must not dwell 
 
 upon this, for you are about to hear something 
 much better than anything I can give you — 
 one of the finest pieces of criticism in the Eng- 
 lish language — Mr. Thomas Carlyle's Essay on 
 Burns; and after that, we shall have a few 
 specimens, read and sung in the true racy 
 Doric, of his best effusions. 
 
 The Secretary (in the unavoidable absence 
 of the gentleman originally appointed) read a 
 portion of Carlyle's Essay on Burns, and there- 
 after the company were treated to a number of 
 excellent songs, all Burns', and to select read- 
 ings from the poet's works. " Tam o' Slianter" 
 was read by Mr. Scott, Rector of the Royal 
 Academy, and the " Cottar's Saturday Night " 
 by Mr. Leslie, also of the Academy. Bailie 
 Shaw favoured the company with the stmg, "A 
 man's a man for a' that," and was loudly en- 
 cored. Mr. TurnbuU, of the Holm Mills, sang 
 "John Anderson, my jo;" and Mr. Roy, Mr. 
 Cameron, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Pirie, all be- 
 longing to the same establishment, together 
 with Messrs. Donald, Alexander, and James 
 Eraser, Bridge Street, formed an excellent 
 amateur band of vocalists, who gave nearly a 
 dozen of Burns' best songs with admirable 
 spirit and efiect. Mr. Wisdom presided at the 
 pianoforte, and also took part in the singing, 
 much to the advantage of the entertainment. 
 "Auld Langsyne" formed a grand finale, in 
 which the whole audience took part. At the 
 conclusion, a vote of thanks to those who had 
 come forward on this occasion was proposed by 
 Mr. Mitchell, C.E., and cordially replied to, 
 and a special vote of thanks was awarded to 
 the Sheriff for his well-timed address, and for 
 the manner in which he had occupied the chair. 
 
 A number of the Brethren of the St. Mary's 
 Caledonian Operative Lodge of Freemasons 
 met in their Lodge, under the auspices of 
 Depute-Master Mackenzie, and spent a happy 
 evening, enlivened with toasts and songs. 
 
 In a different but very practical and benevo- 
 lent _ way has the Mackintosh of Mackintosh 
 signified his sympathy with the movement in 
 Scotland. On the morning of the 25th, a 
 letter was received from the gallant Chief by 
 Mr. Colin Davidson, shipowner, authorisinir a 
 grant of a hundred barrels of coals to each of 
 our three charitable institutions— the Infirmary, 
 the Dispensary, and the Ragged School. This 
 handsome donation is given to mark the Mac- 
 kintosh's sympathy with the demonstrations 
 taking place in Scotland on occasion of the 
 Burns centenary. 
 
 Royal Academy — Like almost every other 
 institution in the country, the Academy kept 
 Tuesday as a holiday. But to give the pupils 
 a practical knowledge of the reason why the 
 holiday was appointed, such of them as might 
 
IXVERURY. 
 
 283 
 
 find it convenient were invited to attend for an 
 liour in the forenoon, to hear a short summary 
 of the life of tlie poet, and to sing a few of his 
 most spirit-stirring pieces, which had been pre- 
 viously printed and circulated among them. 
 Accordingly, the teachers met in tiie public 
 }\all of the Academy at eleven o'clock a.m., 
 where the vast majority of the pupils had 
 already assembled, along with a goodly number 
 of their parents. The Rector, Mr. Scott, read 
 a very succinct and interesting sketch of the 
 poet's life, interspersed with well-chosen ex- 
 tracts from his works — much to the gratifica- 
 tion of his audience, both young and old. 
 This concluded, the pupils, under the able 
 guidance of Mr. Leslie, English master, sung 
 the selection of Burns' poems already referred 
 to, after which they sung " God Save the 
 Queen," and then were dismissed to enjoy the 
 rest of the day as their varied dispositions 
 might lead them. 
 
 INVERURY. — In Inverury there was a 
 dinner in the Kintore Arms Hotel, at five 
 o'clock. The large room in which the party 
 dined was richly and appropriately adorned. 
 Besides an abundance of evergreens, there were 
 three paintings, which had been executed for 
 the occasion by Mr. Russell, Aberdeen. One 
 ■was a very fair portrait of the poet ; the other 
 represented Tarn o' Shanter " clearing the key- 
 stane o' the brig ;" the third was a copy of the 
 familiar engraving of the genius of poetry throw- 
 ing her mantle around Burns at the plough. 
 The entertainment was at once most sumptuous 
 and elegant, a matter which it may be almost a 
 work of supererogation to mention, as Mr. 
 Annand's character as a purveyor is worthily 
 celebrated. The haggis formed a prominent 
 feature among the edibles. An excellent band 
 was in attendance, one of the performers vary- 
 ing the music with tunes on a piano. 
 
 Altogether upwards of a hundred ladies and 
 gentlemen sat down to dinner. John Blaikie, 
 Esq. of Craigiebuekler, occupied the chair; the 
 Rev. Dr. Bisset, Bourtie, acting as croupier. 
 Among the company we noticed Wm. Par- 
 tridge, Esq. of Ardniuro ; Rev. Mr. Ross and 
 Mrs. Ross; Mrs. and Miss Bisset, Bourtie; 
 Rev. T. Annand, Keith ; Rev. Mr. Davidson ; 
 Rev. Mr. Peter and Miss Peter ; the Rev. Mr. 
 O'Connor, Catholic Chapel, Inverury; the 
 Rev. Mr. Wilson, do., Fetternear; A. G. 
 Blaikie, Esq.; Bailie Annand; and Bailie 
 Allan. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Davidson said grace, and the 
 Rev. Mr. Ross returned thanks. 
 
 The Chairman gave the Queen; Prince 
 Albert, &c. ; the Army and Navy, coupled with 
 Captain Imlah, who acknowledged. Then fol- 
 
 lowed the Lord-Lieutenant of the County (all 
 the honours). 
 
 The Chairman again rising to give the toast 
 of the evening, said: — We are met to celebrate 
 the memory of Robert Burns, our countryman, 
 who was born this day a hundred years ago, 
 and who has been removed from us for upwards 
 of sixty years, having died, if I recollect pro- 
 perly, in 1796. If we reflect for a moment on 
 the wonderful events, and the number of im- 
 portant incidents that have occurred since that 
 time, we may well wonder that the recollection 
 of his memory should be so fresh. (Hear, 
 hear.) I should be very unwilling to reckon 
 one-fifth of the great events, or mention one- 
 fifth of the celebrated names of those that have 
 flourished since Burns was born. About the 
 time of his birth, we had only one possession 
 in India, where Lord Clive was commencing 
 his brilliant career. At that time ^i e had not 
 lost our American possessions, and the victories 
 of Lord Nelson and the great Duke had still to 
 be gained. Lords Eldon and Stowell were 
 living, and were associated with the boys of 
 Newcastle. Lord Erskine's great eloquence, 
 so celebrated in the legal profession, had not 
 been heard, and our bench was presided over 
 by a Mansfield. James Watt was not known, 
 and the wonderful discovery of which he was 
 the author had yet to produce its many import- 
 ant results. The spinning jenny, which has 
 produced so many changes, had not been in- 
 vented by Ai'kwright; nor for many years were 
 there in the department of divinity such names 
 as Principal Campbell, as Dr. Inglis, the 
 " pillar," as he was named by the boys of his 
 school, and as his son is still named in another 
 capacity. We had not heard of Sir Harry 
 Moncriefi", nor of the fervid eloquence of 
 Andrew Thomson, and the colossal strength of 
 Chalmers, nor for fifty years afterwards did 
 Dr. Duncan Mearns begin to be known. 
 (Cheers.) The institution of Blackwood's 
 Magazine had not taken place, and our litera- 
 ture had not been enriched by the productions 
 of Francis Jeffrey, Walter Scott, Professor 
 Wilson, Dugald Stewart, and Henry Mackenzie. 
 All these names are names to be long remem- 
 bered. (Cheers.) But as time rolls on and 
 marks a hundred years, I do not suppose that 
 Scotland would celebrate the centenaries of 
 these as she is now celebrating the centenary 
 of Burns. (Cheers.) He surpassed the whole 
 of them, for there was something in him that 
 enters into our feelings that must put all these 
 men to a side. (Loud cheers.) Robert Burns 
 was a man who, although a century has elapsed 
 since his birth, is only beginning to be 
 thoroughly understood and properly appreciated. 
 (Cheers.) But this is no uncommon circum- 
 
284 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 stance. Sir Isaac Newton, a name held in the 
 highest esteem by the inhabitants of the whole 
 civilized world, is dead nearly two centuries, 
 and yet it was but the other day that his 
 statue was inaugurated at Grantham. There 
 are few names such as Newton's, and in art 
 there are few such names as CorreggioMurillo; 
 while, as statesmen, there are the two Lawrences, 
 who will live for ever, nor can we forget the 
 exertions of the second Pitt and Fox. Few 
 men deserve to be remembered as these must 
 always be remembered, but it is a striking fact, 
 that a man, born not only without advantages, 
 but with the greatest disadvantages, should 
 keep a place in the eyes of the world more 
 enviable than is possessed by any of them. 
 (Cheers.) Let me ask what is it that has pro- 
 duced this ? Is it not because he has written 
 works that find a place in our hearts? (Cheers.) 
 We have heard, indeed, occasionally some com- 
 plaints regarding Burns' character. I say, 
 Away with these things— (cheers) — he had the 
 greatest disadvantages to contend with, and he 
 lived at a time when these foibles were differ- 
 ently looked upon from what they are now. 
 (Hear, hear.) But his works are genuine, and 
 his memory still lives, and will continue to live 
 in the gratitude of all his countrymen. 
 (Cheers.) Never a man better understood 
 human character than Burns did. It is in this 
 that he excels all others. (Loud cheers.) But 
 he was not only a poet, but a man of immense 
 and varied ability, which he displayed in con- 
 versation so much to the admiration of his con- 
 temporaries. Of the warmth of his affections, 
 of his eloquence in all moods, we have abun- 
 dant testimony. (Cheers.) To those ' who 
 speak lightly of the character of Burns' works, 
 the best answer to make is to be found in the 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night." It must be familiar 
 to you all, but one passage I will read, and 
 nothing, I think, can be better than this — 
 
 "From scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur springs, 
 That makes her lov'd at home, revei'd abroad; 
 Princes and lords are but the breath of kings, 
 An honest man's the noblest work of God." 
 
 (Cheers.) I think that a man who gave vent 
 to such expressions is well entitled to our ad- 
 miration. (Cheers.) There was no man who 
 ever loved his country better than Burns, and 
 there is no man who is better loved by his 
 country than Burns. (Loud cheers.) I don't 
 know what may happen when another centenary 
 of Burns takes place, but I feel that the senti- 
 ments of Scotchmen will not be altered even 
 at that remote period. (Cheers.) I won't pre- 
 dict what may happen in Inverury, I don't 
 know who may fiU this chair, but I only know 
 this, that the company will enter into enthusi- 
 
 asm equal to that which distinguishes this 
 meeting. (Cheers.) I don't know what may 
 become of this splendid edifice, but very likely 
 this great hotel may be one of the particles of 
 a great city, for we know well enough that 
 Inverury will be a great city in these days. 
 (Laughter.) I only hope that the minister of 
 Bourtie of that day may be as much distin- 
 guished by his own great information, and by 
 his own kindness, and by those feelings and 
 talents which make Dr. Bisset the soul of this 
 company. (Cheers.) If in these days the 
 affections and sympathies of the people be as 
 deep and sincere as ours are, then they will 
 drink as heartUy as we shall now do " The 
 Immortal Memory of Robert Burns." (The 
 toast was drunk in silence, when a cheer was 
 called for and responded to with great enthu- 
 siasm. The band then struck up, "A Man's 
 a Man for a' that.") 
 
 The Cboupibb, in giving " The Represen- 
 tatives of Earl Marischal, Burns' Ancestral 
 Chief," said— That they all knew that the 
 poet's father used frequently to tell how his 
 forefathers had been long located in the North, 
 where every man such as they followed his 
 chief as a vassal. Their chief was the Earl 
 Marischal, whose legal representative was the 
 Earl of Kintore, on whose merits he (the 
 croupier) made an eloquent eulogium. (All 
 the honours.) 
 
 The Ckoupier, in giving the next toast, 
 " The Memory of Sir Walter Scott," in order 
 to illustrate the ideas which at one time ex- 
 isted regarding poetry, said — That about three 
 quarters of a century ago, a worthy school- 
 master published an admirable poem, which 
 was criticised in the following terms : — " Odd 
 man, fat a fine chiel oor dominie is, but I 
 won'er he's sic a leeing crater. He has sent 
 oot a book, an' it's jist a' fou o' havers." 
 (Laughter.) He (the croupier) could excuse 
 people of this kind who did not join in the 
 Burns' demonstration, but there were others 
 who might object to it, and he would only say 
 in answer to these, that if he had thought it 
 wrong he should not have been there. (Loud 
 cheers.) That poets were fallible as other 
 mortals was true, but there was something in 
 their characters which claimed our admiration. 
 What was it that made the great nations of 
 antiquity contend one with another for years, 
 but to prove a claim to the birth-place of their 
 Homer, and why did the young warrior weep 
 over the grave of Achilles because he had no 
 Homer to celebrate his deeds? The same feel- 
 ings, gentlemen, towards the poet which brings 
 us this evening together to celebrate the cen- 
 tenary of Burns. (Loud cheers.) The man 
 to whose memory they had drunk would have 
 
IB VINE. 
 
 285 
 
 been a great man, even if he had not been a 
 poet. After the first twenty years of his life 
 at the plough, Burns suddenly burst upon the 
 literary world, having attracted the attention 
 of Dr. Blacklock, through whom he was intro- 
 duced to such men as the Earl of Glencairn. 
 Well he (the croupier) might say, that if there 
 ■was ever a man murdered it was almost Burns. 
 He was brought into the best society of his 
 day, he was corresponded with by learned and 
 reverend doctors, who, after allowing Eobert 
 Burns to see the delights of such society, sent 
 him away, finding for him no better occupation 
 than, as he himself says, to "gauge beer barrels." 
 Burns became a wrecked man, these men had 
 murdered him, and are answerable for many of 
 those failings over which humanity will kindly 
 draw a veil. (Hear, hear.) The man whose 
 memory he (the croupier) was to propose was 
 one of a kindred stamp yith Burns. There 
 was something resembling each other in their 
 characters, they were both possessed of 
 
 " Kesolve, the stalk o' carl hemp." 
 
 (Cheers.) Burns was the child of misfortune ; 
 Sir Walter Scott was not. He was caressed 
 by his country, so that it became a greater 
 honour to be at Abbotsford than to sit at the 
 King's table. (Cheers.) Burns' patriotism 
 was shown in the " Cottar's Saturday Night " 
 — (cheers) — and equally glowing and eloquent 
 are the words of Scott — 
 
 " O Caledonia I stern and wild," &c. 
 
 These two men are in reality of the same 
 stamp, and speaking of them let us not separate 
 in the tomb those whom fate has joined, for, 
 
 t 
 " If we search 'mong living men, 
 Where shall we find their like again?" 
 
 The Chairman gave " The Ladies and Mrs. 
 Bisset." (Cheers.) The band played, " Green 
 Grow the Rashes, O." 
 
 Rev. Mr. Davidson, Inverury, in giving as 
 a toast, " The other Poets of Scotland," after 
 some introductory' remarks, said — Scotland has 
 been a land of song since the first days of the 
 romantic race of Stuarts, who were ill fitted to 
 rule a rough land, but well fitted to reign in 
 the realms of taste and intellect (Cheers;) 
 The first James was one of the best of Scot- 
 land's poets, and how many moving lyrics have 
 been written on the loves and troubles of his 
 unfortunate descendants : that multitude of in- 
 estimable Jacobite songs, of which no land can 
 show the like. (Cheers.) Of Burns' immortal 
 predecessors, and whom he esteemed his masters 
 in the art of poetry, who does not cherish the 
 name of Ramsay for his " Gentle Shepherd ? " 
 — (cheers) — and who has not felt his nature 
 
 melted into a finer mould listening to the ex- 
 quisite verses of Tannahill, " The Braes of 
 Gleniffer," or in the new life of spring time, 
 when "gloomy winter's noo awa'," to that p nk 
 of Scottish peasant poesy, "Auld Joe Nicol- 
 son's Bonnie Annie?" (Cheers.) The notes 
 of Burns' muse have caused to be forgotten a 
 host of poets, whose songs were in the mouths 
 of the people before his day, among others Sir 
 David Lindsay. But Burns is entitled to 
 occupy the large share which he does in the 
 eyes of posterity, for many of the old poems 
 were unsuitable, while Burns' songs breathe 
 purity of sentiment, notwithstanding the ex- 
 istence of some pieces which he deeply grieved 
 that he could not take back and destroy for 
 ever. (Cheers.) Burns introduced a greater 
 purity of taste, and ever since his time our 
 national songs have been of such a character 
 that they could be listened to by gentle and 
 unsullied ears. (Cheers.) 
 
 Various other toasts were given, songs were 
 sung, and the company separated after singing 
 "Auld Langsyne." The ladies, who had re- 
 tired sometime before, were found in the draw- 
 ing-room, and a quadrille finished up the even- 
 ing's enjoyment. 
 
 A ball was also held at Port-Elphinstone. 
 
 IRVINE. — In one community of feeling 
 with Ayrshire, Scotland, and the admirers of 
 Burns throughout the world, we have done 
 honour to his genius, and the noble spirit of 
 independence he displayed. From an early 
 hour numerous flags were flaunting in the 
 breeze : and as arrangements had been made 
 for a procession, the respective parties began to 
 muster at two o'clock. The procession having 
 been formed, marched off, the van led by the 
 ancient order of carters mounted on horseback, 
 and dressed in their Marymass fair attire. 
 After them followed the trades, amongst whom 
 the moulders from Perceton tilework, carried 
 insignia expressive of their trade. A living 
 personification of Souter Johnny, with knee 
 breeks, red night cap, and leather apron, was 
 exhibited by the shoemakers, whilst a miniature 
 representation of the Souter and Tam o' Shan- 
 ter was displayed, embowered in leaves of lau- 
 rel. The rear was formed by the Brethren of 
 the St. Andrew's Lodgfe in masonic costume, 
 the whole forming a somewhat lengthened and 
 highly respectable procession. On the line of 
 march stood the house in Glasgow Vennel, 
 where Burns was engaged as a heekler, and 
 which was set on fire on new year's morning. 
 Here the procession made a halt, the bands 
 playing " Auld Langsyne." From thence they 
 proceeded to the Half-way, and at the house 
 where "Montgomerie the poet" was born, 
 
286 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 another halt was made, and another appropriate 
 air played. The one prevailing feeling being 
 to do honour to creative genius, the next halt 
 was made opposite to where Gait, the novelist, 
 ■was born ; the house of his birth having only 
 last year disappeared, and on its site now stands 
 the new building of the Union Bank. Another 
 halt was made in honour of our Provost, and 
 lastly at the Seagatefoot, old castle, where again 
 "Auld Langsyne" was played. The proces- 
 sion having described the circuit of the town, 
 returned to its starting point, when, after hav- 
 ing played the " Queen's Anthem," and given 
 three cheers for the Captain of the carters, the 
 assembly immediately dispersed. 
 
 The members of the Irvine Burns Club held 
 the Centenary celebration of the Poet's birth 
 by dining together as usual in the King's Arms 
 Hotel. About sixty gentlemen were present. 
 Hugh Conn, Esq., chairman of the club, pre- 
 sided, and was supported on the right by Pro- 
 vost Campbell, and Eev.Messrs. Sommervilleand 
 Corsan ; on the left by Major Brown, Captain 
 Small, and Eobert Montgomerie, Esq. of Craig- 
 house. In the regretted absence, from indis- 
 position, of Mr. Gardiner, James Hutchison, 
 Esq., and J. Arthur Campbell, Esq., were called 
 upon to officiate as croupiers, and were sup- 
 ported by John White, Esq., LL.D., Bailie 
 Paterson, John P. Anderson, Esq., R. Miller, 
 Esq., James Samson, Esq., J. F. Boyd, Esq., 
 &c., &c. Among those present we observed 
 W. M'Jannet, Esq., A. Longmuir, Esq., Cap- 
 tain Pindlay, Dr. Shields, Dr. Caldwell, Charles 
 Samson, Esq., James Goudie, Esq., James 
 Dickie, Esq., John Allan, Esq., &c. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Sommerville, on being re- 
 quested to ask a blessing, repeated a very ap- 
 propriate one composed by Burns. Ample 
 justice having been done to an excellent dinner, 
 at which the usual Scottish dishes were served, 
 Mr. Sommerville returned thanks, and the cloth 
 was withdrawn. The loyal toasts were given 
 from the chair, each prefaced by a few cordial 
 remarks, and were duly honoured. The band, 
 which occupied the orchestra, and performed 
 during dinner, played appropriate airs after 
 each toast. 
 
 Mr. Campbell then gave " Tiie Army and 
 Navy." He said— I know well that it requires 
 no effort on my part to gain from you a warm 
 and most cordial reception to the toast, I need 
 not go to distant dates to point to you the 
 chivalry and glorious deeds of those two noble 
 arms of our service. 1 need only point to the 
 mighty deeds performed by them at Alma, 
 Inkermann, Sebastopol, or the Eedan — (cheers) 
 — and equally sure am I, that, had the navy had 
 the same chance or opportunity as the army had, 
 victory and glory would also have encircled 
 
 their brow. I might point to a later date; 
 look to that daring and glorious effort — nay, 
 that mighty achievement gained by Lord Clyde 
 and his little band, in rescuing so many of our 
 countrymen's lives at Lucknow, or to the tak- 
 ing of Cawnpore and many other places in 
 India, to rest satisfied that the safety of our 
 country is intrusted to noble hands. And 
 what a jjleasing sight it is to look, Mr. Chair- 
 man, to your left hand and see two of our 
 countrymen, now grown grey with years, but 
 who spent the pride of their youth in serving 
 their Queen and country, retired to spend the 
 remainder of their days in ease and comfort. 
 (Cheers.) Without saying more, I beg to pro- 
 pose " The Army and Navy, coupled with Ma- 
 jor Brown and Captain Small." 
 
 Aii-s, " Hearts of Oik." and " British Grenadiers." 
 Major Brown very feelingly replied. 
 " Her Majesty's Ministers" was given from 
 the chair ; after which the Chairman requested 
 a bumper to be filled for the toast of the even- 
 ing. Glasses having been duly charged, he 
 proceeded to say : — In rising to propose the 
 toast of the evening, the immortal memory of 
 Robert Burns, I beg in the most kind manner 
 to thank the members of the Irvine Burns Club, 
 for the high honour they have conferred on me 
 in electing me to preside on this occasion. I 
 think the most of you are aware that it was 
 proposed that we should dispense with our 
 meeting this year, and join our brother admirers 
 of the great poet on the banks of the Doon — 
 but I as your chairman thought otherwise, not 
 I assure you from any vain or selfish motives of 
 my own — but for the credit of this ancient 
 burgh : and I am proud to say I was backed in 
 my vie#s by the almost unanimous voice of the 
 meeting called for the purpose. Why, gentle- 
 men, should the Irvine Burns Club give way to 
 any club in existence. I think I can show you 
 that the Eoyal burgh of Irvine has as high claims 
 in connection with the illustrious Poet as any 
 town in Scotland, saving perhaps the place of 
 his birth, and Mauchline. If Eobert Burns 
 was an excise officer in Dumfries, was he not a 
 flaxdresser in Irvine ; but more than that, the 
 Burns Club of Irvine, which is no upstart Club, 
 but has existed for the greatest part of half-a- 
 century, can boast of having had as its mem- 
 bers many celebrated men, whose names have 
 been immortalised in the works of this wondei-- 
 ful man. I may begin with Dr. Mackenzie, the 
 
 early patron of the then young genius he was 
 
 the person who first introduced him to Lord 
 Daer, and who was also the bosom friend of 
 Gavin Hamilton, the kind-hearted and beloved 
 friend of the Poet. Dr. Mackenzie was one of 
 the magistrates of this burgh, a member of our 
 Club ; and has filled this chair which I now so 
 
IRVINE. 
 
 387 
 
 unworthily occupy. I may also mention David 
 Sillars, whom Burns has immortalised as Davie, 
 a " Brother Poet," in his epistles, where he calls 
 him the ace of hearts, though mankind were a 
 pack of cards ; he also was one of the magis- 
 trates of Irvine, a member of this Club, and has 
 likewise been your chairman. I might also 
 mention Mr. Eichard Brown, the young sailor 
 companion, the i)oet speaks so highly of when 
 in Irvine, with whom he used to wander and 
 repeat his matchless poems in the plantations of 
 Eglinton. Besides all this our Club can beast 
 of as many original manuscripts and letters in 
 the hand-writing of this great man as any Club 
 in existence, for these reasons I think we are 
 justified in holding our meeting here to-night. 
 Gentlemen, in the few remarks I intend to 
 make on the writings and genius of Robert 
 Burns I will endeavour to show you that they 
 have done as much to elevate Scotland as a 
 nation in the eyes of the world, and her sons 
 as a band of heroes, as all the sermons that 
 have been preached, or all the articles, or essays 
 that have been written by the cleverest men 
 that have preached and written for the last 
 hundred years. The great beauty of our illus- 
 trious Bard was, that he was truly national, he 
 poured out his heart and soul for Auld Scot- 
 land, and her hardy sons of toil. In writing 
 to Dr. Moore, he says, " the first two books I ever 
 read in private, and which gave me more plea- 
 sure than any two books I ever read since, 
 were the life of Hannibal and the History of 
 Sir William Wallace. Hannibal gave my young 
 ideas such a turn that I used to strut in rap- 
 tures up and down after the recruiting drum 
 and bagpipe, and wished myself tall enough to 
 be a soldier, while the story of Wallace poured 
 a Scottish prejudice into my veins, which will 
 boil along there till the floodgates of life shut 
 in eternal rest." He says also in an epistle to 
 Willie Simpson in Ochiltree, who made preten- 
 sion to be a poet, 
 
 "We'll sing Auld Coila's plains an' fells, 
 Her moors red-brown witli heather hells, 
 Her banks an' braes, her dens an' dells, 
 
 Where glorious Wallace 
 Aft bure the gree, as stoiy tells, 
 
 Fi-ae Southron billies. 
 
 At Wallace' name what Scottish blood 
 But boils up in a spring-tide flood 1 
 Oft have our fearless fathers strode 
 
 By Wallace' side. 
 Still pressing onward, red-wat shod, 
 
 Or glorious died." 
 
 With such sentiments as these instilled into the 
 minds of our youth, and nursed with them as 
 they grow up to manhood, is it any wonder 
 that our countrymen have been styled a nation 
 of warriors ? I see by the newspapers that after 
 
 the bloody battles of the Alma and Inkerman, 
 and the storming and taking of Delhi and 
 Luoknow, the brunt of which was borne by a 
 few Scotch regiments against multitudes of 
 armed Sepoys, when stripping the dead before 
 interment, in place of the Black Bread and 
 Rakee, that was universally found in the haver- 
 sacks of the Russian soldier in the Crimea, 
 there was found generally in the knapsack of 
 the Scotch heroes who had fallen, the Bible, 
 and the works of Robert Burns, — fit compan- 
 ions say I, and with two such books properly 
 understood, and fixed bayonets, our Scotch in- 
 fantry can put to flight any troops in the world. 
 (Cheers.) How often do you think, gentlemen, 
 that the gallant General Neil, who was the 
 brave among the brave, who was always to be 
 found in the part where the battle raged the 
 fiercest, and who received his education near 
 the banks of the Doon, how often, I repeat, do 
 you think he wandered in these classic grounds 
 in the happy days of his youth, poring over 
 " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," till he raised 
 such a torrent of Scotch valour in his veins, 
 that it boiled along there till the floodgates of 
 life were shut in eternal rest on the bloody 
 streets of Lucknow. I might say the same of 
 that gallant young hero Lieutenant Nicol Gra- 
 ham, who was the greatest admirer of the poet 
 I ever met, who received his education at your 
 own Academy, and to whom (to the eter- 
 nal honour of this burgh), you presented a 
 sword, with which he went to India, and fell 
 nobly fighting to stem the tide of mutiny and 
 rebellion. These are only two samples of the 
 heroes that have been raised by the writings of 
 this immortal genius. If time would permit, I 
 could mention hundreds more equally well de- 
 serving. The poet says in one of his beautiful 
 verses — 
 
 " I whiles claw the elbow o' troublesome thought. 
 But man is a sodger, and life is a faught; 
 My mirth and guid humour are coin in my pouch, 
 And ray freedom's my lairdship nae monarch dare 
 touch." 
 
 Yes, gentlemen, your freedom is a lairdship that 
 has been handed down as the birthright of 
 every Scotchman, by Wallace and Bruce, and 
 Robert Burns has stamped it with the immortal 
 seal of his genius, and wo be to any power on 
 earth that dare attempt to deprive you of it. 
 Gentlemen, I beg of you to pause, and reflect, 
 and think, and look back. This night one 
 hundred years ago, there was born in an auld 
 clay bigging, on the banks of the Doon, a man- 
 child. There was no stated physician in attend- 
 ance on the lone mother, neither was there any 
 minister of state there to welcome the young 
 stranger, no, gentlemen, nothing was there but 
 the houdie, and a few gossiping old wives. Per- 
 
288 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 haps the young bantling was rolled up in the 
 tail of an old drugget petticoat, and laid aside 
 till the gossips keekit in his loof, and had their 
 social cup of tea. That child was Eobert Burns. 
 Since that eventful night, this mighty empire 
 has increased greatly in wealth and power, and 
 has made great progress in the fine arts, and 
 in science, and literature. Many great and 
 eminent men have been born, and passed away 
 from amongst us, but nothing has appeared 
 that can approach Eobert Burns as a poet and 
 painter of nature. No, gentlemen, Donati's 
 Comet that blazed lately, will, after a lapse of 
 a few hundred years, return to blaze, and 
 astonish, or delight, or perhaps to frighten 
 future generations; but the equal of Eobert 
 Burns will, I am afraid, never appear on the 
 earth again. At a masonic banquet held lately 
 in Glasgow, where Sir Archibald Alison pre- 
 sided, the memory of Eobert Burns was drunk 
 in solemn silence, but I beg to differ from Sir 
 Archibald on the present occasion. We are 
 met to celebrate the centenary of his birth, 
 not to mourn his death. I beg that you will 
 pledge with me a flowing bum])er to the 
 memory of the immortal Eobert Burns, with 
 all the honours. The speech was received, 
 with great cheering from all sides of the 
 house. 
 
 Tlie Eev. Mr. Sommbrville, in reply to the 
 toast of the Clergy of Scotland, said — I would 
 have been sorry and disappointed if, on an oc- 
 casion of this kind, the clergy had been for- 
 gotten or omitted, though, in thanking you for 
 the honour, I have a somewhat delicate and 
 difficult duty to perform. As the worthy 
 Bailie has just remarked, Burns sometimes did 
 hit hard at the clergy, and I regret to say that 
 some of the clergy, with rather a mean, pitiful 
 spirit, try to take their revenge by hitting hard 
 at poor Burns. Some, I say, not all; for we 
 know that Burns, during his life, had warm 
 friends among the clergy, and among them 
 are now to be found many of the most en- 
 thusiastic admirers of his genius. Far be it 
 from me to deny that Burns had his frailties 
 and his failings, and these I have no wish to 
 extenuate or excuse; but instead of parading 
 these on every occasion, surely far better would 
 it be, and far more Christian too, over his 
 errors to draw the veil of charity, and drop the 
 tear of pity. (Applause.) And to those, be 
 they clerical or lay, who take, what I may call, 
 such a savage delight in continually holding up 
 to view the shady side of the poet's character, 
 would I say, in the language of the Saviour, 
 " He that is without sin, let him cast the first 
 stone." David, the shepherd-poet, sinned griev- 
 ously and fell deeply ; David repented, and was 
 forgiven. Let us fondly and charitably hope 
 
 that Burns shed tears of repentance too, and 
 was forgiven by that Grod whose darling at- 
 tribute is mercy, through the merits of that 
 Saviour who came to save even the chief of sin- 
 ners. (Applause.) But, Sir, I cannot in my 
 heart believe that Burns was essentially a 
 wicked or irreligious man. True, he directed 
 the arrows of his withering ridicule and scorn 
 against hypocrisy, and cant, and bigotry of 
 every kind. He did attack, with unsparing 
 hand, what was a mockery of religion, and more 
 than once did religion a good service. But I 
 do not believe that, in his bitterest satires, was 
 he actuated by a spirit of hostility to true re- 
 ligion. We know that regularly was family 
 worship maintained in his household, and othc^r 
 indications have we everywhere given, that the 
 religious sentiment was strong within him. 
 But on this I cannot here enlarge, only I must 
 repeat it, I cannot believe that the author of 
 the " Cottar's Saturday Night " was essentially, 
 and at heart, a wicked or irreligious man. 
 
 A number of toasts were given, songs were 
 sung, and no more enthusiastic or harmonious 
 meeting took place on the long-to-be-remem- 
 bered night of the 25th of January, 1859. 
 
 " Auld Langsyne " having been, according to 
 invariable custom of the Club, sung by the 
 company standing and hands joined, the happy 
 gathering broke up about half-past ten, every 
 one highly delighted with the proceedings and 
 the night's enjoyment. 
 
 Albert Eoom Celebration. — At seven 
 o'clock a party of 96, composed chiefly of 
 tradesmen with their wives and sweethearts, 
 sat down to an excellent supper provided by 
 Mr. Mantel of the Wheat Sheaf Inn. The 
 chair being occupied by Mr. Duncan Eobert- 
 son, and Mr. William Gorman, croupier. After 
 the guests had done ample justice to the good 
 things supplied by the host, the usual loyal and 
 patriotic toasts were given and heartily re- 
 sponded to. After which the Chairman, in a 
 brief and appropriate address, gave the toast of 
 the evening, "The Immortal memory of Burns," 
 which was responded to with acclamation. 
 Without wishing to be considered invidious, 
 we cannot but mention how greatly Mr. Arm- 
 our, builder, contributed to the hilarity of the 
 evening. The poem of Tam o' Shanter was 
 recited by Mr. Parker, merchant, in excellent 
 style. Mr. Calvery's recitation of Watty and 
 Meg was rapturously applauded. The toast of 
 the Ayrshire Lasses having been given, was ably 
 responded to by Mr. Dunlop, jun., merchant. 
 After which songs, toasts, and recitations, fol- 
 lowed in rapid succession, until the " wee short 
 hour ayont the twal," when, after the health of 
 the host and hostess, and votes of thanks to the 
 chairman, and croupier, were given, the meet- 
 
JEDBURGH. 
 
 289 
 
 ing quietly dispersed, all seemingly higlily 
 gratified with the night's proceedings. 
 
 A ball also toolc place in the Royal Aca- 
 demy, at which a company of the young of 
 both sexes enjoyed themselves to an early hour; 
 and thus closed a day calculated to produce 
 much solemn reflection, and which has been 
 productive of great variety of opinion. 
 
 JEDBURGH.— The centenary of Scotland's 
 bard was celebrated here on the 25th, with 
 great enthusiasm. During the day the bells 
 rung merry peals, and the Jedburgh brass band 
 paraded the streets of the " guid all burgh," 
 playing " There was a lad was born in Kyle," 
 " A' the airts the wind can blaw," " Green 
 grow the rashes," " Auld Laflgsyne," &c. The 
 Committee for the dinner and ball engaged the 
 large assembly room of the Black Bull Inn, 
 which was densely filled. The room was taste- 
 fully decorated with evergreens, and on the 
 wall behind the chair was hung a large litho- 
 graph of the poet, with the letters R. B. formed 
 of evergreens. The dinner, which was provided 
 by Mrs. Horsburgh, was profuse to excess, and 
 well served. We understand that many per- 
 sons were disappointed in getting admission, 
 and so anxious were numbers to be present at 
 the dinner that 5s. were freely offered for 2s. 
 tickets. At three o'clock the chair was taken 
 by Mr. Alexander Jeffrey, solicitor, Jedburgh, 
 the historian of Roxburghshire, supported on 
 the right by the Provost of the burgh, Bailie 
 Thomson, Dean of Guild Stewart, Mr. Stewart, 
 Ploughlands, Dr. Falla, Mr. Walker, teacher, 
 &c.; on the left by Mr. M'Connel, Rector of 
 the Grammar School, Mr. Elliot, solicitor, Mr. 
 John Hilson, manufacturer, Mr. Haliburton, 
 grocer, Mr. Smyttan Jeffrey, &o. Mr. A. O. 
 TurnbuU, solicitor, Mr. J. S. Fair, Langlee, 
 Mr. Elliot, saddler, and Mr. Fergrieve, iron- 
 monger, officiated as croupiers, supported by 
 Bailie Cleaver, Mr. J. U. Somner, Mr. Craw, 
 Mr. A. Easton, Mr. Young, Nisbet, Mr. A. 
 Forrest, Mr. M'Lean, Mr. Sloan, Mr. J, Turn- 
 bull, Mr. Fish, &c. &c. Blessing was asked 
 by the Chairman, and after the usual loyal and 
 patriotic toasts. 
 
 The Chairman said — I rise for the purpose 
 of asking you to dedicate a bumper to the 
 memory of one of Scotland's greatest sons, 
 whose name has long been a household word in 
 every dwelling of the land, from the castellated 
 mansion of the noble to the thatched-roof cot 
 of the peasant; whose mighty genius will ever 
 be appreciated not only in this 
 
 " Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, 
 Land of the mountain and the flood," 
 
 but in whatever clime our native tongue is 
 spoken. What is taking place to-day warrants 
 this belief. In almost every town, village, and 
 hamlet of Caledonia and the isles thereof, the 
 sons and daughters of the land are this day as- 
 sembled to do honour to the memory of the 
 bard. (Cheers.) On the other side of the 
 Border enthusiasm is as great as on this ; and, 
 in the metropolis of Britain, thousands are at 
 this moment exulting in the glorious poet. 
 Burns. (Applause.) Beyond the broad At- 
 lantic the same spirit prevails. While we are 
 engaged in celebrating the hundredth birthday 
 of Scotland's bard, the same thing is being 
 enacted over all that vast continent — in its 
 mountain tracts as well as in its cities — in the 
 depths of its forests as well as on the margins 
 of its mighty streams — the name of Burns is on 
 every tongue. Go to India, the land of strife 
 and blood, and soldier and civilian will be 
 found this night recording their estimation of 
 the man and the bard. Call in at the Cape of 
 Good Hope, and our emigrant brothers and 
 sisters will be seen commemorating the same 
 event. Even the gold digger of Australia for- 
 gets for a while his search after gold, and turns 
 his thoughts to his fatherland. The sailors of 
 Britain, while ploughing the ocean, are not un- 
 mindful of the event. (Cheers.) But it is 
 peculiarly fitting that we in this locality should 
 have met to celebrate the birthday of Burns. 
 According to an entry in his diary, he was a 
 member of the corporation of Jedburgh. In it 
 he lived some time, and enjoyed the hospitality 
 of his brother burgesses, and left it in sadness. 
 To the honour of the minister of the parish, 
 Mr. Somerville, he received a warm welcome at 
 the manse. One of his beauties, whom he cele- 
 brated in song, lived and died in the burgh ; 
 and at least one fair lady of this district was a 
 talented correspondent. He wandered among 
 the lovely scenes of this locality, and noted their 
 beauties with a poet's eye. 
 
 " Up wimpling stately Tweed I've sped, 
 And Eden scenes on crystal Jed." 
 
 The Lover's Lane and Blackburn he has de- 
 scribed as fairy scenes. Blackburn is lovelier 
 now by far than when the poet's eye rested 
 upon it; but the Lover's Lane has disappeared 
 for ever. It would have been a blot on the 
 annals of Jedburgh had its inhabitants not as- 
 sembled to celebrate the birthday of the bard, 
 whose name is still rising though an age hath 
 passed away since he died. 
 
 " Aye young he Uvea, bathed in the freshest tint 
 Of immortality, ill sought in adamant." 
 
290 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 (Cheers.) Burns was the son. of no mean father. 
 He belonged to a class of men who had always 
 proved themselves patriotic and independent. 
 When Edward, with his mailed host, swept over 
 Scotland like a mighty ocean wave, it was the 
 small lairds, little tenants, their sons and pea- 
 santry, who stemmed the torrent and saved the 
 independence of the country. At that time 
 the nobles and gentlemen, where were they ? 
 Let the rolls of Edward answer. They, with a 
 few glorious exceptions, had bowed theirnecks to 
 the conqueror. It was to the same class of people 
 that Scotland was at a future period mainly in- 
 debted for religious freedom. (Cheers.) Un- 
 der such a father, Burns was trained up from 
 earliest youth to the practice of whatever is 
 amiable or lovely in our nature. As might 
 have been expected from his training and tem- 
 perament, he had strong devotional feelings. 
 When not occupied with the labours of the 
 farm, he wandered among the lovely scenes on 
 the margins of the Ayr, listening to the song- 
 sters of the grove carolling their hymns of praise 
 to the Creator; but his great delight was to 
 ■wander in the midst of the tempest ; to ascend 
 a precipice to see the lightnings flash, and talk, 
 as it were, with the spirit of the storm, in the 
 belief that he was near to " him who walks on 
 the wings of the wind." No doubt he committed 
 many imprudences ; so have the greatest and 
 best of men in all times — in the garden of Eden 
 as well as on the banks of the Doon. (Cheers.) 
 To the human eye there are spots on the sun's 
 disc — the brightest gem is sometimes dimmed. 
 But we are not met here as the apologists of 
 any errors of the man. We are assembled to 
 celebrate his many virtues, and his great poetical 
 genius. It is regretted by many able men that. 
 Burns had not received a classical education. 
 I have no such regret ; besides, I think, had he 
 possessed all the learning of the schools it is 
 not likely the nation would have risen as it has 
 done this day, as one man, to do honour to his 
 memory. (Cheers.) Though he possessed not 
 the learning of Greece and Rome, he was a 
 man full of knowledge, intimately acquainted 
 •with the Book of Nature and the Book of God; 
 possessed of all that learning which was neces- 
 sary to raise him to the very highest pinnacle of 
 fame as a Scottish poet. (Cheers.) Had he 
 been trained in the higher schools, would we 
 have, had these inimitable poems, " Tam o' 
 Shanter," " Hallowe'en," " The Holy Eair," or 
 " The Jolly Beggars," and many of his exqui- 
 site songs ? I think not. (Applause.) It would 
 rather seem as if there were only a certain 
 amount of intelligence in the world, which, 
 centring in one or two men, produces those stars 
 in the world of mind, which at intervals flash 
 across the intellectual heaven. If we compare 
 
 mental power to the trees of the forest, we find 
 here and there in the natural planted wood a 
 mighty monarch, firmly rooted in some preci- 
 pice — spreading forth its branches far and wide 
 on every side, rearing its towering top to 
 heaven ; while in the forest, planted by the hand 
 of man, and carefully cultivated, the trees are 
 nearly all of one size, scarcely one larger than 
 its fellow. The intellect of man requires difii- 
 culties and obstacles in its way to make it 
 rise into genius. Adversity is necessary to 
 call out the latent greatness of great minds. 
 There are thousands of the present day who 
 can write verses for every one who could do so 
 a century ago ; but not one with all the educa- 
 tional advantages of the age can equal Burns. 
 Scotland can number among her children many 
 sweet singers, but only one Burns. 
 
 " For Nature saw him die, 
 Then took away bis lyre." 
 
 (Loud cheers.) It is singular that the genera- 
 tion to which Burns belonged — that is, from 
 1732 to 1802 — produced no other poetical 
 genius in Scotland; but in England Cowper 
 appeared, and it is curious that he, too, shone 
 alone. The fervid piety of the one, and the 
 fervid passions of the other, gave wings to their 
 poetry. The one was taught in the parochial 
 schools of his native land, and the other was 
 possessed of great classical attainments. Both 
 were liable to the same malady, which led the 
 one to attempt suicide, and the other occasion- 
 ally to exceed. Many of Burns' poetical pieces 
 are perfect gems. Most of his songs are beau- 
 tiful in the extreme — so exquisitely fine as to 
 be unsurpassed, seldom equalled, in any lan- 
 guage. In humour, in tenderness, and sublimity, 
 he excelled all other poets. (Applause.) But 
 why dwell further on the beauties of his poetry. 
 It is engraved on the hearts of the people of his 
 native land, and will endure for ever. I pro- 
 pose, therefore, that you drink " The Immortal 
 Memory of Robert Burns," with all the honours. 
 (Loud and continued applause.) 
 
 Mr. M'CoNNELL proposed "The Land of 
 Burns" in an eloquent speech, in which the 
 following passages occur :— I believe that the 
 scenes which Burns has described in his native 
 district, will be found, by the careful observer 
 of nature, well worthy of the high, melodious, 
 and pathetic strains in which they have been 
 sung. The Banks and Braes of Bonnie Doon, 
 the Banks and Braes and Streams around the 
 Castle o' Montgomerie, auld Coila's bonnie 
 haughs and woods, the romantic Barskimming 
 and the picturesque Ballochmyle, with « Auld 
 hermit Ayr," stawing through their woods af- 
 ford scenes of rare and surpassing loveliness, 
 well fitted to awaken, and to fan into a livino- 
 
JEDBURGH— JOHNSHAVEN. 
 
 291 
 
 flame, the smoking flax of the poetic genius, 
 which burned, and still continues to burn, not 
 with the fitful glare of the meteor, but as it 
 were with the steady light of the sun. (Cheers.) 
 The land of Burns has been largely indebted 
 to its proprietors, its agriculturists, its manu- 
 facturers, its mechanics, and to the general 
 spirit and enterprise of its people, who have 
 brought every available power in science and 
 art to bear upon its improvement. But of all 
 the powers to which it has been indebted, to 
 no earthly power has it been, or will it ever be, 
 more indebted than to the power of the poetry 
 of Burns. The former have improved it ; the 
 latter has ennobled and immortalized it, and 
 given a name and a fame both at home and 
 abroad to that district, which the poet graphi- 
 cally says, 
 
 " Lay like some unkenn'd o' Isle, 
 Beside New Holland, 
 Or whar wild meeting oceans boil, 
 BcBOUth Magellan." 
 
 "The unkenn'd Isle" is now known, and vis- 
 ited by all. Living there, as the poet did, and 
 mixing, as we know he joyously did, with its 
 people, and speaking out, as he did, for every- 
 thing that was true, manly, and honest, and 
 free and independent, and looking forward 
 as he hopefully did, to the time " when sense 
 and worth o'er a' the earth would bear the 
 gree," and when a man would be valu- 
 ed solely for what he is in himself, he must 
 have left his mark upon the people, and raised 
 the tone of their society higher than he found 
 it. (Prolonged cheers.) 
 
 Many excellent speeches were made, toasts 
 were given and songs were sung, and after 
 singing " Auld Langsyne," the meeting sepa- 
 rated a little after eight o'clock. 
 
 The Bat^ls. — The Committee appointed to 
 make preparations for the demonstrations of 
 the day, feeling that "no assemblage to do 
 honour to the memory of Burns could be com- 
 plete, which did not include our lovely Marys, 
 and our bonny Jeans," wisely resolved that the 
 dinner — exclusively devoted to the inferior sex 
 — should be followed by a ball, in order that 
 the fairer and more divine portion of creation 
 might have an opportunity of participating in 
 the pleasures of the glorious festival, and of 
 realizing the truth of the immortal poet's words, 
 
 " What signifies the life o' man 
 An 'twere na for the lasses, O. 
 
 A Ball accordingly took place in the Assem- 
 bly Room at nine o'clock, when the proceed- 
 ings commenced. The room — tastefully deco- 
 rated with wreaths and festoons of evergreens 
 — radiant with the witching beauty of Jethart's 
 
 lovely daughters, and ornamented by the pres- 
 ence of her braw lads, presented a spectacle of 
 dazzling and surpassing loveliness — while the 
 elegant dresses of the ladies — the chaste and 
 modest purity of snowy drapery, mingling with 
 colours, more brilliant and more gay, "lent 
 fresh beauty to the scene." Upwards of 100 
 persons were present. The ball was opened 
 by reels, followed by country dances, waltzes, 
 &c. — the programme presenting an excellent 
 arrangement of well-known dances. In the 
 course of the evening the programme was ex- 
 hausted and recommenced, and dancing was 
 continued till about five o'clock. The utmost 
 good feeling prevailed, excellent order was 
 maintained, and merrily passed ofi" in a manner 
 creditable alike to the dancers and stewards — • 
 and thus closed one of the most splendid balls 
 that ever took place in Jedburgh. Other balls 
 were also held in the Harrow and Nag's Head 
 Inns, where all parties seemed to enjoy the 
 fullest delight. The youths of the town had 
 their enjoyment in the kindling of a bonfire in 
 the market-place, which was kept up, amidst 
 the cracking of squibs, &c., for several hours. 
 
 JOHNSHAVEN.— The centenary was cele- 
 brated here on Tuesday evening by a soi- 
 ree in Mrs. Lawson's hall, which was filled 
 to overflowing. A torch-light procession was 
 formed in the square at six o'clock, and per- 
 ambulated the principal streets of the village, 
 and onward to Brotherton, where three cheers 
 were given to Mr. and Mrs. Scott, which were 
 responded to by a stunning rebound from 
 Richard Young's great gun. The assembly in 
 the hall was constituted by seven o'clock, when 
 tea, fruit, and cake, were served out. The 
 chairman delivered an address on the life, 
 writings, and personal character of the poet. 
 Short addresses were also delivered by Messrs. 
 George Davidson and John Burness, a distant 
 relative of the bard. Several of Burns' most 
 popular melodies were sung by Messrs. James 
 Ford, sen., James Ford, jun., and Henry 
 Walker. At intervals during the evening 
 Messrs. Thomas Young and Isaac Norrie 
 played melodies on the violin. The whole pro- 
 ceedings were brought to a conclusion by a 
 dance for the delectation of the young people. 
 - St. John's Lodge. — The masonic body of 
 this place celebrated the centenary of Burns 
 on Tuesday evening, by a torch-light procession, 
 in which the general public joined, and by a 
 substantial supper in Mr. Craigie's Hall. In 
 course of the evening Mr. Alexander Middleton, 
 R.W.M., gave an interesting account of Burns' 
 life. A few of Burns' most popular melodies 
 were sung by several of the brethren. A prize, 
 consisting of a copy of the poet's works, was 
 
292 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 given to the R.W.M. for his address, and an- 
 other to Mr. James Lindsay, G.S., for his 
 spirited rendering of " Auld Langsyne." A 
 dance terminated the proceedings. 
 
 Supper. — A few of those parties who felt 
 dissatisfied at the low price of admission to our 
 public festival got up a supper party for them- 
 selves in Mr. Duthie's Inn, and the company 
 enjoyed themselves well. Some of Burns' 
 songs were sung with great glee, " Highland 
 Mary" having been particularly well executed. 
 
 JOHNSTONE.— On Tuesday night up- 
 wards of sixty gentlemen connected with the 
 burgh of Johnstone and neighbourhood as- 
 sembled in the Assembly Rooms, adjoining the 
 Black Bull Inn, Johnstone, (Mr. John Thom- 
 son's) to celebrate the Burns centenary. The 
 chair was occupied by James Hamilton, Esq., 
 one of the Burgh Commissioners, who was sup- 
 ported right and left by the Rev. William Gafif, 
 Established church, Johnstone; James Salmon, 
 Esq.; James Donald, Esq., founder; James 
 Reid, Esq., writer; Joseph Braid, founder; and 
 a venerable old man, Mr. David Miller, John- 
 stone, a living relic of the poet Burns, and one 
 of the twelve Eorfar and Angus volunteers who 
 fired over Burns' grave, in the lower church- 
 yard, Dumfries. John Salmon, Esq., factor 
 to Ludovick Houston, Esq., Johnstone Castle, 
 filled the croupier's chair, supported by John 
 M'Donald, Esq., engineer, one of the Burgh 
 Commissioners; David Jeffrey, Esq., builder; 
 and Archd. Watson, Esq., Commissioner. The 
 night was spent very happily, and the speeches 
 excellent and appropriate. 
 
 JUNIPER GREEN.— On Tuesday a very 
 respectable company of working men assembled 
 in the Free Church School, and sat down to an 
 excellent supper, provided and served in first- 
 rate style by an active committee of their own 
 number. Mr. John Russell occupied the chair, 
 and Mr. John Barr acted as croupier. Ad- 
 dresses, songs, and tunes were given by several 
 of the party, which, after enjoying a very hap- 
 py meeting, broke up about midnight in the 
 greatest harmony and good order, highly de- 
 lighted with the proceedings of the evening. 
 
 KEITH. — Here the centenary of our national 
 bard was observed with due honour. All the 
 places of business, without exception, were 
 shut after twelve o'clock. Of all the demon- 
 strations the procession was the most attractive. 
 Precisely at two o'clock, after being duly mar- 
 shalled, the whole began to move to the lively 
 
 airs of two bands of music. First came two 
 couriers on high-mettled and gaily-caparisoned 
 chargers; then came a plough, held by a sturdy 
 son of the soil, in blue bonnet and plaid, and 
 forming an admirable personification of our 
 ploughman poet. The plough was drawn by 
 two splendid horses. Then followed in regular 
 order, pair by pair, fifty fine horses, gaily decked 
 out with ribbons and trappings, and mounted 
 by stalwart ploughmen in their best attire. 
 The turn-out of men and horses did the farmers 
 in the district great credit, who generously 
 united with their friends in the town in giving 
 all in their employment a holiday. Behind the 
 cavalcade of ploughmen came the Strathisla 
 Band; then the juveniles, to the number of 
 several hundreds, and bearing numerous flags 
 and banners, with appropriate devices and 
 mottoes. Then came another band, followed 
 by the different trades, with their banners and 
 the insignia of their respective crafts. The 
 hammermen — a numerous body — were preceded 
 by Mr. Alex. Duncan, drawn in a splendid car, 
 forming an excellent representative of Vulcan. 
 The procession extended in length to about 
 half-a-mile, and as a whole was highly credit- 
 able to all concerned. 
 
 The soiree in the evening was a decided suc- 
 cess, the hall being literally crammed. There 
 must have been fully 400 present. Robert 
 Turner, Esq., M.D., occupied the chair. On 
 the platform were also William Laing, Esq.; 
 James Gordon, Esq., solicitor; and James 
 Brand, Esq. 
 
 The Chairman said — Who amongst us re- 
 quires to be told that the present is a memor- 
 able day in our country's annals — a proud day 
 for Scotland in the eyes of the whole civilized 
 world — the centenary of the birth of Robert 
 Burns? 
 
 " There was a lad was born in Kyle, 
 But whatna day o' whatna style, 
 I doubt it's hardly worth the while 
 To be sae nice wl' Robin ! " 
 
 So sings our bard in jocose self-depreciation, 
 for, modest as true genius always is, he could 
 not have been in earnest. Very difierent, at 
 any rate, is the estimate of Scotland, his "auld 
 respeckit mither," regarding the note-worthi- 
 ness of this event; and often, before to-day, 
 has the aniversary of his birth made the good 
 dame jubilant "frae Maidenkirk to John o' 
 Groat's." Nay, so dear to her maternal heart 
 is the renown of her glorious " bairn," that she 
 has long been well content to have her very 
 name merged in his, to be known among the 
 nations as the Land of Burns! An emphatic 
 practical repudiation will the poetic "doubt" 
 receive at her hands this day ! Buskit braw in 
 her whitest curch and newest roquelay, she is 
 
KEITH. 
 
 293 
 
 at this moment assembling her living family 
 around her, without distinction of age, sex, or 
 condition, to unite in the public expression of 
 their pride and gratitude that the illustrious 
 dead was a " brither Soot." 
 
 Come to the gathering, enlightened worker 
 with the brain. Come, tliou of the " eagle 
 eye," successful seeker of " science in her coy 
 abode;" suspend the quest, and leave the closet 
 for the festive board on this great day. The 
 Ayrshire peasant was free of your guUd while 
 he lived. He burned, it is true, no midnight 
 oil, but his philosophy came to him along the 
 telegraph wires of genius, and the Erskines, 
 the Blairs, the Maokenzies, and the Dugald 
 Stewarts of his time were proud to acknow- 
 ledge him as their compeer. He holds not, he 
 never can hold, a meaner place with their suc- 
 cessors ; his throne, as a ruler in the realms of 
 Mind, is set for all time, fot truly and beauti- 
 fully does the Bard of Hope characterise his 
 marvellous utterances — 
 
 " His lines are mottoes of the heart, 
 His truths electrify the sage," 
 
 Come, noble of the land, whose virtues adorn 
 your rank ; the Ayrshire peasant was one of 
 Nature's gentlemen. As he never bowed the 
 knee to High Place, so he never disparaged 
 High Place on its own account. "Poortith 
 Cauld," although it. buffeted him hard, never 
 could tempt him to lend his talents to the set- 
 ting of class against class. Not seldom, in his 
 brief sun-burst of prosperity, had his "plough- 
 man shanks " been under aristocratic mahogany, 
 and he took away and proclaimed a favourable 
 impression of your order. " I watch'd," he says, 
 
 " The symptoms o' the great, 
 The gentle pride, the lordly state. 
 
 The arrogant assuming; 
 The fient a pride, nae pride had he. 
 Nor sauce nor state that I could see, 
 
 Mair than an honest ploughman. 
 
 Then from his lordship I shall learn 
 Hencefortli to meet, with unconcern, 
 
 Ae rank as weel's another; 
 Nae honest worthy man need care 
 To meet wi' noble, youthfu' Daer, 
 
 For he bat meets a brother." 
 
 The poet tells you, no doubt, that 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp. 
 The man's the gowd for a' that;" 
 
 an assertion of man's true dignity which was 
 not meant to offend, and cannot offend, true 
 nobility ; it was part of the inspired man's 
 mission to declare it to the world at large. 
 
 Come, Scottish husband and sira — ^from the 
 desk, the counting-house, the workshop, the 
 farm (this is the goodman of Ellisland's Me- 
 
 day), the plough-tail, or jour " howkin' in the 
 sheugh." The Ayrshire peasant's warmest 
 sympathies were with you in your hopes and 
 fears, in your joys and griefs, in your steadfast 
 gaze, amid them all, beyond the things of Time. 
 How often, when life's battle bore hard upon 
 you, and you found it difficult to " keep the 
 heart aboon," has his strain, like a potent spell, 
 summoned back 
 
 " Firm resolve to lead the van, 
 That BtaUsL o' carle hemp in man." 
 
 And, the cloud of despondency cleared away, 
 your breast has glowed with the thoughts 
 which a kindred lot suggested to him — 
 
 " I hae a wife and some wee bodies, 
 They maun hae brose and brats o' duddies, 
 I ken fu' weel my heart right proud is, 
 
 I needna vaunt; 
 But I'll sned besoms, thraw saugh woodies. 
 
 Afore they want." 
 
 Come, then, and the douce goodwife aforesaid 
 will be blythe to bear you company ; "though 
 some may say you're auld, John," she "ne'er can 
 think you so." And, when at the accustomed 
 evening hour, the honoured priest of the home- 
 circle, you open the " big ha' Bible," and " wale 
 a portion wi' judicious care," you need have no 
 misgivings that you have in any degree unfitted 
 yourself for your sacred office by keeping holi- 
 day in honour of Robert Burns. 
 
 Come, young aspirant after fortune, pushing 
 Scots callant, with the world ail before you. 
 Wherever your future lot may be cast, whether 
 your " weary foot" may hereafter tread the 
 burning sands of the Tropics, or the snows of 
 the Arctic Regions, the pathless Backwoods, or 
 the new El Dorado, your reminiscences of 
 home, with its go wan-besprent "braes," and 
 the burn where, in happy childhood, you 
 " paidled frae morning sun tUl dine," will find 
 their fittest expression in the song of their 
 country's bard; and not th« least abiding of 
 your" home-memories will be the homage you 
 have this day paid to the poet of "Auld Lang- 
 syne." 
 
 Come, "poor but honest sodger," this is 
 Scotland's field-day for him who sang of " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled;" of Scottish prowess 
 " when the bloody die was cast on the heights 
 of Abra'm," and the veteran of Waterloo may 
 well attend muster; Sir Colin's "Highland 
 bonnets" may well be defied in honour of their 
 laureate. 
 
 Come, leal-hearted wooer, Eab Mossgiel has 
 put many a honied word in your mouth which 
 you are fain to utter when opportunity serves. 
 She'll be here to-day, depend upon it ; perhaps 
 you two have made a tryst. A complete tri- 
 umph over the favoured of the old folks, the 
 
294 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 " coof wi' the claut o' siller," is in store for you 
 to-day, for, when the ball opens, and they 
 " kittle hair on thairms," you will have the 
 field all to yourself — 
 
 " When will he dance like Tam Glen? " 
 
 And you, too, love-lorn swain. Take heart of 
 grace, man, and come. No more nonsense 
 about " Idupin' o'er a linn." What more likely 
 than that she will be here to-day, just as she 
 
 " Gaed to the tryst o' Dalgarnock," 
 
 for the sole purpose of meeting with you. 
 True, she "kills you wi' disdaining," and 
 " slighted love is sair to bide," but persevere, 
 and " hae ye nae dread" she'll relent. 
 
 But have we no dissatisfied onlookers on this 
 our day of national exultation? It must be 
 admitted that there are a few. Our Burns, 
 true of heart, and strong of hand, has nailed 
 his bag of gunpowder, with its kindled match, 
 to the Cashmere gate of Oppression and Social 
 Wrong : he has raised the world's cry against 
 Bigotry, Hypocrisy, and Sham — 
 
 " Putting in every honest hand a whip 
 To lash the raBcals naked tlirough the woild." 
 
 and, of course, has thereby made " the Emper- 
 or," and Legree, and Maworm, and Stiggins, 
 his implacable enemies. The first cannot en- 
 joy his favourite pastime of stifling the voice of 
 liberty, selecting a convenient little room for 
 his make-believe court of justice, one admitting 
 of being packed by his myrmidons, who have 
 instructions to watch for and eject any stray 
 gentleman of the press who may steal in with 
 his vile pen, ink, and paper, — but the unman- 
 nerly Ayrshire ploughman confronts him, tell- 
 ing him to his face, in the hearing of all the 
 bystanders, too, that 
 
 " There's nane ever fear'd that the truth should be 
 heard 
 But they whom the truth would indite." 
 
 His Imperial Highness cannot, undertake an 
 expedition to plunder a defenceless " sick man," 
 dragging his wretched serfs from their poor 
 beds, keeping them alive with rye-bread, and 
 stupifying them with raki, and marching them 
 to shoot or be shot at the word of command — 
 but the same obtrusive Ayrshire ploughman 
 starts up in his way, and shouts in his unwill- 
 ing ear that 
 
 " Man's inhumanity to man 
 Makes countless thousands mourn 1 " 
 
 with many other unpleasant observations of the 
 same sort. 
 
 Then, again, a " free and enlightened citi- 
 zen" cannot go out, lash in hand, for a little 
 
 sport on his own plantation, but he is sure to 
 be waylaid by this same ubiquitous Ayrshire 
 ploughman, disputing his right to " wallop his 
 own nigger," or even to task him. The others 
 are treated still more rudely. Has he hit you, 
 Mr. Stiggins ? The pestilent fellow with his 
 " priest-skelpin' turns," has he hit you 1 Well, 
 reverend sir, he smites sore, and it is the most 
 natural thing in the world for you to retire to 
 your place of fancied security, the pulpit, and 
 there bellow and objurgate a bit'under the in- 
 fliction. But look around you, at this mo- 
 ment, and say which were the more hopeful 
 endeavour — to level, by the force of your elo- 
 quence, Ben Macdhui or Ben Nevis, and fill up 
 the channel of the Forth or the Tay with the 
 rubbish, or to preach down Robert Burns ! 
 Milder dissentients there are, well-meaning, 
 but, I humbly think, mistaken men, and we may 
 respect their scruples, although we differ with 
 them in opinion. "^ 
 
 But this is no fitting time for parley with 
 the detractors of Scotland's poet-— her great 
 voice — we may safely leave them to Scotland 
 herself, and she is giving them her answer just 
 now. Press we on to the general rendezvous, 
 CcBsar's folks and Luath's folks mingling in the 
 foremost ranks. Sympathisers from afar are 
 with us ; and they bring meet incense to the 
 shrine of a prophet and promoter of that good 
 day's coming, 
 
 " When man to man, the warld o'er, 
 Shall brithers be and a' that." 
 
 But our privileged place is in the van. The 
 poet is emphatically our poet. Scotland, her 
 story, her people, is his theme. His " fairies " 
 dance on " Cassilis Downans." His " ghaists 
 and witches" held their dread orgies in " AUo- 
 way's auld haunted kirk" on that weird night, 
 whose terrors only himself or Shakspeare could 
 have adequately depicted. Our " preachin's," 
 our " trysts," our " Hallowe'ens," our marriage- 
 feasts and our death-beds are the favourite sub- 
 jects of his verse. The conquering hero of his 
 lay is " The Bruce of Bannockburn," the cap- 
 tive queen to whose longings, in her wave-girt 
 solitude, he gave undying voice, is " Scotland's 
 hapless Mary." The Ayr, the Lugar, and the 
 Doon — our banks and braes, and our " burnies 
 stealing under the lang yellow broom " are the 
 cherished haunts of his muse. Tiiat immortal 
 plaint, the dirge of the poor Highland lassie, 
 woke its first echoes "around the Castle o' 
 Montgomerie;" and his "wee, modest, crim- 
 son-tipped flower," unscathed by winter's blast, 
 was glintin' bonnily in winter's sun upon our 
 path to-day. Once more, then, Scotland to 
 the vaward ! 
 
 After several songs, recitations, and tunes had 
 
KELSO. 
 
 295 
 
 been given in excellent style, Mr. Gordon 
 moved a vote of thanks to the chairman, which 
 was heartily responded to. The chairman, in 
 acknowledging the compliment, said it only re- 
 mained for him to move an adjournment of the 
 present meeting till the 25th January 1959, 
 " our engagements," he observed, " with the 
 grim proprietor of the scythe, and the three- 
 tae'd lister," would prevent most probably even 
 the youngest of us from giving personal at- 
 tendance on that occasion, but we might attend 
 by proxy, in the persons of our descendants. 
 (Cheers and laughter.) " Auld Langsyne" and 
 " God save the Queen" were sung, and the 
 meeting then separated. 
 
 KELSO. — The centenary of Robert Burns 
 was celebrated here with a spirit and zeal which 
 showed unmistakably that there is on the 
 Borders, as in every other gart of Scotland, a 
 hearty appreciation of the genius which has 
 made Scotland the envy of surrounding na- 
 tions, and Ayrshire famous as the home of the 
 poet. The day was observed here as a half- 
 holiday, and during the afternoon the bands of 
 his Grace the Duke of Eoxburghe, the Odd- 
 Fellows, and the Juvenile Temperance flute 
 band, played, with considerable eflSect, several of 
 the pieces of music which have been set to 
 Burns' songs. 
 
 There were five convivial parties in the town 
 in the afternoon, and in the evening a ball took 
 place in the Corn Exchange, which was deco- 
 rated for the occasion, and at which between 
 200 and 300 were present. The Tweedside 
 Lodge of Odd-Fellows held their dinner in the 
 Cross Keys Hotel ; the Billiard and Reading- 
 room Club met in the White Swan Inn ; the 
 Bowling Club and their friends dined in the 
 Red Lion Inn ; the operative Boot and Shoe- 
 makers supped in the Spread Eagle Inn ; and 
 a party of the tradesmen of the town dined in 
 the Queen's Head Inn. All the meetings were 
 numerously attended, and the greatest en- 
 thusiasm prevailed. 
 
 Kelso Billiard and Reading-room. — 
 This dinner party numbered about forty, and 
 was presided over by James S. Darling, Esq., 
 W.S., chief magistrate of Kelso. The duties 
 of croupier were discharged by Thomas F. 
 Robertson, Esq. of St. Foin. After a very 
 substantial dinner had been done ample justice 
 to, the cloth was removed, and the Chairman 
 gave in succession the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts, which were drunk with all the honours. 
 
 The Chairman then rose and said — Gentle- 
 men, I now rise to propose the toast of the 
 evening, " Tlie Memory of Burns." How is it 
 that from the Tweed to John o' Groat's House 
 on the one side, and from the Solway to the 
 
 Bullers of Buchan on the other, there has this 
 day been spread one great banqueting table, 
 round which, with one accord, people of all 
 ranks have agreed to pay a tribute to the me- 
 mory of Burns ? — to lay aside their usual avo- 
 cations, and to devote this day to the celebra- 
 tion of the centenary of Scotland's favourite 
 poet ? Is it with the view of paying homage 
 to genius 1 I think not. For though Burns is 
 our favourite poet, he is not our only poet — 
 and in the other walks of literature we can 
 boast of names that any nation might well be 
 proud of — men of genius worthy the highest 
 tribute of respect and admiration that a grate- 
 ful country can bestow. Is this celebration 
 then undertaken with the view of wiping out 
 the stain which has rested on our country in 
 consequence of our not having treated our poet 
 well ? Is it because we could not find a better 
 situation for him than a ganger ; and no better 
 farm than one in which he was starving ? A 
 feeling of this kind I believe to be mixed up 
 with this day's proceeding — that we are as it 
 were seeking to make up for the neglect shown 
 him during his life by paying a tribute to his 
 memory that is altogether unexampled. But, 
 admitting this to be the case, still the great 
 moving cause of what is this day taking place 
 is — not that Burns was a poet, but that he was 
 emphatically the poet of Scotland. (Cheers.) 
 Other poets have written beautifully, but what 
 we all admire so much in Burns is, that his 
 poems, and more especially his songs, come 
 home so entirely to the hearts of Scotsmen. 
 The beauties of nature, so pleasingly and truth- 
 fully painted, are all Scottish. — So also are the 
 manners, the customs, the likings and dislik- 
 ings, and superstitions, so amusingly and gra- 
 phically given. And what is the greatest 
 charm of all — they are given in our own Scot- 
 tish tongue. (Cheers.) That is the reason 
 why we this day assemble to do him honour, 
 because he has immortalized our country, and 
 has carried throughout the civilized world the 
 name and the fame of Scotland. (Cheers.) 
 It is impossible for any one not a Scotchman, 
 to read either his songs or his poems without 
 wishing to know something of the country and 
 the people of whom and for whom they were 
 written. (Cheers.) I have alluded to the 
 treatment which Burns met with at the hands 
 of his countrymen ; but I do not think that 
 this is to be attributed to the want of spirit and 
 generosity on the part of the people of Scot- 
 land. Poor Burns fell on unhappy days ; and 
 I believe it was no wish of those who appointed 
 him to the situation of exciseman, that he 
 should continue in that capacity. He got that 
 situation in the hope and promise that as soon 
 as possible he would be promoted. But un- 
 
296 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 fortunately a mark was set against his name 
 that he should not be promoted. This arose in 
 a great measure from misrepresentation ; but it 
 also arose from the peculiar constitution of the 
 mind of the poet. He was, with many others, 
 impressed with the idea that a new era was 
 about to dawn on Europe in consequence of 
 the revolutions that took place at the time 
 when he lived and wrote. We know that in 
 this country many partook of the feeling that 
 the French were to become a far greater peo- 
 ple than they were previous to the Revolution, 
 and that they were to make the influence of 
 their reformed institutions felt both in their 
 country and in our own ; and Burns, from a 
 generous impulse, but in an unguarded moment, 
 could not refrain from expressing himself 
 warmly, and I have no doubt, eloquently, on 
 the subject, in some of the social meetings 
 which he attended. Intelligence was carried 
 to head-quarters, and Burns became a marked 
 man. But though the evil was done. Burns 
 could not help feeling indignant at the manner 
 in which he had been charged" with holding 
 principles with which he had no sympathy. 
 He wrote a letter to one of the heads of the 
 Board of Inland Revenue in firm, but dignified 
 language ; and as there is one part of it which 
 shows Burns' real character, I may be permit- 
 ted to read an extract from that letter. 
 " Burns," he says, " was a poor man from his 
 birth and an exciseman by necessity, yet he 
 had a sterling sense of worth which poverty 
 could not debase, and an independent British 
 spirit which oppression might bend, but could 
 not subdue." (Loud cheers.) Such is, I think, 
 a portrait of Burns, and such is the man we 
 are now met to honour. I might go on to say 
 more ; but as other points in the character of 
 this illustrious man will be brought out by 
 those who are to follow me in speech and song, 
 I forbear ; and conclude by asking you to 
 drink a full and flowing bumper to the " Me- 
 mory of Robert Burns." (The toast was re- 
 ceived with the greatest enthusiasm.) 
 
 The Croupier proposed the toast of " The 
 Sons of Burns." The Chairman gave in highly 
 laudatory terms the toast of " The Duke of 
 Roxburghe," which was drunk with all the 
 honours. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Tod Stoddart, advocate, pro- 
 posed "The Peasantry of Scotland" in an elo- 
 quent speech, concluding as follows — iWe are 
 told that ten cities claimed Homer as their 
 own ; but not ten but a thousand are clinging 
 with fond affection to the memory of our pea- 
 sant bard ; and in every place where this cen- 
 tenary is being celebrated, there will a tribute 
 be paid to the stern honour of the Scottish 
 character, as exemplified in Robert Burns — 
 
 (cheers) — and to our thorough independence 
 as a country, which has never yet been con- 
 quered. (Loud cheers.) Scotland is like a 
 great oak deeply rooted in her natural soil, and 
 the songs and lyrics of Burns are like the winds 
 that rustle sweetly among its brancjies ; and 
 let the clergy howl as they will, these leaves 
 are this day being stirred to their very depths, 
 and sending forth a melody which will cause 
 the hearts of the Scottish peasantry to strike 
 still deeper into their own Scottish soil. 
 (Cheers.) I drink to their health as a great 
 body of men — to their happiness and prosper- 
 ity — to their continuance on Scottish soil — 
 and I say, from the bottom of my heart, " God 
 speed the plough." (Cheers.) 
 
 Other toasts were given, and several excel- 
 lent songs sung with great spirit. The meet- 
 ing was conducted with the utmost harmony 
 and good feeling. 
 
 The Bowling Club Dinner. — The mem- 
 bers of the Kelso Bowling Club and their friends 
 met in the Red Lion Inn — Mr. George Craig, 
 junior magistrate, presiding. The croupier's 
 chair was filled by Mr. Thomas Mitchell, com- 
 missioner of police. A most substantial Scotch 
 dinner having been done ample justice to, the 
 cloth was removed, and the Chairman gave in 
 succession the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 which were duly honoured. 
 
 The Chaieman then rose to propose the toast 
 " The Immortal Memory of Burns." In doing 
 so, he said, few remarks were needed from him, 
 as there could not be a doubt that the memory 
 of Burns was a household word both in the 
 palace and the cottage. There was not a 
 Scotchman who would not be proud of the day 
 they were now celebrating, and proud that he 
 could claim kindred with such a genius as 
 Robert Burns. Wherever his poetry was read, 
 there the feelings were stirred, and the liveliest 
 emotions of the soul called into existence. He 
 was a Scotchman, and a son of toil, and on these 
 accounts alone he was entitled to affectionate 
 remembrance. He would not enter into the 
 subject further, as there were many to follow 
 him, but he would only say in conclusion that 
 he could not do better than quote the words of 
 that great bard, while assisting his father at the 
 plough, that there the poetic genius of his 
 country found him as the prophetic bard Elijah 
 did Elisha — at the plough, and threw her in- 
 spiring mantle over him. She bade him sing 
 the loves, the joys, the rural scenes, and rural 
 pleasures of his natal soil, in his native tono-ue, 
 and tune his wild artless notes as she inspired; she 
 whispered him to lay the precious productions 
 of his great mind before his illustrious country- 
 men, for that the blood of her ancient heroes 
 still ran uncontaminated, and that from her 
 
KELSO. 
 
 297 
 
 courage, knowledge, and public spirit, he might 
 expect protection, wealth and liberty. That 
 vnifortunately was not the case ; but they could 
 not forget that though he was ill used when in 
 life, his name and his fame were immortal. It 
 was to celebrate these they were that day met, 
 and he called on them to drain a full and 
 flowing bumper to " The Immortal Memory of 
 Bobert Burns." 
 
 Mr. Mitchell proposed " The Sons of the 
 Poet." The Chairman gave "The Duke of 
 Roxburghe," which was drunk with all the 
 honours. Other toasts were given. A great 
 many of Burns' best songs were sung in first- rate 
 style, and Mr. Eiddell recited Burns' poem of 
 " Tam o' Shanter" amid great applause. 
 
 The Operative Boot and Shoemakees, 
 to the number of forty, sat down to supper in 
 Mr. Stewart's Spread Eagle Inn, on the 25th. 
 Mr. James Aitchison occupied the chair, and 
 Mr. James Saddler was croupier. " The Im- 
 mortal Memory of Burns " was proposed by the 
 Chairman, and a number of local toasts followed. 
 During the evening the company were enlivened 
 by the singing of several of Burns' most admired 
 songs. The supper was served up in a very 
 excellent manner, and a very happy night was 
 spent by all present. 
 
 Dinner in the Queen's Head Hotel. — A 
 party of tradesmen of the town and their 
 friends, to the number of about twenty, met in- 
 this hotel, and spent a very happy evening 
 under the presidency of Mr. Andrew Middle- 
 mas, cork manufacturer. Mr. William Muir, 
 an ardent admirer of our national poet, was 
 present, and contributed much to the harmony 
 of the meeting. 
 
 Twbedside Lod»b^f Odd ^ellows' Din- 
 ner. — This dinner took place in the Cross 
 Keys Hotel, and was very numerously attended. 
 The chair was occupied by Dr. W. M. Macken- 
 zie, and Mr. Murray, publisher of the Kelso 
 Chronicle, was croupier. 
 
 The Chairman gave in succession the usual 
 loyal toasts, which were drunk with all the 
 honours. 
 
 Dr. Mackenzie introduced the toast of the 
 evening, by giving an eloquent and. graphic 
 sketch of the life of the poet, concluding as fol- 
 lows : — In speaking of the intellectuality of 
 Burns, we must remember that the very splen- 
 dour of his fame as a poet has tended to obscure 
 to us his vast attainments in knowledge, the 
 depth of his learning, the extent of his mental 
 endowments, and the great variety and energy 
 of his understanding. We may often think of 
 him as only the humble ploughman bard, but 
 in reality he was a profound scholar. (Ap- 
 plause.) Burns was conscious of that genius he 
 possessed wliich could quicken all knowledge, 
 
 and enable him to wield it with power and ease, 
 as is apparent to any one who has read " The 
 Vision." The poetic genius finds its subjects 
 both in the physical and in the metaphysical 
 worlds, but does not confine itself to a mere 
 prosaic description of these, but with a divine 
 power, and, as if by inspiration, " makes all 
 things new," oversteps the boundaries of ma- 
 terial life J combines and blends these into new 
 forms and afiinities; and awakens new passions 
 and emotions the most tender and sublime. 
 (Applause.) The poetry of Robert Burns was 
 a natural alliance with our best afiections. It 
 carries the mind above and beyond the weary 
 beaten paths of life, to those of a purer ele- 
 ment ; it brings back the freshness of youthful 
 love ; it refreshes the weary, soothes the troubled 
 mind, and by awakening a consciousness of 
 what is pure and noble, has a clear tendency to 
 spiritualize our nature. In a sonnet written in 
 1793 on his own birthday. Burns indicates the 
 value he sets on the gift of poesy in these 
 words : — 
 
 "I thank thee, Author of this opening day I 
 Thou whose bright sun now gilds yon orient skies! 
 Riches denied, Thy boon was purer joys 
 
 What wealth could never give, nor take away." 
 
 Or, in a more Iiumorous strain, — 
 
 " Oh 1 fortune will ye gie me still 
 Hale breeka, a scone, and whisky gill, 
 And routh o' rhyme to rive at will, 
 Tak' a' the rest." 
 
 One asked me what has Burns done for Scot- 
 land that such an ovation should be ofiered to 
 his memory as that we are now making 1 The 
 thrill that shot through my bosom — ^the flush 
 which spread over my brow, had nearly prompted 
 my tongue to words of hot haste — but a mo- 
 ment's reflection showed me that the heart which 
 Burns had failed to move, the judgment which 
 Burns had not impressed with admiration and 
 esteem, were not likely to be awakened by 
 words of mine; therefore with hanging head 
 and amazed mien passed I on, still wondering 
 if these were a Scotchman's words, or if they 
 were merely parrot-like repetition of some vain 
 Cockney who afiected singularity — thereby 
 hoping to pass for being clever and acute. 
 (Applause.) Probably were it the brows of 
 some successful sculptor or of some great painter 
 we sought to decorate with laurels — such per- 
 sons would press eagerly forward with the 
 throng. And truly sculpture and painting are 
 but forms of poetry, and the creators of such 
 great works of art are well worthy of honour. 
 
 The possession of a fine piece of statuary the 
 
 creation of Ganova or Michael Angelo or 
 
 noble painting from the easel of Titian or Raf- 
 
298 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 faelle, is indeed a proud and pleasant tiling for 
 its possessor — but what is it to all the world 
 without, who cannot obtain admission to admire? 
 But here is a monument — [holding up a copy of 
 Burns' works] — raised by Burns' own unaided 
 hand, which all the world can see at once — 
 alike welcome to the splendid palace and the 
 humblest cottage ingle side. (Great applause.) 
 Here is a whole picture gallery at one view. 
 Yes ! pictures not merely addressed to the eye 
 or mind for mere external form or comeliness — 
 for delicacy of colour or correctness of outline — 
 but going straight home to the heart, and cal- 
 culated to raise there holier and happier enjoy- 
 ments than any mere gratification of the sense 
 of beauty can impart. Perhaps the great states- 
 man or brave general would be thought by such 
 a one as I named more worthy of fame ? Ah ! 
 how often has our loved country been plunged 
 in misery or steeped in debt by the hasty ex- 
 pression, or the obstinate refusal to withdraw a 
 term of misunderstanding 1 How often has the 
 hard-earned gains of the noblest sons of toil 
 been squeezed out of them by excessive taxa- 
 tion to meet wanton expenditure by statesmen ? 
 And how many thousands of the bravest and 
 best of our gallant countrymen have been mown 
 down on the field of battle, or disabled for life, 
 to satisfy some personal animosity or gratify 
 unjustifiable ambition ? Ah ! let my friend ac- 
 company me to the field of battle. The fight 
 is just o'er. Look at yonder haughty grenadier 
 employed wiping the gore from his bayonet ! 
 Observe that stalwart Highlander removing the 
 bloodstains from his good claymore ! See that 
 Scotch Grey cleaning the wounds on his gallant 
 charger's shoulders, impaled as he had been on 
 the bayonets of tlie compact square they had 
 ridden through and through that day ! Watch 
 the demoniacal savagery which still agitates the 
 expression on every face ; revenge for their 
 fallen comrades burns in every line — stern and 
 blood-thirsty is their mien, when hark! what 
 change comes o'er the spirit of the dream ? 
 Why does yonder grenadier lay down his un- 
 completed work, and turn aside with sad- 
 dened air? Why does that stout Highlander 
 fold liis arms on his chest, and with face, prone 
 to the earth, look no longer the conqueror but 
 the vanquished hero ? Why dashes yonder 
 brave Scotch Grey his hand across his eyes to 
 conceal those tears of which his cheeks were in- 
 nocent till now ? A Scottish drummer boy has 
 crept round the back of the camp, and is draw- 
 ing from his favourite flageolet one of those airs 
 of auld Caledonia, which our own Burns has 
 clothed in words and given soul. Wliich of 
 these great ones has done most for human na- 
 ture, judge ye ? and if with me you adjudge the 
 palm to the work of Scotia's Burns, then think 
 
 not of the mortal man, but let the welkin ring 
 with honest, hearty, triumphant Scottish cheers 
 in honour of the immortal bard. (The toast 
 was honoured with great enthusiasm.) 
 
 Mr. Gray proposed the " Peasantry of Scot- 
 land," observing that they were the most indus- 
 trious and honourable class of men in their 
 rank in the world. 
 
 Mr. W. Henderson gave " The Poets of 
 Scotland," mentioning in particular the names of 
 the Ettrick Shepherd, Thomson, and Leyden. 
 
 Mr. Heckford proposed the Chairman, stating 
 that in his profession he was highly popular 
 among the brethren of the lodge. 
 
 Other toasts followed, and the party, whiclj 
 was of a very harmonious and hilarious descrip- 
 tion, broke up at a seasonable hour. 
 
 KILBIENIE.— In the evening the Cen- 
 tenary of Burns was celebrated here witlx 
 great 6clat, by ninety-four gentlemen who 
 dined in honour of the great event, in Mr. 
 John Law's large hall — great numbers having 
 been disappointed in not - obtaining tickets. 
 The chair was ably filled by Mr. John Orr, 
 supported by William Knox, Esq., Dennyholm; 
 J. Orr, Esq., Lochridge ; J. Mackie, Esq., con- 
 tractor ; and Mr. J. Watt, rope manufacturer ; 
 while the duties of croupier were ably dis- 
 charged by Mr. Alexander Orr, supported by 
 Mr. Eobert Knox, merchant; Mr. Alexander 
 Eyfe ; J. Walker, Esq., net manufacturer ; and 
 Mr. Alexander Halbert. Very eloquent and 
 stirring addresses were delivered by the chair- 
 man, the croupier, W. Knox, and Mr. Eennie. 
 A piece of original poetry, introduced with a 
 few anecdotes, by James Shedden, jun., kept 
 the meeting foy a considerable time in roars of 
 laughter, while the excellent singing of Bryce 
 Conn, B. Barbour, Mr. Wotherspoon, W. Orr, 
 A. Lamb, E. Glasgow, and John Orr, added 
 to the hilarity and enjoyment of the meeting. 
 The evening was very pleasantly spent in social 
 glee ; mine host, Mr. Law, getting great credit 
 for his excellent and liberal supply of roast 
 beef and haggis. During the evening the 
 Dennyholm instrumental band perambulated 
 the village, and played a number of national 
 airs which, by the poetry of the immortal bard, 
 are now indelibly engraven on the hearts of all 
 Scotchmen. 
 
 KILBEIDE (West).— No fewer than three 
 meetings connected with the Centenary took 
 place in our village. At one of these Captain 
 FuUarton presided. The Chairman, on pro- 
 posing the toast of the evening, spoke in a most 
 enthusiastic manner regarding the great poet, 
 whose writings were so truthful and of such 
 intense and universal interest, and who shed 
 
KILBRIDE (West). 
 
 299 
 
 a loving light on our liigheat aspirations and 
 most common-place duties and relations. Mr. 
 Hugh Muir, who acted as croupier, in propos- 
 ing "The Agricultural Interests," defended 
 the farmers from the charge of timidity to- 
 wards improvement. Mr. Logan, Kirkland, 
 gave the "Highland and Agricultural Society," 
 and showed how rapidly farming had progressed 
 in his own place and time. Mr. Shaw, teacher. 
 Parish School, in giving the "Press," said, that 
 although the English newspaper originated 
 about the time of the civil war, when the in- 
 tense interest in news called forth a new in- 
 strument to communicate them, yet it had ever 
 since been a safety-valve, telling the prime 
 minister much that might otherwise have 
 been told by conflagration or riot. Other* 
 toasts were proposed by Mr. John Crawford, 
 Millstoneford ; Mr. Macarthur, Crossbill : song 
 and recitation combined tg place the group 
 within a charmed circle, so that the hour for 
 facing the storm without came much too soon. 
 
 The members of the Thistle Lodge of Free 
 Gardeners, to the number of 70, celebrated the 
 evening by a supper in the Wellington Inn. 
 A. Barbour, grand-master, occupied the chair ; 
 W. Wilson, senr., and D. Crauford, of Wood- 
 side, acting as croupiers. A blessing having 
 been asked by the Chaplain of the Society, the 
 company partook of a sumptuous supper, served 
 up in Mr. and Mrs. Ritchie's best style. The 
 usual loyal toasts were given and responded to 
 with all the honours of the fraternity. 
 
 The CiiAiBMAN then rose and said, — We 
 come now to the toast of the evening, " The 
 Memory of Robert Burns, the great National 
 Bard of Scotland." He briefly adverted to the 
 fact that their presence this night along with 
 the thousands who were congregated far and 
 near, wherever Burns' works were read, bore 
 ample testimony to the truth that his works 
 were not of that ephemeral kind which sink 
 into oblivion as soon as their authors are con- 
 signed to the dust. He gave a short outline 
 of the more prominent events in the short but 
 chequered career of the bard ; and though not 
 for one moment endeavouring to conceal the 
 fact that Bums, in the heat of his imagination, 
 and the restless turmoil of his spirit, too often 
 uttered sentiments inimical to the doctrines of 
 morality, yet we should with a friendly hand 
 draw the veil of sympathy over his failings, 
 remembering that — 
 
 " Tho' he went a keiinin wrang, 
 To step aside is human ; " 
 
 Giving every allowance for his shortcomings, 
 there have been many heartless and often 
 groundless aspersions thrown upon his char- 
 acter. Who would characterize the man as an 
 
 infldel that could give utterancfe to such senti- 
 ments 1 — 
 
 " The great Creator to revere 
 
 Must sure become the creature ; 
 But still the preaching cant forbear, 
 
 And even the rigid feature. 
 Yet ne'er with wits profane to range 
 
 Be complaisance extended, 
 An Atheist's laugh's a poor exchange 
 
 For Deity offended." 
 
 In conclusion, he said that Burns was truly 
 the poet of nature, and who, for native strength 
 of thought, truthful delineation of human nature, 
 depth of poetic feeling, stern independence of 
 character, and nobleness of sentiment, deserv- 
 edly ranks high in the Temple of Poetic Fame. 
 (The toast was drunk in solemn silence.) 
 
 The Chairman next gave — " The Health of 
 Colonel and Major Burns ; and Burns' two 
 nieces, the Misses Begg." 
 
 During the evening, a great number of the 
 best of Burns' songs were sung. Several other 
 toasts were given ; also, a vote of thanks to 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ritchie for the orderly manner 
 in which all the accommodations of the evening 
 were supplied. The company then sung in a 
 body the pathetic strain of " Auld Langsyne ; " 
 and the Chairman having given, " Happy to 
 meet, sorry to part, and happy to meet again," 
 the meeting separated, all highly delighted with 
 the harmonious and pleasant evening they had 
 spent. 
 
 The Brethren of the Royal Arch Lodge of 
 Freemasons, here, met in their lodge-room to 
 commemorate this great and memorable event, 
 when, on the lodge being opened in due form, 
 preparations were made for a walk through the 
 village. Early in the evening, the brethren 
 formed into procession, preceded by the West 
 Kilbride Instrumental Band, and perambulated 
 the streets by torch-light ; and, notwithstand- 
 ing the unfavourable state of the weather, a 
 large crowd followed. The very respectable 
 appearance of the brethren, dressed in their 
 peculiar mystic clothing and emblems, the 
 fluttering of flags in the breeze, lighted tip 
 by the wild glare of the torches, had an effect 
 grand and imposing. The brethren afterwards 
 repaired to their lodge-room, not to discuss the 
 frailties of the man, but to do honour to the 
 immortal memory and genius of the departed 
 bard. Song, toast, sentiment, instrumental 
 music, mostly bearing on the memory of the 
 world-famed poet, went round in succession. 
 A more harmonious, agreeable, and happy- 
 meeting could not possibly have been held. 
 The chair was ably filled by brother George 
 Robertson, R.W.M. of the lodge, who, on this 
 as well as on other occasions, had every requi- 
 site arrangement made for the comfort and 
 
300 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 accommodation of the brethren. The meeting 
 ■was greatly enlivened by the very efficient 
 services of the instrumental band. When the 
 hour of high twelve arrived, all present joined 
 in singing "Auld Langsyne," when the pro- 
 ceedings terminated. 
 
 KILMARNOCK.— Here Tuesday was al- 
 most kept as a holiday. Many of the shops 
 were shut the whole day, and by a little after 
 mid-day the majority of the shops were closed. 
 As agreed, there was a trades' demonstration, 
 but the day was dirty and blustering, and this, 
 we doubt not, prevented many from taking 
 part in the demonstration. The Masons turned 
 out, in official garb, more numerously than the 
 other trades. Deputations from St. Clement's, 
 St. John's, and other Lodges, were present, and 
 took part in the proceedings, accompanied by a 
 brass band. Mr. Barclay's men, of the Cale- 
 donian, turned well out, also accompanied by a 
 brass band, and carrying with them several in- 
 signia of their profession. 
 
 A dinner took place in the George Hall, 
 which was decorated with evergreens. The 
 decorations were under the superintendence 
 of Mr. W. Tannock, artist, assisted by Mr. 
 Curdie, who completed the sketches. The 
 general tone of the whole was that of light- 
 ness, chasteness, elegance, and airiness. The 
 graceful evergreen festoons that were hung 
 round the hall, set oif and set out by the num- 
 berless rosettes that were intermingled with 
 them ; the noble, life-like portrait of Burns, 
 with that feeling of dreamy genius that per- 
 vaded his countenance, as if partly absorbed in 
 mental reverie in the production of some of his 
 masterpieces, or partly gazing with complacent 
 gratification and just pride on the scene before 
 him ; the beautiful water colours that portrayed 
 the scenes of the principal events of his 
 chequered and eventful career ; the assembled 
 guests, the sparkling wine, the wit, repartee, 
 jest, and rounded period of eloquence issuing 
 from the speakers' lips ; all combined to make 
 the room and meeting the most brilliant and 
 successful that had ever taken place in Kil- 
 marnock. 
 
 Archibald Finnic, Esq. of Springfield, our wor- 
 thy and excsUent Provost, very happily and ably 
 officiated as chairman. He was supjiorted on the 
 I'ight by Hugh Montgomerie, Esq. of Bourtrie- 
 liill, James Donald, Esq. of Abbey Cottage, 
 Dr. James Aitken, W". Tannock, Esq., artist, 
 Dr. Thomson, Dr. Mitchell; on the left by 
 Bailie Mack, J. H. Picken, Esq. of Hillhouse, 
 James Wilson, Esq., banker, Dr. Paxton, F. C. 
 Gross, Esq., procurator fiscal. Captain Hugh 
 Brown, James Bunten, Esq., Nursery Hill, 
 Alexander Smith, M.A., Academy. R. P. 
 
 Adam, Esq. of Tour, very felicitously acted' as 
 croupier, and was supported on the right by 
 Bailie Cuthbertson, J. Y. Deans, Esq., Kirk- 
 style, David Rankin, Esq., Barbadoes Bank, 
 John Guthrie, Esq., Holmes, John Torrance, 
 Esq., Mayfield, George Paxton, Esq., Eichard- 
 land, Patrick Stirling, Esq., engineer, and Dr. 
 H. Smith ; on the left by Bailie Crooks, James 
 Anderson, Esq. of Carthgale, Treasurer Stur- 
 rock, D. E. Andrews, Esq., Braehead House, 
 John Sturrock, Esq., writer, James Black, Esq., 
 banker, Stewarton, William Taylor, Esq., manu- 
 facturer. In the body of the hall we observed, 
 acting as stewards. Councillor Bicket, R. 
 M'Kinnel, Esq., Jas. Crooks, Esq., J. S. Grei- 
 gory, Esq., John Baird, Esq., Robert Railton, 
 ■*;sq., James Meikle, Esq., John Graham, Esq., 
 James Laughland, Esq., Hugh Reid, Esq., 
 James Paxton, Esq., &c., &o. 
 
 In the absence of clergymen, the Chairman 
 asked a blessing, and the company heartily par- 
 took of the abundance of good things set before 
 them. The Croupier returned thanks. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, the 
 Chairman introduced the toast of the evening. 
 He said — Mr. Croupier and Gentlemen — we 
 have now approached, and I rise to propose the 
 toast, to do honour to which we are this even- 
 ing assembled — " The Immortal memory of 
 Robert Burns." (Great cheering.) I shall 
 not now apologise for occupying this chair. 
 You are aware. Sir, and all the gentlemen present 
 are aware, that I do so, at their solicitation, as 
 a matter of duty in virtue of the office I have 
 the honour to hold ; for on no other ground 
 could I pretend to preside over many who are 
 infinitely better qualified than 1 am " to bear 
 the gree," on this occasion. While, however, I 
 owe my humble duty to " Auld Kilmarnock," I 
 feel that " Auld Kilmarnock," owes a far deeper 
 and more sacred duty to that illustrious name, 
 with which she shall be for ever associated. I 
 rejoice, therefore, to occupy this chair, and that 
 — despite of all that antiquated prejudice has 
 done again to disentomb the unfortunate fail- 
 ings of our national bard — you have come so 
 nobly forward to vindicate and celebrate his 
 claims to the admiration of his countrymen and 
 of the world. We are not here, gentlemen, to 
 approve of all that Burns ever did. We are 
 not here to contend that his conduct was at all 
 times worthy of himself, or that his character 
 should go down to posterity as more than mor- 
 tal. We are, on the contrary, free to admit 
 that his faults and failings were great ; but had 
 they been otherwise they could not have been 
 Burns' ! All about him was great, and so 
 were his failings. When the atmosphere of 
 that mighty mind became disturbed by the in- 
 tensity of its own mysterious workings, the 
 
KILMARNOCK. 
 
 301 
 
 tlwnder and the lightning were of no ordinary 
 character ; but the clouds cleared away, there 
 stood revealed the native majesty and serenity 
 of his soul, and there broke forth those brilliant 
 beams which shall irradinte and gladden the 
 great heart of humanity till the end of time. 
 (Cheering.) But, gentlemen, where is that 
 name on the long scroll of fame against which 
 nothing unworthy was ever made known ? and 
 are a hundred years not to suffice to have 
 buried in eternal oblivion all that was mortal of 
 that noble spirit, whose breathings shall ever 
 brood over the hills and the valleys of our dear 
 native land? (Cheering.) The glorious sun 
 has his spots, and the silver moon her ex- 
 hausted volcanoes ; but are these always to be 
 remembered when we enjoy the splendours of 
 the one, or the melancholy radiance of the 
 other ? 
 
 " The cleanest corn that e'gr was dight, 
 "Will hae a pile o' oaf in't." (Great oheeving.) 
 
 I need not detain you, gentlemen, with any 
 history of the Poet's career — it is well known 
 to you all — better to many than to me — suffice 
 it to say that his school days were spent very 
 creditably to himself, notwithstanding the " up- 
 setting of his trigonometry," by the early up- 
 heavings of those wonderful powers with which 
 nature had gifted him. His youth was one of 
 toil and care, and deeply did he feel, and ear- 
 nestly did he exert himself to lighten the bur- 
 dens of his worthy parents, but fickle fortune 
 seemed to have starred him for adversity. Cast 
 in his riper years, first, among those of his own 
 class, where he was " King of a' the core ; ' and 
 afterwards among the titled and the learned, 
 how was it possible he could altogether escape 
 the unfortunate usages of society, which were 
 then so prevalent ? But in all the varied scenes 
 through which it was his destiny to pass, that 
 noble independence of soul seemed never to 
 forsake him. But what shall I say of his lofty 
 genius? His endowments were of the most 
 exalted character, and akin to that prophetic 
 cast of mind which is found only in the highest 
 orders of intellect, and closely allied to those 
 of true inspiration. Witness the broad and 
 enlightened views he had fore-attained on poli- 
 tical, religious, and other subjects ; and the in- 
 tensity of his yearnings for the glorious day : — 
 
 " Its coming yet for a' that, 
 When man to man the world o'er, 
 Shall brithers be and a' that." (Cheering.) 
 
 But, gentlemen, why need I detain you on 
 these points. The verdict of posterity is before 
 you — and this day the name and genius of 
 Ayrshire's Bard are being celebrated as far as 
 waters roll, or winds can waft them. And, 
 
 gentlemen, well does it become Auld Kilmar- 
 nock to rejoice on this great occasion. He was 
 one of ourselves — he looked down on our fer- 
 tile valley from the heights of Mossgiel — he 
 attended our fairs and our markets — he bright- 
 ened the society of many kindred spirits in the 
 days of our forefathers, whose names and char- 
 acters he has justly honoured ; and our print- 
 ing press had the privilege of first giving forth 
 those heart-stirring strains, which now encircle 
 the globe. All honour then " To the Immortal 
 Memory of Eobert Burns." The Cliairman 
 saying the days of mourning being now ended, 
 the toast was drank mid thundering and pro- 
 longed cheers. 
 
 The Chairman read a jirize poem composed 
 by Mr. Archibald M'Kay. 
 
 Dr. Thomson in a long and able speech gave 
 the " Memory of our Scottish Patriots Wallace 
 and Bruce." Drunk with great enthusiasm ; 
 Mr. Brown singing " Scots wha hae." Then 
 followed '' the Sons of Burns," by the Croupier ; 
 the "Memory of Sir Walter Scott," by Mr. 
 Smith of the Academy, who referred with great 
 effect to the literary history of the first half of 
 this century. Mr. Bankine sang "Blue Bon- 
 nets over the Border." " Living poets of Scot- 
 land, coupled with the names of Alexander 
 Smith and Archibald M'Kay," replied to by 
 the latter gentleman. 
 
 Then followed other toasts with appropriate 
 songs, after which a most successful and happy 
 meeting terminated. After the dinner there 
 was a ball in the George Hotel, at which 120 
 ladies and gentlemen were present. 
 
 Masonic Centenary Suppee. — A large 
 number of the brethren of St. Andrew's Lodge, 
 No. 126, met in the George Hotel, to celebrate 
 the centenary of Burns. At seven, p. M., the 
 brethren sat down to a sumptuous supper, that 
 reflected great credit on Br. Stewart, the host 
 of the George, and to which the brethren did 
 ample justice. The room was decorated with 
 flags and banners belonging to the lodge, and 
 various masonic insignia, amongst which was a 
 large ornamental tree, on which was arranged 
 a beautiful masonic device. Above the R.W.M. 
 was a striking likeness of the Bard. The bre- 
 thren appeared in full masonic costume, and the 
 room, when lighted up, presented a most bril- 
 liant appearance. We may also mention that 
 the lodge was tyled with Burns' own sword, 
 worn by him when in the Dumfries volunteers, 
 and which has been in the possession of the 
 lodge these many years. After partaking of 
 an excellent and sumptuous supper, and the 
 cloth removed, the lodge was opened in due 
 form by the R.W.M., Br. Wm. Caldwell ; Brs. 
 John Cogan and Wm. Kernachan, as senior and 
 junior wardens. The usual loyal toasts were 
 
302 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 given, the Queen's Anthem being sung by the 
 brethren standing. The " Immortal Memory " 
 was pledged enthusiastically, and all the speeches 
 and proceedings were of the happiest kind. 
 
 Commercial Inn Meeting. — -A party of 
 gentlemen, numbering about forty, met in Miss 
 Wylie's, Commercial Hotel, to celebrate the 
 Centenary of Robert Burns. The chair was 
 ably filled by Mr. Malcolm, and Mr. A. Ander- 
 son officiated as croupier. After partaking of 
 a sumptuous dinner, served up in Miss Wylie's 
 usual first-class manner, the cloth was removed, 
 when the Chairman, in a few and appropriate 
 remarks, gave the usual and patriotic toasts, 
 which were heartily responded to. The Chair- 
 man then in an eloquent manner gave the toast 
 of the evening, " The Immortal Memory of 
 Robert Burns," which was drunk in solemn 
 silence. Mr. Peden in a neat and concise 
 speech gave the "health of the Provost and 
 Magistracy of Kilmarnock," which was properly 
 responded to, and Mr. Matthew Anderson sung 
 in a fine style some of Burns' finest songs. 
 Mr. Moffat with great effect gave the " Cottar's 
 Saturday Night." Mr. Oliver gave " The me- 
 mory of Mrs. Burns." Mr. M'Dermid gave 
 the " Town and trade of Kilmarnock," which 
 was drunk enthusiastically. Then Mr. Loudon 
 recited " Tam o' Shanter." The company se- 
 parated after singing " Banks and Braes o' 
 bonny Doon,'' and "Auld Langsyne," highly 
 pleased with their night's entertainment. 
 
 Celebration by the Vulcan Foundry 
 Workmen. — On Tuesday evening, the em- 
 ployees of the Vulcan Foundry Works met in 
 the large pattern shop connected with the 
 works, and after partaking of a liberal refresh- 
 ment in the shape of cakes and Scotch haggis, 
 the Chairman in a few suitable remarks intro- 
 duced the toast of the evening, " To the me- 
 mory of Burns." Several other toasts followed, 
 and the evening was spent in a happy and har- 
 monious manner, in singing the songs and re- 
 citing the poems of the Ayrshire Bard. The 
 proceedings were brought to a close about half- 
 past eleven o'clock, by the company singing 
 " Auld Langsyne," when 
 
 " Each took afF his several way, 
 Resolved to meet some ither day." 
 
 Demonstration by Mr. Bicket's Work- 
 men. — The workmen in Mr. John Bicket's em- 
 ployment met on the 25th, in commemoration of 
 Burns, in one of the workshops, which was kindly 
 granted for the occasion. Great credit is due 
 to the young men for the tasteful manner the 
 shop was decorated with evergreens. Upwards 
 of thirty sat down to a splendid supper — Mr. 
 Peter Mitchell in the chair, supported on the 
 right by Mr. John Thomson, and on the left 
 
 by Mr. G. M'Kinnon. Mr. William Hamiltt)n 
 fulfilled the duties of croupier, supported on the 
 right by Mr. James Draper, and on the left by 
 Mr. James Gilchrist. The evening was spent 
 with great joy in song and sentiment until an 
 early hour. 
 
 Celebration by Mr. Barclay's Men. — 
 About forty engineers in connexion with Mr. 
 Barclay's engine works, met in Mr. M'Whin- 
 nie's, Bakers' Arms, to celebrate the centenary 
 of Robert Burns, — Mr. Allan Andrews in the 
 chair, Mr. William M'Crouchie ofliciating as 
 croupier. A number of gentlemen present 
 contributed to the harmony of the evening with 
 song and sentiment. The company separated 
 at a seasonable hour, highly pleased. The 
 dinner was in Mr. M'Whinnie's usual first-class 
 manner, and for elegance and variety we have 
 seldom seen it surpassed. 
 
 Celebration by Messrs. Paxton's Em- 
 ployees. — On this occasion the workmen in 
 the employment of Messrs. George Paxton and 
 Sons were entertained to a splendid supper by 
 their worthy employers, in the brewer's premises. 
 Mr. Hugh Wallace was called to the chair. After 
 partaking of the good things of this life, the 
 usual loyal and patriotic toasts were given. 
 The Chairman called upon them to fill their 
 glasses, and in a neat and appropriate speech, 
 gave " The immortal memory of Robert Burns." 
 Songs and toasts followed in rapid succession, 
 till " some wee short hour ayont the twal." 
 
 Centenary Meeting in Mr. George 
 Roomb's. — Mr. George Aitken, chairman. 
 Mr. Adam Crooks, croupier. After the usual 
 loyal toasts of the Queen, Prince Albert, and 
 the rest of the royal family, the army and navy, 
 the Chairman gave, " The Memory of Burns, the 
 bard of bards," in a very felicitous and pithy 
 manner. After which Mr. James Robertson 
 gave " The Memory of Sir Walter Scott," doing 
 him ample justice. Mr. John Sloan gave " The 
 Memory of James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd," 
 with a brief account of his life and times. Mr. 
 Andrew M'Lean gave " The living Poets, 
 coupled with the health of Mr. Archibald 
 M'Kay." Mr. Hugh Wight gave " The Memory 
 of Robert Nicol" very happily. Mr. Adam 
 M'Lean gave "The Memory of Tannahill." 
 Mr. Hugh Roxburgh gave "The Town and 
 Trade of Kilmarnock." Mr. Matthew Smith 
 gave "Agriculture in its progressive strides." 
 A happier evening was not spent throughout 
 the country. 
 
 The Abstainers' Union had a social tea meet- 
 ing in Robertson's Coffee-house. M. P. Gem- 
 mill presided ; and there were fifty ladies and 
 gentlemen present. The tea was served in the 
 best style. Several short appropriate addresses 
 were given, and some of the best of Burns' 
 
KILMARNOCK. 
 
 303 
 
 poems were sung or recited, besides several 
 negro, Highland, and local songs and duets, 
 which were executed in a beautiful manner. 
 The meeting broke up at a seasonable hour, 
 after singing " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 Literary Associations' Dinner. — The 
 United Literary Associations of Kilmarnock 
 met to celebrate Burns' centenary in St. John's 
 Masonic Hall, Sun Inn, which was finely de- 
 corated with evergreens, paintings, and flags. 
 There would be about 120 present. Mr. John 
 M'Kay very ably filled the chair, and Mr. 
 Richard Thomson very happily officiated as 
 croupier. The chairman asked a blessing, after 
 which a substantial supper was partaken of, 
 which did much credit to the taste of Mr. 
 M'Dougall. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 The Chairman, in introducing the toast of 
 the evening — the " Memory of Burns " — said 
 — Scotland, above all other "Nations, can boast 
 of a roll of fame, blazoned with the name of 
 many eminent sons, who, by the lustre of their 
 genius, have shed a hallowed glory upon our 
 literature, our science, and our art. By the 
 combination of their talents and indefatigable 
 perseverance, they have raised their country to 
 that high position which she now so deservedly 
 maintains, and of which we as Scotchmen have 
 just reason to be proud. But amongst all our 
 illustrious men, there is not one whom we re- 
 spect with such deep, earnest affection as Burns, 
 the present poet — (cheers) — who, coming as he 
 did at a time when our land was beginning to 
 emerge from bigotry and prejudice, he, like the 
 lightning's flash, gleamed amidst, and dispelled 
 to a degree, the sullen darkness and supersti- 
 tion of the age ; and through his all-powerful 
 influence heralded to our nation the advent of 
 a brighter and happier era. Endowed with a 
 splendid imagination, a warm heart, generous 
 affections, powerful intellect, ardent love of 
 country, and sturdy independence, we need not 
 wonder that Burns in his advent to the world 
 was hailed with feelings of rapturous joy — that 
 he was looked upon silently with amazement — 
 or that his dazzling light, which still shines be- 
 fore men, should willingly have drawn them in 
 his own day to kneel at his shrine. (Cheers.) 
 Singing of the loves, the cares, and pleasures 
 of humanity, his noble sentiments found a 
 ready response in every honest bosom. He was 
 looked to in his own age as a man of mind, lent 
 to us as a teacher — 
 
 " Underived, except of God." 
 
 Imbued with a deep love for nature — animate 
 and inanimate — be drank deeply at her inex- 
 haustible depths, and his glowing powers of 
 fancy embalmed her every aspect in matchless 
 
 song. The simplest of his sketches fall from 
 his hand adorned with beauty and invested 
 with that peculiar originality which is their 
 charm. All are treated in sincerity, and 
 clothed in the fervent language of truth. His 
 finest pieces are indeed ennobling, and the 
 moral reflections which are scattered through- 
 out them become universally imbedded in our 
 memories as precious gems : they are the ap- 
 IJreciated inheritance of prince and peasant. In 
 them we perceive no affectation, no hackneyed 
 cant, no dissembling of the bard to appear what 
 he is not ; but all are true, and flow forth from 
 a generous heart. In his deathless lyrics he 
 lias embodied the feelings of mankind ; they 
 strike the key note which starts the music in 
 every breast. Where else can we find a martial 
 song like " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled ? " 
 It is music itself, of that kind which makes us 
 fear no enemy, and causes our blood to leap 
 fever-tide. (Cheers.) What bard sings with 
 such rapturous pathos of melting love, or more 
 majestically mourns in manly eloquence over 
 departed worth ? who portrays the ridiculous 
 with such "pauky" humour? who speaks of 
 the scenes " 0' auld langsyne " with such a 
 kindly greeting, as " our ain Robin Burns ? " 
 Is his theme independence ? then who scorns 
 like him 
 
 " The insolence of office, and the spnvns 
 That patient merit of the unworthy taltes." 
 
 With prophetic voice he proclaims the true 
 " dignity of man." What hand could wield the 
 lash of satire with such power against canting 
 bigots? With these qualities Burns became 
 widely known, and to them we have, in a great 
 measure, to attribute the manly tone which 
 pervades society now. We look not to sordid 
 wealth, but openly declare — 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' tliat." 
 
 Ever sensible that the great aims of genius 
 should be exerted in elevating and enlightening 
 his kind, Burns, with giant strength, applied 
 his lever to raise society ; and his potent influ- 
 ence in this respect is felt not merely by Scotch- 
 men, but by a world, ready at all times to laud 
 what is good. If, on the one hand, he praised 
 what was good, on the other, he condemned 
 much that was wrong, and consequently he 
 raised a host of enemies, who have not died 
 with his death. Hated by some whose profes- 
 sion should teach them to look with charity on 
 the thoughtless follies of a neighbour, and at 
 least to allow the ashes of worth to rest in 
 peace, they should be taught, by the enthusiasm 
 which exists at this time over the world, that 
 Burns holds that place in the estimation of 
 
304 
 
 THE BUHNS CEi^TENAEY. 
 
 mankind which he so well merits. Surely no 
 one can, for a momentj believe that the author 
 of " The Cottar's Saturday Night" was devoid 
 of religious principle and feeling. He could 
 not be silent when he saw religion disgraced 
 by its worldly professors, who worshipped be- 
 cause it was fashionable, clad in the robes of 
 base hypocrisy. His was a reverence of nobler 
 faith ; and ever alive to the importance of this 
 eternal sutgectj he sang 
 
 " From scenes like these old Scotia's grancletir springs, 
 That makes her lov'd at home, veVer'd abroad." 
 
 It is miioh to be regretted that his light shone 
 in such fitful glimpses through the clouds of 
 adversity. His was a chequered, unrequited 
 life, and his mighty spirit ,sank to rest, whilst 
 all was dark and dreary around^ 
 
 "Plodding the last sands of life, Where not a flower 
 appeared." 
 
 We cannot contemplate his neglected end with- 
 out feelings of emotion ; and yet we sincerely 
 rejoice to witness the respect which is paid to 
 his glorious memory in our own day. To-night 
 shall a display be made, the most triumphant 
 ever bestowed on men of genius. The most 
 illustrious in letters shall assemble over the 
 world to do honour to our ploughman bard, 
 who, " though dead, still liveth," whose name 
 shall be cherished with the- warmest gratitude, 
 and shall remain immortal in the affections of 
 mankind. So l6ng as love and friendship reign, 
 so long shall the name of Burns be shrined in 
 the bosom of humanity. Gentlemen, I ask you 
 to honour, with three times three, " The Memory 
 of Burns." (Great cheering.) Drunk with all 
 the honours. 
 
 Mr. Loudon sang " Eobin the ploughmani" 
 
 Many other appropriate toasts were given, 
 and songs were sung; and after singing toge- 
 ther " Auld Langsyne,'' the company separated 
 a little after "tlie wee short hour ayont the 
 twal." 
 
 Shoemakers' Burns Centbnart Dinner. 
 — The shoemakers of Kilmarnock met on the 
 evening of the 25th January, in the hall of 
 the Victoria Inn, to celebrate the centenary of 
 Robert Burns — Mr. Robert Pitt chairman, and 
 Mr. James M'Kenzie croupier. Upwards of 
 seventy sat down to a dinner which conferred 
 great credit on the good taste and management 
 of the worthy host, Mr. M'Pherson. At it 
 was not forgot the " great chieftain o* the pud- 
 ding race — warm, reeking, rich.*' The hall 
 was tastefully decorated with evergreens, inter- 
 spersed with portraits of our bard, and several 
 views taken from places which he has hallowed 
 by his pen. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts had 
 
 been given, the Chaibman rose to propose 
 " The Memory of Burns," and said :— A hundred 
 years this day have wiiiged their flight into the 
 past siilce he first drew the breath of life. 
 This night will his name be remembered on 
 every ocean where the British flag flutters in 
 the breeze. (Cheers.) On every continent and 
 island to which Scotchmen have goiie, Scotch- 
 men will meet this night to do honour to the 
 memory of the Ayrshire bard. (Cheers.) Con- 
 sider what he did, and could do, and then 
 understand why we also are met to honour 
 Robin. He looked with a poet's eye on every 
 object, .and endowed all with his rich fancy. 
 At one time we find his fancy playing with 
 heaven's artillery, and making lightning flash 
 from pole to pole; at another, he beautifully 
 describes the fragrant arms of the bifch-tree, 
 screening the dear embrace of the loving pair. 
 At one time we find him in imagination with 
 the Bruce of Bannockburn, charging his troops 
 before battle in the most heroic, patriotic, and 
 poetic strain that the world ever heard ; while, 
 at another, he presents Us with the tree by the 
 side of the river, miri'oring itself in its shadowy, 
 watery bed. In what mournful strains does he 
 lament the fate of the mouse and the mountain 
 daisie. With what life-like, living, and poetic 
 strains does he sing of the habits and manners 
 of the people. With what humour doeis he 
 portray the Hallowe'en charms and spells, and 
 produces something substantial in their stead. 
 In the " Twa Dogs " he draws the pictures of 
 the upper and lower classes in such a humorous 
 and sarcastic strain, that we find no parallel to 
 it in print. In the " Jolly Beggars " the scenes 
 are laid amid low realities ; but the songs are 
 so appropriate to their characters, that the 
 equal of it is not found in the English lan- 
 guage, or in any other. (Cheers.) Endowed, 
 as every true poet is, with great knowledge of 
 the human mind, he levelled the terrible shafts 
 of his satire agaihst the ignorance, bigotry, and 
 superstition of his times, and directed them 
 with the precision of a Munro. I need not 
 tell you here how easily our bard takes his 
 place as president of the great republic of 
 song. (Cheers.) Wliere, I may well ask, is it 
 possible to find the loves, the fears, the joys, 
 and sorrows of the human heart expressed in 
 such living, burning, and enthralling words? 
 Justly, then, may I ask you to drink, with 
 honest pride, to the memory of the Bard of 
 Coila. (Drank with all its honours.) 
 
 Mr. Alexander Boyd sung, " There Was a lad was 
 born in Kyle." 
 
 Toast and song went round, and the com- 
 pany enjoyed themselves till nearly the " wee 
 short hour ayont the twal," parting in high 
 glee, resolved to meet some other day. 
 
KILMAENOCK. 
 
 305 
 
 Bonnet-Makers' Celebration of Burns' 
 Centenary. — The operative bonnet-makers of 
 Kilmarnock partook of a very sumptuous din- 
 ner in the Angel, in honour of our national 
 bard-^Mr. Simpson in the chair, and Mr. 
 Thomson, croupier. The hall was decorated. 
 Around the portrait of the poet was a wreath 
 of evergreens and roses, with other pictures of 
 places which Burns in his immortal verse has 
 described. The cloth being removed, the usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts were given, likewise 
 a toast to the Bonnet-Makers' Corporation, 
 after which song and sentiment freely flowed. 
 All went ©n with the greatest of glee, till 
 Forbes warned the company it was time to de- 
 part. 
 
 About thirty of the principal employees at 
 the New Works, and others connected with the 
 Glasgow and South-Western Hail way Company, 
 met at supper in Mr. Wale's Rainbow Tavern. 
 The chair was ably filled by Mr. Fraser, of the 
 Works; while Mr. M'Donald, station-master, 
 very happily acted as croupier. Mr. John 
 Begg, nephew of Burns, attended this meeting 
 of his fellow-workmen, and thus made it more 
 interesting. There was also on the table an 
 old teapot, a souvenir of Burns. It had been 
 gifted by him and "Jeanie," his wife, to a 
 sister of the latter, at marriage, and by her 
 family carefully preserved as a relic of the great 
 poet. The company used it on various occa- 
 sions as a " toddy-distributor." 
 
 The supper provided by Mr. Wales was most 
 abundant and sumptuous — served up in a supe- 
 rior manner, highly creditable to him and his 
 establishment, and to which the company did 
 ample justice. After the cloth was removed, 
 the usual loyal and constitutional toasts were 
 given and responded to. 
 
 In calling for a bumper for the toast of the 
 evening, " The Immortal Memory of Burns," 
 
 The Chairman, in his introductory remarks 
 regarding the general character and early career 
 of Burns, said: — The characteristic feature 
 most notable in the actions of Robert Burns 
 was his desire to do and to act independently 
 of the frown of the great, the scorn of the 
 little, or the scoff' of the hypocrite, when the 
 cause of truth was at stake. For this he has 
 been revered, for this his name has become 
 cherished and respected, and for this the gene- 
 rations of men yet to oome will preserve that 
 name Untainted and unalloyed. Meanness with 
 him was considered a crime ; and whether in 
 the palace, the lordly hall, the state, the pulpit, 
 the society of rank, or the commonalty ; wher- 
 ever truth was assailed — whoever dared to 
 check its glorious progress, the lash, the satire, 
 'and the keen, cutting, mighty intellect of Burns 
 exposed the delinquent, and branded him as a 
 
 traitor to his kind. Scotland 100 years ago 
 contrasts strangely with the present time. 
 Then, the government was exclusive, overbear- 
 ing, and rash ; the church coercive, dogmatical, 
 and somewhat tinctured with superstition ; the 
 people, generally speaking, illiterate, and sec- 
 tarianly zealous, but having within them the 
 seeds and elements of great principles destined, 
 in the revolution of years, to attain to mighty 
 achievements, in art, science, and literature. 
 Robert Burns was born, nursed, and educated 
 in the midst of such principles, and we honour 
 the man the more because of the stand he took 
 against the characteristics of the times. As a 
 song writer, he continued, 'tis universally ad- 
 mitted. Bums carries the palm of pre-eminence, 
 for in each song we have an embodiment of our 
 national character. Living and moving among 
 the peasantry of his country, their joys were 
 his joys, and their sorrows his sorrows, and so 
 faithfully are his song pictures in this respect, 
 that the nature, habits, customs, tastes, and 
 feelings of the people he dwelt among are 
 sketched alike with the pencil of the historian 
 as well as the quill of the poet. Say not the 
 poet's mission is an idle one, for the songs of a 
 country are dear to the hearts of the sons and 
 daughters of that country, but doubly dear 
 when o'er the seas and far away. This day 
 thousands have agreed to do honour to the 
 memory of Burns, and in common with others, " 
 we have thought fit to assemble to testify our 
 sense of his sterling worth. Let us do so as 
 men who can, and are willing at all times, to 
 honour goodness, come in what shape it may. 
 (Cheers.) Living a life of toil, and sinking 
 into the tomb before his time, one of the best 
 proofs of his honesty is in the fact, he went to 
 his God owing no man anything. — ^leaving to 
 his children an inheritance gold cannot pur- 
 chase, and power is unable to bestow. And now 
 join with me, in silence becoming this great 
 occasion, " The Memory of Burns." (The 
 toast was drunk in silence, the glasses being 
 filled from the teapot.) 
 
 Mr. George Thomson, in giving "The Rela- 
 tives of the Poet and Mr. John Begg, his 
 Nephew," then present, passed a high compli- 
 ment on the unobtrusive character of that 
 gentleman ; and referred to the honourable 
 career which Colonel and Major Burns had in 
 India as soldiers. 
 
 The toast having been duly responded to, 
 Mr. Begg shortly and feelingly replied, thank- 
 ing them for the honour they had done him, 
 and expressing a hope that he would continue 
 to merit the good opinion they held of him. 
 
 The harmony of the evening was much 
 enhanced by the singing of several fine songs 
 by Messrs. Auld, Thomson, Manson, and others 
 u 
 
306 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 of the company. Mr. Auld, in particular, sung 
 a song specially composed for the occasion by 
 Mr. Crawford. A most happy, pleasant, and 
 agreeable evening was spent by the whole com- 
 pany; and after " Auld Langsyne" in due form, 
 the company broke up at an early hour. 
 
 KILSYTH. — A respectable company of la- 
 dies and gentlemen met in the evening in the 
 parish School-room — Rev. Wm. Wallace in the 
 chair. After doing justice to an abundant sup- 
 ply of tea and cake, the Chairman delivered a 
 talented address on the character and genius 
 of Burns. Ladies and gentlemen, (he said,) 
 we are met here to do honour to Robert Burns, 
 Scotland's greatest poet, while thousands and 
 tens of thousands in other places, near and re- 
 mote, in furthest east and west, are met to do 
 the same. He then said that some people 
 might sneer at our little aifair, that it would 
 be lost amid the din and glare of town and 
 city festivals, but still we willingly helped to 
 swell the tide of praise tliat now rises like a 
 sea to the memory of Burns, and to remove 
 some of the obloquy that rests on Scotland for 
 her neglect during his lifetime. 
 
 During his life Burns did not much fill the 
 public eye. Living as he did in a remote coun- 
 ty, far from the metropolis, what he there said 
 and did induced some to vilify and traduce his 
 name, and in some quarters he has been stig- 
 matized as immoral and infidel. These epi- 
 thets are entirely unfounded. Read his " Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night," and his prayers on the 
 prospect of death, and we dare any man to say 
 that such are the productions of an infidel. 
 
 Passing on, the Rev. Gentleman alluded to 
 Burns' attacks on the clergy. His " Holy Fair," 
 "Holy Willie's Prayer," &c. — these attacks 
 were made in no infidel spirit. In fact, he of- 
 ten did religion's cause noble service in un- 
 masking hypocrisy and cant. The speaker here 
 made some appropriate remarks on the injury 
 cant and hypocrisy did to true religion. He 
 then proceeded to look at Burns as he actually 
 lived and wrote — Burns as a man and Burns as 
 a poet. No man could be found on whom Na- 
 ture had more firmly fixed her stamp. His 
 keen sensibilities were the cause of his virtues 
 and his follies. No man could have been a 
 better son, brother, husband, or father. He 
 speaks with affection and reverence of his fa- 
 ther, and did all he could to smooth his inevi- 
 table passage to the grave, doing wonders with 
 his plough, his spade, and his flail, to keep po- 
 verty from their humble home. The Chairman, 
 in conclusion, touched on some of the charac- 
 teristics of the poet's wi'itiugs, and resumed his 
 seat amid great applause. 
 
 Mr. John Wallace, after a rather pris?inal 
 
 and humorous introduction, said — For wljat 
 purpose are we met to-night ; or why is it that 
 we see a whole nation prostrate themselves, as 
 it were, in adoration, to the memory of a mere 
 mortal creature, recalling to our minds the 
 dark ages of heathen mythology ? Is it be- 
 cause Burns was a great hero, a martyr, a noble 
 example of Christian philanthropy ; or was his 
 life adorned with the beauty of moral excel- 
 lence? No — it is simply a nation testifying 
 their admiration of his original genius. The 
 name and poetry of Burns are imbedded in the 
 minds of the Scottish people, because his writ- 
 ings illustrate, in touching language, the patri- 
 otism, manners, and customs of his native 
 country — his songs also vividly depict our own 
 feelings and emotions, and they bring before 
 our minds associations which are ever entwined 
 around the spot where we spent the morning 
 of our days, — when " we paidled in the burn, 
 and pu'd the gowans fine." 
 
 Mr. William Moffat, after some introductory 
 remarks, said, that range the whole surface of 
 tlie globe, and no nation would be found in 
 whom there existed a stronger and deeper love 
 of country, than that which swelled in the 
 breasts of the Scottish people. Amongst vari- 
 ous elements which constituted and fostered 
 this, was a feeling of pride in a long list of il- 
 lustrious men who had been nurtured on her 
 hardy soil, and who, by deeds of heroism, and 
 efforts of genius, had linked their names with 
 their country's through all time. He then 
 went on to notice the fact, that many of these 
 illustrious men had sprung from the people; 
 and none amongst the galaxy of Scottish intel- 
 lect shone with brighter effulgence than the 
 genius of our ploughman bard, Scotland's poet, 
 the immortal Burns. Mr. Moffat concluded a 
 glowing eulogium on Burns as a Man and a 
 Poet as follows: — In yonder Lucknow's lea- 
 guered city see a band of brave devoted hearts 
 worn out by toil and suffering, death closing 
 darkly round. But, hark! why that cry of 
 " saved ; they come ?" why those bended knees 
 and heartfelt prayers to Heaven? why those 
 tears of joy trickling o'er manly cheeks ? Ah ! 
 yon Indian breeze answers, as it bears the well- 
 known strains ever dear to Scottish hearts- 
 strains ever linked with the name of Burns— 
 " Should auld acquaintance be forgot." 
 
 Messrs. J. Gemmill, J. Moffat, and A. Jack, 
 added greatly to the hilarity of the meeting by 
 tiie singing of some beautiful and appropriate 
 songs, one of them composed for the occasion 
 by Mr. J. Ferrier. At the termination of the 
 soiree a grand ball commenced, and the trip- 
 ping on the light fantastic toe was kept up with 
 great spirit till an early hour. 
 
KILWINNIXG— KINCARDINE. 
 
 307 
 
 KILWINNING— The birth-place of Ma- 
 sonry in Scotland has not been behind in do- 
 ing honour to the memory of our national bard, 
 Robert Burns. On the evening of Tuesday 
 his centenary was celebrated here by a public 
 dinner in the Mason Lodge, which was, for 
 the occasion, tastefully decorated with ever- 
 greens, from the " woods around the Castle o' 
 Montgomerie." Behind the chairman's seat 
 was a bust of Burns. Mr. Henderson, of the 
 City of Glasgow Bank, occupied the chair, and 
 Messrs. Copeland and Wylie officiated as crou- 
 piers. After the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts had been disposed of, the Chairman, in a 
 very eloquent and able speech, gave the toast 
 of the evening, " The Memory of Robert 
 Burns," which was received and responded to 
 most enthusiastically. During tiie evening 
 there was a consideriible number of toasts giv- 
 en ; and, appropriately inteij^persed, were sung 
 many of our poet's sweetest songs — there being 
 no lack of vocal talent present. The evening 
 was spent in a harmonious manner ; and about 
 the " wee short hour ayont the twal," the 
 meeting broke up after singing " Auld Lang- 
 syne." 
 
 The Brethren of the Kilwinning Thistle 
 Lodge of Free Gardeners and their ladies, cele- 
 brated the occasion by partaking of a hearty 
 Scotch supper, in their Lodge-room. After 
 devoting proper attention to the substantials set 
 before them, 
 
 " The night drave ou wi' sangs and clatter," 
 
 and then — 
 
 " Strathspeys and reels 
 Put lite and mettle in their 
 
 and loud resounded mirth and dancing till an 
 early hour next morning. 
 
 The Merchants of the town, determined not 
 to be outdone, had a first-class concert in the 
 Eglinton Arms Hall, declared by competent 
 judges to be the finest that has been here for 
 the last twenty years. The hall was very 
 tastefully decorated, the platform having the 
 appearance of one of nature's arbours, with 
 wreaths of flowers and evergreens twining 
 above and around, the whole reflecting great 
 credit on Mr. Sharp of Eglinton, who kindly 
 caused the work to be done for the committee. 
 The hall, which holds 300, was completely 
 filled, many having to go away. Our justly 
 respected townsman, Mr. M'Crorie, delivered a 
 short opening address on the career and genius 
 of Burns, in which he displayed powers of the 
 highest order. His happy introduction of quota- 
 tions from the songs of the poet were much ap- 
 plauded ; and as he touched on the different 
 points in the poet's life, occasionally the very 
 
 breath was arrested, and you felt all was done 
 by the hand of a master. The singers, who 
 were all from Paisley, gave great satisfaction, 
 and the concert was most successful. 
 
 KINCARDINE (Perthshire).— The cente- 
 nary had its celebration here as in other places. 
 Twenty-six gentlemen sat down to dinner in the 
 Unicorn Inn — Duncan Wright, Esq., in the 
 chair, John Norrie, Esq., croupier. Among those 
 present were A. Alexander, Esq., A. C. Ste- 
 phen, Esq., William Wylie, Esq., Messrs. Mac- 
 Laren, Steele, David Norrie, William Norrie, 
 Anderson, Buchanan, Dow, Honeyman, Gibb, 
 Laing, Short, Dewar, Duncanson, &c. The 
 toast of the evening was given with great spirit 
 by Mr. Wright, and received with intense en- 
 thusiasm. Among the incidents of the meeting 
 it was mentioned by Mr. Wylie that a near 
 relative of Mrs. Burns had practised as a medi- 
 cal man in Kincardine, and he (Mr. W.) had 
 crossed the ferry with bonny Jean. Mr. D. 
 Norrie also exhibited a piece of the hawthorn 
 under which Burns was supposed to have em- 
 braced his Highland Mary. A great many 
 toasts and songs were given, and the company 
 separated after singing " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 The Kincardine Instrumental Band held a 
 musical festival in honour of the centenary of 
 our Scottish bard, Robert Burns. After per- 
 ambulating the town they, along with other 
 gentlemen, retired to the hall of the Com- 
 mercial Inn. The chair was occupied by Mr. 
 Archibald Goodsir, who discharged the duties 
 most efficiently. Tlie usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts having been disposed of, the memory of 
 the immortal bard received all the honours. A 
 quadrille band having been engaged for the 
 occasion, they " tripp'd it on the light fantastic 
 toe" till a seasonable hour, and separated high- 
 ly satisfied with the evening's entertainment. 
 
 KINCARDINE (Aberdeenshire).— A num- 
 ber of the admirers of the poet residing in 
 the lower end of the parish of Kincardine 
 O'Neil and surrounding district met in a 
 loft at Haughead, kindly granted by Mr. Del- 
 las, and partook of a substantial supper — Mr. 
 Skinner in the chair ; Mr. Rae, merchant, crou- 
 pier. The Chairman, in a graphic and instruc- 
 tive manner, gave '■ The Memory of the Bard." 
 Several of Burns' songs were sung ; one com- 
 posed by Mr. Rae for the occasion drew out 
 universal applause. A very harmonious even- 
 ing was spent, and at nine o'clock the guests 
 retired to make way for the ball. Above three 
 hundred were present, and kept up the danc- 
 ing to the heart-stirring music of Messrs. Robie 
 and Grant " till chanticleer began to craw." 
 
308 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 KINGARTH.— On the evening of the 25th, 
 a number of ladies and gentlemen, amounting 
 to 60, assembled at Kingarth Inn to celebrate 
 the centenary, when, after partaking of a sump- 
 tuous tea, and after the usual loyal and patri- 
 otic toasts had been given and warmly re- 
 sponded to, the Chairman, Mr. Broadfoot, in a 
 short speech, gave the toast of the evening, 
 " The Memory of Robert Burns," which was 
 received with loud cheers, and drunk in solemn 
 silence. The croupier, Mr. Reid, with a few 
 suitable remarks, next gave the memory of 
 Mrs. Burns, and the healths of Colonel and 
 Major Burns, which were very cordially re- 
 ceived; next the health of the Marchioness 
 and the youthful Marquis of Bute ; Lord Jas. 
 Stuart, Lord-Lieutenant of the County ; the 
 Hon. Wortley Stuart, M.P. ; John Muir, Esq., 
 factor on the estate, &c., &c., were given by 
 the various gentlemen present. 
 
 The party then adjourned to the Parish 
 School-room, where dancing was kept up with 
 great spirit till an early hour, and after spend- 
 ing a most harmonious night, the company sepa- 
 rated, highly delighted with the whole proceed- 
 ings of the evening. 
 
 . KINGHORN. — In this ancient royal burgh, 
 two great public demonstrations were held — 
 one in the Town Hall by the operatives, the 
 other in the Museum, under the patronage of 
 the Scientific and Literai-y Association. The 
 president of the literary assembly was Mr. 
 Edward Taylor — at the other meeting, Mr. 
 James Dewar, gardener. Both meetings were 
 characterized by great humour and good feel- 
 ing. 
 
 assemblage immediately dispersed, wishing such 
 a meeting could be got up every year. The 
 supper was excellent, doing great credit to 
 mine host. After defraying all expenses, there 
 remained a balance of £1 14s. 5d., the most of 
 which, and the surplus eatables, were distributed 
 among the poor. 
 
 KINGLASSIE. — Burns' centenary was 
 commemorated by a supper in the School-room 
 here, and never, within the memory of the 
 oldest inhabitant, was such a numerous, enthu- 
 siastic, and harmonious meeting held in King- 
 lassie. The whole of the tickets were disposed 
 of in three days, and an hundred and thirty 
 ladies and gentlemen sat down to supper — Mr. 
 Brown, chairman, ^nd Mr. Greig, croupier. 
 After the usual loyal toasts, the Chairman 
 gave " The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns," 
 which was drunk with all the honours, Mr. 
 Bringan singing " There was a Lad was born 
 in Kyle." A variety of toasts and songs fol- 
 lowed, and at half-past eleven, the Chairman 
 called for "Auld Langsyne," which was rap- 
 turously sung by the whole company. After a 
 few minutes' interval, dancing commenced in 
 earnest to the strains of Messrs. Gilmour, 
 Arnot, and Penman. At half-past one Mr. 
 B. intimated that this was to be the last reel 
 for the night, and which being finished, the 
 
 KINROSS. — The centenary has been cele- 
 brated here with great 6clat. When the long- 
 looked-for Tuesday evening at length arrived, 
 and people were beginning to think of mov- 
 ing to the festival, the gloomy skies assumed a 
 gloomier aspect. 
 
 " The wind blew as 'twad blawn its last; 
 Tlie rattlin' show'rs rose on the blast." 
 
 So fierce was the storm a while, that those who 
 looked adversely on the evening's proceedings 
 might have been tempted to say, 
 
 " This night a child might understand 
 The deil has business on his hand." 
 
 By seven o'clock, it abated a little, and the 
 darkness served to show off to advantage the 
 torch-light procession. As they marched along 
 with the torches blazing, accompanied by the 
 instrumental band, a stranger to the events of 
 the night might have been led to fear a scene 
 similar to that awful night, when Kirk Alloway 
 seemed in a blaze, and the great musician, 
 
 " Screwed his pipes and gart them skirl, 
 Till roof and rafters a' did diil." 
 
 The whole affair, however, was wound up suc- 
 cessfully, and at the appointed hour the Hall 
 was filled to overflowing. The chair was oc- 
 cupied by David Syme, Esq., of Warroch, 
 Sheriff Substitute of the county; and the 
 principal croupier's chair was occupied by Mr. 
 Nisbet B. Williamson ; Mr. Bogie and Dr. 
 Annan presiding at other tables. There could 
 not be less than 300 present in the Hall, and 
 Mr. Robert Burns Begg, jun., grand-nephew of 
 the poet, sat at the right hand of the chairman. 
 In front of the chair there was placed a minia- 
 ture plough of most beautiful workmanship, 
 fabricated by our townsman Mr. Charles 
 Harley, smith, while small figures intended to 
 represent the great bard driving his team 
 through the field were attached to the plough. 
 The Kinross Instrumental Band were stationed 
 in the gallery, and an amateur from Edinburgh 
 assisted the vocalists, and occasionally played 
 some favourite airs on the harmonium. A 
 blessing having been asked by Mr. Ballingall 
 of Seggie, the company was served up with 
 excellent pies, supplied by Mr. Beveridge, baker, 
 and the liquors by Mr. Robert Roxburgh, to 
 whom and Mrs. Roxburgh great credit is due 
 
KINROSS. 
 
 309 
 
 both for the quality of the liquors, and for the 
 promptitude of the attendance. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 the Chairman rose, and in proposing the " Me- 
 mory of Burns," said — I feel that you have 
 done me honour in asking me to preside at this 
 meeting. I have always been an enthusiastic 
 admirer of Robert Burns, and I regret my 
 inability to give adequate expression to all 
 that should be said — to all I wish to say — on 
 such an occasion. From my early years I have 
 been fond of reading, fond of wandering in 
 imagination through other lands, but have ever 
 been brought home to the hills and valleys of 
 Scotland by the poetry of Burns, and have 
 ever felt with him, 
 
 "Their groves of sweet myrtle let foreign lands 
 reckon, 
 Where bright beaming summers exalt the perfume; 
 Far dearer to me yon lone gUn o' green breckan, 
 Wi' the bum stealing under the lang yellow broom." 
 
 (Cheers.) You know how intensely the love 
 of nature breathes through all his works. He 
 loved nature in all her aspects, and we all feel 
 that the most familiar objects in the scenery of 
 our native land derive additional interest and 
 are made dearer to us by our familiarity with 
 his songs. (Applause. This alone constitutes 
 a claim to our gratitude, because a love of na- 
 ture, a true perception of the beautiful in all 
 its forms, are valuable possessions, sources of 
 the purest and most lasting pleasures of life. 
 But there is more than this. There glows in 
 every line that Burns ever wrote a spirit of 
 freedom and independence which finds an echo 
 in every heart. (Great cheers.) It is this that 
 brings us here to-night, and that has brought 
 all Scotland to celebrate the first centenary of 
 his birth. You evidently agree with me in 
 thinking it an important event, and one likely 
 to be productive of great results. It is of itself 
 an evidence of the arrival of that better time to 
 which he so fondly looked forward, and I need 
 hardly say that a country does honour to itsrff 
 in doing honour to the memory of its benefac- 
 tors. (Cheers.) The full significance of this 
 grand commemoration will be more apparent 
 by-and-bye. It is a new bond of union be- 
 tween Ourselves, and another great landmark in 
 the history of human progress. (Great cheer- 
 ing.) At such a time it is natural to look back 
 and to contrast the present with the past. 
 From 1759 down to near the close of last cen- 
 tury many changes were taking place in the 
 world. The wealth and power of England 
 were increasing. Our Indian Empire was es- 
 tablished by Clive and Cornwallis, Watt was 
 inventing or rather improving and perfecting 
 the steam engine. Science and discovery were 
 
 making rapid advances. The spirits of men 
 were deeply moved, and the American war of 
 1776 was followed by the French Revolution 
 of 1789. But civilization and refinement, free- 
 dom and toleration were scarcely keeping pace 
 with the march of events, least of all in Scot- 
 land, and it was in a comparatively cold, dark, 
 and dismal period, that the genius of Burns 
 broke out suddenly — "glinted forth" like his 
 own mountain daisy " aneath the storm." Yet 
 the light of that immortal genius has been get- 
 ting brighter ever since, and will continue 
 shining for ever. (Great cheering.) Much has 
 been said of the difficulties with which he had 
 to contend. He was a man of immense ability, 
 and had his energy and ambition had a fair 
 start in any of the paths leading to wealth he 
 would have been successful, for there was no 
 profession in which he might not have gained 
 the highest place. (Cheers.) But he would 
 have been brought down to an inferior atmo- 
 sphere — would have lost the command of his 
 time and thoughts, and, with them, all those 
 feelings of freedom and independence which 
 were in fact essential to his nature. The loss 
 to all succeeding time would have been still 
 greater, for the light of his genius would have 
 been extinguished, or left glimmering in some 
 subordinate sphere. Let us drink then with 
 all the honours, to the " Memory of Burns." 
 (Long and continued applause.) 
 
 Song — " There was a lad was born in Kyle," by Mr. 
 Rutherford, the company joining in chorus. 
 
 Mr. N. B. Williamson proposed the toast, 
 The sons and relatives of Burns, coupled with 
 Mr. Robert Burns Begg, junior, grand-nephew 
 to the Poet, in an eloquent speech. 
 
 Mr. Bego rose amidst much applause and 
 said, — Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, — I have 
 to acknowledge the honour you have this mo- 
 ment so kindly and so cordially done to the 
 sons and the surviving relatives of Burns, and 
 in their name I beg to thank you very warmly 
 for it. In doing so, I cannot but regret that 
 the duty of representing Burns' relatives here 
 should have devolved on one so little qualified 
 for it as I am — assuredly, however, it could 
 hardly have fallen into the hands of any one 
 who could feel your kind attention more deeply 
 than I do, or who could estimate it more highly. 
 I need hardly tell you that one and all of us 
 feel deeply proud of our relationship to Burns, 
 — there is that in the simple fact of such a re- 
 lationship which certainly cannot fail to make 
 us so — for all that admiration for Burns' genius, 
 and all that veneration and respect for his me- 
 mory which you feel, cannot but be felt, and 
 felt to even a greater extent by every one of us. 
 You are all as well aware as I am how much 
 the sons and all the relatives of Burns owe to 
 
310 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Burns' genius, and to the manner in which that 
 genius is appreciated by the people of Scotland ; 
 certainly, if Burns himself was neglected during 
 his life, and if liis genius did not tend much to 
 his own worldly advantage, the same cannot be 
 said to have been the case either as regards his 
 fame or as regards his relations since his death. 
 On the contrary, at this very moment, when a 
 hundred years have past since his birth, and 
 when nearly three-quarters of a century have 
 elapsed since that powerful brain of his ceased 
 its labour for ever, his fame never was brighter, 
 nor were the people of Scotland ever more 
 ready to show towaj-ds his relatives marks of 
 kindness and goodwill far beyond their due, I 
 w^ould certainly fail, gentlemen, were I even to 
 attempt to tell you how grateful we feel all this 
 — the very fact that it proceeds neither from 
 any merit on our part only renders our grati- 
 tude infinitely deeper. To the relatives of 
 Burns this occasion cannot but be one of the 
 deepest possible interest, and the national out- 
 burst of admiration and respect for the genius 
 and the memory of Burns which has taken place 
 cannot fail to give rise to many a gratifying 
 and proud reflection in their bosoms, and be- 
 lieve me, of all these none can be more gratify- 
 ing to them, or can give them more pride, or 
 call forth their gratitude to a greater extent 
 than the simple, but to them the important 
 fact, that they have not been overlooked, but 
 that on the contrary they have been so cor- 
 dially recognised and treated with such kind 
 and flattering attention. I cannot refrain from 
 taking this opportunity of expressing my grati- 
 tude to the committee who have had the man- 
 agement of this demonstration for the honour 
 and pleasure they have conferred on me by in- 
 viting me here to-night. To me assuredly there 
 is something peculiarly gratifying and pleasing 
 in the fact of my being privileged to occupy 
 the honourable position of a guest at the Burns 
 centenary demonstration in my own native place 
 and among so many of those whose good opin- 
 ion and whose friendship I have ever valued 
 very highly. (Cheers.) 
 
 Dr. Young of Hallfiill proposed " The liv- 
 ing Poets of Scotland," After which Mr. 
 Dempster, being loudly called on by the meet- 
 ing, sang in excellent style, " John Anderson, 
 my jo!" 
 
 Mr. Bogie proposed "the Scottish Peasan- 
 try." 
 
 Song — " A man's a man for a' that," by Mr. D. 
 Barnet." 
 
 Mr. John Temple Barclay delivered with 
 much feeling and effect a very eloquent oration 
 on " Burns," which was received with much 
 applause, and drew forth some very complimen- 
 tary remarks from the Chairman, who proposed 
 
 Mr. Barclay's health, which was received with 
 all the honours. 
 
 Mr. N. B. Williamson proposed " The Poets 
 of England and Ireland." 
 
 The Chairman proposed in appropriate terms 
 the "Memory of Michael Bruce the Poet of 
 Kinross-shire," who in his short life had given 
 evidence of no ordinary genius. 
 
 After a number of other toasts and songs, 
 the company joined in " Auld Langsyne," led 
 by Mr. Morrison, and at the last verse joined 
 hands according to the kindly and well estab- 
 lished custom. So ended perhaps the happiest 
 meeting ever held in the county of Kinross. 
 
 KINTORE.— On Tuesday, the 2oth, up- 
 wards of fifty gentlemen assembled in the Town- 
 hall, which was neatly fitted up for the occa- 
 sion, and partook of an excellent supper, pre- 
 pared by Mrs. King. The chair was ably filled 
 by Dr. Rainy, while Bailie Catto and Mr. James 
 Annand acted as croupiers. The Chairman 
 proposed a toast " To the Memory of Burns," 
 and, in an eloquent discourse, traced the poet's 
 eventful life with euch a faithfulness of delinea- 
 tion and strict adherence to facts as showed 
 him to be thoroughly acquainted with his sub- 
 ject. It is needless to remark that the toast 
 met with a most liearty response. Many other 
 toasts were proposed, all of which were duly 
 responded to. At eleven o'clock the happy 
 company reluctantly broke up, highly delighted 
 with the proceedings of the evening. We may 
 mention that upwards of £2 of a subscription 
 was collected among the gentlemen present in 
 behoof of the Burns' Centenary Fund. To in- 
 dicate the heartiness of Kintore in this matter, 
 it may be stated that other two demonstrations 
 took place — the ladies liaving one exclusively 
 for themselves. Besides tliose who attended 
 supper in the Town-hall, another large and 
 respectable party met in the hall occupied by 
 Mrs. Robertson, kindly granted by her for the 
 occasion. A little before eight o'clock, the 
 sound of the bagpipes was heard playing down 
 the street that well-known tune, " Up an' waur 
 them a', Willie," this being the signal for those 
 wlio were to attend the supper to be in readi- 
 ness. A few minutes after, the Kintore band 
 followed playing, and accompanied by a num- 
 ber of the party. The large assemblage then 
 sat down to an excellent supper — ^Mr. Thomas 
 Watt, druggist, being unanimously called to the 
 chair. The supper being over, the Chairman 
 gave the toast of "The Bard's Memory" in 
 some excellent remarks. What with capital 
 speeches and abundance of music, the hours 
 fled away but too fleetly. Mr. Gray ably con- 
 ducted the instrumental music. After paying 
 all expenses, a sum of money being still over it 
 
KIPPEN— KIRKCUDBRIGHT. 
 
 311 
 
 was given for tea, which was distributed among 
 about tliirty old people, with a request that 
 they should talte a good cup of the infusion to 
 the memory of Robert Burns. Besides this, 
 too, Kintore distinguished itself by holding, 
 with much success, a Ladies' Burns' Festival, 
 which took place in a spacious and tastefully 
 decorated room, granted by Mr. Roger. About 
 100 were present. There was an excellent 
 service of tea and fruit, sweet singing, and 
 good speaking, so that (thanks in a great mea- 
 sure to Messrs. Roger and Stephen) everything 
 went as merry as a marriage bell. A surplus 
 being over, the money was devoted to giving 
 200 pupils of the various schools a treat on the 
 following evening. 
 
 KIPPEN.— This place, though said to be 
 " cot o' the world," was not behind other places 
 in the celebration of the centenary of our na- 
 tional bard. On the 25th, a number of gentle- 
 men sat down to supper in Mr. S. Harley's large 
 room. The chair was occupied by the Rev. Alex. 
 Matheson, supported on the right by Dr. 
 Graham, and on the left by Mr. John M'Niven, 
 farmer, Braehead ; while the duties of croupier 
 were discharged by James M'Donald, Esq., 
 who was supported on the right by Mr. Thomas 
 Harvie, and Mr. John Buchanan. The cloth 
 having been removed, and the usual preliminary 
 toasts disposed of, the Chairman, in a neat and 
 impressive speech, proposed the toast of the 
 evening — " The Memory of Robert Burns." 
 The toast was responded to in a manner which 
 showed that the company fully appreciated the 
 genius of the immortal poet. During the even- 
 ing, several of Burns' choicest songs were sung 
 in first-rate style, by Messrs. Baird, Alexander, 
 Buchanan, Dr. Graham, and others. After 
 enjoying themselves till a seasonable hour the 
 company separated — " happy to meet and sorry 
 to part." 
 
 KIRKCUDBRIGHT. — Long before ten 
 o'clock there was a very large influx of people 
 from the country. The Magistrates and Coun- 
 cil of the burgh, the brethren of St. Cuthbert's 
 Lodge, the various incorporated trades, mari- 
 ners, and community, assembled at the Cross at 
 that hour, where they were ably addressed by 
 Bailie Cavan. 
 
 After the address, the whole body, headed by 
 the Gatehouse instrumental band, and bearing 
 their several flags, walked in procession through 
 the principal streets to the Town's Common, 
 where the Trades shot for the " siller gun," and 
 the " silver arrow " — the former being carried 
 ofl" by James Clark, slater, and the latter by 
 George Kie, tailor's apprentice. There was a 
 large concourse of people assembled in the 
 
 Common to witness the shooting and the foot 
 races got up for amusement, and for which 
 prizes were awarded to the victors. The dif- 
 ferent bodies then returned in procession amid 
 the booming of cannon and the strains of music, 
 to the Cross, where they formed a circle, — the 
 band playing " God save the Queen," and " Ye 
 Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon," in good 
 style ; and after a few words from Bailie Cavan, 
 the company separated. 
 
 The day continuing favourable, the boat 
 races commenced about two o'clock. These 
 were well contested, and much good rowing 
 was exliibited by the different competitors as 
 they pulled away with might and main towards 
 the far-off" goal, and then back to their starting 
 point. 
 
 A sumptuous dinner was provided by Mrs. 
 Tyson in the commercial school-room of the 
 Academy, to which a large number of gentle- 
 men sat down. Provost Shand occupied the 
 chair. Bailies Mure and Cavan being croupiers. 
 After the removal of the cloth, the Chairman 
 gave the usual loyal toasts, and these having 
 been duly honoured, he, in an effective speech, 
 proposed the toast of the evening. He spoke 
 of Burns' humble origin, of the disadvantages 
 under which he was reared, of his immortal pro- 
 ductions, and of the meetings in honour of his 
 memory held that day over the civilized world. 
 His songs are, perhaps, the chief basis on which 
 his fame as an author depends. In hut and 
 hall, as the hearts of men unfold themselves in 
 the joys and sorrows of existence, the voice of 
 that felicity or woe, — of life's varying emotions, 
 — is given by Burns. (Cheers.) With what 
 tenderness he sings, yet with what vehemence 
 and intensity. There is a piercing wail in his 
 sorrow, and the purest rapture in his joy : he 
 burns with the sublimest ardour, laughs with 
 the loudest, and storms with the most defiant ; 
 yet he is mild and sweet, — 
 
 " Sweet as the smile when fond lovers meet, 
 And soft ns their parting tear." 
 
 (Cheers.) In the immense variety of his 
 subjects too, there were found a tone and words 
 for every mood of a man's heart. The Chair- 
 man then took a generous yet discriminating 
 view of Burns as a man ; and, in closing his ex- 
 cellent address, noticed the desire for fame 
 cherished by the poet. When on his death-bed 
 he expressed regret that a number of his hasty 
 random effusions had ever acquired publicity at 
 all ; and had he only been so honoured during 
 his life as he had been that day, he would have 
 been at the height of his ambition. He begged, 
 without an additional word, to give " The Me- 
 mory of Burns." — (The toast was responded to 
 with all the honours.) 
 
312 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 The following toasts wore then given — Tlie 
 Sons of Burns, by Bailie Cavan ; The Patrons 
 of Burns, by Mr. John Nicholson ; The Poets 
 of Scotland, by Mr. Maxwell M'Master ; The 
 Poets of England, by Mr. Cavan ; The Poets of 
 Ireland, by Dr. John Shand ; The Memory of 
 Mrs. Dunlop, by Mr. Charles F. Einlayson ; 
 The Literature of Scotland, by Mr. Caii-ns; 
 The Sons of Kirkcudbright in Foreign Lands, 
 by Mr. J. C. M'Kenzie ; and The Health of the 
 Chairman, by Mr. M'Master. 
 
 The brethren of St. Cuthbert's Lodge had 
 their hall beautifully decorated for the occasion; 
 and they sat down to an excellent dinner pro- 
 vided by Miss Bell of the Masons' Arms. 
 
 The proceecTings of the day closed with no 
 less than four balls, which were held in various 
 places in the town — viz., one in the Academy, 
 patronised by the gentry of the town and 
 neighbourhood ; one in the Masons' Hall, by 
 the masons ; one in the Court House, by the 
 trades ; and one in Mr. Williamson's grain 
 store, by the sailors — all of which were well 
 attended, and dancing kept up to a late hour in 
 the morning. 
 
 KIRKMICHAEL.— In the quiet little village 
 of Kirkmichael the hundredth anniversary of 
 Burns' birth was celebrated by no less than 
 three parties of his admirers, all enthusiastic in 
 paying homage to the genius of Burns. One 
 party met in Mr. J. Wilson's, one in Mr. G. 
 Stevenson's, and a third in Mr. D. Moore's, 
 where thirty gentlemen sat down to an excellent 
 dinner — Mr. John Hunter, Kirkmichael, in the 
 chair ; Mr. William Stewart, Kirkmichael, and 
 Mr. Cochran, farmer, Orchard, acting as crou- 
 piers. After the usual loyal toasts had been 
 given and responded to, the Chairman, in an 
 eloquent speech, proposed the toast of the 
 evening, which was followed by the song 
 " There was a lad was born in Kyle," and an 
 original song by Mr. J. Stewart, Arnsew. 
 
 The toasts which followed were : — Hogg, by 
 the croupier; Campbell, by Mr. Manson ; Scott, 
 by Mr. J. Hunter ; Tannahill, by Mr. A. Lo- 
 gan ; Motherwell, by Mr. Willet ; Ramsay and 
 the other Poetical predecessors of Burns, by 
 Mr. J. Stewart ; Lords Brougham and Macau- 
 lay, by Mr. Charles Stewart ; song — " A man's 
 a man for a' that ;" The Peasantry of Scotland, 
 by Mr. Henry M'Fadzean ; The Clergy of 
 Scotland, coupled with name of Mr. M'Ewan, 
 by Mr. Cochrane ; General and Lady Shaw 
 Kennedy, and other Lords of the Manor, by 
 Mr. James Stewart, Mains ; Mrs. Ritchie, Clon- 
 caird House, by Mr. Morrison ; Mr. and Mrs. 
 Shaw Kennedy, Kirkmichael House, by Mr. 
 M'Clure ; R. Wallace, Esq., of Cloncaird, by 
 Mr. Patterson ; The Schoolmasters of Scotland, 
 
 coupled with the name of Mr. Brown, Kirk- 
 michael, by Mr. Mair ; The Lasses, by Mr. John 
 Stewart, Glengall. The Chairman and Crou- 
 pier having been given and replied to, at the 
 eleventh hour Mr. A. Kay proposed, Forbes 
 M'Kenzie, Esq., which being drunk in very 
 solemn silence, the meeting quietly dispersed. 
 
 KIRKMUIRHILL.— On the 25th, the mem- 
 bers of the Kirkmuirhill Friendly Society met 
 in the Blackwood Arms Inn hall, to give ex- 
 pression, in their own humble way, of their 
 love and esteem for Scotia's immortal bard. 
 The meeting, which was entirely composed of 
 the sons of toil, began to assemble at half-past 
 six o'clock. Mr. James Morton was called upon 
 to do the duties of chairman ; Mr. Wm. M'Askie, 
 that of croupier. When all had partaken of the 
 repast that was provided for the occasion, the 
 Chairman, in a neat and appropriate speech, in- 
 troduced the object of the meeting, and con- 
 cluded with proposing, " The Memory of 
 Burns," which was responded to, not with 
 silent honours, but with true expression of feel- 
 ing, as was every other toast. During the 
 evening the Kirkmuirhill instrumental band was 
 in attendance, and discoursed in music sweet 
 many of the bard's patriotic and sentimental 
 airs. Messrs. Copeland and Johnstone sus- 
 tained the violin department with great ability. 
 Messrs. Watson and Paterson ably conducted 
 the vocal department with abundance of senti- 
 mental and comic songs, accompanied by the 
 concertina. In short the entertainment was 
 varied and well sustained ; and reflected great 
 credit to those working men who planned, got 
 up, and kept up with full spirit, an evening in 
 honour of the working man who first sung — 
 "A man's a man for a' that." The meeting 
 separated at eleven o'clock. We understand 
 that £1 4s. being over was given to a few poor 
 persons in this place. 
 
 KIRKOSWALD.— Here, the centenary an- 
 niversary was hailed with the most lively enthu- 
 siasm. Flags flaunted in the Janwar' Wun' 
 throughout the day, and, and in the evening, 
 about sixty gentlemen sat down to a plenteous 
 and handsome entertainment, in the large hall 
 of Miss Campbell's Inn, tastefully fitted up for 
 the occasion. Two candlesticks, once the pro- 
 perty of Kirkton Jean, were placed on either 
 side of the chair, and were objects of much in- 
 terest — Mr. Dow, Alloway Mills, occupying the 
 chair; Mr. Gray, Shanter, and Mr. Graham, 
 Little Turnberry, acting as croupiers. The 
 Queen, and other loyal and patriotic toasts be- 
 ing given and heartily responded to, the Chair- 
 man gave The Immortal Memory of Burns in a 
 
KIRKWALL— LADYBANK. 
 
 313 
 
 lengthened speech, which was rapturously re- 
 ceived by the company. 
 
 Afterwards, the following toasts were given, 
 suitably prefaced, and well received — The sur- 
 viving members of Burns' Family, by Mr. Dick 
 — Lord of the Manor, by Mr. Gray — The Pirn 
 and the Plough, by Mr. Pulton — Peasantry of 
 Scotland, by the Chairman — The Clergy of 
 Scotland, by Mr. Gray — Wives and Sweet- 
 hearts, by Mr. Davidson. The hilarity of the 
 meeting was greatly enhanced by the singing 
 of Messrs. Gilmour, Nesbit, Boyle, and M'Mil- 
 lan, and after drinking a bumper to the health 
 of the Chairman, who thanked the meeting for 
 the honour of being called to preside, and 
 expressed the pleasure he felt at revisiting, after 
 an absence of nearly half-a-century, the scenes 
 of his childhood, and assisting the old familiar 
 faces on so interesting an occasion. The com- 
 pany, standing, sung " Au]^ Langsyne, as a 
 finale to as joyous a meeting as ever met in the 
 quiet and picturesque little village of Kirk- 
 oswald. 
 
 KIEKWALL.— Even Kirkwall has cele- 
 brated the centenary of Burns ! A few gentle- 
 men sat down to dinner in Snowie's Hotel ; one 
 shopkeeper shut shop ; and the female pupils at 
 the Grammar School were so clamorous for a 
 holiday that the learned teacher was obliged to 
 accede to their request, and granted them the 
 afternoon. 
 
 KIKKIEMUIE.— A soiree, in honour of 
 Burns, was held on Tuesday evening in the 
 large hall of the Seminaries, which was filled to 
 overflowing. After grace had been said by the 
 Kev. Mr. Kamsay, the comestibles were quickly 
 discussed, and Colonel Kinloch opened the 
 principal business of the evening in a neat 
 speech, in which he referred to the universal 
 tribute which would be paid that evening to 
 the genius of the Poet. His remarks on the 
 character and writings of tlie Poet were very 
 apt and highly applauded. He hoped they 
 would all enjoy the feast of song and sentiment 
 which was awaiting them; and as this was the 
 anniversary of the birth-day of the Poet, he 
 would now call on Mr. Wallace for a song 
 written by the poet on the anniversary of 
 his birth-day. Mr. J. Wallace then sang 
 " There was a lad was born in Kyle," with 
 great effect. Song and sentiment was then the 
 prevailing feature of the evening. Messrs. 
 Ogilvy, Cuthbert, Stewart, Lindsay, and Doig, 
 along with Miss Stewart, sang with great effect 
 the spirit-stirring song of " Scots wha hae wi' 
 Wallace bled." At a late hour a haggis was 
 served up to the company. After they had 
 partaken of it, votes of thanks were proposed 
 
 to Webster's Trustees, for the use of the hall, 
 the speakers, the musicians, the ladies, and the 
 Chairman, which were all carried. The whole 
 company then joined in the well-known song 
 of " Auld Langsyne," when the party broke up, 
 some of them adjourning to another room to 
 enjoy a dance. 
 
 A number of young men celebrated the cen- 
 tenary of Burns by a supper and ball, on the 
 evening of Tuesday, in Miss Wallace's hall. 
 Dancing commenced at 8 P.M., — the supper on 
 the table at 9.30, which reflected the greatest 
 credit on Miss Wallace. After supper, the 
 Chairman, Mr. Morris, after giving the usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts, proposed in a neat 
 speech " the Memory of Burns," which was of 
 course enthusiastically received. The croupier, 
 Mr. D. Brodie, in a few appropriate remarks, 
 drank to the " Memory of Burns' wife — ' Bon- 
 nie Jean,' " which was received with great en- 
 thusiasm. Mr. T. S. M'Ljiren then proposed 
 " The Ladies," which was drunk with all the 
 honours. Mr. G. Gordon replied in a graceful 
 manner. Various other toasts were given dur- 
 ing the evening, which were received with great 
 applause, the band playing appropriate airs dur- 
 ing the intervals. After supper the dancing 
 was resumed, which was kept up with great 
 spirit till " early morn." Much praise is due to 
 the Committee for the creditable manner in 
 which they conducted the entire proceedings. 
 
 LADYBANK. — The centenary was cele- 
 brated here in the Refreshment Rooms, when a 
 large number of gentlemen sat down to dinner 
 — Mr. Robertson, of Ladybank Saw-mills, in the 
 chair; Mr. Crombie, of the Post-office, acting 
 as croupier. The room was gorgeously deco- 
 rated for the occasion. Immediately above the 
 chair a beautiful arch of evergreens was formed, 
 interspersed with camelias of the loveliest hue. 
 In the centre of the arch there hung a beautiful 
 illuminated representation of Bums at the 
 plough, with the figure of the poetic genius of 
 his country throwing her inspiring mantle over 
 him. Above the croupier was a garland of 
 evergreens and flowers, with a very fine portrait 
 of Burns in the centre. The Chairman, after 
 the usual loyal toasts, gave the toast of the 
 evening, " The Immortzd Memory of Burns," 
 which was responded to with all the honours. 
 Mr. Mercer, of Ladybank Station, sang " There 
 was a lad was born in Kyle " with great effect. 
 The croupier then gave a humorous poetical 
 address on the genius of Burns, which elicited 
 great applause. Toasts, songs, and recitations 
 followed, and tiie evening was spent in the 
 
314 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 most agreeable manner. Great praise is due 
 to Mrs. Elder for the sumptuous dinner she 
 provided, for the taste she displayed in the 
 decoration of the room, and for her excellent 
 arrangements throughout. 
 
 LANARK. — It seems that the fears of many 
 of our town's folks that the "Centenary" would 
 not be celebrated in Lafiark as it should be, 
 were not to be realized. On Tuesday forenoon 
 the appearance of certain banners waving from 
 the windows of the Town Hall, the Bruce 
 Arms Inn, the Falls of Clyde Inn, and Burns' 
 Tavern, certified to the truth of a report which 
 had been circulating during the previous day, 
 that the " St. Alban's," the " Young Weaver's," 
 and the younger sons of " King Crispin " were 
 to have a combined procession in the afternoon. 
 This took place at four o'clock, headed by the 
 two flute bands of the town. During the pro- 
 cession the bells were allowed to be rung by 
 the kind permission of the magistrates. To 
 particularize the various meetings that took 
 place would take up more than our limited 
 space will allow, and to detail one would do 
 the others an injustice. We can only mention 
 that in the various assemblies in the Clydesdale 
 Hotel, the Black Bull Inn, Meal Market Inn, 
 Town Hall, Bruce Arms Inn, Burns' Tavern, 
 Masons' Hall, and others, the members did their 
 utmost to celebrate in " style " the " Centenary " 
 of Scotland's Immortal Bard. 
 
 LANGHOLM. — A party numbering about 
 70 of the manufacturers, merchants, tradesmen, 
 and others, sat down to dinner in the Crown 
 Inn Assembly Boom, at 3 o'clock. Hugh Dobie, 
 Esq., in the chair; William Cairns, Esq., crou- 
 pier. A good and substantial dinner was pro- 
 vided by Mr. Dow, and amongst other good 
 things the " chieftain of the puddin' race " — 
 the haggis, occupied a phice. The room was 
 tastefully decorated for the occasion by Mr. 
 William Irving. 
 
 When the cloth had been removed the Chair- 
 man gave the usual loyal and patriotic toasts ; 
 after which he introduced the toast of the 
 evening as follows : — Gentlemen, to form a true 
 estimate of the character and genius of Burns 
 we must not look at him through a false 
 medium, or from a wrong point of view. Burns 
 was a true Scottish poet. He sprang as it were 
 from his country's loins, and having drunk deep 
 of the fountain of domestic affection he poured 
 forth those secret throbbings of the heart, which 
 were regarded as unutterable, in the tenderest 
 lays in which poet ever sung. Love was the 
 key note of the poet's songs, and from the first 
 juvenile attempt, when inspired as he himself 
 states by a bewitching creature a year younger 
 
 than himself in the harvest field near "the 
 banks o' bonnie Doon," until the last soft 
 whisperings from the poet's dying bed, love 
 was the all-absorbing theme. It is not for me 
 to give a particular account — as it would be 
 unbecoming the occasion — of Burns' eventful 
 and in many respects sad life ; the most of you 
 being familiar with the subject. You know 
 how the muse first threw her mantle over him 
 while he followed the plough, and of the short 
 glimpse of sunshine which he experienced after 
 the first publication of his poems. You cannot 
 but be familiar with the sad neglect which he 
 suffered at the hands of his countrymen — 
 which will ever be regarded as a foul blot on 
 Scotland's fair fame — of the melancholy nature 
 of the last few years of the poet's life, and of 
 the clouds of adversity which long hung over 
 him, and in which the greatest of Scotland's 
 sons was enshrouded, and those thick clouds 
 of adversity were only dispelled when the 
 earthly ties of his strong heart snapped. I trust, 
 however, this day will amply testify that the 
 poet was not wrong in intrusting his fame to 
 the verdict of posterity. Yes, posterity has 
 appreciated his worth, and will ever love and 
 cherish the name of Eobert Burns — Scotland's 
 Bard. (Cheers.) I do not stand up here ,to 
 admire all that Burns ever said and did. There 
 are no doubt some dark spots in his history — 
 but where is the history without its dark shades? 
 — and none knew these better than the poet 
 himself. The expressive and sad lines, which 
 he wrote evidently as 'applicable to himself — 
 " The Poet's Epitaph " — ought to have shut 
 the mouth of uncharity, and drawn a veil over 
 these feelings which he thus touchingly con- 
 fessed : — 
 
 " The poor inhabitant below, 
 Was quick to learn, and wise to know, 
 And keenly felt the friendly glow 
 
 And softer flame; 
 But thoughtless follies laid him low, 
 And stained his name ! " 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Such a confession one would have thought 
 might have satisfied those who only think of 
 Burns to condemn him. Many of the cutting 
 sarcasms and scorching lampoons which he 
 addressed to some of the hollow professors at 
 the time, were requisite to expose, and neces- 
 sary as the surgeon's knife to eradicate, the 
 malignant tumour of false religion and nause- 
 ating cant. No one who has studied the poet's 
 life and writings, however much they may con- 
 demn some of the weapons he employed, can 
 say that they were used to deal a blow at true 
 religion, but to annihilate its false friends; and 
 they contributed in no small degree to that 
 end. But whatever spots may have been visible 
 
LANGHOLM. 
 
 315 
 
 in his life, or may still remain on the memory 
 — like the dark spots on the sun's disc — may 
 be said to have been rendered invisible by the 
 rays of his bright and better genius. What 
 gives life to the poet's name and immortalizes 
 his memory? Is it not that galaxy of poetic 
 gems which sparkle with divinest thoughts of 
 purest love, truest affection, and most glowing 
 patriotism? Those who would give colour to 
 the dark passages seelc to carry out, in their 
 own and in their country's experience, the un- 
 happy sentiment of another poet, who has it — 
 
 "The evil wliioh men clo lives after them; 
 The good is oft interred with their bones." 
 
 They would seek to keep alive the evil, and act 
 as moral sextons to Burns' good qualities. I 
 shall not take up your time by trying to remove 
 impressions which I believe exist in none of 
 your minds. I would simpljg add as a hint to 
 those whose narrow souls only seem to admit 
 the darker side of the poetic picture, that there 
 are other sins besides free speaking, and a 
 worse is that of lacking charity. (Cheers.) To 
 look at Burns as a poet, many phases present 
 themselves. It were vain on an occasion such 
 as the present to attempt to unfold the riches 
 of the poet's muse. I shall fulfil my part if I 
 draw your attention shortly to some of the 
 most striking features of Burns as a poet. He 
 sang from the heart to the heart. He had 
 strong affections, and the workings of the soul 
 were by him brought to light clad in the sub- 
 limest thoughts, and yet speaking to the inmost 
 feelings of the humblest peasant, and finding 
 an echo in the lowliest cot. This is the great 
 secret of the poet's fame. He felt, therefore 
 he sung. Not only was Burns a true poet, but 
 he was a noble-spirited independent man, and 
 a warm-hearted patriot. It is impossible to 
 trace the influence which the numerous songs 
 of Burns have exerted upon the Scottisli mind. 
 Who can tell the soothing effect produced on 
 many a poor unfortunate brother by the song 
 of " Contented wi' little," at the same time 
 warming his heart, and nerving him to treat 
 lightly the cares and sorrows of a day. And 
 where, we would ask, is the nobility of our 
 species so thoroughly attested as in that, as it 
 has been termed, unsurpassed lyric, "Is there 
 for honest poverty?" (Cheers.) How many a 
 brave heart has been strengthened, how many 
 a desponding spirit cheered, and in how many 
 bosoms has the ennobling feeling of self-respect 
 been saved from expiring by its perusal? Burns 
 also, if not a great wit, had a fund of inex- 
 haustible humour. His poem of " Death and 
 Dr. Hornbook " is inimitable ; and as long as 
 there's a "brig ower Doon,'' and "ae dry 
 Souter in ony toun," sae lang will the tale of 
 
 "Tarn o' Shanter" be conned over and ad- 
 mired. Besides these, there is "Hallowe'en" 
 and the " Jolly Beggars," abounding in flashes 
 of wit and the broadest humour ; not to men- 
 tion the laughing sided "Address to the Tooth- 
 ache." But he stood out, perhaps most pro- 
 minently, in his love of country and deep 
 genuine patriotism. Scotland is greatly in- 
 debted to the poet for fostering that peculiar 
 warmth of feeling so prevalent in our country- 
 men (and for which they are sometimes, I 
 think, so unjustly taunted). What so sacred 
 as the true love of country ? Where is the 
 man, with a spark of patriotism in his veins, 
 whose blood has not warmed and his heart 
 beat high over the martial and inspiring verse — 
 
 " Soots wha hae wi' Wallace bled, 
 Scots wham Bruce has aften led, 
 Welcome to your gory bed, 
 Or to glorious viotorie !" 
 
 or whose soul has not been thrilled with the 
 expressive and friend-uniting song of " Auld 
 Langsyne." No poet, I believe, of any coun- 
 try, has such a hold upon the holiest affections 
 of his fellow-countrymen as Burns has upon 
 the hearts and feelings of Scotchmen. He 
 touches the heart-strings at every pass. You 
 find the boy doating over " Willie Wastle dwelt 
 on Tweed ;" the youth adopting the sentiments 
 of " Of a' the airts the wind can blaw ;" and 
 the old folks at home clearing their faltering 
 voice o'er the touching strains of " John An- 
 derson, my jo," or wiping away the uncontrol- 
 lable tear over " The Mother's Lament." But 
 Burns' fame is not confined to Scotland. His 
 songs are read and admired in every country 
 and clime ; and wherever there is a true lover 
 of the muse, in him you find an admirer of the 
 poet. He is, however, in a particular sense, 
 Scotland's own bard, and may at once be re- 
 garded as the poet, the friend, and brother 
 of every one claiming Scottish parentage ; and 
 as long as a breath of true loveexists, as long 
 as an independent wish is felt, as long as 
 honesty and independence are respected, as 
 long as the flame of patriotism is unextin- 
 guished, so long will the immortal memory of 
 the Scottish bard be cherished and revered. 
 This is not a toast to the memory of one who 
 is only recalled by the occasion ; it is to the 
 genius yet living and moving amongst and in- 
 fluencing us, and I call for the honours to be 
 done to his never-dying genius. Gentlemen, 
 "The Immortal Memory of Scotland's Bard, 
 Kobert Burns." (Drunk with tremendous en- 
 thusiasm.) 
 
 Duet — " Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon," 
 Messrs. Anderson and Cowan. 
 
 Song—" Burns' Dirge," Messrs. Anderson, Cowan, 
 and Tudhope. 
 
316 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Mr. Cairns, in proposing "The Poets of 
 Scotland," said: — Mr. Chairman and Gentle- 
 men, — I am proud to say that Scotland has 
 gone far ahead, and can boast of more splendid 
 and bright intellects in poetic genius than 
 almost any other country. (Hear, hear.) Even 
 her ploughmen, her shepherds, and her weavers 
 have left us delicacies of expression finely illus- 
 trative of the refining and elevating, yet recep- 
 tive character of genius. They have contri- 
 buted songs and poems such as cannot be found 
 in any literature, either ancient or modern, 
 — (applause) — poetry thoroughly belonging to 
 the land in which it was written, and thoroughly 
 adapted to the purpose for which it was in- 
 tended. It stands out in its boldness, in its 
 humour, and often in its touching pathos too, 
 unique and unapproachable. The speaker con- 
 cluded an eloquent speech as follows: — Gentle- 
 men, there is a poet in our own immediate 
 neighbourhood whom I cannot leave unmen- 
 tioned — I mean Henry Scott Riddell — whose 
 name as a Scotch poet will live for centuries 
 yet to come, and whose songs and poems wiU 
 be sung and recited at many a Scotch fireside. 
 (Cheers.) And now, gentlemen, I hope you 
 will drink with me a cup to the genius of our 
 Scottish poets wi' a' the honours three. (Loud 
 and prolonged cheering.) 
 
 Song—" Scotland Yet," by Mr. T. Lightbody. 
 
 Mr. John Bell next proposed " The Duke 
 of Buccleuch," and said: — ^Mr. Chairman and 
 Gentlemen, — I am only sorry that this impor- 
 tant toast has not fallen into abler hands than 
 mine. But we are met here to-night for the 
 special purpose of paying respect to departed 
 genius, and I now stand up to pay respect to 
 living worth. I have only to mention the name 
 of the noble Buccleuch to secure your warm 
 and enthusiastic approval. His Grace some- 
 times reminds me of the immortal Burns, with 
 regard to his sterling honesty and unflinching 
 integrity. His Grace is a nobleman who is re- 
 spected, esteemed, and admired by all classes. 
 I believe there never was a favour asked at the 
 hands of His Grace by the inhabitants of the 
 town, but was readily granted. (Applause.) I 
 see several of his tenants at this meeting to- 
 night who are more intimately connected with 
 His Grace than many of us are. But we all 
 derive advantage from him, either directly or 
 indirectly. I believe it is the wish of all at 
 this table, and I may say everywhere, that he 
 may be long at the head of the noble house. 
 It is happy indeed for us all that the days of 
 Border deeds and daring are long since gone 
 by; but were our services required by the 
 bold Buccleuch, I have no doubt he would have 
 as many sturdy followers as his forefathers had 
 in the days of yore, when they forded the Esk 
 
 before the break of day at the Halls of Netherby, 
 and scaled the walls of Carlisle Castle and bore 
 away Kinmont Willie. (Cheers.) For the last 
 thirty years His Grace's attention has been 
 turned to more profitable pursuits — the im- 
 provement of his domains, and the comfort of 
 his tenantry. I hope and trust that he will 
 still continue to make greater improvements in 
 agriculture, and aid and further the manufac- 
 turing interests of this great country, which is 
 undoubtedly for the advantage of both landlord 
 and tenant. I beg to propose " The Health of 
 His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch," with all the 
 honours. (Applause.) 
 
 The toast and song went merrily round, and 
 the evening was spent in a most pleasant man- 
 ner. 
 
 Dinner — King's Arms Inn. — Upwards of 
 80 working-men met at the King's Arms Inn, 
 and sat down to dinner. The dinner, which 
 was of the real Scotch type, reflected great 
 credit on the host and hostess. Among the 
 numerous dishes on the table the "honest sonsy 
 face" of the "great chieftain o' the pudding 
 race " held a conspicuous place. 
 
 The room was decorated in a most tasteful 
 and appropriate manner by Mr. Walter Irving 
 and Mr. Walter Ballantyne. On the wall at 
 the head of the table was the word " Burns " 
 in large ornamental characters, and underneath 
 was the figure of a plough, beautifully wrought 
 with leaves, while .along each side of the room 
 were to be seen various emblematic devices 
 illustrative of some of the most popular works 
 of the poet. After ample justice had been 
 done to the viands, the knives and forks laid 
 aside, and the cloth removed. 
 
 The Chairman, Mr. John Hounam, proposed 
 " The Queen and all the members of the Royal 
 Family." Drunk with all the honours. 
 
 He next gave " The Army and Navy." 
 Long may they live to brave " the battle and 
 the breeze," and may we all acquiesce with 
 Burns when he says : — 
 
 " The brave poor sodger ne'er despise, 
 Nor count him as a stranger; 
 Eemember he's his countiy's stay 
 In day and hour of danger." 
 
 The Chairman then rose and said — Gentle- 
 men, as I am quite a stranger to public speak- 
 ing, and feel my own inability to do anything 
 like justice to this subject, I hope you will bear 
 with me in the few remarks that I have to 
 make. Without any further comment, then, I 
 will introduce Burns as a Poet. As a poet he 
 stands in the first rank. The most prominent 
 feature in his character was his love of inde- 
 pendence. Although he was born in obscure 
 circumstances and reared as a poor ploughboy, 
 he had the manly courage to battle for the 
 
LANGHOLM. 
 
 317 
 
 nobility of his nature. No doubt his poverty 
 debarred him from that society which his in- 
 dependent mind could never stoop to flatter or 
 solicit. Hear his own language : — 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea Btamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 His style, his thoughts, and his language were 
 his own. His topics were natural, simple, and 
 familiar to all. Although his Pegasus was al- 
 ways at hand, he never rode far to find a sub- 
 ject for his muse. The mountain daisy grew 
 on his own farm; the mouse had its nest in his 
 own field, and the haggis graced his own table. 
 Burns was gifted by nature with high and 
 varied mental powers, therefore he never mused 
 long on one strain. For instance we find his 
 muse one night with the Earl of Gleneairn or 
 at an interview with Lord Daer, and perhaps the 
 next night we find it launched in a merry core of 
 randy gangrel bodies at posey Nancies, and from 
 there we find it along the banks of Ayr com- 
 posing that sublime truth, " Man was made to 
 Mourn;" then it takes its flight and lands 
 among "The Birks o' Aberfeldy ;" then soars 
 aloft and addresses " The lingering star," and 
 from that to " Tam o' Shanter,"— a piece which 
 actually represents a picture gallery in every 
 stanza, and almost in every line paints a pipture. 
 These are only a few references to his changing 
 the key. Burns as a religious man had a strict 
 regard for pure religion, but abhorred the 
 hypocrite. As he himself says : — 
 
 " But twenty times I rather would be 
 An Atheist clean, 
 Than under gospel colours hid be 
 Just for a BOieeu. 
 
 All hail, Religion! maid divine! 
 Pardon a muse sao mean as mine, 
 Who in her rough imperfect line, 
 
 Thus daurs to name thee; 
 To stigmatize false friends of thine 
 
 Can ne'er defame thee." (Applause.) 
 
 Burns as a song-writer stands unrivalled. Take 
 first his love songs. Where, for humour and a 
 true history of both sexes, can we find songs to 
 be compared to " Duncan Gray " and " Tam 
 Glen?" Then look at his patriotic songs. 
 Where can we find anything to equal " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled " — composed in the 
 midst of a thunder storm ; or wliere will we 
 find a national song like "Auld Langsyne?" 
 (Great and prolonged cheering.) Eise, now, 
 from your seats, and drink in solemn silence to 
 " The Memory of Eobert Burns, the Bard of 
 Scotland." 
 
 After the toast had been drunk, Mr. Walter 
 Ballantyne sung "The Land o' the Leal" with 
 great taste and feeling. 
 
 The Chairman next gave " The Memory of 
 
 Burns' Jean," which was drunk in solemn 
 silence. 
 
 Song — " My Nannie, O," Mr. Francis Borthwick. 
 
 The health of Burns' two sons was next pro- 
 posed by the Chairman. Drunk with all the 
 honours. 
 
 Song — " Eantin' Robin," Mr. S. Hounam. 
 
 Other toasts and songs were given, and the 
 company broke up shortly after ten o'clock in 
 a most harmonious and orderly manner, and 
 sure we are, that of all the numerous companies 
 assembled that night for a similar purpose 
 throughout the world, there would not be a 
 pleasanter or happier one than that which was 
 held by the working men of Langholm, and so 
 ably presided over by Mr. John Hounam. 
 
 SuppBB — Shoulder of Mutton Inn. — The 
 skinners, tanners, curriers, and a number of the 
 shoemakers of Langholm, with a few friends, 
 determined not to be behind their fellow-towns- 
 men in celebrating the hundredth anniversary of 
 the birthday of Burns, met at the "Shoulder of 
 Mutton," where a splendid supper awaited 
 them. Mr. John Hairstens, .shoemaker, occu- 
 pied the chair, and Mr. James Bell officiated as 
 croupier. After supper was over, the Chairman 
 gave the constitutional toasts usual on such 
 occasions — all of which were duly honoured. 
 
 The Chairman next proposed " The Memory 
 of the Immortal Burns." He noticed at some 
 length several of the most prominent features 
 in the character of the poet, such as his love of 
 independence, his high-toned patriotism, and 
 unselfish conduct, especially on returning home 
 from Edinburgh with the proceeds of his poeti- 
 cal effusions. Mr. Hairstens then referred to 
 several well - known incidents in the poet's 
 career, and concluded an eloquent speech, dur- 
 ing the course of which he was frequently in- 
 terrupted by rounds of applause, by saying 
 that a century had gone by since the man was 
 born, the anniversary of whose birth we are 
 met here this night to celebrate, and of all the 
 great and noble men Scotland has produced, 
 Eobert Burns must always stand in the fore- 
 most ranks. The memory of Eobert Burns 
 was then drunk in solemn silence. 
 
 Several other toasts were proposed. 
 
 Songs were sung by Messrs. Charles Eobb, 
 Walter Kirkpatrick, John Anderson, John 
 Turnbull, James Yeitch, James Bell, and 
 Joseph Elliot. 
 
 Supper is Eotal Oak Inn The members 
 
 of the Langholm Instrumental Band, accompa- 
 nied by a few friends, partook of a supper in 
 the Eoyal Oak Inn, at which Mr. Thomas Bell, 
 spinner, occupied the ohair, and Mr. Francis 
 Borthwick oflSciated as croupier. After supper 
 the Chairman proposed in succession The 
 Queen, Prince Albert, Prince of Wales and 
 
318 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 other members of the Royal Family, and The 
 Army and Navy, all of which were heartily re- 
 sponded to, and next tlie toast of the evening, 
 " The memory of Burns," which was drunk in 
 silence. 
 
 Several other toasts were proposed, among 
 which were Burns' Bonnie Jean, by the crou- 
 pier ; Sons of Burns, by the chairman ; Mem- 
 ory of Highland Mary, by the croupier ; Suc- 
 cess to Langholm Band, by Mr. Charles Car- 
 ruthers ; and The Scottish Poets, by the crou- 
 pier. As might have been expected in this 
 musical assembly, the evening was enlivened 
 by several songs sung in a masterly manner by 
 Messrs. William Scott, Simon Irving, John 
 Thomson, Peter Borthwick, John Borthwick, 
 F. Borthwick, and James Dalgliesh. 
 
 Soiree and Musical Festival This 
 
 most interesting and unquestionably the most 
 attractive of all the celebration meetings held 
 here, affording as it did ample opportunity, not 
 only for the " Braw Lads," but the " Bonnie 
 Lassies " of Langholm joining the festivities of 
 the day, was held in the parish School-room, 
 which was beautifully lighted up and appro- 
 priately decorated for the occasion. A por- 
 trait of the bard was suspended behind the 
 cliair, while on each side sat ' Tarn o' Shanter' 
 and • Souter Johnnie.' The chair was taken 
 by Robert Wallace, Esq., banker, at six o'clock, 
 by which hour the house was completely crowd- 
 ed by a most respectable audience, numbering 
 upwards of 300. An appropriate blessing hav- 
 ing been asked by the Chairman, tea was served 
 by a numerous staff of active young men. Tea 
 being over, the Chairman delivered an able, 
 eloquent, and appropriate address, which elicit- 
 ed frequent bursts of applause. He said — You 
 are all aware, ladies and gentlemen, that for 
 many weeks past the notes of preparation for 
 gatherings such as this, and for many other in 
 and out door demonstrations, have been ring- 
 ing loudly through the length and breadth of 
 our land — cities, towns, villages, and hamlets, 
 all vieing with each other who shall this day 
 pay the highest honours to the memory of 
 Scotland's immortal bard, the national poet, 
 Robert Burns. (Cheers.) England and Ire- 
 land too have felt the impulse, and in many 
 parts have joined the movement ; while from 
 across the broad Atlantic, and even from the 
 gay capital of France, similar sounds of pre- 
 paration strike the listening ear. (Cheers.) 
 Surely, then, it well becomes the inhabitants of 
 Langholm — the capital of Eskdale — the town 
 second in point of importance, and third in pop- 
 ulation, in a county indissolubly linked with the 
 name and fame of Burns, to add their tribute to 
 the sea of praise now loudly swelling round the 
 bard's undying memory on this the first cente- 
 
 nary of his birth. (Great cheering.) You all 
 know, ladies and gentlemen, how firm and fast 
 a hold Burns has got upon the hearts and af- 
 fections of the Scottish people. He speaks 
 home to their businesses and bosoms — his very 
 name there's music in't as it strikes on the ear, 
 and it has long been a familiar word at every 
 fireside throughout the land. His poetry, dis- 
 tinguished equally by the force of native hu- 
 mour, by the warmth and tenderness of passion, 
 and by the glowing touches of a descriptive 
 pencil, is familiar in every dwelling in our land, 
 from the palace to the cottage, and in every 
 region where the English language is spoken. 
 Add to all, ladies and gentlemen, the bard's 
 incorruptible honesty, his manly independence, 
 his love of kindred, country, and mankind, so 
 well known to every reader of his matchless 
 strains, and then say whether it is strange or 
 wonderful that the poet's name and memory 
 should be so deeply and indelibly enshrined 
 within the nation's heart. (Great cheering.) 
 Mr. Wallace thus concluded an eloquent 
 speech : — When we think, ladies and gentle- 
 men, of all the honours that are this day being 
 heaped upon the memory of Scotia's bard by 
 Scotland's sons, and sons of other lands, have 
 we not reason to feel proud of the land which 
 gave him birth — the land he loved so well and 
 rendered vocal by his song — the land in which 
 he lived and died, and where his honoured 
 ashes now repose — our own native land. Mr. 
 Wallace resumed his seat amidst the most rap- 
 turous applause. 
 
 The following songs were admirably sung 
 during the evening, accompanied by a quadrille 
 band, and each song was prefaced by the Chair- 
 man in an able manner as to the time, place, 
 and circumstances in which it was composed, 
 thus giving a greater interest to those tender 
 and thrilling strains of the immortal bard: — 
 " Scots wha hae," " My Nannie, O," " A man's 
 a man for a' that," " Afton Water," and " Mary 
 Morrison," by Mr. Walter Scott ; " Highland 
 Mary," and " Lassie wi' the lint-white locks," 
 by Mr. Andrew Sanders ; " Tam Glen," " My 
 boy Tammie," and " The braw, braw lads of 
 Gala Water," by Mr. John Cowan; "Last 
 May a braw wooer," by Mr. William Ander- 
 son ; " Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon," 
 and "The Birks o' Aberfeldy," by Messrs. 
 Scott and Cowan. At intervals Mr. John 
 Scott, the well-known piper to His Grace the 
 Duke of Buocleuch, played appropriate and 
 stirring airs in a masterly and magnificent style, 
 on that most ancient of all Scottish musical 
 instruments the Highland bagpipes. Burns' 
 " Dirge on Winter" was recited by Mr. William 
 Bole, and called forth the most enthusiastic en- 
 core, to which he kindly responded. At the 
 
LAKGO— LARGS. 
 
 319 
 
 close of the proceedings, with which all were 
 higlily delighted, and which terminated about 
 ten o'clock, by a very hearty vote of thanks to 
 the Chairman, " Auld Langsyne" was most 
 effectively sung by the whole company stand- 
 ing. The surplus proceeds of the soiree, 
 amounting to £5 14s. 6d., were disposed of 
 thus : — £3 12s. 6d. to the Burns' Industrial 
 School Fund, Dumfries, and £2 2s. to the 
 Fund at present being raised for the Nieces of 
 the Bard. 
 
 LARGO. — The celebration of our national 
 bard's centenary was observed here in a style 
 that was highly creditable to the inhabitants of 
 Largo and district. It was not to be expected 
 that the place that gave birth to Andrew Wood 
 and other ' worthies' would be behind in doing 
 honour to Scotia's Child of Song. The com- 
 mittee of gentlemen appointed at the public 
 meeting went to the work in earnest — engaged 
 Mrs. Duff to furnish dinner at a moderate rate, 
 bespoke the Lundin-Mill Instrumental Band, 
 had the parish School-room decorated with 
 holly boughs, &c., in which "the berries red" 
 bore a conspicuous part; and resolved, like 
 gallant gentlemen, to admit the ladies to share 
 in and adorn the festive occasion. According- 
 ly, at five o'clock, 120 sat down to a capital 
 dinner, which was done ample justice to. Up- 
 wards of 70 ladies entered at half-past six, and 
 were served with cake and wine, and also fruits. 
 Mr. James Bardner, farmer, Chesterstone, oc- 
 cupied the chair, and Messrs. H. Birrell, A. 
 Greig, and B. Philp acted as croupiers. After 
 the usual loyal toasts, the Chairman gave the 
 toast of the evening — " The Memory of our 
 Immortal Bard," which was drunk with the 
 greatest enthusiasm. Mr. Robb delivered an 
 admirable address on the " Genius and Poetry 
 of Burns." He said — A hundred years ago 
 the poet Burns was born, and this night there 
 appears to be as it were some telegraphic wire 
 joining hamlet to village, village to town, and 
 town to city, and vibrating in each, with its 
 .iEolian harp-like sounds in honour of our im- 
 mortal bard, and wherever a few Scotchmen 
 are met together this night there will Burns' 
 praises be rung and hh songs be sung. It 
 seems as if what kings and emperors have fail- 
 ed to do — to bind in a bond of brotherhood 
 the different nations of the earth — the simple 
 ploughman poet has for one night at least ac- 
 complished. Mr. A. Bell spoke with great 
 effect on " Scottish character." Mr. Greig 
 read the "Cottar's Saturday Night," and "Tam 
 o' Shanter." A great number of Burns' best 
 songs wore sung, which, with the enlivening 
 strains of the band, kept up the hilarity till a 
 late hour. 
 
 LARGS. — By two o'clock, the whole shops 
 and other places of business were shut, after 
 which the different trades, including the boat- 
 builders of Fairlie, and the fishermen of Largs 
 and Fairlie, assembled on the shore, and formed 
 into procession, headed by a squadron of horse- 
 men, chiefly farmers and their sons and ser- 
 vants, belonging to the parish. Conspicuous 
 amongst them was one dressed in the style of 
 Tam o' Shanter. When formed into proper 
 order, the whole party, accompanied by the 
 Largs and Kilbirnie instrumental bands, pro- 
 ceeded through the principal streets, and along 
 the Broomfields of Largs. The display of ban- 
 ners and devices by all the trades was striking- 
 ly appropriate. In the evening, a party of 
 about 140 sat down to a very elegant and sub- 
 stantial dinner in the Assembly Room of the 
 Brisbane Arms Hotel, John Pattison, Esq. of 
 EUisbank, ably presided. He knew the bard 
 personally, and dined with him at Dumfries 
 when he was a young man, and remembered dis- 
 tinctly all that passed on that memorable occa- 
 sion. The Chairman was supported by Dr. 
 Caskie, Messrs. Glen, Caldwell, Tinnock, and 
 Frazer. Robert Beith, Esq., and Capt. Thom- 
 son, discharged the duties of croupiers. 
 
 Dr. Caskie said grace, and on the cloth 
 being withdrawn, the usual loyal toasts were 
 given from the chair, together with the Clergy, 
 the Army and Navy, her Majesty's Ministers, 
 and the Lord of the Manor, Sir T. M. Bris- 
 bane, Bart., and the Earl of Glasgow, by the 
 Croupier. 
 
 The Chairman, in proposing the toast of 
 the evening, said, that the best idea of the esti- 
 mation in which our immortal bard was held, 
 and the value his country now put upon his 
 genius, was what has been witnessed in the 
 out-pouring and gathering in every part of 
 Christendom, and the display in every city, 
 town, and village. There is no denying the 
 fact that our illustrious Minstrel, by his immor- 
 tal lays, has gained not only the admiration, 
 but the love of all his countrymen. He has 
 left them a boon which must prove a blessing 
 to every man who is capable of appreciating 
 the inborn nobility of his character, as there 
 are few, very few in Scotland who do not 
 possess a copy of his works, however humble, 
 and who are not well acquaint with all its 
 best and sweetest melodies. I have thought 
 it better not to recite or read his verse, but 
 to leave it to those gentlemen who sing, to 
 warm and delight our hearts by his songs ; and 
 having been requested by some of my friends 
 to give a sketch of what occurred at the only 
 time I had the distinguished honour, and 
 proud satisfaction, to sit under the influence 
 of that great man. My father proposed to 
 
320 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 make a visit to a clergyman in Dumfries-shire, 
 where I could have some hunting and fishing. 
 On a bright autumnal day in 1795, we left 
 my father's house, Kelvingrove, on horseback. 
 That evening we reached Muirkirk. On the 
 second day we rode up the Main Street of 
 Dumfries. On approaching the George Inn, 
 which has now been supplanted by another 
 house, a gentleman was seen standing on the 
 stair leading up to the entrance. My father, 
 on seeing him, exclaimed : ' O ! Burns, I am 
 glad to see you.' The poet, who had remained 
 motionless, now rushed down stairs, and tak- 
 ing my father's hand in both of his, said : ' Mr. 
 Pattison, I am delighted to see you.' The old 
 gentleman, though none of the party was over 
 40 years, asked if Dr. Maxwell was in town, 
 and said, ' As I hope you will dine with me, 
 may I beg you to call on Dr. Maxwell with 
 my compliments, and beg him to join us at 4 
 o'clock.' ' Too happy,' replied the poet. At 
 the appointed hour we sat down at table. My 
 father at the head opposite Dr. Maxwell, and 
 Burns was vis-a-vis to me. Both Dr. Max- 
 well and my father wore highly -gifted, eloquent 
 men, and Burns was in his best vein. Never 
 can I forget the animation and glorious intel- 
 ligence of his countenance. The deep tones of 
 his musical voice, and those matchless eyes 
 which appeared to flash fire, and stream forth 
 living light. It was not conversation I heard, 
 it was the outburst of noble sentiment, brilliant 
 wit, and a flood of sympathy and good-will to 
 fellow-men. Burns repeated many verses that 
 had never seen the light, chiefly political. The 
 whole three were politicians of the Fox school. 
 No impure or obscure idea was ever uttered, 
 or I believe thought of. It was altogether an 
 intellectual feast. A lofty, pure, and tran- 
 scendent genius alone could have made such a 
 deep and lasting impression on a mere boy, 
 who never before sat after dinner when he had 
 got a glass of wine and some fruit ; but under 
 the glamour of Burns, I sat nailed to my chair 
 some eight or nine hours. The venerable 
 Chairman concluded an eloquent speech by 
 giving " The Immortal Memory of Robert 
 Burns," which was pledged with great en- 
 thusiasm. 
 
 An original song, composed for the occasion, 
 was sung by Mr. J. M. Hill. A number of 
 appropriate toasts were given, songs were sung, 
 and the meeting was altogether most interest- 
 ing. 
 
 A soiree and concert took place in the Hall, 
 Bath Street, at which about 300 were present. 
 The chair was occupied by J. Y. Simpson, Esq., 
 writer. The whole proceedings gave univer- 
 sal satisfaction. The Kilbirnie band was in 
 attendance, and discoursed excellent and ap- 
 
 propriate music. There were also separate so- 
 cial meetings of the gardeners, joiners, masons, 
 bakers, and fishermen. 
 
 LARKHALL. — Agreeable to arrangement 
 upwards of 70 of the members of the Larkhall 
 and Millheugh Friendly Society sat down to 
 dinner in the Raploch Inn, on Tuesday even- 
 ing, in honour of the centenary of Robert 
 Burns, the darling bard of Caledonia, — Mr. 
 Andrew West in the chair, while Mr. Henry 
 M'Millan, Preses of the Society, officiated as 
 croupier. After the cloth was withdrawn, and 
 the usual loyal toasts given, the Chairman, in a 
 very neat and appropriate address, gave the 
 toast of the evening, which was responded to 
 with all the honours. After which the evening 
 was very agreeably spent, with song, senti- 
 ment, anecdote, snatches of poetry, &c. The 
 dinner was served irp in a first-class style by 
 Mr. James Miller, baker, sumptuous and abun- 
 dant, reflecting great credit on that gentleman. 
 Great praise is also due to Mr. Robert Shearer, 
 of the Raploch Inn, for the manner in which 
 he provided for the comfort and accommoda- 
 tion of the party ; and last, but not least, the 
 unusual excellence of the refreshments. The 
 party broke up at a seasonable hour, and in- 
 deed we have seldom had the pleasure of spend- 
 ing an evening so sociably and agreeably. 
 
 LASSWADE.— The festival was celebrated 
 here by a dinner in the Gardeners' Hall, to 
 which about 85 sat down, — ^Dr. Smith in the 
 chair; W. Young and H. Henderson, Esqs., 
 acting as croupiers. After dinner, and the 
 usual loyal toasts having been drunk, the Chair- 
 man, in a very appropriate speech, gave the 
 toast of the evening, giving a short account of 
 the life, and dwelling at considerable length on 
 the talent and genius, of this the greatest of 
 Scotch poets. The toast was drunk with all 
 the honours. " There was a lad was born in 
 Kyle" was then sung by William Tod, junior. 
 After the other toasts had been drunk, " Auld 
 Langsyne" was sung, and the company sepa- 
 rated about ten o'clock, highly delighted with 
 the evening's entertainment. In the course of 
 the evening "Tarn o' Shanter" was admirably 
 recited by Mr. Armstrong, and received with 
 well-merited applause. The singing was ex- 
 cellent. 
 
 LAUDER In this ancient and royal burgh 
 
 the centenary of our immortal poet was cele- 
 brated in the most enthusiastic manner. No 
 public event has created so much stir hei"e 
 within the memory of its oldest inhabitant. At 
 two o'clock the shops were closed, and as most 
 of the farmers in the vicinity had generously 
 
LAURENCEKIRK. 
 
 321 
 
 given their servants a holiday, many of these 
 availed themselves of the opportunity afforded 
 them of joining the town's people in their de- 
 monstrations in honour of Burns. At three 
 o'clock the Free Masons began to form in pro- 
 cession, and led on by the town brass band, 
 they marched through our streets, displaying 
 some magnificent banners with appropriate 
 devices. At four o'clock upwards of eighty 
 gentlemen sat down to a most sumptuous din- 
 ner in the Black Bull Inn, the large room of 
 which was elegantly decorated with evergreens 
 for the occasion. Immediately behind the 
 Chairman, a very beautiful picture and bust of 
 the poet were exhibited, along with a piece of 
 the veritable thorn beneath which Burns court- 
 ed his " Bonnie Jean." The chair was occu- 
 pied by John Romanes, Esq. of Harryburn, 
 who most efficiently discharged the onerous 
 duties of the evening. The croupiers were 
 Charles Simson, Esq. of Threepwood, and 
 Thomas Simson, Esq., Blainslie, who ably per- 
 formed their respective duties. 
 
 After the usual loyal toasts (the Queen's 
 health having been drunk with immense en- 
 thusiasm, as the Gudewife of Balmoral and 
 Queen of Hindostan), the Chairman gave the 
 toast of the evening — " Honour to the illus- 
 trious Burns." The list of toasts was as fol- 
 lows:— "The Peasantry of Scotland;" "The 
 Family of the Poet;" "The Poets of Scot- 
 land;" "Burns' centenary demonstrations all 
 over the world;" "Lord Clyde and Jiis com- 
 panions in Arms in India;" "The Ladies of 
 Lauderdale;" "Commerce and Agriculture;" 
 " The health of Mr. John Younger, St. Bos- 
 wells ; " " The Memory of Burns, in silence ; " 
 "The Burgh of Lauder;" "The Lord Lieu- 
 tenant of the County;" "Sir Anthony Mait- 
 land and the Lauder Curling Club;" "The 
 Poets of the Sister Kingdoms;" "The Free 
 Masons;" "The Chair;" "The Croupiers;" 
 " The Land o' Cakes." The Town Band, in 
 an adjoining room, at intervals discoursed 
 sweet music to the company. A few of Burns' 
 best songs and a recitation of " Tarn o' Shan- 
 ter," by our townsman, Mr. Alex. Bain, with a 
 very beautiful original prologue, greatly enli- 
 vened the evening's proceedings. 
 
 The dinner was first class, and three " gude 
 Scotch haggises" graced the festive board. 
 
 A second company, as numerous at least as 
 the former, dined together in our Town Hall, 
 and there also the greatest hilarity prevailed. 
 Indeed, we may safely affirm that two such 
 dinner parties never at once assembled in our 
 good burgh. 
 
 As an appropriate conclusion to the day's 
 proceedings, a fruit soiree was arranged for the 
 evening — the Parish School having been kindly 
 
 granted for this purpose. The house was com- 
 pletely filled — the attendance being about three 
 hundred. Mr. John Younger, St. Boswells, 
 delivered an interesting address on the Life 
 and Times of Burns, which was characterised 
 by great originality and much quaint humour, 
 and was altogether a very happy delineation of 
 the genius of our " ploughman poet." 
 
 A gala party, consisting of Messrs. Wilson, 
 M'Pherson, and Murray, sung a number of 
 Burns' songs, to the evident gratification of the 
 audience. The town's band also, by their ex- 
 cellent music, added much to the enjoyment 
 of the entertainment. Before parting, the au- 
 dience united heartily in singing "Avild Lang- 
 syne." 
 
 We believe that Burns' centenary in Lauder 
 will long be remembered as one of the happiest 
 days of their lives by every one who joined in 
 the day's proceedings. 
 
 LAURENCEKIRK. — Since Laurencekirk 
 was created a free and independent Burgh of 
 Barony, there never was a demonstration simi- 
 lar to that which occurred on Tuesday in 
 honour of the genius of Robert Burns. Shortly 
 before four o'clock, a procession of about forty 
 mounted horsemen, accompanied by a band, 
 paraded the streets. The riders for the most 
 part were dressed in the costume of the last 
 century, with blue swallow-tailed coats and 
 brass buttons, and knee-breeches with a pro- 
 fusion of red tape. The "guid blue bonnet" 
 was on that day elevated to a height which 
 left no room for doubting the importance 
 of the occasion. We had Tam o' Shanters and 
 Duncan Grays in abundance, and even the fa- 
 mous Willie who brew'd his maut, and shared 
 the bree with Rob and Allan, was there, per- 
 fectly sober. Even the de'il himself was not 
 left unrepresented, and if he did not come 
 " flddlin' through the town," he nearly did as 
 much, for he whistled on his fingers. To the 
 promoters and those carrying out the arrange- 
 ments of the demonstration, we shall simply 
 say, well done ! 
 
 About forty gentlemen sat down in the Gar- 
 denstone Arms to a sumptuous dinner, which 
 reflected the highest credit on Mr. M'Bain's 
 culinary department. The chair was ably filled 
 by Mr. Boulton, and Mr. Keepie did the duties 
 of croupier. The cloth having been removed, 
 and the usual loyal and patriotic toasts having 
 been proposed. 
 
 The Chairman gave the toast of the even- 
 ing, he said — Gentlemen, we have met here 
 to-day on a very important occasion — no less an 
 occasion than the hundredth anniversary of the 
 birth of our great national poet. As men of the 
 Meanis we are especially called on to celebrate 
 
322 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 this festival. I need not tell you, gentlemen, 
 that our poet's father was a native of Kincar- 
 dineshire. I need not tell you that he left this 
 county early in life, and ultimately settled in 
 the west of Scotland ; and it is now precisely 
 one hundred years since, a "blast o' Januar' 
 win'" ushered in the birth of the immortal 
 Burns. Near " AUoway's auld haunted kirk," 
 in yonder clay cottage with thatched roof, 
 erected by his own hands, William Burnes, a 
 man of straightforward unbending principles, 
 beheld for the first time his firstborn son 
 Eobin. 
 
 " The muses round his cradle hung, 
 The graces wat his infant tongue, 
 And independence, wi' a rang, 
 Cried red the gate for Kobln." 
 
 Burns from his earliest years was doomed, with 
 the exception of a short respite, to struggle on 
 in poverty, and comparative obscurity. Whilst 
 he was only a hoy the Genius of Poetry found 
 him at the plough, and: cast her inspiring man- 
 tle over him ; and we soon find him soaring 
 high in the lofty regions of poesy. A little 
 farther on in life we find him preparing to leave 
 jhis country, and to bid a long if not a last fare- 
 well to all he held dear on earth. But, fortu- 
 nately for us, before doing so he had thought 
 of publishing his poems, and his fame, un- 
 known to him, had penetrated into the homes 
 and hearts of many of the great and noble of 
 the land, and just as he- is about to quit his 
 native shores for a foreign clime he is sum- 
 moned to the capital. A second edition of his 
 works is published. They take the great and 
 noble by surprise as they had done before the 
 peasant and the ploughboy, and their celebrity, 
 together with his own manly bearing and per- 
 sonal accomplishments, soon cut him a path 
 from obscurity to fame, from the plough to the 
 palace. Our poet is now raised to the highest 
 pinnacle of his ambition. But, gentlemen, the 
 clouds are gathering around, and dark shadows 
 are seen flitting in the distance. He was not 
 doomed long to enjoy the favours of the great. 
 He had basked for a time in the sunshine of 
 their smiles, and they for a time had drunk 
 deep from his boundless fountains of wit and 
 humour, but now they are becoming satiated 
 with such rich feast. Fickle favour and fickle 
 fortune now begin to look ■coldly on. Step by 
 step, slowly at first but irresistibly, he begins 
 to descend; and he is seen with scarcely an 
 outstretched hand to help, struggling against 
 the tide of cold neglect which was hurrying 
 him on ; and, like many a noble bark, he en- 
 counters wave after wave and storm after storm, 
 until at last left, I may say, without rudder or 
 compass, surrounded by mist and darkness, he 
 
 runs among the rocks, becomes a total wreck, 
 and sinks beneath the remorseless billows. The 
 last scene in the grand living tragedy is acted 
 and the curtain drops. As regards the genius 
 and merits of Burns I feel that I am quite un- 
 able to the task, and when so much has been 
 written and sung by many a master hand, it 
 would be but damning with faint praise were 
 I to attempt it. The Chairman intimated that 
 as the festival was in honour of the birth, the 
 genius and worth of the poet, the toast should 
 be given with all the honours. 
 
 The toast was received with enthusiastic 
 cheering. 
 
 The Chairman sang in capital style, " There 
 was a lad was born in Kyle." 
 
 The Croupier proposed the health of Mr. 
 Gibbon of Johnston, and passed a true and 
 well-merited encomium on that gentleman. 
 He then proposed the health of the Magistrates 
 of Laurencekirk, coupled with the health of 
 Dr. Fettes. Dr. Fettes replied. 
 
 Numerous other toasts were given, songs 
 were sung, and, everything considered, such a 
 night as we had with Burns is no joke, and 
 perhaps it is as well it only occurs once in a 
 hundred years. 
 
 A very successful soiree, under the auspices 
 of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement So- 
 ciety, was held in the Town hall, which was 
 crowded by a happy company of " honest men 
 and bonnie lasses." After partaking of an ex- 
 cellent tea and accompaniments, Mr. Cowie, 
 Haulkerton, was called to the chair, and gave a 
 most interesting sketch of the parentage of our 
 national poet, regretting that his father had 
 been forced to leave this immediate neighbour- 
 hood, as otherwise this county might have had 
 tlie honour of being the birthplace of the bard. 
 Mr. Cowie then traced the history of the poet 
 himself, pointing out his excellencies, his faults, 
 and misfortunes, with much distinctness and 
 candour, and concluding with a warm tribute to 
 his poetical genius. The subsequent enter- 
 tainments of the evening consisted of short 
 addresses, recitations, songs and glees, which 
 were all most favourably received by the au- 
 dience. Altogether this was one of the hap- 
 piest meetings we ever attended. 
 
 In Mr. Kinnear's Inn, a party assembled and 
 spent the evening in an agreeable and felicitous 
 manner. Altogether, we are disposed to say 
 that our good town has not been behind its 
 neighbours in showing their meed of respect 
 and admiration for the undying genius and 
 fame of Scotland's own darlinc bard. 
 
 LAURISTON. - The good folks of this 
 place manifested their love towards their Na- 
 tional Poet, Robert Burns, by having a bonfire 
 
LEITH. 
 
 323 
 
 in the square, around which many of the 
 youngsters of the town gathered, and behaved 
 in a very quiet and orderly manner ; whilst a 
 few of the older inhabitants enjoyed themselves 
 by partaking of an excellent supper in Mr. 
 Pratis' Inn — Mr. Murphy, Falkirk, in the chair. 
 Afterwards songs, toasts, and sentiments, in 
 which « The Queen and Koyal family," " The 
 Memory of Burns," " Bonny Jean Armour," 
 " Highland Mary," " Burns' Sons," " Our Na- 
 tive Land," "The Town of Falkirk," "The 
 Village of Laurieston," " The Chairman and 
 Croupier," "The Landlord and Landlady," 
 &c., were proposed and responded to with 
 right good will. The company were much 
 jileased with their night's entertainment, and 
 with the excellent supper prepared by the hands 
 of their esteemed landlady. 
 
 LEITH. — Burns' centenary was celebrated 
 in Leith in a becoming manner. The general 
 appearance of the town throughout the day in- 
 dicated the high estimation in which the me- 
 mory of the poet is regarded. The day had 
 been looked forward to by all classes as one of 
 an uncommon kind, and many were the arrange- 
 ments for the members of clubs, associations, 
 and trades to dine together. Some of the 
 schools were not opened, and others closed at 
 mid-day. Flags were displayed at various 
 parts of the town, and a musical band perambu- 
 lated the streets during the day. At two o'clock 
 many of the shops were shut, and at five the 
 shutting became general. From the latter hour 
 to seven, the demand for coaches was great, but 
 as a sufficient number of carriages could not be 
 procured, thousands were compelled to make 
 tiieir way to the city on foot. Meanwhile, 
 preparations were being made for the various 
 entertainments in Leith, and at night in every 
 hotel there was a dinner-party or other social 
 meeting. 
 
 A soiree was held in the Assembly Booms, 
 which was decorated with banners. A bust of 
 the bard, encircled in a wreath of evergreens 
 and roses, was set up on the wall behind the 
 platform, and each member of committee wore a 
 rosette, in the centre of which was a small pho- 
 tographic likeness of Burns. Speeches were 
 delivered by Mr. M'Fadyen, the Chairman, and 
 the Kev. Mr. Boyle, who -spoke as follows : — 
 He had seen the other day on the walls of 
 Edinburgh, a poster, characterising the cente- 
 nary as " Scotland's idolatry " and " Satan's re- 
 vival." Now, he regretted this exceedingly. 
 He regretted that religious men, whose motives 
 he did not question, but whose bigotry, to call 
 it by no harder name, he must reprobate, should, 
 like the old cynic, light their lamps and go' 
 forth, saying — " We seek a man." He thought 
 
 we were not much given to idolatry in Scotland. 
 When the monks of St. Andrews stood aghast 
 at the intelligence, " John Knox is come," and 
 the ornaments of the cathedral fell before the 
 hammer of the destroyer — (applause) — when 
 Jenny Geddes hurled her stool at the deacon's 
 head in St. Giles', he thought we were rather 
 known as iconoclasts than idolaters. Besides, 
 it was not to be inferred, because we meet thus 
 to-night, that we suppose Burns was faultless. 
 Far from it. We admit that he often, too often, 
 forgot the responsibilities of the genius and the 
 dignity of the man — lent his ear to the voice of 
 pleasure when he should have listened to the 
 voice of duty — with a heart that seems to have 
 been impressed with the truth of religion, gave 
 utterance to words, which, meant only for hypo- 
 crisy, have been construed only into a reproach 
 on Christianity itself — knew the better, and ap- 
 proved it too, but followed the worse. But 
 what then? Who among us is faultless? 
 (Cheers.) Who can cast the first stone at 
 Burns, being sinless himself? (Hear, hear.) 
 Think besides what extenuating circumstances 
 are to be set over against his follies. Born to 
 a heritage of poverty, with a nobleness of soul 
 that could stoop to no meanness, and a sym- 
 pathy of spirit that made society a necessity of 
 his being — with the burden of his father's 
 troubles resting upon him, so that he says of 
 himself, that till the age of sixteen his life com- 
 bined the cheerless gloom of a hermit with the 
 unceasing toil of a galley slave, till, to his 
 father, " death, the poor man's greatest friend," 
 kindly came and carried him to where the 
 wicked cease from troubling and the weary are 
 at rest. Unfortunate in the choice of his em- 
 ployments, in farming, in flax-dressing, in love ; 
 forced to skulk from covert to covert to escape 
 imprisonment, with the tide of genius pulsing 
 in his soul, and a consciousness that he was 
 capable of greater things ; singing, at the age 
 of twenty-six, " I'm twenty-six, and five feet 
 nine, I'll gang and be a sodger ;""then resolving 
 to leave the land which his muse has made 
 classic — (cheers) — and actually on the road to 
 Greenock to embark for the unh^lthy Indies ; 
 recalled to Edinburgh, and waking up one 
 morning famous ; courted by lords and ladies, 
 who looked upon him as a plaything to beguile a 
 tedious hour, and then forsook him for some 
 new arrival, in its turn to be .laid aside — is it 
 wonderful that his feet were led into haunts of 
 dissipation, and his " native wood-notes wild " 
 exchanged for other and polluting utterances ? 
 (Great applaUsie.) If ever man was the victim 
 of position, surely it was Burns, and these cir- 
 cumstances must be taken into account in esti- 
 mating his errors, his follies and sins. Siiall 
 we 'not say with himself — 
 
324 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 '■ What's done we partly may compute, 
 But never what's resisted." 
 
 The rev. gentleman then went on to speak of 
 the independence, the genius, and patriotism of 
 Burns, and concluded by hoping that the poet's 
 merits would be emulated, and his vices shunned, 
 by the large audience. He resumed his seat 
 amid loud and renewed applause. Members of 
 the Leith Harmonic Solfeggio Association, and 
 other gentlemen, sung and recited many of the 
 songs and poems of Burns. The Leith Trades' 
 Flute Band was present, and performed several 
 appropriate pieces. Altogether, the meeting 
 was of a pleasing nature. 
 
 The members of the Leith and Canongate, 
 Canongate and Leith Masonic Lodge had a ball 
 in their hall. Constitution Street, which was 
 decorated for the occasion. The meters and 
 porters had a dinner, after which they passed 
 the evening by singing, &c. A select supper 
 party assembled in a hall in Bernard Street; 
 and the members of the Carters' Association, 
 which has been in existence for three hundred 
 years, dined in their hall in the Kirkgate. 
 
 Messrs. A. Edllabton and Co.'s Wobk- 
 PEOPLB. — The workpeople in the printing es- 
 tablishment of Messrs. A. Fullarton & Co., 
 Leith Walk, having resolved to celebrate, with 
 their wives and families, the centenary of Burns, 
 met for that purpose to the number of 140 
 in Kay's Class-room, Constitution Street, Leith. 
 The room, which their own hands had deco- 
 rated, was tastefully festooned with evergreens. 
 A portrait of Burns hung over the platform, 
 flanked by the devices, " Sdots wha hae wi' 
 Wallace bled," and " A man's a man for a' 
 that," blazoned on either side. At the foot of 
 the room floated the Union Jack. The arrange- 
 ments were made wholly by themselves and at 
 their own expense, their employers being in- 
 vited to be present as guests. One of these, 
 Mr. Fullarton, was prevented by recent family 
 bereavement from attending. The company 
 assembled in gala dress, for the evening's enter- 
 tainment was to wind up with a ball ; and the 
 gay yet tasteful attire of the female portion of 
 the company, but above all the beaming beauty 
 of the " bonnie lassies " themselves would have 
 made Burns' own heart leap to see. The chair 
 was taken at half-past six by John MaCnab, 
 Esq., who had been invited to preside. Tea 
 and cake were handed round by stewards, wear- 
 ing true-blue cockades, having Burns' likeness 
 in the centre. After an able introductory ad- 
 dress from the chair on the great subject of the 
 evening, a spirited centenary song, written for 
 the occasion by one of the workmen (Mr. Alex- 
 ander Smart, whose name is already known as 
 a writer of Scottish lyrics) was sung by another 
 of their number (Mr. Andrew Cook), to suitable 
 
 and stirring music of his own composition, the 
 chorus being sung in parts by a select party of 
 the workpeople. " Scots wha hae " was then 
 sung in parts by the same body of performers. 
 After a spirited recitation of " Tarn o' Shanter," 
 a variety of songs, chiefly those of Burns, were 
 sung. These were agreeably varied by an ex- 
 cellent solo performance on the flute, by a young 
 workman, Mr. Collie ; and an address by Mr. 
 M'Vicar, another workman, on " Minor Scottish 
 Poets since the days of Burns." Thus, amid 
 songs and speeches, the evening wore away, 
 the last song sung being " Auld Langsyne." 
 The room was then cleared for dancing, begin- 
 ning with a grand march, after which 
 
 " Nae cotillon brent new frae France, 
 But liornpipes, jigs, strathspeys and reels 
 Put life and mettle in their lieels." 
 
 The dancing was kept up till six a.m„ when 
 the merry company dispersed. 
 
 Dean and Water op Leith Impbovement 
 Society. — A fruit soiree, under the auspices of 
 the Dean and Water of Leith Mutual Improve- 
 ment Society, was held in the Free Dean 
 Church School-room, in order to afford an op- 
 portunity to the inhabitants of the district, at a 
 moderate cost, to join in the celebration of the 
 all-engrossing centenary. Addresses were de- 
 livered by several of the members on the life, 
 character, and genius of our great national bard. 
 A variety of his best songs were also sung, and 
 some excellent recitations from his poems given. 
 The proceedings were, throughout, of an inter* 
 esting and enlivening character, and seemed to 
 give much satisfaction to a large audience. 
 
 LERWICK.— The birthday centenary of 
 Robert Burns was celebrated at Lerwick by a 
 public dinner, presided over by Robert Bell, 
 Esq. of Lunna, Sheriff"- substitute of Zetland. 
 William Sievwright, Esq., writer, acted as 
 croupier, supported on the left wing of the 
 table by George Smith, Esq., S.S.C. On the 
 right of the chair were Andrew Hay, Esq., 
 J.P., and D. G. Muir, Esq., Comptroller of 
 Customs, &c. ; on the left, Rev. Andrew Mac- 
 farlane. Miles Walker, Esq., and R. N. Spence, 
 Esq. The croupier was supported on the right 
 and left by G. H. B. Hay, Esq., and R. Hicks, 
 Esq. Immediately opposite the Chairman was 
 John Gatherer, Esq., Collector of Customs, 
 who contributed much to the success with 
 which the arrangements for the demonstration 
 had been planned and carried out. About sixty 
 sat down precisely at five o'clock to a substan- 
 tial dinner, elegantly served, and reflecting 
 much credit On Mr. and Mrs. Scott, who fur- 
 nished almost every delicacy that could have 
 
LERWICK. 
 
 ^•25 
 
 been looked for, even with access to city abun- 
 dance. Let liqueurs supplied by Messrs. Hay & 
 Co. were of the first quality. The decorations 
 for the occasion were executed with much taste, 
 and commanded general admiration. The 
 brethren of the Morton Lodge of Freemasons 
 attended in their mystic insignia, which much 
 enhanced the effect of the tout ensemble. 
 
 The Rev. Andrew Macfarlane said grace, 
 and also returned thanks in the poet's own 
 words — 
 
 " O Thou, who kindly dost provide 
 
 For every creature's want ! 
 We bless Thee, God of Nature wide, 
 
 For all Thy goodness lent : 
 And if it please Thee, Heavenly Guide, 
 
 May never worse be sent : 
 But whether granted or denied, 
 
 Lord, bless us with content ! — Amen ! " 
 
 This over, and the tables loaded with a choice 
 supply of fruit, cake, &o., tKe Chairman, after 
 giving the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, rose 
 to propose the toast of the evening, " The 
 Memory- of Burns." The learned gentleman 
 said: — Gentlemen, — On this evening one hun- 
 dred years ago, Robert Burns was born in a 
 clay-built cottage on the "banks of bonnie 
 Doon," and tradition relates that such a tempest 
 raged that the gable of the lowly dwelling 
 was blown down, and the mother, with her 
 infant, had to seek shelter in an adjoining hut 
 still more humble— fitting introduction into a 
 world where his life was destined to be so 
 chequered, and his fate so unfortunate. You 
 are all familiar with the story of his early years 
 — how dutifully he laboured on his father's 
 farm, and how manfully he struggled in the 
 battle of life on the barren fields of Mossgiel. 
 I need not remind you of the passing gleam of 
 sunshine which shone upon his path, when, on 
 the publication of his poems, he was caressed 
 and honoured by the brilliant circle of talent 
 and rank, of which, in those days, Edinburgh 
 ■was the centre, and when, with bright hopes of 
 happiness before him, he welcomed his Jean to 
 his home on the Banks of the Nith. But 
 
 " The best laid schemes o' mice and men 
 Gang aft a-gley. 
 An' leave us nought but grief and pain, 
 For promised joy." 
 
 ifou all know his weaknesses, his errors, and 
 his disappointments, and how, after struggling 
 through a few years of "life's fitful fever," he 
 sank into an early grave. That his weaknesses, 
 his errors, nay his sins, were neither few nor 
 trifling, who can deny? — but, as seen through 
 the mists of prejudice and misapprehension, 
 which his own follies and the circumstances of 
 the period had raised, they seemed larger and 
 
 darker than they really were. Now, liowever, 
 that these mists have cleared away, it is for us 
 to beware lest we be dazzled by the unclouded 
 blaze of his talents so as to forget or think 
 lightly of the specks which undoubtedly did 
 exist. It is for us to pray for strength to avoid 
 those errors in ourselves — not to judge them in 
 another — to pity, not to censure the unhappy 
 subject of them, 
 
 " Then gently scan your brother man, 
 Still gentler sister woman. 
 Though they may gang a kennin wrang, 
 To step aside is human." 
 
 Poor Burns seems to have been of the class to 
 which we all more or less belong, who in the 
 words of the poet, say. 
 
 Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor. 
 
 But no truer or more discriminating estimate 
 can be formed of his character as a man than 
 is contained in the epitaph written by himself. 
 On what grounds then, gentlemen, have we 
 met here to celebrate the birfliday of such 
 an humble and ill-fated man? and liow comes it 
 that from Land's End to the Skaw of Unst, 
 nay, wherever o'er the wide world the sons of 
 Britain are to be found, their thoughts will 
 dwell upon the associations of this day, and 
 their hearts will fill with grateful admiration 
 and kindly feeling towards Robert Burns? It 
 is because in his case "chill penury did not 
 repress his noble rage, nor freeze the genial 
 current of his soul." But ere he was laid in 
 his humble grave, amid the tears and regrets of 
 those who knew his virtues and deplored his 
 errors, he had, in his undying lays, reared for 
 himself an imperishable monument, and had, 
 by his unpremeditated appeals to the heart of 
 every Scotchman — iiay, of every human being 
 — secured the lasting sympathy of all. For 
 what is the great feature — the pervading charm 
 — of Burns' poems? It is that, whatever be 
 the subject, they are thoroughly imbued with 
 natural feeling, and give expression to thoughts 
 which every man claims unhesitatingly as his 
 own. Hisr.fame and his popularity do not in 
 the smallest degree rest upon those satires 
 which, tholigh wonderful for their talent, and 
 suggested by abuses unfortunately in those 
 days too often real, must be reprobated and 
 deeply regretted, as conceived in a spirit and 
 expressed in terms calculated to connect the 
 ludicrous with subjects of the most sacred 
 nature. But there is no reason to believe that 
 in composing the "Holy Fair" and other similar 
 pieces, Burns intended to aim a blow at true 
 religion. He was smarting under the agony 
 which the ill-judged sternness of the father of 
 his " bonnie Jean" had caused, by tearing her 
 
326 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 from lier husband, for such by law he was; 
 and, in unveiling what he considered the hypo- 
 crisy of those false professors whose claims to 
 superior sanctity were associated with a loose 
 and immoral practice, he with irreverent, nay, 
 wellnigh sacrilegious hand, touched upon those 
 sacred subjects which ought only to beapproached 
 in a spirit of humility and awe. But what an 
 amazing power have his poems, when he was 
 true to himself and to his real principles, exer- 
 cised ever the minds of his countrymen ! I ven- 
 ture to say that for one man who has either 
 read or taken pleasure in " The Holy Fair," 
 there are hundreds who have been delighted 
 and rendered wiser and better by " The Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night," and many others of a 
 similar character, breathing forth the spirit of 
 the purest religion and morality. Ere Burns 
 sunk into the grave, he had lost many of his 
 friends and patrons from having fallen under 
 the suspicion of being tinged with revolutionary 
 principles. But where, although his conduct, 
 in moments of folly, had given rise to the sus- 
 picion, can there be found, in a candid study 
 of his writings, any grounds for such a charge? 
 Nay, rather, he should be regarded as having, 
 by his poems, imprinted as they came to be 
 on the minds and hearts of his countrymen, 
 done his best to cement those time-honoured 
 institutions in which decay was beginning to 
 appear, and as having bound together, by the 
 enduring ties of mutual feelings, interests, and 
 pleasures, all classes of society, from the peer 
 to the peasant. Within a few months of the 
 day when Burns saw the light were Pitt and 
 Nelson born. All honour be to " the pilot who 
 weathered the storm," and, when the waves of 
 anarchy and despotism flowed successively over 
 the length and breadth of the civilized world, 
 kept afloat the good ship of the British consti- 
 tution, richly freighted as she was with the 
 cause of order and the liberties of mankind. 
 All glory to the immortal Nelson, who, " wher- 
 e'er the breezes bear the billow's foam," made 
 the name of Britain feared and honoured, and, 
 ere he fell at Trafalgar, saw the "meteor flag 
 of England" floating triumphant over the com- 
 bined navies of her gallant foes, and her em- 
 pire established on the seas. But let us not 
 forget the humble bard, nor withhold the meed 
 of honour due to him. Por who can tell in 
 how many thousand hearts the thrilling strains 
 of "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled" have 
 fanned the flame of patriotic ardour? or how 
 many a "brave but honest sodgor," amid the 
 deadly blasts of war, on the tented fields of the 
 Peninsula or the Crimea, has had his heart 
 cheered by those lays which raised a vision of 
 "gentle peace returning," and of his home in 
 " the bonnie glen where Nancy oft he courted." 
 
 Or how can we over-estimate the value of those 
 lessons of independence which taught our bold 
 peasantry, "their country's pride," that "a 
 man's a man for a' that," and led them by 
 " words that burned" to know what their homes 
 were, or ought to be, and to feel that, poor as 
 they were, they had a stake in their country, 
 and that on their exertions mainly depended 
 the maintenance of her liberty and honour. 
 Need I remind you of those enchanting songs 
 which, by their touching pathos or varied 
 humour, and their graphic delineations of uni- 
 versal nature, have for generations delighted 
 every Scottish heart? Not only can the lover 
 in every mood, whether successful or disap- 
 pointed, whether cheerful or desponding, find 
 expression for every feeling which can agitate 
 his heart; but united as they have been with 
 the most exquisite melodies, they have been a 
 source of the purest pleasure to every grade of 
 society, from the palace to the cottar's ingle- 
 side. Can you conceive feelings more free from 
 every soil of earthly passion than those en- 
 shrined in the words of " John Anderson, my 
 jo ? " or can any man, without swelling heart 
 and moistened eyes, listen to the words of 
 " Auld Langsyne 1" But, gentlemen, it is need- 
 less to detain you longer in multiplying proofs 
 to establish what we all know and feel — that 
 Robert Burns is the Poet of the People of 
 Scotland, in whose hearts, whether of high or 
 of low degree, his lays find an unfailin'g echo, 
 and I cannot find a more appropriate epitaph 
 for our honoured bard than in the glowing 
 words of our own Sir Walter Scott — 
 
 " Call it not vain ; they do not eiT, 
 Who say that when the poet dies, 
 Mute nature mourns her worshipper 
 And celebrates his obsequies." 
 
 During the delivery of his speech, the learned 
 Sherifi' was frequently and rapturously ap- 
 plauded. At its conclusion, the toast was 
 drunk in solemn silence. 
 
 " Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon " hav- 
 ing been sung by Mr. Hunter, the health of 
 the Poet's Sons was then given by the Croupier, 
 and warmly received. 
 
 Mr. George Smith followed with some re- 
 marks on the object of the meeting, after which 
 he read " The Twa Dogs " with much humour 
 and discrimination of the Poet's meaning, and 
 at the conclusion was greeted with a round of 
 cheers. 
 
 Tune — " The Smith's a Gallant Fireman." 
 
 A variety of other toasts were given, among 
 which was " Professor Aytoun, Sheriff of the 
 County, and the Ballad Poetry of Scotland." 
 
 The Chairman responded on behalf of Sheriff 
 Aytoun. He said : — As the unworthy substi- 
 
LESLIE— LESMAHAGO. 
 
 327 
 
 tute of our excellent Sheriff, I have the honour 
 to return thanks in his name for the very hand- 
 some terms in which Mr. Hunter has expressed 
 himself, and for the enthusiastic manner in 
 which you have received the toast. I don't 
 know whether the Sheriff is aware of our meet- 
 ing here this evening, but I can safely say, that 
 if he did, his heart would be with us. As it is, 
 it is understood that he has presided to-day, at 
 a similar meeting either at Ayr or Dumfries, 
 or perhaps, in these days of railway travelling, 
 he may have been at both. It has been well 
 said by some one — ^I think the eminent Fletcher 
 of Saltoun — " Allow him to make the ballads 
 of the people, and he would leave to others the 
 making of their laws." You all know with 
 how much credit to himself and advantage to 
 the community our Sheriff has administered 
 the laws amongst us, and he will soon be in a 
 position to determine whether ballads or laws 
 have exercised the most b^eficial effect upon 
 us. I beg again to thank you for the honour 
 you have done to the Sheriff. (Great cheering.) 
 
 In reply to " Tiie Clergy of all Denomina- 
 tions," the Eev. Mr. Macparlanb said — That 
 he had to thank Mr. Walker and the gentlemen 
 present for the very handsome manner in which 
 the toast had been proposed and cordially 
 responded to. None regretted more than he 
 the absence of the brethren of his class, who 
 had signified their intention to be present with 
 them on this auspicious occasion. Eor his own 
 part he hailed with no small degree of satisfac- 
 tion the intention of the gentlemen present to 
 do honour to the great poet of Scotland, and 
 cordially acquiesced in the arrangements of the 
 committee for the present meeting, and if his 
 pleasure was diminished in any degree by the 
 absence of friends, he yet heartily sympathized 
 with the object for which they had met. Burns, 
 he held, was no common man, and if he was to 
 be judged of by this generation apart from the 
 manners and customs and hypocrisies of his 
 time, a great injustice would be done to his 
 character and fame. 
 
 The whole company, standing with hands 
 joined, sang "Auld Langsyne" with heart and 
 good- will, and the proceedings then closed 
 amid continued cheering. 
 
 In the course of the evening the entertain- 
 ment was enlivened by several appropriate 
 songs by Messrs. John Eobertson, junr., James 
 Hunter, James Goudie, Neil Jamieson, and 
 Laurence Goodlad. Mr. Cramond also dis- 
 coursed sweet sounds on the violin. 
 
 LESLIE. — A festival was held in Prinlaws 
 School-room. Upwards of 150 sat down to 
 supper, all of whOn partook heartily of the 
 excellent cheer provided. The "haggises" 
 
 formed a most attractive dish, being, from 
 their associations, not less interesting to the 
 mind than from their intrinsic excellence they 
 were delicious to the palate. Mr. Elder, banker, 
 occupied the chair, supported by Messrs. Beath, 
 J. Miller, D. Swan, and Melven ; and Bailie 
 Jollie officiated as croupier, supported by Messrs. 
 A. Scott, J. Sands, Orr, and Simpson. The 
 croupier gave the toast of the evening, " The 
 Immortal Memory of Robert Burns, Scotland's 
 Great Poet." The toast was received with 
 all due honour, and a very happy evening was 
 spent. 
 
 LESMAHAGOW.— St. John's Lodge (No. 
 20.) of Free Masons, and the Thistle Lodge of 
 Free Gardeners (about 100 in all), joined in 
 procession, in full costume, preceded by the 
 admired Kirkmuirhill Instrumental Band. After 
 perambulating the village, both lodges retired 
 to their respective quarters, and celebrated the 
 centenary in honour of our immortal bard, in 
 as enthusiastic a manner as any meeting held 
 that evening. 
 
 Free Masons In the absence of tlie 
 
 R. W. M., Brother Charles Hope Vere of 
 Bkckwood (who was unavoidably engaged at 
 the Grand Lodge of Scotland in Edinburgh), 
 Brother John Capie, D.P.M., took the chair, 
 supported on the right by Brother David 
 M'Ghie, P.W.M., and on the left by our 
 worthy secretary. Brother James Taylor, 
 Brothers George. Smith, senior, and John 
 Young, junior, wardens. After discussing an 
 excellent dinner, and giving the usual loyal 
 and patriotic toasts, the R. W. M. gave " The 
 Immortal Memory of Brother Robert Burns." 
 In his remarks he mentioned that Lesmahagow 
 held a place in the annals of his history — from 
 Mrs. Begg (the sister of the immortal bard), 
 and her family being in the neighbourhood. 
 Mr. Begg was factor to Mr. Hope Vere of 
 Blackwood and Craigiehall — father of our 
 R. W. M. — who was unfortunately killed in 
 mounting his horse at the Milltown Inn ; that 
 Mrs. Begg and her sons afterwards filled a high 
 situation both at Bent School, and Kirkmuir- 
 hill, where they are respected to this day. The 
 Chairman then gave " The Immortal Memory 
 of Brother Robert Burns." Full bumpers in 
 masonic style. After a great number of toasts, 
 &c., the lodge separated at "high twelve," 
 highly gratified with the evening's entertain- 
 ment. The new dress of the Tyler caused a 
 great excitement. 
 
 The members of the Reading-Room at his 
 Grace the Duke of Hamilton's Colliery, with 
 their wives and sweethearts, met to celebrate 
 the centenary of the birth of the immortal Bard 
 of Scotland — Mr. Wm. M'Murdo, preses of the 
 
328 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Reading-room in tlie oliair. After partaking of 
 !in excellent dinner, and the usual loyal and pa- 
 triotic toasts having been given and responded 
 to, the Chairman, after a few remarks on the life 
 and writings of him whose centenary they were 
 assembled to commemorate, proposed the toast 
 of the evening — " The Immortal Memory of 
 Robert Burns," — which was drunk with all the 
 honours usual upon such occasions. Other 
 toasts followed. During the evening the ladies 
 favoured the company with a number of the 
 songs of Burns, which were sung with great 
 taste and warmly applauded. After spending 
 the evening in a most agreeable manner, the 
 whole party joined hands and sang "Auld 
 Langsyue ; " then all retired to their respective 
 homes, well pleased with the manner in which 
 they had spent " The Centenary of Rabbie 
 Burns." 
 
 LETHAM MILL.— The Burns centenary 
 was celebrated here by a supper and ball. At 
 half-past eight o'clock a party of eighty-five sat 
 down to a substantial supper provided by the 
 committee. The chair was occupied by Mr. 
 Robert Walker, gardener at Letham Grange, 
 and Mr. James Thomson, builder, acted as 
 croupier. The Chairman, in a neat speech, gave 
 a sketch of the life and writings of the poet, 
 and concluded by proposing " The Memory of 
 Burns," which was drunk in silence. The 
 Croupier then proposed "The genius of Burns," 
 which was drunk with great enthusiasm. After 
 a number of speeches, sentiments, and songs, 
 the company joined in the merry dance to an 
 able violin band under the leadership of Mr. 
 Charles Hunter, and the amusement was kept 
 up with great spirit to an early hour in the 
 morning. The whole proceedings were very 
 creditable to all concerned. 
 
 LEVEN. — Leven, although a baron burgh, 
 has not been eclipsed by her royal neighbours. 
 The grand national never-to-be-forgot demon- 
 stration in honour of " Burns " has been cele- 
 brated here with all the pomp and pageantry 
 which only at the time for the passing of the 
 Reform Bill has surpassed. First, som -! hun- 
 dreds of children congregated on the church 
 green, and had distributed to them fruit and 
 confections, after which they proceeded in pro- 
 cession through the town, all carrying banners 
 with the word "Burns." During the progress 
 of this procession, the different trades were 
 being marshalled and arrayed, while the Free- 
 masons in their lodge were making their ar- 
 rangements, and partaking of cake and wine, 
 and also initiating Mr. Wemyss of Wemyss into 
 tlieir lodge. After these preliminaries all took 
 their places, the brethren of the mystic tie 
 
 bringing up the rear. Four bands of nmsie 
 were in attendance. Under these arrange- 
 ments the mass moved on along the High 
 Street, over the bridge, and swept round the 
 east of Dubbyside Links; this was the most im- 
 posing sight of the whole, especially from the 
 Leven side of the water. George Lochtie, Esq., 
 mounted on a grey charger, led the column ; 
 next followed the operatives and trades, con- 
 sisting of hammermen, bakers, butchers, joiners, 
 tinsmiths, flaxdressers, &c. Each of these bore 
 flags and other insignia of their order. In the 
 evening there were two large dinner parties, 
 and a tea party for old women. In the Gar- 
 deners' Hall, Mr. Wemyss presided over about 
 a hundred. The Chairman gave the toast of 
 the evening — " The Immortal Memory of 
 Burns." (Cheers.) In his delineation, of 
 Scottish character, and in the feeling in his 
 poetry, Scotland had none to excel the peasant 
 of Ayrshire. He was born of lowly parents, 
 and at a time when education was not so easily 
 gained as now. But his natural genius soon 
 triumphed over all, and at the age of sixteen 
 his first poetry was given to the world. Some 
 are not aware of the circumstance that it was 
 the lasses that gave rise to Burns' first poetry 
 about his "Bonnie Jean," who had told him 
 that a neighbouring farmer's son had addressed 
 her in poetry, which stimulated him to do the 
 same. It was not, however, till after he had 
 prosecuted his studies, taking advantage of 
 every opportunity, that in his twenty-third year 
 he was indebted to the kindness of Lord Glen- 
 cairn for the publication of his poems. In 
 whatever part of the world he had been he had 
 never seen a Scotchman but was glad to see a 
 Scotchman, and seldom met one with whom the 
 works of Burns were not familiar. He could 
 not do justice to the theme, and would conclude 
 with the words of an English writer, who said 
 — "Burns was beloved by the great for his 
 genius, by the gayest for his mirth, by the in- 
 dependent for his manliness, by the frail for his 
 frailties, and by the social for his fun." He 
 would call upon them to drink a bumper to his 
 immortal memory. The toast was drunk with 
 "Highland honours," the whole company stand- 
 ing on the seats and table. Mr. Haig rose and 
 said he had been called to propose a toast, 
 " The Peasantry of Scotland." He was sure 
 they would all join him in saying, even those 
 who were not Scotchmen, that our peasantry 
 are a race of which any nation may well be 
 proud. (Cheers.) There are few families who 
 had not at some stage belonged to the noble 
 order of the peasantry. They were a race that 
 would yet surprise the world, and for their 
 deeds in arms have surprised themselves. Look 
 to the days of yore ; in the time of Bruce and 
 
LEYSMILL— LINLITHGOW. 
 
 329 
 
 Wallace, when the nobles had turned their 
 backs upon them, the peasantry kept up an in- 
 dependent country amidst all their assailing 
 foes. (Cheers.) Look to the latter times, and 
 witness the achievements of our Highland regi- 
 ments ; trace them to the Crimea ; trace them 
 to the burning sands of India, and you there 
 see the same indomitable spirit which influenced 
 their fathers on the field of Bannockbum. 
 (Cheers.) Look at Lord Clyde, with all his 
 glories in India, he himself was but a peasant's 
 son ; the famous Hugh Miller, not surpassed in 
 fame in any country for his discoveries in 
 geology. He could go on enumerating endless 
 instances, but it would be telling them the same 
 story over and over again, and would call on 
 them to drink to " The Scottish Peasantry," 
 with all the honours. (Loud huzzas.) 
 
 In the Parish School Mr. Smith, teacher, 
 presided over 200. In the Free Church School 
 eighty old women sat down to tea, besides some 
 sixty ladies. • This affair was got up by sub- 
 scription, and too much praise cannot be be- 
 stowed on those who got it up. 
 
 LEYSMILL. — Burns' centenary was cele- 
 brated here by a supper and ball, the former 
 being held in the Spynie Hotel, the front of 
 which was decorated with evergreens, and the 
 latter in the grain loft at Leysmill farm, kindly 
 granted by Mr. Lindsay Carnegie for that pur- 
 pose, and also tastefully.decorated. At seven 
 o'clock a party of about seventy sat down to an 
 excellent supper, prepared by mine host of the 
 Spynie Hotel. The chair was occupied by Mr. 
 Walker, manager, Leysmill Works ; Mr. Kydd, 
 farmer. Border, acted as croupier. After the 
 removal of the cloth, and the usual loyal and 
 patriotic toasts, the Chairman, in proposing 
 the " Genius and Memory of Burns," said, he 
 did not feel qualified to enter into his great 
 merits as a poet, but while some hjive decried 
 him as having desecrated his great talents, still 
 he, and he was sure those around him, and 
 thousands elsewhere, held an opposite opinion, 
 and considered that some of those pieces to 
 which the greatest objections had been taken, 
 were calculated to do good, and had done so, 
 and that the unprecedented tribute paid to his 
 memory on this the hundredth anniversary of 
 his birth, proved that these feelings were shared 
 in by his countrymen in every part of the 
 world. The toast was drunk in silence. 
 Among the more prominent toasts which fol- 
 lowed were The health of W. F. Lindsay Car- 
 negie, Esq. of Spynie and Boysaok, by the 
 croupier ; The Agricultural Interests, coupled 
 with the health of Mr. Kydd, by Mr. Mustard ; 
 The Railway Interest, coupled with the health 
 of Mr. Mustard, railway agent, by Mr. Robert- 
 
 son ; Trade and Prosperity of Leysmill, coupled 
 with the health of Mr. Walker, by Mr. Stra- 
 chan ; Commercial Interest, by Mr. Thomson ; 
 The Cause of Education, coupled with the 
 health of Mr. Thomson, by the chairman ; The 
 Working-men of the district, by Mr. Soutar. 
 Numerous other toasts followed, and the whole 
 evening was enlivened by a great variety of 
 songs and sentiments. The ball, under the 
 leadership of Mr. Miln from Arbroath, was 
 kept up until an early hour, when all separated 
 in the best of order. The whole proceedings 
 passed off in the most harmonious and orderly 
 manner, reflecting credit on all concerned. 
 
 LHANBRYDE.— The village of Lhanbryde 
 was not behind the other villages in celebrating 
 the centenary of the famous poet, Robert 
 Burns. A number of ladies and gentlemen 
 assembled in the Fife Arms Inn, and spent a 
 very happy and harmless evening, both by 
 singing a number of the poet's favourite and 
 national songs and dancing, until Forbes Mac- 
 kenzie's hour. They then adjourned to the 
 female school-room, kindly granted by the 
 managers, and kept up the dance with great 
 glee until morning, when every one retired, 
 highly gratified with the night's proceedings. 
 
 LILLIESLEAF. — A soiree was held in the 
 parish School-room here, on the evening of the 
 25th, in honour of our national bard, Robert 
 Burns, which, out of our small population, was 
 attended by about 220 individuals. The school 
 being the largest room in the village where 
 such a meeting could with propriety be held, 
 was completely filled, and a great number fail- 
 ed to gain admission for want of accommoda- 
 tion. The chair was occupied by Mr. John 
 Lunn, who gave an excellent opening address 
 on the life and writings of Burns. Mr. Tho- 
 mas Scott also gave an address on his charac- 
 ter as a poet. The evening was further enli- 
 vened by readings and recitations from his 
 works by Messrs. T. Turnbull, J. W. Mackay, 
 R. Scott, R. Simpson, and R. King ; and a 
 selection of his most popular songs sung by 
 Messrs. T. A. and D. Scott. The meeting, 
 which broke up about half-past ten o'clock, 
 was most enthusiastic, and, although the wea- 
 ther was boisterous in the extreme, yet 
 
 " The storm without might roar and rustle, 
 They didna mind the storm a whistle." 
 
 LINLITHGOW.— Linlithgow fully entered 
 into the general enthusiasm in the celebration 
 of the centenary. The day was held as a half- 
 holiday, and the bells, by order of the magis- 
 trates, rang merry peals during the day. 
 
330 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Dinner in The Star and Garter — The 
 company, to the number of ninety, assembled 
 in the large room of the Star and Garter Hotel, 
 at four o'clock, and immediately proceeded to 
 despatch the very excellent dinner provided by 
 Mr. Maddox. A prominent feature of the din- 
 ner was an excellent haggis, kindly contributed 
 for the occasion by Mr. Gillon of Leith. The 
 appropriate dishes of sheep-head and sheep- 
 head kail also formed part of the entertainment. 
 Provost Dawson occupied the chair, and the 
 vice-chair was ably filled by John Hardy, Esq. 
 After the loyal and patriotic toasts, the health 
 of the Xord Lieutenant, &e., were duly hon- 
 oured, 
 
 The Rev: Dr. Bell rose to propose the toast 
 of the evening, and was received with great 
 cheering; " The Memory of Robert Burns." 
 Dr. Bell, in introducing the toast, said, that 
 there were portions of the poet's life and of 
 his poems which he could not approve of, al- 
 though to these he would make but slight al- 
 lusion, only it was necessary for him, and he 
 trusted the company would excuse the few re- 
 marks he had to offer on this head — so far to 
 protest against the idea that he in any degree, 
 by his presence in this prominent position, ap- 
 proved of or admired those portions of the 
 poet's writings regarding which the most chari- 
 table would wish that they liad never been 
 given to the world. (Cheers.) But he was 
 not inclined to put upon Burns an unqualified 
 condemnation. These things were written in 
 the immaturity of his youth, and most of them 
 were withheld from publication by himsolfj and 
 most probably had he lived would have been as 
 far as possible suppressed. (Cheers.) Dr. Bell 
 here adverted to the beautiful songs he wrote 
 in the latter and more mature period of his 
 life, contrasting with the objectionable produc- 
 tions of his earlier days. In regard to such 
 compositions as the " Holy Pair," too, it must 
 be remarked that the poet's reverence for holy 
 things was genuine — none of his satire was 
 levelled at them^ie kept outside of the sanc- 
 tuary. Nor could even that grotesque drama 
 of the " Jolly Beggars" be held up as a seduc- 
 tive picture, likely to allure into vice any of its 
 readers. But all apology aside, how great and 
 how genuine the genius of the poet ! It was 
 not only among his own class that his produc- 
 tions obtained popularity, but also by the high- 
 er classes that touch of nature which makes the 
 whole world kin was at once recognised and 
 acknowledged ; and this, too, in spite of the 
 English language spreading and becoming 
 fashionable. (Great cheering.) This was be- 
 cause Burns was a real poet. (Cheers.) The 
 constituents of the poetic mind, — imagination, 
 tenderness, humour, sarcasm, &c., are nowhere 
 
 so thoroughly and in such large measure com- 
 bined as in Burns; and all these directed to 
 the illustration of the daily life and feelings of 
 his countrymen, it was not wonderful that he 
 had attained such a high popularity. After 
 many other appropriate observations and illus- 
 trations, the doctor proposed the toast of the 
 evening, which was responded to with many 
 hearty cheers. 
 
 Song — " There was a lad was born in Kyle," by 
 Mr. James White. 
 
 Tlie Chairman alluded to a slight omission 
 in Dr. Bell's address. He stated that he sup- 
 posed many here were not aware that Robert 
 Burns was a burgess of our burgh, and, of 
 course, a son of the "Black Bitch." (Cheers.) 
 Burns' name happens not to be recorded in the 
 Town Council records, as it was not generally 
 the practice at that time, 1787, to record all 
 those who became burgesses. The chairman 
 remarked that he looked on this fact as one of 
 the glories of Linlithgow, their having Burns 
 as one of her sons. Burns appears to have 
 been entered as a burgess in passing through 
 Linlithgow on his Highland tour. The bur- 
 gess ticket was read aloud to the company. 
 
 Afterwards4he following gentlemen address- 
 ed the meeting on the various appropriate 
 toasts : — Messrs. John Hardy, banker ; J. Oat, 
 teacher ; John M'Elfrish, merchant ; Adam 
 Dawson, jun., younger of Bonnyton ; W. H. 
 Henderson, writer ; Peter Dow ; George Wil- 
 son, farmer; Bailie Henderson; R. R. Glen, 
 banker; Robert Aitken, writer; Bailie Speeden. 
 
 Several other toasts and songs were after- 
 wards given, and after singing " Auld Lang- 
 syne," the meeting separated. 
 
 In the County Hall upwards of fifty breth- 
 ren of the Linlithgow Ancient Brazen Lodge 
 had a social meeting — Brother Robert Spence, 
 merchant, in the chair, which he filled most 
 appropriately. 
 
 The Working Men's Soiree, which was 
 held in the Town Hall, the large room having 
 been very gracefully and obligingly given up 
 to them by the Freemasons, who, it seems, had 
 a prior claim, but waived it with that courtesy 
 and politeness so characteristic of the brother- 
 hood. Never perhaps was there a more happy 
 or numerous assemblage within the walls of the 
 Town Hall than upon this occasion ; it was 
 completely crammed by a delighted and en- 
 thusiastic audience, combining the youth and 
 beauty of the neighbourhood, females, we are 
 happy to say, predominating, adding by their 
 ever welcome presence an additional charm to 
 the entertainment. The chair was occupied by 
 Mr. William Aitken, shoemaker, who discharged 
 the duties thereof with great ability. A bless- 
 ing having been asked by Mr. Peter Sturrock, 
 
LINTON (East)— LINTON (West). 
 
 331 
 
 a plentiful repast of tea and cake was then 
 served out, which the youngsters appeared to 
 relish exceedingly ; indeed, we were much 
 afraid that a little fat chubby-faced rogue who 
 sat near us would do himself injury, such an 
 astonishing quantity of the good things pro- 
 vided did he put out of sight. After tea Mr. 
 Peter Duncan recited a poem, composed by 
 him expressly for the occasion, embodying very 
 pretty sentiments in graceful and beautiful lan- 
 guage. Mr. David Potter also sung an origi- 
 nal song, composed for the occasion. Mr. 
 Eobert Edgar then delivered a short address 
 upon the genius of Burns, remarking that Scot- 
 land's twin patriots, Wallace and Bruce, al- 
 though the doers of heroic deeds, and well- 
 deserving a niche in the temple of fame, owed 
 much of their consideration and renown in the 
 present day to the poet Burns, by singing of 
 them ; and holding up their achievements to 
 posterity, he had, as it wer?, linked their im- 
 mortality to his, and made them a part of him- 
 self. Burns, continued the speaker, was a man 
 of the people ; he sang of and for them, as his 
 dedication to the Noblemen and Gentlemen of 
 the Caledonian Hunt amply testifies. He also 
 alluded to Burns' detractors, and concluded 
 his short but expressive speech with several 
 selections from the works of the bard, illustra- 
 tive of his pathos, sublimity, and beauty. The 
 pretty song of "Afton Water," was sung by 
 Mr. Archibald Shields with great eifeot ; also 
 "Mary in Heaven," by Mr. J. M'Dermott;" 
 " John Anderson my jo," by Mr. Eobert White- 
 head ; "Nannie's awa" and "Dainty Davie," 
 by Mr. David Potter, were all done ample jus- 
 tice to, and received with much applause. Mr. 
 William Hutton, shoemaker, delivered an ela- 
 borate address upon " Burns as a Patriot and a 
 Poet, and the Influence of his Muse." He said 
 Burns as a poet and a patriot is destined to be 
 remembered not only by his own liberty-loving 
 countrymen, but by the generous-minded and 
 liberal of all nations. Burns was ever alive to 
 the cause of human freedom, always on the 
 right side, and though, like every other mortal 
 being, he has come short of perfection, his 
 country and the world have this day pro- 
 nounced emphatically in his favour. The 
 speaker then alluded to Burns' calumniators, 
 especially of his own time, and admirably ex- 
 posed their malice and hypocrisy. I do not 
 wish, he continued, to whitewash the character 
 of the poet, nor do I say that he was the purest 
 of modern men, but I do contend that many of 
 the imperfections imputed to him belonged to 
 the times in which he lived, rather than to him- 
 self. Had it been the fate of Burns to have 
 moved in a more exalted spliere of society, and 
 in place of singing in immortal strains of the 
 
 habits and thoughts of a humble peasantry, he 
 had worshipped wealth and rank, in all likeli- 
 hood those uncomely failings with which time 
 has enveloped his memory would never have 
 outlived the day that gave them birth. Mr. 
 Hutton then alluded to the influence of the 
 poet's muse in the stately hall, and the rude 
 shieling of his native land, in the emigrant's 
 cot mid the forests of the far west, or on the 
 auriferous plains of the Australian land, and 
 concluded, amid the din and roar of battle, 
 how often has the stern red line and the flow- 
 ing tartans of Caledonia stemmed the furious 
 onset of the foe, or as the terrible slogan pealed 
 upon the ear " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace 
 bled," who can describe the fury of the charge of 
 that moving avalanche of Scottish steel. Mr. 
 Peter Sturrock and Mr. Peter Duncan also 
 delivered suitable addresses. Songs were also 
 sung by Mr. Alexander M'Gregor, Mr. Alex- 
 ander Forgie, Mr. Peter Duncan, Mr. Robert 
 Hastie, Mr. D. M'Gregor, Mr. John Law, Mr. 
 Robert Whitehead, Mr. D. Potter, Mr. Archi- 
 bald Shields, and others, all in a highly credit- 
 able manner, eliciting great applause. At the 
 recommendation of the Chairman, the audience 
 rose en masse, and sang together the song of 
 " Auld Langsyne." Votes of thanks were then 
 tendered to the chairman and secretary, for 
 their exertions in getting up the festival, also 
 to the committee and the singers for their ser- 
 vices, and special votes of thanks were passed 
 to the magistrates and to the freemasons, which 
 were both warmly responded to. Three times 
 throe cheers for Robert Burns closed the pro- 
 ceedings. The room was then cleared for the 
 dance, which was kept up with great spirit 
 until far in the morning. In summing up, we 
 may observe that the utmost harmony and cor- 
 diality prevailed, and a more happy meeting 
 we have seldom seen. 
 
 LINTON (East).— The Burns Centenary 
 was celebrated here by a public dinner in 
 Smellie's Assembly room, which, both in point 
 of numbers and enthusiasm, has never been 
 equalled. In the absence of Capt. Kinloch 
 and Sir David Baird, Bart., for whom apologies 
 were made, William Howden, Esq., and Wm. 
 Gray, Esq., acted as chairman and croupier. 
 " The immortal Memory of Burns" was drunk 
 with a warmth and affection which no other 
 toast could have elicited. Altogether we have 
 seldom seen a happier evening, and to the 
 matchless songs of our own dear Bard, and to 
 the excellent manner in which they were sung, 
 is it to be attributed. 
 
 LINTON (West).— The working-men of 
 West Linton celebrated the Burns centenary 
 
332 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 by a dinner in Mr. Paterson's Inn. Tliere was 
 present an old man, John Halliday, a native of 
 Dunscore, wlio had twice seen the poet at Ellis- 
 land. Music, vocal and instrumental, enlivened 
 the evening. 
 
 LOANHEAD.— The Centenary of our im- 
 mortal poet, Robert Burns, was celebrated on 
 the 25th of January by a grand festival. Up- 
 wards of forty sat down to supper at eight 
 o'clock, in the school-room, at which "the 
 great chieftain o' the puddin' race" was duly 
 honoured. Alexander Fowler, Esq., occupied 
 the chair; Mr. Robert Wood acting as crou- 
 pier. After a lengthened and most appro- 
 priate address from the Chairman upon the- 
 character and works of our great poet, Robert 
 Burns, the everlasting renown of Wallace, the 
 glorious career of the mighty Bruce, and many 
 other interesting topics of the days of' yore, he 
 proposed a toast to the " Memory of our Great 
 and Immortal Poet, Robert Burns," which was 
 cordially joined in by the interested assem- 
 blage. The night drove on with songs and 
 clatter, and filled every breast with new anima- 
 tion as the strains of our idolised bard spread 
 their lustre over the scene in songs and recita- 
 tions. A numerous and well-trained choir 
 joined heartily in the melting strains of " Auld 
 Langsyne," after which the National Anthem 
 was sung in a most skilful manner, and the 
 company, after engaging in a hearty Scotch 
 reel, separated in perfect harmony and good 
 humour. 
 
 LOCHABER.— Unwilling to be behind our 
 neighbours in doing honour to the immortal 
 Burns, we had a gathering at Spean Bridge 
 Inn, on the evening of the 25th, when, notwith- 
 standing the boisterous state of the weather, a 
 large assemblage met. The large room of the 
 Inn being insufficient for the reception of the 
 company, an adjoining one was thrown open 
 by the removal of the partition. Behind the 
 President's chair, sui-mounted by wreaths of 
 evergreens, tastefully got up, hung a life-size 
 painting of the poet ; while at the other end a 
 model-plough, constructed and presented by Mr. 
 Macfarlane, Spean Bridge, occupied the space 
 behind the croupier. The chair was efficiently 
 filled by James Smith, Esq. of TuUoch — a 
 gentleman whose father's nearest neighbour for 
 three years was Robbie Burns, during his un- 
 successful farming experiment in Dumfries-shire, 
 and who is in possession of many unpublished 
 but interesting anecdotes connected with the 
 jjrivate life and character of the poet. After 
 an excellent dinner, which reflected the highest 
 credit on the worthy hostess, and in which the 
 favoured haggis played a prominent part, the 
 
 Chairman, having first proposed the usual loyal 
 and patriotic toasts, called for an overflowing 
 bumper to the immortal memory of Robert 
 Burns. Among the many meetings which on 
 this occasion responded to that sentiment,' it 
 were difficult to find one in which the response 
 was more hearty and enthusiastic than that 
 which followed the able and appropriate address 
 of our Chairman. A considerable number of 
 the party were shepherds from the "land of 
 Burns," whose warm respect for the poet, whom 
 they look upon as specially their own, brought 
 them from many a wild glen, and across many 
 a swollen mountain stream, through blinding 
 snow and slushy sleet, to commemorate the 
 birth of Jhe bard, whose sweet strains have 
 often been to them like a voice from their own 
 green glens in the south, cheering them in the 
 solitude of the Highland hill, lightening their 
 labour in the sweltering clipping-fank, and en- 
 hancing the comforts of the bleezin' ingle and 
 the clean hearthstane when the day's drudgery 
 was over. The Rev. Mr. Macintyre, the parish 
 clergyman, who, as croupier, supported by the 
 Rev. Mr. Stewart of Ballachulish, ably sus- 
 tained at his end of the table the sentiments 
 appropriate to the occasion, next proposed tiie 
 Poets of Scotland. Descending from Ossian 
 to the days of Barbour and Blind Harry, and 
 thence to the poets of our own times, he 
 coupled with the toast the name of Mr. Munro, 
 parochial schoolmaster of Kilmonivaig, who has 
 attained to more" than a local celebrity as a 
 favoured friend of the muses. Mr. Munro's 
 very appropriate reply was followed by the 
 toast of the Peasantry of Scotland, by the 
 Rev. Mr. Joass of Braelochaber. The Church 
 of Scotland, proposed by the chair, and followed 
 by the old song, " Should auld acquaintance," 
 &c., with the full strength of the company, was 
 acknowledged by the Rev. Mr. Macintyre ; 
 after which the Rev. Mr. Stewart proposed 
 Our Educational Institutions. Then came a 
 few local toasts, among which we may mention 
 Lord Abinger, the lord of the manor, by D. 
 C. Mackay, Esq. ; and a well-earned and taste- 
 ful tribute to the character of The Mackintosh 
 as a Highland proprietor, by R. P. Macdonell, 
 Esq. of Keppoch. The Ladies of Lochaber, by 
 Wm. Smith, Esq. of Moy, was boisterously and 
 enthusiastically responded to by the audience, 
 and tastefully acknowledged by Mr. Macdonell, 
 yr. of Keppoch. In short, the evening was in 
 every sense a most harmonious one, passing off 
 witliout a single disagreeable occurrence, in the 
 interchange of poetic sentiment and social song, 
 with well-chosen recitations given with thorough 
 unction in the vernacular of the Bard of Doon. 
 
 LOCHGELLY — On the occasion of the 
 
LOCHGELLY. 
 
 333 
 
 centenary of the birth of Robert Burns (Tues- 
 day 25th January), a supper took place in the 
 hall of the Lochgclly Iron Company's Academy. 
 Fully 200 ladies and gentlemen were present. 
 The chair was occupied by Mr. P. B. Ogilvie, 
 A.M., teacher; and the croupiers were W. D. 
 Nelson, Esq., Messrs. George Johnstone, James 
 Lawrie, and John Connel. After supper, 
 
 The Chaikman addressed the meeting as 
 follows : — Ladies and gentlemen, — We come this 
 evening in common with our countrymen, ay, 
 and I am proud to say it, with our country- 
 women too, with all who exult in the common 
 Scottish name, to offer our just meed of praise, 
 and to prostrate ourselves in admiration at 
 the throne of our immortal poet. We come 
 not now to give homage to wealth, or rank, or 
 power, but to give homage to ranks and digni- 
 ties higher far than these, even to sterling 
 worth and immortal genius^. It was in the 
 ancient metropolis of Caledonia that the ori- 
 ginal muse of our bard first found encourage- 
 ment and protection. By her kind and gener- 
 ous sons our great poet was caressed and ad- 
 mired. In th'at ancient metropolis his praise is 
 now the theme of every tongue ; every lip is 
 responsive, and beauty in all her dazzling 
 brightness, and talent in all his splendid liKtre ; 
 the occupier of the lordly dome, and the tenant 
 of the humble cottage, are now issuing forth 
 from every quarter, in every direction, eager to 
 accord the just tribute of praise to his imperish- 
 able fame. The sound has gone forth to the 
 sister island, and his praises are now being re- 
 verberated in the principal cities of the United 
 Kingdom. But his fame is not merely national. 
 It is wide as the great globe of the world, and 
 reaches from pole to pole. Such universal re- 
 spect and admiration has never till now been 
 accorded to genius since the world began. Such 
 an interesting, exciting, and imposing scene as 
 this evening presents all over the world, has 
 never yet been emblazoned on the pages of his- 
 tory ; never been delineated by the hand of the 
 artist on the glowing canvas ; never yet found 
 a place and a name in the enthusiastic strains 
 of the past. And, oh ! were we but gifted with 
 the power of vision, so as to take within the 
 range of the eye a survey of the numerous as- 
 semblies, both at home and abroad, now being 
 held in honour of our immortal bard, what 
 grand and exciting scenes would burst upon the 
 view! And we, too, are pressing forward to 
 swell the common tide of fame. We come, as 
 it were, in imagination, to encircle our poet's 
 brow afresh with garlands, with the laurel and 
 myrtle as of old, or rather, in accordance with 
 his own exquisitely beautiful poem of the " Vi- 
 sion," with his favourite holly — 
 
 " And wear thou this she solemn said, 
 And bound the holly round my head, 
 The polish'd leaves, and berries red, 
 
 Did rustling play; 
 And like a passing thought, she fled 
 In light away." 
 
 How well he had tuned his lyre, and thrilled 
 every Scottish heart by his melodious songs, it 
 were vain in me to attempt to describe. How 
 well he has painted the rural scenes, the rural 
 manners of his native country, its love, its joys, 
 the native feelings strong, in his own vigorous, 
 I might say, in his own burning language, is 
 equally known to you all. His poems are per- 
 used, and his songs sung with a peculiar plea- 
 sure both by rich and poor, by lord and peasant, 
 young and old. And why is it so ? It is be- 
 cause of their unaffected simplicity, and their 
 faithfulness to nature. No photographist can 
 give the contour and delineate the features of 
 the human countenance with greater accui-acy 
 and truth than Burns can paint nature ; and it 
 is because his songs meet with the native re- 
 sponses of the heart, vibrate on the springs of 
 passion, and thrill the chords of human sym- 
 pathy, whether the key-note be that of love or 
 friendship, joy or sorrow, wit or patriotism, 
 that they are so highly prized. He surpasses 
 all the lyric poets who have sung in the Scot- 
 tish dialect; and it is because his immortal 
 songs have been so happily wedded to Scottish 
 music, and because he paints nature with such 
 truthful and pleasing simplicity, that his fame 
 justly ranks so highly in the estimation of his 
 countrymen. In conclusion, I would remark, 
 that the name of Burns is a name for all time — 
 it is a name the fame of which will not soon be 
 eclipsed. The genius of history will inscribe it 
 in her most brilliant page ; and as the stream 
 of time rolls downwards, each century will re- 
 sume the glorious theme, and when we our- 
 selves shall be cold and mouldering in the dust, 
 generations yet unborn may perhaps in this 
 very spot, within these walls where I am now 
 addressing so large an assembly, resume his 
 praises. And Oh ! if it be the lot of the de- 
 parted spirits of the mighty dead; if gracious 
 Heaven grant to spirits of heaven-born genius 
 the privilege of looking down upon this sub- 
 lunary scene, how must thy gentle spirit, im- 
 mortal Burns, thrill with joy on beholding the 
 incense of love, gratitude, and admiration that 
 is now ascending from the unfeigned hearts of 
 thy grateful countrymen ! The Chairman had 
 prepared a poem appropriate to the occasion, 
 which he read. 
 
 At a later stage, Mr. George Johnston, 
 teacher, delivered an address on " Genius," and 
 read a poem he had composed, entitled " The 
 Ploughman." 
 
33i 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAKY. 
 
 During the evening several of Burns' songs 
 •were sung in capital style ; and appropriate re- 
 citations were given. The entertainment was 
 kept up with great spirit until half-past one 
 o'clock on Wednesday morning. 
 
 Another supper party assembled in the Free- 
 masons' Hall, and was attended by nearly fifty 
 gentlemen, no ladies being present. The chair 
 was occupied by Eobert Henderson, Esq. of 
 Glencraig ; supported on the right by Andrew 
 Landale, Esq., manager of the works ; while 
 John Wright, Esq., banker, ably discharged the 
 duties of croupier ; and we observed the most 
 of the leading gentlemen and farmers in the 
 district were present. After the usual loyal 
 and patriotic toasts, the Chairman, in a very 
 sensible speech, in which he illustrated the ge- 
 nius of the poet by numerous quotations from 
 his works, proposed the toast of the evening, 
 " The Memory of Robert Burns," which, on the 
 suggestion of the Chairman, was drunk in 
 solemn silence, as he considered that the most 
 appropriate way of drinking it. Mr. John 
 Couper immediately thereafter sang, " We'll a' 
 be proud o' Robin." Song and sentiment fol- 
 lowed in rapid succession, and numerous other 
 toasts were proposed, including the " Poets of 
 Scotland, England, and Ireland," " The Agri- 
 cultural, Mining and Manufacturing Interests," 
 &c. The company spent a very social evening, 
 such as Burns himself, we have no doubt, would 
 have enjoyed. 
 
 LOCHMABEN.— The burgh of Lochmaben, 
 on the 25th January, did full honour to the 
 memory of the Scottish bard. By common 
 consent, all the shops in the town were shut, and 
 from an early part of the day flags were flying, 
 and an unusual commotion was visible. About 
 three o'clock p.m. the Freemasons assembled in 
 the Town Hall, and went in procession through 
 the town. After the procession there was a 
 public dinner in the Commercial Inn ; a goodly 
 company sat down, presided over by Dr. Dick- 
 son as Chairman, Mr. Dinwoodie, draper, crou- 
 pier. After the usual loyal toasts, the Chair- 
 man, in an able speech, gave The Memory of 
 Burns. He referred to Burns as Scotland's 
 Poet, as the greatest lyrical and satirical writer 
 Scotland has produced. He then gave the 
 company some excellent specimens of the poet's 
 writings in the various walks of poetry. The 
 toast was enthusiastically responded to. 
 
 Among the various toasts which followed 
 were The Members of the County and Burgh ; 
 The Magistrates of Lochmaben ; The Town 
 and Trade of Lochmaben ; The Poets of Scot- 
 land, &c. At intervals, songs, mostly those of 
 Burns, were sung. 
 
 A concert took place in the Town Hall in the 
 
 evening. The room was filled to overflowing. 
 There were the songs of Burns sung in concert 
 duets and solos. After the concert, a public 
 ball was kept up by a numerous party till morn- 
 ing. Altogether tlie centenary of Burns in 
 Lochmaben will be a day long remembered by 
 the inhabitants. 
 
 LOOHWINNOCH.— Up till Monday, the 
 24th, it was generally believed that in this loca- 
 lity the centenary of the immortal poet, Burns, 
 would pass by without any movement whatever. 
 But on that ,day Mr. W. Crawford, of the 
 Calderbank Woollen Factory, resolved to give 
 a supper and ball to the workmen and others 
 connected with his work, and in honour of the 
 bard. A flag waved from the factory during 
 the whole of the 25th, and the utmost enthu- 
 siasm prevailed among the workers, each one 
 anxious to do honour to Scotia's peasant bard. 
 One of the flats of the factory being cleared 
 out for the occasion, the chair was taken at 
 half- past eight o'clock, by Mr. Crawford, who, 
 on entering with his family, was enthusiastically 
 received with three hearty rounds of cheering ; 
 the Chairman in a few brief but pointed re- 
 marks introduced the business of the evening 
 by stating that the object for which they were 
 met was twofold, first to pay a tribute to the 
 memory of Scotia's darling bard, and then by 
 social converse and enjoyment to pass a pleasant 
 evening together. After partaking of a sump- 
 tuous repast, kindly given by Mr. Crawford, 
 the table was removed and the Chairman again 
 shortly addressed the meeting, and introduced 
 one of his workmen who sung one of the poet's 
 best songs, and was rapturously applauded. 
 One after another sung the songs of Burns to a 
 delighted audience; then the dancing com- 
 menced and was kept up till an early hour. 
 
 LOCKERBIE.— The Burns Centenary was 
 celebrated in Lockerbie by all classes of the 
 community in the most enthusiastic manner. 
 Seldom, if ever, did Victoria Square present 
 such an animated appearance as it did on the 
 25th of January. The front of the King's 
 Arms Hotel, in which the dinner was to take 
 place, was finely decorated, a magnificent arch 
 having been thrown over the porch, beautifully 
 ornamented with laurel and evergreen. The 
 spacious dinner-hall was also arrayed in a most 
 appropriate style. No part whatever but had 
 undergone some alteration and improvement. 
 The centre of the hall presented a most beau- 
 tiful sight; here the decorations were very 
 complete, and showed great neatness and taste. 
 An arch of laurel and artificial flowers was 
 suspended, and the three large chandeliers 
 were dressed in the same green and flowerv 
 
LOCKERBIE. 
 
 335 
 
 attire. Upon the side walls were suspended 
 various and appropriate mottoes, such as "Speed 
 the Plough," "A Man's a Man for a' that," 
 " Auld Langsyne,'' and others, all beautifully 
 ornamented. At the end of the hall, and 
 above the Chairman, was a large portrait of 
 the Poet. At the hour appointed for com- 
 mencement, four o'clock, upwards of seventy 
 gentlemen sat down to an excellent dinner, 
 prepared by Mrs, Little, as usual, upon all 
 occasions, in her best style — Mr. John Baird, 
 ■writer, in the chair, supported on the right by 
 the Rev. Mr. Whyte and Mr. J. B. Irving of 
 White Hill, on the left by Mr. Robert Munn, 
 Lockerbie House, and Mr. John Edgar, draper ; 
 Mr. Charles Stewart of St. Michael's acting as 
 croupier, supported on the right by Dr. Wilson 
 and Mr. H. B. Irving, Millbank, on the left by 
 Mr. James Jardine, Drifeholm, and Mr. William 
 Wright, writer. Ample jusiice having been 
 done to the excellent dinner, and the cloth 
 removed, the Chairman gave the usual loyal 
 and patriotic toasts. 
 
 The Chairman again rose, amidst enthusi- 
 astic cheering, to give the toast of the evening. 
 He commenced by alluding to the circumstances 
 attending the Poet's birth, which were certainly 
 not such as to "give the world assurance of 
 such a man," or to raise high expectations of 
 his future career. On the contrary, the whole 
 circumstances attending the birth of Burns, 
 and his early life, were of the most unpropi- 
 tious and unpromising nature. Two or three 
 days after his birth the auld clay-bigging in 
 which he was born fell to the ground in a mid- 
 night storm, and the infant poet and his mother 
 had to be carried out to the shelter of a neigh- 
 bour's cottage. Well might the " gossip " who 
 "keekit in his loof" predict for him "misfor- 
 tunes great an' sma';" but the most sanguine 
 of gossips could hardly have ventured to pro- 
 mise for such a one — genius — honour — fame — 
 or worldly distinction of any sort. Who 
 would then have predicted that the boy thus 
 rudely ushered into the world, amidst all the 
 surroundings of poverty in that lowly cottage, 
 should one day be hailed by the universal 
 acclaim of his countrymen as the great national 
 Poet of Scotland ; or that now, 'one hundred 
 years after his birth, the hearts of a whole na- 
 tion should be stirred up to do honour to his 
 memory, and to testify their admiration of his 
 genius, and their pride in his fame ? The past 
 century has been prolific in great men — war- 
 riors, statesmen, poets, and men of genius, 
 whose names occupy a conspicuous place in the 
 history and literature of his country — but it 
 might with truth be said that not one other 
 name in all that illustrious roll could have the 
 power of evoldng such a universal and enthusi- 
 
 astic demonstration of a people's love as that 
 which is called forth this evening in Scotland 
 by the name of Robert Burns. (Enthusiastic 
 cheering.) The Chairman excused himself 
 from entering at any length upon an examina- 
 tion of the genius and character of the poet, 
 nor was it, he said, necessary. His works 
 were in every Scottish cottage familiar as 
 household words — the exquisite tenderness, 
 the noble patriotism, the racy and homely 
 humour, iand the keen wit of Burns, are uni- 
 versally appreciated, and felt, and enjoyed by 
 every Scotsman. (Cheers.) He came at a 
 time when, for many years previous, there had 
 been no Scottish poetry worthy of the name. 
 He addressed himself to the Scottish people in 
 their own homely but expressive dialect ; he 
 sung their rural loves, and joys, and griefs 
 with a sweetness and power which finds its 
 way direct Jind at once to the heart. (Cheers.) 
 The Chairman then noticed the songs of Burns, 
 and stated his opinion that it was upon the 
 songs that the Poet's lasting fame and popularity 
 'would be found chiefly to rest — for, although 
 the "Cottar's Saturday Night" and "Tam o' 
 Shanter" would have made him immortal if 
 lie had written nothing else, still the songs of 
 Burns have become incorporated and identified 
 with the national music of Scotland — and that 
 music will never die. (Cheers.) Burns was fortu- 
 nate in finding such a music ready and waiting, 
 as it were, to be seized upon by some master- 
 hand of genius, and clothed with fitting words 
 — for almost all our finest Scotch airs before 
 Burns' time were allied to words of the most 
 silly and puerile character, and even, in many 
 instances, to lines of a licentious and improper 
 sort. He accordingly seized upon these beau- 
 tiful airs, rescued them from the contamination 
 of such a connection, and married them to his 
 own " immortal verse;" and now they are to 
 be heard sounding together in sweetest har- 
 mony, cheering and charming alike the cottage 
 fireside of the Scottish peasant and the halls of 
 the great and noble. (Great .cheering.) 
 
 Song — "Rantin' Eovin' Kobln," by Mr. Watt. 
 
 The Croupier gave " The Sons of the Poet." 
 
 Song — " Mary Morrison," by Mr. J. Bell. 
 
 The Croupier next gave " The Peasantry of 
 Scotland," remarking that Burns himself was 
 one of the Scottish peasantry, and that his 
 bright and illustrious genius had made his 
 name a household word in every peasant's cot ; 
 that to him, as the preserver and restorer of 
 our language not less than for the utter- 
 ances of his own passionate heart, must be 
 ascribed all that honour which flows from our 
 national possession of never-to-be-forgotten 
 songs. But in speaking of the peasantry of 
 Scotland, he would take in not only the cottars, 
 
336 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAKY. 
 
 but the farmers — indeed, the whole rural pop- 
 ulation. Referring to the time of Wallace and 
 Bruce, when fighting for liberty and indepen- 
 dence, he showed tliat to the peasantry of Scot- 
 land we are much indebted for the liberty we 
 now enjoy ; and that also in later times, when 
 contending for civil and religious liberty, they 
 were mainly instrumental in establishing the 
 victory of Freedom on immovable foundations, 
 and surrounding it with such defences as no 
 earthly power would ever be able to subvert. 
 He also paid a high compliment to the pea- 
 santry of the surrounding district, and con- 
 cluded by stating that a larger proportion of 
 this class rose to distinction in Scotland, than 
 in any other nation in the world. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Whyte gave " The Literature 
 of Scotland," coupled with the name of Sir 
 Walter Scott. 
 
 Mr. John Graham, of Sliaws, gave " The 
 Commercial Interests of the CoUntry," coupled 
 with the name of Mr. Munn, Lockerbie House. 
 
 Dr. Wilson gave " The Health of Tliomas 
 Carlyle." As Scotchmen were always clannish,' 
 he was proud that Mr. Carlyle was not only a 
 Scotchman, but one connected with the district. 
 (Cheers.) 
 
 A number of other toasts were given and 
 songs were sung by Messrs. Watt, Bell, Baird, 
 Bain, Wilson, Stoddart, Gillespie, Whyte, and 
 others. The company, after singing "Auld 
 Langsyne," separated at half-past ten o'clock. 
 
 The other amusements of the evening con- 
 sisted of a Masonic procession through the 
 town, concluding with a ball at the Blue Bell 
 Inn, and a dinner at the Crown Inn, devoted 
 to the gratification chiefly of the working 
 classes. 
 
 LOGIERAIT The Burns Centenary was 
 
 celebrated here on the evening of the 25th by 
 a musical entertainment given by Mr. James 
 Kennedy, music teacher, Kilmorich. The 
 wildness of the night, together with the 
 swollen state of the Tay and the Tummel, 
 which kept the boats from going out, pre- 
 vented great numbers from being present; but, 
 notwithstanding, the hall, which is large, was 
 full. The chair was occupied by Mr. Peter 
 M'Naughton, merchant, TuUipourie, who opened 
 the proceedings by expressing his satisfaction 
 at seeing so many assembled. The weather 
 was extremely unpropitious ; but he must say, 
 that he took great interest in the character of 
 the day throughout. Its morning bright and 
 sunny, with a stiff and steadily rising breeze, 
 indicated the poet's early career; its noon, 
 blowing a perfect hurricane, indicated his 
 mighty renown; and its evening, pouring down 
 torrents of rain, intimated sympathy for his 
 
 melancholy and untimely fate, nature shedding 
 heavy tears for her darling bard. The first 
 part of the musical programme, consisting of 
 " There was a Lad was born in Kyle," " Of a' 
 the airts the wind can blaw," "My Nannie, 
 O," "Logan Water," "The Birks of Aber- 
 feldy," and other pieces from Burns, was well 
 performed; after which the Chairman de- 
 livered the following address : — 
 
 I confess to a feeling of awe when I approach 
 the names of the illustrious dead. When I re- 
 flect on the suddenness with which forgetfulness 
 is closing over the memories of those who asso- 
 ciated with us in life but a few years ago ; when 
 I reflect, also, on the similar fate that in a few 
 years will exclude ourselves from any "share 
 in aught^that's done beneath the circuit of the 
 sun;" and when I contrast with this perishable - 
 ness of all memorial of our individual existence, 
 the Homers and Ossians of other times, whose 
 names have come down to us in unfading 
 brightness, I think there is reason why I should 
 feel awed — in regarding him, to honour whose 
 memory we are this evening, in common with 
 our countrymen, in all their towns and villages 
 assembled. Burns is but of yesterday, com- 
 pared with some. His daughter, " the bonnie 
 Bess, who stared the daddy in the face," is still 
 among us. Many of those who knew him in 
 life, and heard the accents of his tongue, are 
 still living to tell something or other of that . 
 wonderful man. But though only sixty-two 
 years have elapsed since he was laid in his 
 grave, we have heard enough of him to be 
 convinced that an earthly .immortality will be 
 his — that his name is secure for all time — and 
 we may rest assured, that after thousands of 
 years have rolled away, when our age and its 
 institutions will have become dim with antiquity, 
 that his poems will be read and his songs sung 
 with unabated interest. Being then assembled 
 for the purpose of celebrating his hundredth 
 birthday, it becomes us, in the first place, to 
 clear the ground of all rubbish, by inquiring 
 whether we are justified, morally justified, in 
 making this demonstration in his behalf — for 
 you must know that objection has been made 
 to the honour thus to be conferred on him. It 
 has been said that "thousands had cause to 
 curse the day of his birth." I am not at all 
 surprised at this when I read that there were 
 men who dared siiy of Him, who was free from 
 sin — whose life was holy — whose time, while on 
 earth, was spent in doing good — that they 
 "remembered when this deceiver yet lived." 
 Among the many beneficent gifts of an all-wise 
 Creator, a great intellectual spirit is not the 
 least ; and we should feel grateful for the light 
 it sheds on our souls, even should clouds and 
 shadows at times obscure its brightness. Fault 
 
LONGSIDE— LYBSTER. 
 
 337 
 
 has been found with Shakspeare for the black 
 pictures he gave of kings and nobles; and it 
 ha& been said, in justification of what he did, 
 that when he wanted to describe a knave or a 
 fool, he went to the palaces of royalty and the 
 mansions of nobility, because he knew that 
 these places couW well afford him such char- 
 acters. So with Bums. Hia most objection- 
 able pieces had their prototypes in real life; 
 and if blame is to attach to any quarter, let it 
 be to the originals who supplied him with ma- 
 terials, rather than to the genius who could 
 hold them up to our loathing. It has been said 
 that he took the stoop out of his countrymen — 
 the cringing, fawning, sycophancy that would 
 be down on all fours in the presence of any 
 puppy who pleased to lord it over their man- 
 hood. The writings of Burns, 1 am convinced, 
 hav« proved the hornbook to an intellectual 
 career to more of the youth of Scotland than any 
 other writings whatever. I do not mean to say 
 that they contain all that an intelligent mind 
 sliould know. There are many noble sciences, 
 and those who follow them must look for light 
 elsewhere; but in his own peculiar department 
 he is inimitable. We are at present at peace 
 within our borders — no foireign foe has hitlierto, 
 for a long timej, dared to invade ua 1 But I can 
 fancy the hordes of despotism landing on our 
 shores — I can fancy the thrill of consternation 
 that would run through men's hearts as they 
 whispered, with white lips, "the foe; they 
 come, they come " — I can ^ncy the feeling that 
 would arise as the martial, the soulrstitring 
 strains of the Highland bagpipes would roll 
 over hill and valley, summoning the inhabitants 
 to arms — I can fancy the inhabitants of every 
 parish assembled to devise the best means of 
 resistance — I can fancy the parishioners of 
 Logierait assembled in this hall — ^I can fancy 
 the Mr. Kennedy of the day striking up that 
 glorious natioaal war-song, which Carlyle said 
 " should be sung with the throat of a whirl- 
 wind," " Soots wha hae wi' Wallace bled " — I 
 can fanc^ how men, animated by such strains, 
 would fight. 
 
 The second pait of the musio, consisting of 
 "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," "John 
 Anderson my Joe," &e. was then sung, finish- 
 ing with "Auld Langsyne," which was sung 
 with great pathos, the whole company standing 
 up and joining in full chorus. 
 
 LONGSIDE. — The merchants and trades- 
 men enjoyed a half holiday. A large party sat 
 down to dinner in Smith's. Inn; toasts and 
 speeches went round: with, great spirit, and the 
 party was a most ord«'ly ones. In the evening 
 the Musical Association gave a grand concert. 
 Owing to tlie crowd of persons eager to secure 
 
 seats, the temporary gallery gave way, but, 
 fortunately, no one was hurt. The songs, 
 catches, and glees, were well received. The 
 Longside Flute Band made a very creditable 
 appearance, considering the short time that has 
 elapsed since its formation. A ball followed 
 this entertainment, and was largely and re- 
 spectably attended. A large and respectable 
 meeting too was held in the Temperance Hall 
 — ^Mr. Henderson in the chair. Mr. Anderson 
 also addressed the mating. Mr. Baigrie sung 
 some of Bums' choicest songs, and Mr. Arthur 
 recited " Tam o' Shanter." 
 
 LUMSDEN VILLAGE Burns' centenary 
 
 was celebrated in Lumsden Village by a dinner 
 and ball. The dinner took place in Mr. Daw- 
 son's Inn, where upwards of forty were present. 
 The chair was occupied by Dr. Hay; Messrs. 
 M'Donald, farmer, Bridgend ; and Reid, farmer. 
 Nether Kildrummy, acting as croupiers. The 
 dinner (there being a haggis among the dishes) 
 did great credit to Mrs. Dawson. The Chair- 
 man, in a few appropriate remarks, gave the 
 toast of the evening, " The Memory of Burns," 
 which was warmly received. The Chairman 
 
 I then sang one of Burns' songs with great taste, 
 and through the evening Mr. Johnstone, black- 
 smith, and Mr. M'Donald, merchant, sung a 
 number of Burns' choicest songs. Several re- 
 citations were likewise given, but the crown- 
 ing one of all was by Mr. Gauld, postmaster, 
 who gave " Tam o' Shanter," in first-rate style. 
 During the evening, Messrs. Hardie and Mor- 
 rison played a number of excellent and appro- 
 priate airs. 
 
 The ball was held in Mr. Dawson's barn, 
 
 ' which was tastefully decorated with evergreens. 
 Although the night was tempestuous, there was 
 a bumper house. The music performed by 
 Messrs. Hardie and Morrison, teachers of danc- 
 ing, was excellent. 
 
 LYBSTER— At LybstM- a large dinner 
 party met in Waters" Hotel, having Mr. P. F. S. 
 Sutherland, Latheron, as Chairman, and Mr. A. 
 Mowat as Croupier. 
 
 The Chairman, in proposing the toast of the 
 evening, concluded an eloquent speech as fol- 
 lows : — It could hardly be expected but some 
 dissentient voices would be heard with respect 
 to . the observance of the centenary of Burns. 
 But these are few — few, indeed, compared with 
 the number of our countrymen at home and 
 abroad who are similarly engaged this evening. 
 (Hear, hear.) Not only Scotland through- 
 out its length and breadth, but England and 
 the Green Isle share with us in this, while 
 America observes the centenary with that en- 
 thusiasm for which she is so remarkable. 
 
338 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 (Cheers.) It will probably not be neglected in 
 remote China, and could India forget the man 
 who wrote 
 
 " Will ye go to the Indies, my Mary ? " 
 
 I am glad to think that in this corner of Scot- 
 land our patriotism has been so eminently ex- 
 hibited by the large and intelligent meeting 
 now assembled to honour the memory of our 
 national poet, which I beg you will now do by 
 drinking to the " Immortal Memory of Robert 
 Burns." 
 
 The toast was drunk amid loud and repeated 
 hurrahs. Toast and song followed in succession, 
 and the evening was spent most happily. 
 
 MARKINCH.— Upwards of eighty gentle- 
 men sat down, in the Town Hall, at five o'clock, 
 to an excellent dinner. The Hall was beauti- 
 fully festooned with evergreens, among which 
 the "rustling" holly with its "berries red," 
 stood conspicuously forward. William Bal- 
 lingal, Esq., Sweetbank, very ably occupied the 
 chair, while Mr. Farmer, Balbirnie Mains, Mr. 
 Landale, Littlelun, and Mr. Haxton, Mark- 
 inch, acted as croupiers. After dinner, which 
 was provided by Mr. Brown of the Galloway 
 Inn, in his usual tasteful manner, and the 
 usual loyal and patriotic toasts, the Chairman 
 introduced the Memory of Burns by a sketch 
 of the poet's life, after which he continued : 
 The poems of Robert Burns have continued to 
 rise in the public estimation, till at the present 
 moment they are more universally known and 
 appreciated than at any former period. The 
 reason is plain, we know that the language of 
 passion is the most eloquent of all languages, 
 and any person who will take the trouble of 
 studying the poems of Burns will see at once 
 that he is a complete master of the passions. 
 His feelings are instinct with life, his affections 
 warm, and his passions strong. Whatever sub- 
 ject he describes is represented with a vivacity 
 and force which at once lay hold of our sym- 
 pathies and our heart, till we find ourselves so 
 irresistibly carried along, that we forget every- 
 thing around us, and our.mind becomes riveted 
 on the picture he sets before us. This descrip- 
 tion is applicable to all his passionate pieces, 
 but I will only give you a single illustration, — 
 the fall and death of the brave, — 
 
 " Nae cauld faint-hearted doubtiiigs tease him ; 
 Death comes — wi' fearless eye he sees him, 
 Wi' blnidy hand a welcome gi'es him : 
 
 And when he fa's, 
 His latest draught o' breathing lea'es lam 
 ^ In faint huzzas." 
 
 No picture could be more vivid or forcible than 
 
 this, for we absolutely see the brave man. 
 But the courageous fortitude here represented 
 was the settled character of Robert Burns, — 
 thus, when he dedicated his poems to the noble- 
 men of the land, his language is high and inde- 
 pendent. This free spirit is interwoven with 
 all his compositions, and I may venture an 
 opinion that it is this independence which lies 
 at the foundation of our admiration of the poet, 
 for this plain reason, that a love of freedom and 
 independence is the characteristic feature of 
 our nation. We ought to feel grateful that it 
 has pleased Providence to send into our coun- 
 try the master genius of Burns. By his im- 
 perishable songs he has raised in every cottage 
 the sound of innocent and virtuous mirth. He 
 has adorned the walls of every cottage with 
 pictures of domestic felicity, which engage our 
 sympathies and touch our hearts. His love of 
 country is such, that he has given us pictures of 
 patriotism well calculated to ennoble our nature 
 and endear us to our homes. The number and 
 variety of his figures are matter of astonish- 
 ment to all. He has painted the king, the 
 court, and the cottar, our customs, our man- 
 ners, our sports, and our pastimes, and that 
 with a vivacity and life which no pencil has 
 surpassed. He has given them in colours at 
 once true to nature and suited to the national 
 taste ; and, as a concluding blessing, he has 
 spoken in a language that we can appreciate 
 and understand. If then the Greeks delighted 
 in a Homer, the Romans in a Virgil, our sister 
 kingdom in the immortal Shakspeare, we have 
 the same reason to delight and honour the 
 gifted child of our country, Robert Burns. I 
 ask you then to raise a cup to his memory, — 
 and, while we rise around this table, in our 
 mind's eye we see at the great table-land of 
 Scotland thousands of his friends simultaneous- 
 ly, and with a national voice, uniting in the 
 sentiment, " The Immortal Memory of Burns." 
 The toast was given with loud outbursts of en- 
 thusiasm. A number of eloquent speeches 
 were made, many interesting and appropriate 
 toasts were given, several of Burns' songs 
 were admirably sung, and the meeting sepa- 
 rated between the late and early hours — all 
 present animated with the wish — 
 
 " That man to man, the warld o'er, 
 Should brithers be and a' that." 
 
 Another company of upwards of thirty met 
 in Mr. Cassel's Tavern to pay their share of 
 honour to the centenary of ' Robin.' Mr. Da- 
 vid Blyth, Balbirnie, occupied the chair. The 
 large room was tastefully decorated with ever- 
 greens which shadowed forth dreams of summer 
 even in winter. A substantial supper was 
 served up, and many a flowing glass was drunk 
 
MARYWELL— MAUCHLINE. 
 
 339 
 
 to the immortal memory of Robert Burns, 
 whose name and outpourings live in every 
 Scottish heart. His songs were sung, and his 
 soul-stirring poems were recited with great 
 good taste. 
 
 A third gathering took place in Mr. Fernie 
 Greig's, over which Mr. David Arnot presided. 
 Thus in Markinch, the admirers of Burns have 
 not been backward in paying a tribute to his 
 memory. 
 
 Milton of Balgonie The centenary of 
 
 Robert Burns was celebrated in the School- 
 room here in happy style. Considerably more 
 than sixty of the admirers of the genius of Coi- 
 la's bard were present, — Mr. John Graham in 
 the chair. After the blessing was asked, and 
 just when the " gaucy-faced" haggises were 
 being cut up, Mr. Archibald Duff stood for- 
 ward and recited Burns' " Address to a Hag- 
 gis." The usual loyal and patriotic toasts be- 
 ing given, and suitably wedded to song, the 
 Chairman, in suitable terms, introduced " The 
 Immortal Memory of Robert Burns." The 
 meeting was a very happy one, and far beyond 
 
 " Tliat hour o' night's black arch the keyatane," 
 
 after joining in singing " Auld Langsyne,'' the 
 company separated, many wishing that they 
 might live to enjoy the pleasures attendant on 
 the celebration of another centenary of the poet. 
 CoALTOWN OP Balgonie. — Here, upwards 
 of thirty of the inhabitants paid deserved hon- 
 our to the name and fame of Robert Burns by 
 observing the centenary of his birth, in Mr. 
 Gibson's Tavern, where a splendid supper was 
 served up. Mr. William Grieve occupied the 
 chair, and Mr. George Alison acted as crou- 
 pier. " The Immortal Memory of Burns" was 
 given in glorious style, and the captivating 
 songs of the peasant poet were sweetly dis- 
 coursed, and the night sped away featly amidst 
 the fragrance of the poet's songs and beauties 
 of his poems, many of which were sung and 
 recited in excellent style by the company. 
 
 MARYWELL. — The inhabitants of this 
 place, to the number of about seventy, had a 
 supper and ball in honour of the occasion. Mr. 
 David Tough ably filled the chair, and Mr. W. 
 M. Barnet of Arbroath fulfilled the duties of 
 croupier. After the cloth was removed, the 
 Chairman gave the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts. The croupier then, in very appropri- 
 ate and eulogistic terms, gave the toast of the 
 evening, which was received amid a burst of 
 enthusiastic cheering. The Chairman then, in 
 a very feeling manner, read the closing scene 
 of Burns' life from Blackie's edition of the po- 
 et's works. After which the company, old and 
 young, joined in the dance, which was kept up 
 
 with much spirit until an early hour the fol- 
 lowing morning. Several of Burns' most ap- 
 propriate songs were sung during the evening, 
 and the ' oldest inhabitant ' says there was nev- 
 er such an enthusiastic and merry meeting in 
 the village. 
 
 MAUCHLINE The centennial anniversa- 
 ry of the birth of Burns was celebrated here 
 with unbounded joy and enthusiasm. All work 
 was suspended ; flags fluttered joyously in the 
 Januar' blast ; whilst houses, as well as inhabi- 
 tants, appeared in gala dress — each place con- 
 nected with the poet having in front a large 
 lyre beautifully wreathed with bays and holly. 
 Burns, by his residence and marriage, laid the 
 locality under deep obligations, and it was 
 gratifying to witness the people (by their 
 threefold festivities — a procession, banquet, and 
 ball, which occupied altogether about seventeen 
 hours) eagerly striving to give ' such act and 
 utterance' of their love and gratitude as might 
 be worthy of the occasion. 
 
 A' Mauchliiie were that day, I ween 
 Fu' proud o' Burns and bonnie Jean. 
 
 At two o'clock, P.M., a great concourse of 
 people had assembled at the Cross, and having 
 got into marching order, the instrumental band 
 struck up " There was a lad was born Kyle," 
 and away all started for Mossgiel. In front of 
 the procession was a beautiful rustic triumphal 
 car, overarched and decorated with a profusion 
 of evergreens, and containing two of the poet's 
 contemporaries carrying a bust of Burns encir- 
 cled with a lyre. The rustic car seemed very 
 appropriate, and was the source of great attrac- 
 tion. Next came the Burns Club, each mem- 
 ber wearing a medal and ribbon ; and next, a 
 large bust of the poet, encircled by an arch of 
 holly with its shining leaves and red berries. 
 This bust was surrounded by Burns' works, 
 and being placed upon a pillar, and carried 
 shoulder-high, had an imposing and grand ap- 
 pearance. The workmen of Messrs. A. & W. 
 Smith came next, marching under a beautiful 
 large banner, which was painted by their own 
 artist, and had the portrait and arms of the 
 poet, over which was the motto, " We're a' gae 
 proud o' Robin." The females of the work and 
 other Mauchline belles followed, having as 
 their banner a silk scarf which belonged to 
 Mrs. Bums, and was worn by her on her last 
 visit to Mauchline. Several promiscuous par- 
 ties made up the rear, each having some appro- 
 priate banner or device. As a little rising 
 ground hides the farm from the view of the 
 village, all moved on in silence, till, catching 
 the first glimpse of the flag on Mossgiel, they 
 raised a shout which made the very welkin 
 
340 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 ring. Soon they touch at Knockhaspie Land, 
 pass the Lousy Bush, and in a few minutes are 
 arranged in order in the court-yard of the 
 poet's residence. Andrew Smith, Esq., on 
 being called to the chair (one of Nance Tin- 
 nock's), addressed the multitude on the con- 
 nexion of Burns with Mauchline. At the con- 
 clusion of the address the bust of Burns, in pre- 
 sence of the assembly, was crowned by Miss 
 Agnes Smith with a wreath of holly, repeating 
 these words, "And wear thou this;'' after which 
 Mr. Smith stated that the bust would be left in 
 Mossgiel, as a more fitting place could not be 
 chosen, with the injunction that the wreath 
 be not removed until another hundred years 
 shall have passed, when the fragments be 
 removed to be replaced with a new one, He 
 was sure it could not be placed in better hands 
 than with Mr. and Mrs. Wylie, and expressed 
 a hope that they and their ancestors would con- 
 tinue to inhabit the place. Refreshments were 
 served to all, consisting of slices of " the chief- 
 tain o' the pudding race," and good oatmeal 
 cakes, with a supply of both milk and ale. On 
 the ground were a qhair, table, trencher, and 
 cog, which belonged to Nance Tinnock ; also, 
 a cog which belonged to one of Burns' belles 
 — " Tibbie I hae seen the day." After this 
 the procession again formed, and proceeded 
 towards Mauchline, going through which they 
 passed the principal places of note connected 
 with the poet, visiting the residence of D. 
 Hamilton, Esq., also the residence of his father, 
 the late Gavin Hamilton, the patron of the 
 poet, the places connected with the poet being 
 decorated with lyres of evergreens and in- 
 scriptions — returning again to the Cross, where 
 the band played " Auld Langsyne," and the 
 procession dispersed. There were about 2,000 
 persons present at Mossgiel. 
 
 Dinner. — At five o'clock, a party of ladies 
 and gentlemen, 133 in number, met for dinner 
 in the Institution Rooms, which were beauti- 
 fully decorated with evergreens and paintings. 
 In a recess of the largest room was a collection 
 of relics which attracted much attention. They 
 were — a fiddle of James Humphrey, the noisy 
 polemic ; an ale cog and choppin-stoup of 
 Nance Tinnock ; a silk scarf of Bonnie Jean ; 
 a piece of the bed in which the poet died ; a 
 pair of candlesticks and a fork and knife of 
 Burns. The two last, which are in a case, 
 appear very old, and are said to have been used 
 at a party on the poet's christening. They are 
 now in the possession of Mrs. Wagstaflf, Dea- 
 conbank Quarry. The chair was ably occupied 
 by William Brown, Esq., Greenockmains ; An- 
 drew Smith, Esq., discharged the duties of 
 croupier. On the right of the Chairman were 
 two contemporaries of Burns — Matthew Lerrie, 
 
 who had been a servant boy with Gavin Hamil- 
 ton when Highland Mary was with him, and 
 when the poet used to call. He has vivid re- 
 collections of Burns. The other — James 
 Hamilton — remembers taking a letter from the 
 poet to Jean Armour, with an injunction to 
 give it to no one but Jean. On the left of the 
 Chairman was another contemporary, William 
 Patrick, once a serva,n<i boy in Mossgiel, who 
 relates many interesting particulars about the 
 poet. The two other contemporaries, George 
 Patrick and John Lambie, were too frail to 
 take any part in the celebration. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. M'Gill having asked the bless- 
 ing, and after partaking of an excellent dinner, 
 served up in fine style by a host of handsome 
 Mauchline belles, 
 
 The Chairman gave the health of our beloved 
 Sovereign, the Queen, which was drunk with 
 all honours, and followed by the " Queen's An- 
 them," sung by a vocal band. The Chairman 
 then gave the health of the Prince Consort and 
 the Royal Family, which was heartily responded 
 to, and followed by " Rule Britannia." 
 
 The Chairman, in proposing " The Memory 
 of Burns," said : — Croupier, Ladies, and Gentle- 
 men,^In proposing the toast of the evening, 
 I beg leave to make a few observations. It 
 seems to be a natural feeling, as well as a 
 divine precept, " to give honour to whom 
 honour is due." Great men, whether from rank, 
 talents, or education, generally command re- 
 spect; and it is customary to celebrate the 
 birth and death of such characters by public 
 festivals. The anniversary of the birth of our 
 Sovereign is celebrated by every species of 
 loyalty throughout the British dominions. Our 
 greatest heroes, naval and military. Lord Nelson 
 and the Duke of Wellington, have had nume- 
 rous monuments erected to their honour, and 
 their deaths were celebrated by pompous fune- 
 rals. Homer, the father of poetry, the most 
 ancient profane writer, was so celebrated among 
 the Greeks, that seven illustrious cities disputed 
 the honour of having given birth to the match- 
 less poet. We now are met, in common with 
 many of our countrymen in all parts of the 
 world wherever the Anglo-Saxon language is 
 spoken, to celebrate the centenary or hundredth 
 anniversary of the birth of our Scottish min- 
 strel, Robert Burns. It is thought by some 
 critics that Burns was equally as extraordinary 
 by his fascinating conversation and English 
 composition, as by his native poetry ; and who, 
 but for his social excesses and roughness of 
 manner, might have been looked up to as 
 almost superhuman. There may be some pre- 
 sent who have seen him, been acquainted with 
 him, and can tell us all about the poet ; unfor- 
 tunately I am shut up to his works, and from 
 
MAUCHLINE. 
 
 341 
 
 these I shall now quote such passages as appear 
 well fitted to bring out his prevailing feelings 
 and sentiments, and extraordinary poetical 
 powers, and which will, I trust, convince you 
 and eveiy unprejudiced person that the honours 
 which are being lavished upon Burns are not 
 too much. Some great poets have chosen sub- 
 lime subjects for the theme of their muse — 
 such as the fall of man and the siege of Troy ; 
 but all nature, the most common incidents of 
 life, things animate and things inanimate, were 
 in turn the themes of Burns' versatile muse. 
 There is not, perhaps, a more despicable insect 
 in the range of animated nature than the louse: 
 yet the seeing of one on a lady's bonnet, in 
 Mauchline Church, in 1785, is made the theme 
 of an exquisite ode— composed probably to 
 humble the pride of the lady, and at the same 
 time to inculcate the grand moral lesson, self- 
 examination, with wliich the poem concludes. 
 The turning up of a raous^with the plough, 
 on the farm of Mossgiel, in 1785, is made the 
 theme of a pathetic ode to that animal. Were 
 all men possessed of feelings like those of the 
 bard, the act of parliament for the prevention 
 of cruelty to animals would remain a dead 
 letter. The- concluding lines of this piece are 
 so affecting, that we are in difficulties which to 
 pity most — the poet or the mouse. The epistle 
 to David (written in 1784), a brother poet, at 
 that time a member of the Tarbolton Bachelor's 
 Club, and ultimately a bailie in Irvine, con- 
 tains a spirited assertion of noble independence, 
 and traces happiness to its legitimate source. 
 In the " Cottar's Saturday Night " are por- 
 trayed and embalmed the manners, customs, 
 and religion of our Scottish peasantry. In the 
 concluding stanzas the poet estimates the happy 
 effects of such morality and religion, and 
 evinces his own piety and patriotism. With 
 these remarks, I beg to propose " The Memory 
 of our immortal Burns." 
 
 The toast was followed by three songs — "There 
 was a lad was horn in Kyle," " Ye Banks and Braes 
 0' bonnie Doon," and "0, wha's the Chiel," written 
 for the occasion by the Secretary. 
 
 The Kev. M. M'Gill, Eigg of Gretna, in 
 proposing " The Memory of Mrs. Burns," spoke 
 as follows: — Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, — 
 It gives me great pleasure to be amongst you 
 this evening. I come here as a Mauchline man, 
 to revisit the scenes of my youth, to meet with 
 old friends and familiar faces, and especially to 
 take part with this large and respectable com- 
 pany in celebrating the centenary of Kobert 
 Burns, the ploughman bard, " that peerless 
 peasant, the Prince of Scottish song. (Cheers.) 
 (Here he read a centenary song composed by 
 the Provost of Annan.) How unanimous is the 
 feeling, and how almost universal is the homage 
 
 which is this evening paid to the memory of 
 Burns. I believe that thousands upon thou- 
 sands are now doing honour to the rustic bard, 
 " whose lines were mottoes of the heart." With 
 his faiBe and his name all Scotland rings from 
 side to side, from John o' Groat's to the Land's 
 End, and especially from the Pentland Frith to 
 the English Channel. Yea, England itself is 
 this day doing honour to his memory ; and 
 border feuds, and border forays, and border 
 raids are forgotten ; and national jealousies, 
 once so powerful, are abandoned ; and English- 
 men and Scotchmen are this evening joining 
 heart and hand in honour of that poet, who, 
 though in many respects a national one, has yet 
 left a rich legacy to the Anglo-Saxon race. 
 All are vocal in his praise, and all, as we say 
 in Scotland, are bringing " a big stane to his 
 cairn." (Cheers.) The Ayrshire bard was one 
 of the most winning and instructive of all our 
 poets ; he was emphatically the poet of the 
 people, and possessed true poetic fervour and 
 inspiration. Look at the manliness, the inde- 
 pendence, the patriotism, the tenderness, the 
 simplicity, the honest pride, and noble genero- 
 sity of the poet ; these were Nature's rich heri- 
 tage to her darling child ; and a genuine love 
 of his poetry must and will elevate and refine 
 the spirit of the nation, as well as of the indi- 
 vidual. In proof of this, we appeal to those 
 matchless poems, "The Cottar's Saturday 
 Night," " A man's a man for a' that," " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled," and "Auld Lang- 
 syne ; " these and similar poems are equal, yea 
 superior, in sentiment, pathos, and expression, 
 to anything ever written in any language. 
 (Cheers.) These poems no poetaster can ever imi- 
 tate; and this is that which merits the centenary 
 of honour and fame which we now heartily accord 
 to the poet, and which justly merits the appro- 
 bation and admiration of the world. (Cheers.) 
 And now, Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, hav- 
 ing made these remarks concerning the poet, I 
 now come to the subject which I have to pro- 
 pose, viz., " The Memory of Mrs. Burns." 
 Mrs. Bums, as you all know, was bom, edu- 
 cated, and brought up in Mauchline. She was 
 born in February, 1765, and died in March, 
 1834, being in the 70th year of her age. Jean 
 Armour seems at their very first meeting to 
 have captivated the eye and heart of the poet ; 
 and although at that time there were many 
 reigning belles in Mauchline (but while I say, 
 at that time, I do not mean to insinuate that 
 there are now no reigning belles in Mauchline ! 
 I believe that they are numerous still, and that 
 the race has neither become extinct nor de- 
 teriorated.) I mean to say that although at 
 that time there were many reigning belles in 
 Mauchline, yet Burns gate her the preference. 
 
342 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 and hence we hear him saying, " But Armour's 
 the jewel for me o' them a'." Well, in the 
 course of time they were married, and Burns 
 found in his happy experience that his affec- 
 tions were not only not misplaced, but that 
 they were well placed, for she proved an excel- 
 lent wife, and a kind and affectionate mother. 
 Mrs. Burns was quiet in her disposition, kind 
 and unassuming in her manners, simple and 
 frugal in her tastes, and took great pleasure in 
 pictures, music, or flowers. Though she was 
 neither an enthusiast, nor a sentimentalist, nor 
 yet a blue stocking, yet she was a woman of 
 great cleverness, possessed great shrewdness, 
 and was a good discriminator of character. In 
 poetry her taste was superior ; her range of 
 reading was somewhat extensive, and her me- 
 mory was strong. Of the powers of her mind 
 her husband-bard was so well aware that he 
 read to her almost every piece he composed ; 
 and even he was not ashamed to own that he 
 frequently profited by her judicious remarks. 
 She was, in fact, a worthy helpmate — tlie part- 
 ner of his joys, the soother of his sorrows, and 
 the assuager of his griefs. I myself used to 
 call upon her when passing through or preach- 
 ing in Dumfries, and always received from her 
 a cordial welcome. She was kind and hospi- 
 table, made anxious inquiries about her rela- 
 tives and friends and acquaintances in Mauch- 
 line, and always rejoiced to hear of their pros- 
 perity. But here allow me to tell you an anec- 
 dote, which I have heard or read somewhere, 
 regarding Mrs. Burns. A little ragged boy, 
 selling ballads in Dumfries, called at a house 
 near where Mrs. Burns lived, and said — "I 
 would like to see her." " Weel," said the good 
 woman of the house, " go there and sell your 
 ballads, and you will see her." "But," said 
 the boy, " I dinna like ; I think shame to gang 
 tliere." However, he was taken to the house 
 and put into the kitchen, and Mrs. Burns being 
 informed of the circumstance, came in' and said 
 to the boy — " So you wish to see Mrs. Burns ?" 
 " O, ay," said the boy, " I would like to see 
 her." "Weel," said Mrs. Burns, "you see her 
 now ; I am Mrs. Burns." " Hout, touts," said 
 the boy, " you're jokin' me." "Why," said Mrs. 
 Burns, "why do you think Pm jokin' you?" 
 " Because," said the boy, with great simplicity, 
 " because Burns speaks about his honnie Jean!" 
 (Laughter.) In Marchj 1834, Mrs. Burns was 
 seized with a stroke of paralysis, and gradually 
 sunk, and drooped, and died. To use the 
 beautiful language of one — " Low lies the head 
 that was crowned with honour ; silent is that 
 tongue to which Burns anxiously listened ; 
 beamless is that eye that looked serenity and 
 sweetness; and the heart that beat with the 
 best affection has now become a clod of the 
 
 valley." I propose for your acceptance " The 
 Memory of Mrs. Burns." (Cheers.) 
 
 The Poet's Family, the Memory of the Dead, 
 and the Health of the Living, waa given by 
 Dr. Faulds; The Contemporaries of Burns 
 was given by Mr. A. Smith, who, in his address, 
 stated that there were now five of these in 
 Mauchline, and that their united ages amounted 
 to 400 years ; The Memory of Gavin Hamilton 
 was given by Mr. W. Smith, in a poem written 
 for the occasion ; The Heroines of the Poet 
 was given by W. H. Kilgour ; Rev. Mr. M'Gill, 
 given by tlie Croupier; The Chairman was 
 given by Mr. H. S. Nisbet. In the course of 
 his remarks, he stated that he was surprised 
 that not one of them had spoken about a monu- 
 ment to Burns in Mauchline; that if no other 
 way could be, the very causeway stones in the 
 cross of Mauchline were relics of the poet ; 
 and he doubted not but the Yankees would 
 offer them a dollar a-piece for them, and they 
 would thereby be enabled to get it up. 
 (Applause.) The Croupier was given by Mr. 
 Bruce Taylor. 
 
 The Chairman introduced Mr. Fairlie, who 
 read a poem written for the centenary, by an 
 old lady at Coatbridge, upwards of seventy 
 years of age, which met with great applause. 
 The Secretary read a speech from the " Auld 
 Langsyne" Association, New York, to their 
 brethren in Scotland ; also an apology from D. 
 Hamilton, Esq., saying that his want of health 
 was his reason for declining to take the chair 
 on this occasion, and thanking them for the 
 honour they had done him in visiting him dur- 
 ing the day. The brass band was in attend- 
 ance, and gave a number of overtures in good 
 style. A considerable amount of local talent 
 was also displayed in singing a good number 
 of Burns' songs — ^the vocal band, also Mr. and 
 Mrs. M'llveen, niece of Mrs. Burns, Miss 
 M'llveen, Mr. A. M'llveen, Mrs. Milton, Mr. 
 Ramsay, and Mrs. Crawford discharging this 
 part of the proceedings with considerable taste. 
 At the conclusion, the whole company joined 
 in singing " Auld Langsyne," when they dis- 
 persed in good spirits, all having been con- 
 ducted with great propriety. 
 
 Two balls were held in the town during the 
 evening, and one in Mossgiel barn. 
 
 One of the " chieftains of the pudding race," 
 designed to be used at Mossgiel during the 
 day, was reserved to be sent to Australia, to 
 be used on the next birthday of the poet. 
 
 MAXTON.— On Tuesday the 25th, a party 
 of gentlemen, to the number of sixteen, met in 
 Mr. Moffat's Inn, and dined together in honour 
 of the centenary of Burns' birthday. The 
 chair was occupied by Mr. Alex. Buehan, sur- 
 
MA YBOLE— MELROSE. 
 
 3+3 
 
 faceman, and Mr. Sibbald, Maxton Toll, offi- 
 ciated as croupier. The Memory of the im- 
 mortal Bard was drunk with great enthusiasm, 
 and toast and song afterwards kept the com- 
 pany merry till the time for separating. The 
 dinner was substantial, and the cooking and 
 serving first-rate, for which the company ex- 
 jiressed themselves highly gratified. 
 
 MAYBOLE.— The birthday of Scotland's 
 illustrious poet, and the centenary connected 
 therewith, were celebrated in the ancient capi- 
 tal of Carriok in a manner so successful as to 
 stamp on the memory of the townsmen of May- 
 bole an impression that will not soon be effaced. 
 The Magistrates and Town Council, the incor- 
 porate trades, under their respective deacons, 
 and hundreds of the townsmen, assembled on 
 the public green precisely at two — the two 
 instrumental bands bringing up from the town 
 the several bodies of trades, and the Royal 
 Arch masonic brethren. Bailies H. M'Clure 
 and W. Murray, with the Town Councillors, 
 formed the vanguard, and the Free Masons 
 brought up the rear of the entire procession. 
 Banners of every device and form, and colour, 
 emblems of mechanical skill, models of art, &c., 
 &c., were displayed, which, combined with the 
 powerful strains of the Carrick Brass Band, and 
 the fine tones of the Temperance Flute Band, 
 made the 25th of January one of the happiest 
 days ever recorded in the history of the " An- 
 cient Capital of the Kingdom of Carrick." At 
 the termination of the public procession and 
 demonstration on the public green, the senior 
 magistrate — Bailie M'Clure — seconded by the 
 junior magistrate — Bailie Murray — and coun- 
 cillors, entered the grand circle formed in the 
 green, and proposed three cheers" for the Queen, 
 which was answered by the entire multitude, 
 led by the brass band joining in " God save the 
 Queen." We were favoured most fortunately 
 with propitious weather, and there was a great 
 turn-out of country people. 
 
 The Dinneh. — At five p.m. the largest and 
 most influential assemblage — comprising about 
 200 gentlemen — ever held within the bounds 
 of Carrick, dined in the large hall of the saw- 
 mill works, fitted up and prepared for the cen- 
 tenary banquet by our excellent townsman, 
 Alex. Jack, Esq., pix)prietor of the works. 
 Trees, evergreens, and tricoloured flags were 
 made available in the way of decorating the 
 walls of the building, for which the committee 
 are indebted to Thomas Dykes, Esq., factor to 
 the Most Noble the Marquis of Ailsa. 
 
 The chair was occupied by Rev. John Thom- 
 son, West Church; and Bailie H. M'Clure, 
 Bailie William Murray, William Hannay, Esq., 
 writer, ex-Bailie Gilbert Muir, and John Cum- 
 
 ming, Esq., farmer, Auchenwind, officiated as 
 croupiers. The Chairman having asked the 
 divine blessing, the company partook of a most 
 excellent dinner, which was indeed highly 
 creditable to the purveyor, Mr. Murdoch of the 
 Buck's Head Inn. The Chairman having re- 
 turned thanks, and the cloth being removed, 
 commenced the proceedings by proposing the 
 Queen, Prince Albert and[ the Royal Family, 
 not forgetting the Earl of Carrick, the Prince 
 of Wales, and the heir apparent to the British 
 throne ; the Army and Navy, the Lord-Lieu- 
 tenant of the County, Viceroy of Ireland, Earl 
 of Eglinton — before and after which toasts 
 appropriate national and military airs were 
 played by the splendid brass band, and songs 
 were sung by several gentlemen. 
 
 In proposing the Memory of Burns the Scot- 
 tish Poet, the Chairman called attention to 
 the fact, that never in the annals of Scotland 
 had there been such a day. In every village, 
 town, and city, thousands were paying homage 
 to the memory of him whom Heaven had bless- 
 ed with distinguished and singular gifts of 
 mind. In the distant plains of the Himalaya, 
 Scotchmen and Scottish soldiers were doing the 
 same ; and on the banks of the St. Lawrence, 
 and over our broad Canadian possessions our 
 friends were commemorating the centenary of 
 our immortal poet. The Chairman reviewed 
 the detractors of the centenary — they are men 
 who cannot see that tlie moral providence of 
 God takes advantage of everything in creation 
 to uphold his name and extend his glory — and 
 such was the genius of the Scottish Bard, who, 
 while wrapped in humanity, was liable to 
 human frailties, but while soaring high in the 
 regions of the mental domain has produced 
 imperishable records of his spiritual tenderness 
 that fully entitle us to hail him as Prince of 
 Scottish Poets. 
 
 The Surviving Members of Burns' Family was 
 given by Bailie M'Clure, who informed the 
 meeting that Andrew Brown was present, a 
 full cousin of the Poet's by the maternal line. 
 
 The Most Noble the Marquis of Ailsa, by 
 William Hannay, Esq., writer, who took this 
 opportunity of remarking that Carrick, for the 
 last 100 years, never enjoyed the presence of 
 such an amiable and accomplished nobleman. 
 
 Many other toasts were given, and songs 
 were sung, and the happy meeting broke up 
 shortly after ten o'clock. 
 
 MELROSE. — The hundredth anniversary of 
 the birth of Burns was celebrated here with 
 general enthusiasm. The entrance gate to the 
 railway station and the ancient cross in the 
 Market Place were gaily decorated with ever- 
 
344 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 greens ; and a little after mid-day all the shops 
 were closed, and business suspended. 
 
 Between fifty and sixty gentlemen connected 
 with our town and neighbourhood dined toge- 
 ther in the George Hotel, and spent a most 
 happy and agreeable evening. Mr. Francis 
 Tocher occupied the chair, and Mr. James 
 Scott, Newstead, and Mr. Thomas Pearson, St. 
 Helen's, officiated as croupiers. An excellent 
 dinner was served up in Mr. Menzies' best 
 style, to which the company did ample justice. 
 
 The Chairman then gave in succession, each 
 introduced by brief but very appropriate ad- 
 dresses, "The Queen," "The Prince Consort 
 and Royal Family," and "The Army and 
 Navy," which were drunk with all the honours. 
 
 Mr. James Scott proposed, in fitting terms, 
 the health of His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, 
 Lord-Lieutenant of the County and Lord of 
 the Manor. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Pearson next gave the health of 
 the Hon. J. E. Elliot, the member for the 
 county. 
 
 The Chairman then rose to propose the toast 
 of the evening. He said — the name of Robert 
 Burns is embalmed in every Scottish heart, and 
 will maintain its place there so long as free- 
 dom, intelligence, and sociality exist in our 
 father-land ; and though the Ayrshire bard has 
 passed away from amongst us, still his immortal 
 gems of Scottish song live as in the days of 
 yore. Some of his pieces are characterized by 
 a perspicuity and naturality which excludes 
 the idea that they could ever ha,ve been com- 
 posed under a roof, but must have been done 
 under the inspiration of nature's beauties, with 
 the subject and the scenery all in view. They 
 were there that night to do honour to the me- 
 mory of that illustrious bard, whom they were 
 proud to call their countryman, and who had 
 bequeathed to them a legacy of genial humour, 
 of native wit, and of refined sentiment and 
 truth, without any hypocrisy. The candour 
 and simplicity of character displayed in all his 
 works could never have been assumed. The 
 attempt to disguise faults by an afiectation of 
 simplicity or sanctity can never be successful, 
 and merely adds to the faults possessed. And 
 if it be conceded that candour and simplicity 
 are ever associated with the highest excellence, 
 it is because such excellence is nothing more 
 than the expression of nature's own laws. 
 Beauty in poetry, as in everything else, can be 
 adorned only by strict adherence to simplicity 
 in all its details and accessories. Simplicity is 
 truth personified, and spurns every ornament 
 which in any way tends to disfigure it, and all 
 the complexity which might interfere with the 
 effect it aims to produce. Such a candour and 
 simplicity pervades the works of Robert Burns. 
 
 His songs have quite entranced readers who 
 were at first repelled by their dialect ; and it is 
 on tliese that his fame rests most firmly. No 
 lyrics in any language have a more wonderful 
 union of thrilling passion, melting tenderness, 
 concentrated expressiveness of language, and 
 apt and natural poetic fancy. But neither the 
 song, nor any of the higher kinds of lyric verse, 
 could have given scope for other qualities which 
 he has shown elsewhere. His aptness in seiz- 
 ing and representing the phases of human char- 
 acter, his genial breadth and keenness of 
 humour, and the strength of creative imagina- 
 tion with which he rises into the allegoric stnd 
 supernatural, but serve as an index to the 
 «xti'aordinary faculties of his mind. It has 
 been beautifully said that the strange tale of 
 Tarn o' Shanter is the essay-piece of a poet 
 who, if born under a more benignant star, 
 might perhaps have been a second Chaucer. 
 But let us not talk of what he might have been, 
 but rather what we find him — and this we are 
 sure we do when we say that, by his fine affec- 
 tions and noble ideas, he confers honour on his 
 country and on his class. (Applause.) In 
 this spirit, he proposed that they drink in si- 
 lence to the "Memory of Robert Burns, the 
 Scottish Bard." 
 
 The company having all responded to the 
 toast, a new and original song, written for the 
 occasion, entitled "Robin's Awa," was sung by 
 Mr. Thomas Emonds. " The Memory of Jean 
 Armour" was proposed by Mr. Manuel, follow- 
 ed by the song " Of a' the airts the win' can 
 blaw," by Mr. Thomas Stevenson. The beau- 
 tiful lyric, "Highland Mary," was also sung 
 by Mr. George Easton. Mr. Tliomas Murray 
 then gave, in an appropriate address, " The 
 Memory of Sir Walter Scott," after which Mr. 
 Emonds sung "Jock o' Hazledean." Other 
 toasts were given, and besides a number of 
 other songs, " Auld Langsyne" was sung at the 
 close by the whole company, who separated at 
 a seasonable hour. 
 
 Dinner in Hamilton's Hall The dinner 
 
 in Mr. Hamilton's Hall was attended by up- 
 wards of seventy of the sons of toil, who met 
 to celebrate the centenary of the immortal 
 bard. The room was decorated with ever- 
 greens, and at the back of the chair there hung 
 a large portrait of Burns, ornamented with lau- 
 rels and other emblems. Outside the hall a 
 Celt in full costume paraded, playing, in addi- 
 tion to pibrochs and coronachs, a variety of the 
 tunes set to the songs of Burns. The chair 
 was filled by Mr. Sutherland, Melrose, who 
 discharged his duties with great spirit, courtesy 
 and talent, and the company were very fortu- 
 nate in having secured the excellent services of 
 Mr. Robert Riddell as croupier. The poet's 
 
MELROSE. 
 
 345 
 
 own' grace having been repeated by the Chair- 
 man, the company did full justice to the fare 
 set before them. After the usual loyal toasts, 
 the Chairman proposed " The Army," coupled 
 ■with the two surviving sons of Burns. The toast 
 of the evening was then pronounced by the 
 Chairman, who gave a lucid account of the ca- 
 reer of Burns, dwelling particularly upon that 
 period of his life when the poet, so to speak, 
 was making himself, turning to every advantage 
 ■what learning he got at the parish school, and 
 extending that meagre scholarship by self-ap- 
 plication and self-teaching, which carried him 
 to that eminence which, with his natural gifts 
 of poetical genius, have raised him, an honest 
 ploughman, to the high position of the national 
 poet. The Chairman, in reviewing the char- 
 acter of Burns as a poet and as a man, advert- 
 ed to the religious views and feelings enter- 
 tained throughout his life, fsom the time when 
 he listened to his father's reading from the big 
 ha' Bible till he proved himself a religious poet, 
 by the composition of " The Cottar's Saturday 
 Night," and other works ; and above all by his 
 praiseworthy conduct as a husband and a fa- 
 ther, even to the last. The Chairman dwelt 
 emphatically upon the powerful effect which 
 Burns' poems had on all classes of Scottish so- 
 ciety, and often more particularly on those who 
 were far away from the land he loved so dear- 
 ly, and whose praises he sang so well. Martial 
 spirits were animated with his heroic songs. 
 In the drawing-room and in the cottage his 
 songs of love and of independence ever found 
 favour with the old and young. His sarcastic 
 poems displayed his biting wit and his rough 
 and ready common sense, and the crowning 
 effort of his genius was to be found in his fa- 
 cilities of description and narrative. The toast 
 was drunk in solemn silence three times. There 
 followed a number of other toasts, including 
 His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, Mr. Curie, 
 magistrate, Henry Scott Eiddell, Mr. Bobert 
 Bower, Mr. Hamilton and Fireside, the Chair- 
 man and Croupier, &c. 
 
 A great variety of songs, selected from the 
 works of Burns and other authors, were sung 
 during the evening, and the company, led by 
 Mr. Edmonds, sang "Auld Langsyne," after 
 having spent a most happy evening. 
 
 The ' People's Soiree,' in the King's Arms 
 Hotel, however, was the crowning effort of the 
 occasion. Upwards of 250 persons of both 
 sexes were computed to be present. John 
 Pattison, Esq., filled the chair, and introduced 
 the memory of Burns in a masterly and elo- 
 quent panegyric of our Scottish poet, which 
 was received with great applause. A song 
 written for the occasion by a member of the 
 committee was then sung, the audience joining 
 
 in the chorus. Very able and interesting ad- 
 dresses were delivered by Mr. William Sin- 
 clair, Mr. Walter Slater, Mr. William Aitchi- 
 son, Mr. Walter Hogg, Mr. Robert Baptie, and 
 Mr. M'Lauchian. Between the addresses, sev- 
 eral of our best and sweetest national lyrics 
 were sung with considerable taste and effect, 
 by Mr. David M'Donald, Mr. John Allan, Mr. 
 Craigie, and Mr. Robert Hunter. Readings 
 and recitations were also given by Messrs. Wil- 
 liam Lamb, John Abel, M'Lauchian, &c. A 
 fine brass band discoursed eloquent music in 
 the intervals ; and the hilarity and hearty good 
 feeling of the large company was kept up with 
 great glee throughout the whole evening. A 
 fine bust of Robert Burns, by our talented na- 
 tive artist, Mr. Andrew Currie of Darnick, 
 graced the hall, and on the motion of Mr. Wal- 
 ter Hogg, a respectful vote of thanks and ap- 
 probation was passed by the meeting to Mr. 
 Currie, testifying their respect and apprecia- 
 tion of his genius. Votes of thanks to the 
 Chairman, for the efficient discharge of his du- 
 ties — to the young ladies who so gracefully 
 superintended the tables — to the members of 
 committee who had so well got up and carried 
 through the whole affair, besides entertaining 
 
 the company with their addresses, songs, &c 
 
 to Mr. Aitchison, the croupier, &c. After- 
 wards, the whole meeting joined in singing 
 " Auld Langsyne," and then quietly dispersed, 
 after spending one of the most enjoyable even- 
 ings imaginable. 
 
 Masonic Demonstration The Masonic 
 
 Brethren of the independent Lodge of St. 
 John's, Melrose, celebrated the centenary of 
 Robert Burns in their Lodge Room. The 
 R.W.M. opened the lodge at eight o'clock, and 
 substantial refreshments having been provided, 
 the brethren spent the evening in a most cor- 
 dial and pkasant manner. Brother Peter Jar- 
 dine, R.W.M., occupied the chair, and dis- 
 charged its duties with ability and efficiency. 
 After some preliminary business, brother John 
 Brown, Halidon Mill, delivered an interesting 
 and very appropriate address upon the life and 
 genius of Robert Burns, our national poet. 
 Immediately thereafter, brother William Scott 
 entered, bearing a real Scotch haggis, and re- 
 cited to the company Burns' graphic poem on 
 the same subject. The " great chieftain of the 
 pudding race" was then thoroughly dissected, 
 and its contents partaken of by the brother- 
 hood ■with great relish. The R.W.M. then de- 
 livered a very eloquent speech on " Bums as a 
 Mason." In the course of his remarks he said 
 — No less proud were they to think that he 
 derived considerable advantages from that body 
 when living. It is evident, says a brother ma- 
 son, from the statements which he has placed 
 
346 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAKY. 
 
 on record, that it contributed greatly to his 
 happiness in admitting him in close and inti- 
 mate fellowship with the wise, intelligent, and 
 social, and furnishing him with opportunities 
 for enjoying the " feast of reason and the flow 
 of soul" in the most rational and ennobling 
 manner. It presented him also with, one of 
 the best fields that he could find for the im- 
 provement of his mind and the display of his 
 talents. In the school of the lodge he must in 
 a great measure have acquired that coolness of 
 demeanour, that dignity of deportment, that 
 fluency and propriety of expression, and that 
 acquaintance with philosophy and humanity 
 which so astounded and electrified the sages 
 and nobles of Edinburgh, and made his advent 
 in that capital one of the most remarkable inci- 
 dents in literary history. Instead of a clown- 
 ish, bashful, ignorant rustic, the most learned 
 and exalted citizens found that he was able to 
 take his place by their side ; and that in every- 
 thing in which intellect was concerned, he was 
 in some respects their equal, and in others 
 greatly their superior. Burns was principally 
 indebted to freemasonry for any little gleam of 
 prosperity that shone on his earthly pilgrimage. 
 It was the freemasons of Ayrshire who invited 
 him to their tables, who furnished him with 
 advice, who read his productions into fame, and 
 purchased and circulated the Kilmarnock edi- 
 tion of his poems. It was by the advice of his 
 brother mason, John Ballantyne of Ayr — to 
 whom he ascribed his poem " The Briggs of 
 Ayr" — that he repaired to Edinburgh as being 
 the fittest place for publishing. When Burns, 
 acting on this advice, set out for Edinburgh, 
 he had not, as he himself states, a single letter 
 of introduction in his pocket ; and we would 
 be quite at a loss to know how he was able to 
 form so sudden an acquaintance with the no- 
 bility and literati of the Scottish capital were 
 we not assured on good authority that he owed 
 this in a great measure to his appearance among 
 the masonic brethren. It was they who intro- 
 duced him into the best circles of society, who 
 put money in his purse to supply his wants, 
 who procured subscribers for the new edition 
 of his poems, who formed his companions in his 
 tours, who were his chief epistolary correspon- 
 dents, who gave him accommodation in their 
 houses, who obtained his appointment in the 
 excise, and who, last of all, put him in posses- 
 sion of a farm — the object of his desire. As 
 masons, we are proud that Eobert Burns was 
 enrolled in the ranks of our order, and we 
 should endeavour to imitate his ardent zeal, his 
 open and generous disposition, and his manly 
 and lofty independence. Song and recitation 
 followed, and perhaps in none of the numerous 
 companies assembled that evening, were the 
 
 songs and poetry of Burns sung and recited 
 with greater effect. Among tlie many pieces 
 recited by the brethren, the "Address to a 
 Haggis," by brother William Scott, with the 
 genuine article smoking-hot before him, met 
 with unbounded applause, as also did " Tam o' 
 Shanter," given in brother Emoud's most spir- 
 ited style. 
 
 Burns Centenary and the Poor. — Last 
 week, a subscription was got up by the inhabi- 
 tants here, and a sum collected (£1 12s. 6d.), 
 which enabled each of the poor on the paro- 
 chial list, residing in Melrose, to be supplied 
 with a four pound loaf, a pound of beef-steaks, 
 and a bottle of strong ale ; in addition to such 
 substantial fare, twelve of the number received 
 two ounces of tea. 
 
 MENS TRIE.— The good folks of this ancient 
 village — not usually the first, though not always 
 the last, in any good movement — inspired 1 y 
 the prevailing enthusiasm, and determined not 
 to be found wanting in contributing their mite 
 of honour to the name and memory of Scotia's 
 bard, resolved in fitting style to celebrate the 
 memory of his birth. Accordingly, on the 
 night of the 25th, a torch-light procession, 
 headed by the band, paraded the village, in- 
 finitely to the delight of auld wives and weans. 
 The School-room, festooned with evergreens 
 for the occasion, was filled by eight o'clock with 
 cheerful faces and merry hearts. The chair 
 was occupied, and the chairman's duties most 
 ably discharged, by Mr. John Tainsh, as worthy 
 a representative of Tam o' Shanter's trusty 
 crony as ever "leather raxed or drew." In an 
 address rich with native eloquence, and de- 
 livered in a style altogether inimitable, he 
 opened the evening's proceedings ; and after 
 all had done thorough justice to cheer more 
 substantial than olio or French ragout, song 
 and speech followed freely. 
 
 " The souter tauld his queerest stories," 
 
 and care for the night was banished. Dancing 
 was entered into with no slack spirit, and the 
 morning light was near ere it was thought 
 sufficient justice had been done to the genius 
 of Eobert Burns. 
 
 METHVEN.— Twenty-four of the leading 
 men of this village and neighbourhood sat down, 
 at four o'clock, to a sumptuous dinner, provided 
 by mine hostess of the Star Inn. 
 
 John Docter, Esq., banker, occupied the 
 chair ; while the duties of croupier were satis- 
 factorily discharged by Mr. Bell, parochial 
 teacher. The cloth being removed and the 
 usual toasts given and responded to, the Chair- 
 man gave " The Immortal Burns," and in a few 
 
MIDCALDEK— MIGVIE. 
 
 347 
 
 coraprehehsive remarks adverted to the genius 
 of Scotia's darling bard. He ably defended 
 him from the many insinuations that were heaped 
 on his memory by some persons at this time, 
 who seem to have such nauseous appetites, that, 
 instead of treading with caution and compassion 
 on the graves of the mighty dead, take special 
 delight to disentomb their faults. He concluded 
 by requesting the company to join in a bumper 
 to the memory of the poet, which was enthusi- 
 astically responded to. Many other very ap- 
 propriate toasts and addresses were given by the 
 croupier and other gentlemen present. About 
 seven o'clock the whole company adjourned to 
 the parish schoolroom, which was crowded, 
 there, in another way, to do honour to the 
 memory of the bard. Mr. Docter here again 
 occupied the chair. A soiree and concert was 
 held, when each one present was supplied with 
 fruit. We were then favoiyjed with a number 
 of the bard's sweetest and most enchanting 
 songs by Messrs. Sword and Marshall, and they 
 were ably assisted by a few young ladies be- 
 longing to the village, and the evening was 
 spent most harmoniously and passed off with 
 great eclat. 
 
 A number of the admirers of Eobert Burns 
 met in the Temperance Coffee Eooms of Mr. 
 M'Kenzie, to celebrate the centenary of " Scotia's 
 honoured bard." Mr. David Robertson, far- 
 mer, Cloag, in the chair. After the company 
 had partaken of an excellent supper, the Chair- 
 man then gave the toast of the evening. This 
 he did in a neat and concise speech, tracing the 
 faults of the poet in a great degree to the times 
 in which he lived, and applying the standard of 
 criticism to himself he so charitably inculcates 
 to others, when he says, " Let's gently scan our 
 brother man;" and portraying in glowing 
 colours his love of nature, his simplicity, and 
 above all, his independence as a man, and his 
 superiority as a poet. Other speeches followed; 
 while songs and recitations were not wanting 
 to give variety and zest to the evening's enter- 
 tainment. Being in a position to defy Forbes 
 Mackenzie, the meeting was kept up to the 
 " wee short hour ayont the twal." 
 
 MIDCALDER. — The centenary anniversary 
 of the birtli of Burns was celebrated here by 
 a public dinner in the head Inn. The Hon. 
 the Master of Torphichen occupied the chair, 
 supported by Lieutenant- Colonel Sir A. C. 
 Gibson Maitland, Bart, of Clifton Hall, Mr. 
 James Cochrane of Harburn, Dr. Watson, Mr. 
 J. D. Martin of Brotherton, Mr. James Stark, 
 Contentibus, &c., &c. — Mr. Peter M'Lagan, 
 jun. of Pumpherston, croupier. After the usual 
 loyal toasts, the Chairman proposed the " Me- 
 
 mory of Burns" in an eloquent and feeling 
 address. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Sir A. C. G. Maitland, 
 in returning thanks for " The Army," paid an 
 eloquent tribute to the genius of Burns, and the 
 noble patriotism which his writings inspired in 
 the breast of the British soldier. The company 
 was particularly delighted with the gallant 
 baronet's masterly reading of the Crystal Palace 
 Prize Poem. 
 
 The Croupier (Mr. M'Lagan), in his usual 
 felicitous manner, gave a pleasing and happy 
 sketch of the genius and character of Burns, 
 which he illustrated by appropriate quotations. 
 
 The evening was spent in the happiest man- 
 ner, enlivened by a variety of toasts, and by in- 
 strumental and vocal music, the airs and songs 
 being mostly those of the " immortal bard." 
 
 An original painting of the poet, by Fillans, 
 the property of the hon. Chairman, graced the 
 end of the room. 
 
 A handsome subscription (to which all pre- 
 sent contributed) was made in aid of the testi- 
 monial to the poet's nieces. About eighty 
 gentlemen were present. 
 
 " Auld Langsyne," sung by the whole com- 
 pany, concluded the entertainment. 
 
 MIDLEM. — A soiree was held here, in com- 
 memoration of the centenary of Robert Burns 
 — Mr. Muir, teacher, in the chair. After a 
 service of tea, the Chairman introduced the 
 business of the evening in a few appropriate 
 remarks, and was followed by Messrs. James 
 Sword and James Gray, who delivered excel- 
 lent addresses — the former upon the genius, and 
 the latter upon the history, of Burns. Mr. A. 
 Leyden, brother of the distinguished Dr. Ley- 
 den, sang "Afton Water," which formed the 
 subject of an able address by Mr. Arcliibald 
 Brown, Crags, upon the beauties of that sweet 
 lyric. During the intervals, a number of songs 
 and recitations were given by Messrs. Brack, 
 Grieve, Reid, Anderson, Carruthers, G. Sword, 
 and others, which tended to promote the greatest 
 harmony and sociality during the course of the 
 evening. 
 
 MIGVIE. — Upwards of 150 sincere admirers 
 of the national bard assembled early in the 
 evening, under the able presidency of Mr. Reid. 
 After the usual toasts, the Chairman, in happy 
 terms, gave the toast of the evening, pointing 
 out, in feeling language, the noble-heartedness, 
 the independence, and patriotism of the poet; 
 and the effective hold he has taken on the minds 
 of all classes. The toast was received with 
 subdued emotion. Mr. Cameron, Waterairn, 
 next gave " The Relatives of Burns." Other 
 toasts followed, and during the night songs and 
 
348 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 recitations from the writings of the inspired 
 bard were duly interspersed. The company, 
 after spending a very social night, separated at 
 
 MILNATHORT.— The Burns Centenary 
 Musical Festival here came off with great eclat. 
 Miss Richmond, from St. Andrews, sang several 
 of Burns' songs with much taste and feeling, 
 particularly " A man's a man for a' that," which 
 she gave with great animation ; Mr. Henderson, 
 from Edinburgh, and Mr. Air from Dunferm- 
 line, rendered the songs allotted to them in a 
 most able and efficient manner. The local 
 amateur band contributed much to the harmony 
 of the evening. The vocalists sung at great 
 disadvantage, the hall being crowded to excess, 
 in addition to a temporary gallery erected for 
 the occasion. Three of the family of Mr. Burns 
 Begg, (nephew of the poet) were present on 
 the occasion. A most interesting address on 
 " Burns and his works " was delivered by the 
 Rev. Mr. Young, and the meeting separated, 
 highly delighted with the evening's entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 MILNGAVIE. — Burns' centenary was cele- 
 brated here by a festival in the Town Hall — 
 Mr. H. Carmichael, East Chapelton, presiding, 
 and Mr. J. Findlay, croupier. After doing ample 
 justice to a most substantial dinner, the Chair- 
 man, in an appropriate speech, proposed " The 
 Immortal Memory of Scotland's Peasant Poet," 
 followed by the song of " Rantin' Robin," by 
 Mr. Bulloch. The Croupier then gave, " The 
 Noble and Manly Independence of Burns," fol- 
 lowed by " A man's a man." Mr. H. Ross, 
 jun., recited with excellent effect " Scots wha 
 hae," " Cottar's Saturday Night," " Man was 
 made to mourn," &c. Mr. R. Crawford being 
 called upon, gave an original ode on Burns and 
 his Works, prepared for the occasion. In addi- 
 tion to the songs already stated, Mr. Bulloch 
 and others gave a selection of the most popular 
 songs and poems of the poet ; the company se- 
 parating after singing " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 MINTLAW. — A party, chiefly from the 
 parish of Old Deer, joined by some of the Mint- 
 law people, celebrated the centenary of Burns' 
 birth at a banquet held within the Pitfour 
 Arms Inn, Mintlaw. The evening was princi- 
 pally spent in toasts, readings, and recitations, 
 appropriate to the occasion, and singing a num- 
 ber of Burns' best songs. 
 
 MOFFAT.— The centenary of Scotland's 
 poet, Robert Burns, was celebrated at Moffat, 
 by a public dinner in the Annandale Arms Inn. 
 About sixtv gentlemen sat at table. The hall 
 
 of the Inn was beautifully decorated. Tlie 
 sides were lined with illustrations of Scottish 
 life, festooned with holly leaves, and an inscrip- 
 tion in honour of the bard covered the wall 
 overhead of the chair. The chair was occupied 
 by Lawrence Anderson, Esq., Chapel, supported 
 on the right by James Johnston, Esq. of Bods- 
 beck, John Carruthers, Esq. of Mill, Thomas 
 Reid, Esq., Dr. Munro, &c.; and on the left by 
 James Brand, Esq., London, Thomas Welsh, 
 Esq. of Earlshaugh, Rector Neil, James Dick- 
 son, Esq., &c. The Croupier, Mr. James 
 Brown, was supported by Messrs. Russell, 
 Hetherington, Begg, French, &c. 
 
 The dinner consisted chiefly of Scottish 
 dishes, served up, as if Meg Dodds herself had 
 been revived for the occasion, and done the 
 cooking with her traditional skill. 
 
 The Chairman gave the usual loyal, patri- 
 otic and local toasts, and then spoke nearly as 
 follows: — Much has been said about the life 
 and writings of Burns. The most eminent poets 
 and ablest critics have rendered their testimony 
 in favour of his genius. Without patronage, 
 and possessing few advantages in early life, he 
 rose to the highest literary eminence, and has 
 obtained an influence over the hearts of his 
 countrymen which is more likely to increase 
 than diminish. 
 
 A difference of opinion exists among critics 
 as to the merits of his various productions. On 
 this subject it is unnecessary, to enter. In every 
 department of poetry which he tried he excel- 
 led. Where the variety is so admirable it is 
 difficult to judge and to select, but there is one 
 poem — " The Cottar's Saturday Night" — which 
 I cannot omit to mention. It is a true and 
 beautiful representation of the scenes of the 
 humble cottage, and the pious feelings and pa- 
 triotic sentiments which pervade that poem, are 
 worthy of the subject and infinitely glorious 
 to the poet. He who could sing how " the 
 sire turns o'er wi' patriarchal grace, the big ha' 
 Bible, and wales a portion with judicious care," 
 had a mind sensible of the vast importance of 
 religion, and a heart alive to the better feelings 
 of humanity. 
 
 As a writer of songs all agree that he is 
 unrivalled. The simple tales of the domestic 
 hearth, the ecstasy of young hearts, and the 
 delights of wedded love, are sung by him with 
 a truth and pathos which we seek for in vain in 
 any other author. His passionate love of na- 
 ture — ^his admiration of all that is lofty in sen- 
 timent and feeling — his sympathy with the 
 homely joys of rural life, mark him as the most 
 original of our poets. The fountain reflects 
 not more faithfully the wild flowers which deck 
 its margin, than the genius of Burns the affec- 
 tions and joys, the lights and shadows of Scot- 
 
MONANCE (St.)— MONIAIVE. 
 
 349 
 
 tish life. He has given an immortality to the 
 scenery of our country. Its streams, espe- 
 cially the Nith, the Ayr, and the Doon, flow 
 in song, and its mountains, braes, and woods, 
 are now seen in the undying light of his 
 genius. He has given an immortality to the 
 language of our country — our old Doric— the 
 taste for which was fast dying away, and he 
 commenced to build up a literature, which Sir 
 Walter Scott and John Wilson may be said to 
 have finished. 
 
 The variety in the department of song is 
 quite extraordinary. We have the happy greet- 
 ing of "Auld Langsyne;" the inimitable hu- 
 mour of "Duncan Gray;" the bacchanalian 
 revel of " Willie brewed a peek o' maut ; " the 
 wild patriotic fury of " Scots wha hae wi' Wal- 
 lace hied ;" the conjugal tenderness of " John 
 Anderson, my jo;" the fond affection and con- 
 stancy of "Wandering Willie;" the plaintive 
 hymn of " Afton Water ;" the solemn march of 
 the " Song of Death ;" the deep pathos ckf 
 "the Woodlark;" and the wrapt, but sad en- 
 thusiasm of " Mary in Heaven." 
 
 No better evideno^ia necessary of the cele- 
 brity of the writings of Burns than the recep- 
 tion they have met with. Go into the hum- 
 blest cottage in our land and you will find his 
 poems. It is related of Goldsmith, that being 
 with a friend on a visit to an English noble- 
 man, he found in his library a splendid copy of 
 his poems. " This," said Goldsmith in all the 
 pride of genius, and with the animation of gra- 
 tified vanity^-" this is fame, true and genuine 
 fame." " Pardon me," said his friend, " all 
 books may be purchased by the wealthy, but to 
 find my works in the cottages of the poor, and 
 to hear them repeated by the peasant in the 
 field is the certain pledge of immortality and 
 fame." 
 
 A chord is being struck this day, which will 
 vibrate among our children's children ; and the 
 demonstration throughout the land, and over 
 the world, which I expect to be a glorious suc- 
 cess, will do more to strengthen our nationality 
 than any thing that has occurred in our time. 
 I beg to propose the Immortal Memory of 
 Kobert Burns. The Chairman was repeatedly 
 cheered during the delivery of his address. 
 
 Many other eloquent speeches were made, 
 toast and song went yound, and after singing 
 "Auld Langsyne," the company separated at 
 half-past ten o'clock, much delighted with the 
 evening's proceedings. 
 
 MONANCE (St.)— At four p.m. a highly 
 respectable assemblage of gentlemen iirom differ- 
 ent parishes, comprising the agricultural, the 
 mercantile, the architectural, and the literary 
 talent of Fife, encircled the festive board in 
 
 honour of the occasion — A. Mackie, Esq., 
 Cairnbriggs, in the chair, E. Cowper, Esq., 
 Stenton, acted as croupier. After the usual 
 toasts the Chairman gave the Memory of Bums 
 in an eloquent speech. The octagenarian 
 Chairman afterwards sang, " My Nannie's 
 awa," with deep feeling and pathos, and the 
 croupier, who is a relative of the poet Cowper, 
 helped much to promote the general hilarity. 
 Boisterous, it is true, was the elemental con- 
 flict that raged without. The songs and 
 speeches were admirably adapted to the occa- 
 sion, and all were received with unanimous 
 applause. Another social meeting on the occa- 
 sion took place in the Town Hall, where the 
 merits of the poet were duly discussed, and his 
 centenary fully celebrated. 
 
 MONIAIVE This usually quiet and re- 
 tired village was on the 25th a scene of life 
 and excitement seldom or never before wit- 
 nessed. At half-past two o'clock "The Thistle 
 of Scotland Lodge" and other bodies walked 
 in procession through the village, preceded by 
 flags, banners, and band of music. Amongst 
 the flags was one that attracted much attention, 
 that of the Immortal Poet at the plough, while 
 the genius of poetry is throwing her inspiring 
 mantle over him — the ingenious production of 
 Mr. Jas. Thomson^ jun. 
 
 At four o'clock about 130 gentlemen sat 
 down to an excellent dinner in the New Hall, 
 provided by Mrs. Cranstoun. Robert M'Turk, 
 Esq., of Hastings Hall, ably discharged the 
 duties of the chair, supported by Mr. Kennedy 
 of Kirkland and Mr. M'Call of Caitloch. David 
 Morrine, Esq., efficiently acted as croupierj 
 supported by Mr. Hunter, woodmerehant, and 
 Mr. Kerr, Ingleston. After the usual loyal 
 toasts had been disposed of, the Chairman, in 
 proposing " The Memory of Burns," rose and 
 said : — Burns, although born in circumstances 
 the most adverse for the attainment of worldly 
 distinction, had, nevertheless, by the innate 
 force of his transcendent genius, achieved for 
 himself a position in the Temple of poetic 
 Fame, which had never been surpassed, and 
 seldom approached by any other whom Scot- 
 land has had the honour of producing. If 
 ever any man was entitled to be called our 
 National Poet, that man was Robert Burns. 
 In the writings of no other do we find so truly 
 and vividly portrayed the customs and manners, 
 the thoughts and feelings of Scottish life and 
 character, whieh he stereotyped in the language 
 of our native land, and in which he makes na- 
 ture herself give an utterance in accents of love 
 so pure and tender, — and 
 
 " Sweet is the smile when fond lovers meet, 
 And soft is the parting tear," 
 
350 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 in a wail of sorrow so intense that it rends the 
 heart as the reality did the breast of the Poet. 
 His patriotism is so chivalrous and devoted 
 that before he begins to fight the battles of his 
 country he dismisses from the ranks every 
 coward and traitor as unworthy to strike a 
 blow for her liberties, or even die in her cause. 
 There is a breadth, depth, and slyness in his 
 wit and humour as if he had dipped his pen in 
 the fountains of the human heart, and trans- 
 ferred to the pages the thoughts, the feelings, 
 and the workings he found there. He then at 
 considerable length pointed out some of the 
 most striking features of Burns' writings, and 
 contrasted the times in which he lived as most 
 unfavourable for a man of his ardent tempera- 
 ment and transcendent powers, when excess 
 was considered a virtue rather than a vice, 
 and concluded with a glowing eulogiura on 
 the Poet, characterizing him as a kind, warm- 
 hearted, honest, and independent man. There 
 was neither malignity nor duplicity in his na- 
 ture, and he was the uncompromising enemy 
 of hypocrisy, unfounded pretension, whether 
 arising from ignorance, presumption, or ances- 
 tral pride, when imaccompanied with personal 
 merit ; and ever ready to assert and warmly to 
 vindicate the dignity of human nature when 
 united to worth, in whatever rank or circum- 
 stance of life the individual might be. The 
 world was not only deeply indebted to Burns 
 for his own immortal writings, but also for 
 rescuing many of our beautiful national airs 
 from the stream of time, down which they 
 were fast flowing into oblivion, and imparting 
 to them an undying interest by uniting them 
 to his own immortal words. Into whatever 
 quarter of the world Scotsmen may travel or 
 take up their abode, there will they carry with 
 them the songs and the poems of Burns, and 
 there they will be sung, and read, and cher- 
 ished with all the fondness of patriotism by the 
 millions who speak the language of Britain. 
 
 Many local and national toasts were given, 
 songs were sung, and the meeting was alto- 
 gether a great success. 
 
 MONYMUSK.— A company met at Mrs. 
 Grant's Inn, Village, and worthily celebrated 
 the Bard's birthday. There was plenty of 
 vocal and instrumental music, the latter con- 
 ducted by Mr. Anderson, jun. 
 
 ^ MONTROSE.— The centenary of the "Bard 
 o' bonnie Doon " was celebrated here with an 
 enthusiasm equal to any similar demonstration 
 in any part of the country. The day was very 
 stormy, but fortunately clear and dry. The 
 bells rang forth merry peals from an early hour 
 in the morning, while the national flag floated 
 
 in the breeze from the flag-staff on the Town 
 Buildings. The seamen, not to be behind- 
 hand in adding their quota on the occasion, 
 displayed their colours on their respective 
 vessels in the harbour. By about mid-day the 
 streets began to wear a holiday appearance, 
 and about two o'clock, when the public works 
 and places of business were closed, the streets 
 were thronged with the inhabitants, all seemingly 
 bent upon doing honour to the memory of the 
 immortal Bard. The brethren of the " Mystic 
 Tie " having resolved to give the centenary of 
 their Brother an enthusiastic recognition, made 
 preparations for having a grand procession. To 
 heighten the effect of this display they invited 
 the various lodges and trades to join them. 
 Accordingly, a grand procession formed in the 
 Links between two and three o'clock. Lead- 
 ing the van were two horses drawing a plough, 
 held by a man dressed in a garb similar to that 
 worn by Burns when he "held the plough." 
 The representation was certainly good, and 
 suggested in the mind of the onlooker an idea 
 of the greatness of the genius of the man who, 
 while engaged at this hdlnely occupation, pro- 
 duced works that have made his name immor- 
 tal. Following the plough were a number of 
 horsemen mounted. Then came the Masonic 
 Lodges. After the mystic brethren came the 
 Lodges of Gardeners and Odd Fellows, bearing 
 the various insignia of their orders. Next 
 came the Trades, and from the number of 
 models, &c., exhibited, we should presume that 
 the spare hours of many of the craftsmen had 
 been zealously devoted to the construction of 
 the beautiful specimens of workmanship ex- 
 hibited. The town and the streets were densely 
 crowded by enthusiastic and delighted specta- 
 tors. On arriving at the Town Buildings, 
 they were addressed, in a few well-chosen and 
 humorous remarks, by Adam Burnes, Esq. 
 After three cheers to the memory of the Na- 
 tional Bard, they separated. 
 
 The Dinner in Guild Hall. — At four 
 o'clock, about 150 gentlemen sat down to a 
 sumptuous dinner in the Guild Hall, which 
 had undergone a complete metamorphosis for 
 the occasion by the Messrs. Japp. Above the 
 chair was a very faithful portrait of Burns, 
 crowned with laurel ; and above that was hung 
 a banner, on which was inscribed the motto, 
 "Nemo me impune lacessit." At the other 
 extremity of the hall were the words, in large 
 gilt letters, "A man's a man for a' that;" 
 underneath which was hung a beautiful en- 
 graving of Burns arid his Highland Mary. 
 Adam Burnes, Esq., occupied the chair; and 
 was supported right and left by Provost Napier; 
 A. Cowie, Esq.; R. Cowie, Esq.; V. Clirehugh, 
 Esq.; David Mackie, Esq.; Charles Brand, Esq.; 
 
MONTROSE. 
 
 351 
 
 Mr. Alexander Smart ; A. Foote, Esq.; Henry 
 Forsyth, Esq., Procurator-Fiscal of the County ; 
 P. Lindsay, Esq. ; James Barclay, Esq., writer, 
 Forfar, &o. The dinner was served up by Mr. 
 Crookshank in his usual first-rate style. The 
 Caledonian Band played a number of favourite 
 tunes during dinner and between the toasts. 
 On the removal of the cloth, and after the 
 usual preliminary toasts, 
 
 The Chairman rose to propose the toast of 
 the evening, " The Immortal Memory of Robert 
 Burns." He said — ^Gentlemen, We are as- 
 sembled here to-day on a grand and important 
 occasion, and one that has no parallel in the 
 annals of Scotland, or perhaps in those of any 
 other country in the world. We are not met 
 to testify our respect for any monarch, victor, 
 or statesman, from whom we can expect future 
 favours or future triumphs. We are met to 
 proclaim our admiration of genius — the genius 
 not of the living, but of one whose dust has for 
 two generations mingled with the "clods of the 
 valley." I have said that we have met to ho- 
 nour no monarch, unless, indeed, we view the 
 immortal bard of Scotland as a monarch who 
 has wielded his sceptre over the realms of 
 thought, and who will continue to do so while 
 the literature of Scotland or of Great Britain 
 exists. (Cheers.) You are aware, gentlemen, 
 that it has been the practice of all nations to 
 honour those illustrious men who lived among 
 them. It has been their desire to reward them 
 when living, and to remember them when dead. 
 In proof of this the temple of Fame was cele- 
 brated in ancient history, and the statues of 
 many great and illustrious men filled its niches. 
 It is honourable to ourselves to celebrate genius, 
 for it connects us with it by reflecting on us 
 the brightness of its splendour. Gentlemen, that 
 desire for posthumous fame, to which I have 
 just referred, is natural to the human mind ; 
 and that desire, as appears from several remark- 
 able instances in his own works, animated the 
 heart of Robert Burns. You will no doubt 
 recollect his pathetic lament for the untimely 
 fate of the poet Ferguson, over whose ashes 
 Burns, out of his scanty means, erected a mon- 
 ument on which was inscribed : — 
 
 " No sculptured marble here, nor pompous lay — 
 'No storied urn, nor animated bust:' 
 This simple stone directs pale Scotia's way 
 To pour her sorrows o'er her Poet's dust ! " 
 
 (Cheers.) Again, it may be remembered, on 
 the occasion of the inauguration of the statue 
 to the memory of the author of " The Seasons," 
 he addressed the shade of Thomson, and con- 
 cluded with the verse : — 
 
 " So long, sweet poet of the year, 
 Shall bloom that wreath thou well hast won; 
 
 While Scotia, with exulting tear, 
 Proclaims that Thomson was her son." 
 
 And are we not now with exulting tear pro- 
 claiming that Robert Burns is Scotia's son ! 
 On another occasion the immortal bard, whose 
 memory we this day celebrate, made a most 
 afiecting allusion to the authors of the ancient 
 ballads of Scotland. He says — "There is a 
 noble sublimity and a heart-melting tenderness 
 in some of our ancient ballads, which show 
 them to be the work of a masterly hand; and 
 it has even given me many a heart-ache to re- 
 collect that such glorious bards — bards who 
 very probably owed all their talents to native 
 genius, yet have described the exploits of 
 heroes, the pangs of disappointment, and the 
 meltings of love, with such fine strokes of 
 nature — that their very names (oh ! how morti- 
 fying to a bard's vanity ! ) are now buried 
 among the wreck of things that were." (Ap- 
 plause.) Such, gentlemen, has not been 
 destined to be the fate of Robert Burns, whose 
 fame extends to, and is echoed at this moment 
 in, every shire, city, and town, and on every 
 hill and valley, of broad Scotland. (Great 
 cheering.) The heather is indeed on fire, and 
 the signals of triumph are seen from every in- 
 tellectual height ! (Applause.) In Edina, 
 Scotia's darling seat, at this moment the elite 
 of the land are sounding the paeans of triumph 
 over genius ; and the busy hum of industry is 
 hushed in the stirring capital of the West, to 
 give place to similar demonstrations — (applause) 
 — and to allow every class, from the philosophic 
 Brewster to the humblest artisan, to sing the 
 praises of this child of song. (Cheers.) This 
 occasion, gentlemen, is one of the greatest that 
 can be imagined, because it displays intellect 
 struggling through the bushes and entangle- 
 ments of the world, and reaching the highest 
 pinnacle that its fellow-man can place it on. 
 But, gentlemen, as the power of the sculptor is 
 shown by the " statue that enchants the world," 
 and as the monument of the architect is dis- 
 played in the lofty dome when we " look 
 around," so the genius of the poet is reflected 
 in his works — in his thoughts which breathe 
 and his words which burn. (Hear, hear.) In 
 a short address, such as I can now venture to 
 give to you, assembled at a social board, it 
 would be impossible to detail at any length the 
 grounds of our admiration of the genius of 
 Robert Burns. All men are more or less 
 affected by the pleasures of poesy; and the 
 great Creator has gifted some of them with a 
 more vivid perception, and consequently more 
 vivid power of description of the beauties of 
 nature. He has scattered objects of beauty 
 with an unsparing hand over the verdant carpet 
 of the world, and our natural feelings lead us 
 
352 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 to admire them, and to " look up from nature's 
 works to nature's God." (Cheers.) But we are 
 not left to nature as our guide in this delightful 
 study. We are commanded, in perhaps the 
 most comforting passage of Holy Writ, to " be- 
 hold the lilies of the field," and are told with a 
 voice of authority which none can gainsay, that 
 " Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like 
 one of these." Who can say, then, that the im- 
 mortal bard of Scotland, when he exclaimed — 
 
 "Wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower, 
 Thou'st met me in an evil hour, 
 For I maun crush amang the stour 
 Thy slender stem ; 
 To spare thee now is past my power, 
 Thou bonuie gem," 
 
 was not fulfilling part, at least, of the Divine 
 command ? (Hear and cheers.) The cultiva- 
 tion of poetical literature, gentlemen, not only 
 elevates the mind, but it adds immensely to the 
 pleasures of those who pursue it. Those who 
 delight in poetry, it is well known, have a new 
 sense added to their enjoyment. But, gentle- 
 men, why need I describe to you the advan^ 
 tages of poetry ? The genius of Robert Burns 
 is reflected in his works. Even at this in- 
 stant of time, while I am addressing you, the 
 thoughts of some of us whose locks are siller 
 grey are gently drawn back to the scenes of 
 early childhood, " when we ran about the braes, 
 an' pu'd the gowans fine" — and when we 
 "paidlet i' the burn, in days o' langsyne." 
 Others of us, alas ! are painfully reminded in 
 the beautiful language of our own poet of the 
 transitory nature of human pleasures, which 
 
 "Are like the snow-fall in the river, 
 A moment white — then melt for ever; 
 Or like the borealis race. 
 That iJit ere you can point their place.; 
 Or like the rainbow's lovely form. 
 Evanishing amid the storm." 
 
 Gentlemen, I presume you are so famUiar with 
 the works of Burns that it would only be a 
 waste of time in me now to glance at their 
 beauties. Were I to do so, I might refer, for 
 instance, to " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," 
 — (loud applause) — which one of the most 
 learned of his country has said should be sung 
 with the throat of the whirlwind — stirring as it 
 does the warm blood in the heart of every 
 Scotchman, at the recollection of the valour 
 and patriotism of its heroes. Gentlemen, the 
 songs of Burns will meet our ear, and will 
 shine like stars in the intellectual firmament on 
 which we are to gaze this evening. (Renewed 
 cheers.) The power of Burns as a poet, how- 
 ever, was not limited to any particular depart- 
 ment. His address " To Mary in Heaven " is 
 perhaps the most pathetic ode' that has, ever 
 been penned, and I may be excused on such an 
 
 occasion as this in quoting at least one verse of 
 it which appears to me to equal, if not excel, 
 anything that ever was written: — 
 
 " Ayr, gurgling, kiss'd his pebbled shore, 
 
 O'erhung with wild woods, thick'ning green; 
 The fragrant birch, and hawthorn hoar, 
 
 Twin'd am'rous round the raptured scene; 
 The flowers sprang wanton to be prest. 
 
 The birds sang love on every spray ; 
 Till too, too soon, the glowing west, 
 
 Proclaimed the speed of winged day." 
 
 (Applause.) This verse describes the beauty 
 of the scene so vividly that one would almost 
 imagine himself listening to the gurgling river, 
 and obliged to stoop to avoid entanglement 
 amidst the " wild woods, thickening green." 
 (Applause.) There is another and a very 
 beautiful and touching passage in the works of 
 Bums to which I would draw your attention, 
 as evincing his aspirations to be useful to hia 
 own beloved country. He says: — 
 
 "A wish, — I mind its power, — 
 A wish that to my latest hour 
 
 Will strongly heave my breast, 
 That I, fdr puir auld Scotland's sake, 
 Some usefu' plan or beuk could make. 
 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 " The rough burr-thistle, spreading wide 
 Among the bearded beai", 
 I tui'ned the weeder-clips aside. 
 And spared the symbol dear." 
 
 I shall now, gentlemen, refer to Robert Burns 
 in a somewhat different character from that of 
 a poet. I shall refer to him as a philosopher — 
 as one of those men who, belonging to the 
 body of the people, had caught suiflBcient educa- 
 tion to raise themselves a renown great, glori- 
 ous, and enduring, as that of the most learned 
 or most exalted of mankind — (cheers)— as one 
 of those who- are luminous proofs that genius is 
 not dependent on art, and can speak from heart 
 to heart the living language of those passkms 
 and emotions which console in distress and 
 hardwi to endurance-^(renewed applause) — as 
 one of those men of whom it has been said, 
 " They are the starry lights that glitter on the 
 verge of that dawn on which mankind shall 
 emerge to its' true positicMi — th« many being 
 the enlightened spirits, and the few the weak 
 exceptions, shrinking like shadows from the 
 noon-day of human progress." (Great, cheer- 
 ing.) Burns taught, in fact, that to be a man 
 was the grand distinction, and that all other 
 distinctions were but the cltothes that wrap the 
 figure, while the figure itself was the real thing 
 — that without the man these were nothing, 
 
 had no value, could have no existence that 
 
 without that solid, cewtral, and sentient mon- 
 arch, titles are hut as air; gay clothes but the 
 furniture of a Jew's shop; great houses but 
 
MONTROSE. 
 
 3J3 
 
 empty, useless shelves; carriages no better tlian 
 wheelbarrows. (Cheers.) This Burns held to 
 be the grand principle. 
 
 " The poor Indian wliose untutored mind 
 Sees God in clouds, and hears him in the wind," 
 
 might imagine some superiority attached to his 
 feathered chief; but it was well to impress on 
 the world that an enlightened people should 
 look upon rank and title in its true aspect. 
 (Hear, hear.) It was well to let the no.ble 
 understand that they were not to presume, and 
 to let the masses understand that their feet 
 were set on the firm rock of eternal truth. 
 (Cheers.) The man who breathes the soul of 
 rational dignity into the minds of the people is 
 the greatest of public patriots, and the words — 
 
 " A man's a man for a' that," 
 
 engraved in your hearts in letters more enduring 
 than adamant — while they rJtig in our own age, 
 will reverberate for ages to come, at each period 
 shaking from its foundation the insolence of 
 tyranny and oppression, and putting to the 
 blush the meanness of subserviency, (Loud 
 applause.) It has been said that every man of 
 genius feels within himself a consciousness of 
 his great ability and of the influence he pos- 
 sesses over the minds of his fellow-men; and a 
 remarkable prediction by Burns liimself appears 
 in one of his own letters, sufficient to startle us 
 now. When warned to act and not to think, 
 he said — " Burns was a poor man from birth, 
 but the sterling of his honest worth no poverty 
 could debase" — (cheers) — "and," (he asks,) 
 " Does any man tell me that my full efforts can 
 be of no service, and that it does not belong to 
 my humble station to meddle with the concerns 
 of a nation ) I can tell him that it is in sucli 
 individuals as I that a nation has to rest both 
 for the hand of support and the eye of in- 
 telligence. (Hear, hear, and applause.) Tiie 
 uninformed mob may swell a nation's bulk; the 
 titled tinsel and courtly throng may be its 
 feathered ornament; but the number of those 
 who are elevated enough in life to reason and 
 to reflect, yet low enough to keep clear of the 
 venal contagion of the court — these are a na- 
 tion's strength." (The toast was rapturously 
 i^eceived, and was drunk with great enthusiasm.) 
 
 Mr. White, accompanied by Mr. R. Law on 
 the harmonium, sang, " There was a lad was 
 born in Kyle," in a masterly manner, after 
 which the band played, " Kind Robin lo'es me." 
 
 The Chairman then introduced Mr. Smart, 
 tlie poet, a native of Montrose, who was re- 
 ceived with great applause. 
 
 Mr. Smart, after paying some complimentary 
 remarks on the genius of Robert Burns, recited 
 a beautiful poem, composed by himself for the 
 
 occasion. During the delivery he was fre- 
 quently interrupted by the hearty plaudits of 
 the company. 
 
 Mr. P. Lindsay also sung a song suited for 
 the occasion, which was rapturously received. 
 
 The Chairman then gave " The Day and a' 
 wha honour it," which was drunk with all the 
 honours. 
 
 Mr. Clirehugh here sang, in first-rate style, 
 " Blessings on the day." 
 
 After several other toasts and songs had 
 been given. Bailie Greig proposed " The Me- 
 mory of the Brave in our Day," in an eloquent 
 speech, in the course of which he said: — 
 During the Afghan war, our townsman, the 
 late lamented Sir Alexander Burnes, the 
 brother of our worthy chairman, and a near 
 relative of the national bard whose birth we 
 have to-day met to celebrate, fell a victim to 
 intrigue, while, if the policy indicated by him 
 had been followed by the government of the 
 day, the Afghans might have become our 
 peaceful allies, and our army been saved from 
 almost total annihilation. Before this mournful 
 event took place, Burnes had passed through a 
 brilliant career. He had ))enetrated into the 
 heart of Central India, retraced the greater 
 part of the route of Alexander, surveyed the 
 kingdom of Porus and Taxiles, sailed on the 
 Hydaspes, crossed the Indian Caucasus, beheld 
 the scenes of the inroads of Gengis and Tim- 
 roud and Baber ; but more than these, he had 
 detected a new pathway by which our Indian 
 possessions might be invaded. We had our 
 heroes during the Crimean war, and we cannot 
 forget the noble stand which Sir George Cath- 
 cart, and those who fell with him, made on tlie 
 bloody field of Inkermann. Neither can we 
 forget our band of heroes who fell fighting the 
 battles of their country during the late struggle 
 in India. Who cannot but admire the conquer- 
 ing march of Sir Henry Havelock, and his 
 small band of heroes, to inflict justice upon the 
 perpetrators.. of the massacre of Cawiipore, and 
 for the relief of the beleaguered garrison at 
 Lucknow. In Sir Henry Havelock we had the 
 soldier and the Christian, and his career clearly 
 proves that his duty to the King of kings did 
 not unfit him to perform his duty to his Queen 
 and country, but rather enabled him to do so 
 in a far more eminent degree. In fact, his 
 march to Lucknow reminds one of the successes 
 of the armies of Israel recorded in holy writ. 
 Although Sir Henry Havelock was not a Scotch- 
 man, we can almost claim him as such, consider- 
 ing his intimate connection with the gallant 
 78th, and the great interest which he always 
 took in his Highlanders. We had also Generals 
 Nicholson and Neill, who nobly did their duty 
 at Delhi, Cawnpore, and Lucknow; and Sir 
 
354 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAKY. 
 
 William Peel, with his naval brigade, who 
 bravely lent assistance to the army at the siege 
 of Lucknow and other parts of India. On the 
 present occasion we cannot forget that noble 
 youth, the late Lieutenant George Holmes 
 Burnes, the nephew of our chairman, who, out 
 of kindness of heart to save the life of an inno- 
 cent and unprotected child, was taken captive 
 by the Sepoys, and after having been detained 
 a prisoner for some months, was blown from 
 the mouth of a gun. These and many others 
 of our native sons who might be particularized 
 fell nobly in services of their Queen and coun- 
 try, after having achieved many successes in 
 their behalf, showing that when an emergency 
 arises we may still rely upon native patriotism 
 and valour to repel the attacks of any enemy 
 by which our country or its dependencies may 
 be assailed. 
 
 " Be Bntain still to Britain true, 
 Amaiig ourselves united, 
 For never but by British hands 
 Maun British wranga be righted." 
 
 Bailie Savegb (croupier), in introducing 
 " The Poets of Scotland," said : — Thanks be to 
 God, the flame of poetry still burns brightly in 
 the breasts of Scotland's sons ; and the harp 
 still sings responsive to their touch. Whoever 
 doubts this, let him but turn to the pages of 
 our periodical literature, or even the columns 
 of our newspaper press, and he will find there 
 poetic effusion sufficient to maintain, nay, even 
 create a country's fame. But, better still, look 
 we into the collected product of an Aytoun, 
 and say whether, in his poem of "Both well," 
 or in his " Lays of the Cavaliers," we do not 
 find a spirit and genius hardly inferior to a 
 Scott himself. Or glance you into the poems 
 of a Smith, and tell me if you do not find a 
 cadence and a sweetness there of which a 
 Campbell might have been proud. Or peer 
 we into the " Gaberlunzie's Wallet," or into 
 " Bonnie Bonelly," " Ilka blade of grass," or 
 " Castles in the Air," of a Ballantyne, and shall 
 we not descry a purity and sweetness which 
 reminds us of the happiest efiusions of Tanna- 
 hill, or almost Burns himself? But to come 
 nearer home ; Montrose, which has contributed 
 freely to that galaxy of names that add to our 
 nation's glory, has also given her moiety to the 
 shrine of the muse ; for, while she has given a 
 Hume to the senate, a Burnes to the army, a 
 Brown and Burnet to science, and a Duke to 
 the public mart, has she not also given a 
 Bo wick and a Smart to the field of poesy? 
 True, the first of these was snatched from us 
 before the great earnest he put forth of a talent 
 that time and circumstance only required to 
 secure for him a niche in the Temple of Fame, 
 
 But Smart still-lives to enjoy the homage paid 
 to ripened genius. After a well-merited eulo- 
 gium on the poems of Mr Smart, the Croupier 
 concluded as follows : — I will not say more in 
 the presence of himself, but, in conclusion, will 
 simply ask you to pledge a bumper to " The 
 Poets of Scotland," and with that toast to 
 couple the name of our local laureate, Mr. 
 Smart ; and while I do so, I would convey to 
 him the great pleasure we have experienced in 
 finding him amongst us this evening, and to 
 see in that the self-denial which has enabled 
 him to quit the allurements of our metropolis, 
 on a day of such high festival, to join his fel- 
 low-townsmen in laying their incense upon the 
 humble altar we have erected this evening to 
 the genius of the immortal Burns. (Loud 
 cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Smart made an adequate reply, and 
 recited his humorous poem of "Madie's Schule." 
 
 The Chairman, in proposing " The Admirers 
 of Burns in Foreign Lands," said: — Though the 
 electric telegraph be fractured, the telegraph of 
 thought still links men together throughout 
 the world. 
 
 "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." 
 
 And how many touches of nature have we in 
 the works of the immortal Burns. In giving 
 this toast, I call on you to couple it with the 
 New York Burns Club, whose zeal for the fame 
 of the poet has stood pre-eminent ; and at this 
 hour it is probable that a sentiment from Mon- 
 trose is echoing in their hall, forwarded by me 
 to be given this night. (Cheers.) Mr. Clire- 
 hugh, who represents that Club so ably and 
 effectively, will no doubt return thanks for the 
 toast. However, the toast seems to imply a 
 revolution and a subordination of the British, 
 by converting us all into "United States." 
 (Cheers and laughter.) Mr. Burnes concluded 
 by stating that a document from the New 
 York Burns Club, which was in the hands of 
 the Secretary, and would be read by him, had 
 been sent to Mr. Clirehugh, authorising him to 
 represent that Club at any meeting in whatever 
 part of Scotland he might be on the 25th. 
 The Secretary having read the document, 
 Mr. CuREHDGii rose, and was loudly cheered.' 
 He said, — Gentlemen, I appear here now in 
 the character of a stranger — I appear in the 
 character of a citizen of the United States. 
 (Cheers.) I appear, likewise, as ex-president 
 of the Burns Club of New York. Without 
 egotism, I may say that I was the father of 
 that Club, and for sixteen years presided over 
 its meetings, so that you may suppose I have 
 as deep an -interest in the institution as if it 
 was one of my own children. I can tell you, 
 Scotchmen meeting here in vour own native' 
 
MOREBATTLE—MUIRKIRK, 
 
 355 
 
 land, that you know nothing of the feelings of 
 Scotchmen abroad. You may walk the streets 
 of New York, or of any town of the United 
 States, and it is true you hear English spoken ; 
 but on observing the habits and characters of 
 the people, you feel that you are in a foreign 
 land. But a Scotchman never feels himself 
 away from home anywhere. (Laughter.) I 
 can tell you, as honourable to the American 
 character, that, go where you choose through- 
 out the States, if you have that within you as 
 a Scotchman, you will always have the right 
 hand of brotherhood and fellowship held out 
 to you. (Cheers.) No greater honour has been 
 done to our poet anywhere than in America. 
 At all our Burns' meetings a large minority 
 were always Americans. On my first visit to 
 the Natural History Museum at Washington, I 
 was no less surprised than gratified to find two 
 pillars erected at the entrance to the room, on 
 one of which was Washington, and on the 
 other Burns — (cheers) — and between the two 
 stood the printing-press of Franklin. No more 
 honourable position could ever have been asked 
 for our bard than to occupy a niche along with 
 the glorious Washington. (Loud cheers.) I have 
 received a toast from the New York Club, 
 which I shall give you as a delegate from that 
 Club. I have returned to them another, to a 
 delegate there as representing this meeting, 
 and I am sure by this time of the evening it is 
 extremely probable that it has been given. If 
 the telegraph had only been working, we 
 should have had a direct message to tell us. 
 (Cheers.) Mr. Clirehugh concluded by giving 
 the following toast from New York : — " Scotch- 
 men the world over, whose souls can appreciate 
 the poetic genius of Burns, whose good sense 
 can imitate his steady independence, and whose 
 sociality gathers them together in honour of 
 the centenary of his birth." (The toast was 
 drunk with all the honours.) 
 
 Many other toasts were given and songa 
 were sung ; Mr, Clirehugh's singing contri- 
 buting much to the delight of the meeting, 
 which was altogether such as might have been 
 e-xpected in a place with which the memory of 
 Burns is so intimately associated. 
 
 MOREBATTLE.— The centenary of Ro- 
 bert Burns was celebrated here by a public 
 supper in the Temple Hall Inn. The supper 
 was served up in first-class style by Mrs. Hall, 
 the respected hostess, giving every satisfaction 
 to the partakers, and at the same time doing 
 honour to Mrs. Hall for the good taste dis- 
 played in all the arrangements. Mr. William 
 Laidlaw, shoemaker, Morebattle, ably dis- 
 charged the duties of the chair; while Mr. 
 Thomas Laidlaw, Tofts, officiated as croupier. 
 
 After partaking of supper, and the cloth hav- 
 ing been removed, the Chairman gave the usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts, which were duly 
 honoured. Songs, toasts and recitations fol- 
 lowed in quick succession, some of which dis- 
 played no small taste in the rendering. The 
 Chairman then rose and called for a bumper, 
 and gave, in a few appropriate remiirks, the 
 toast of the evening, " The immortal memory 
 of Robert Burns." The toast was drunk in 
 solemn silence. The croupier then rose and 
 recited an Elegy on Burns written by the late 
 Mr. Robert Davidson, " the Morebattle poet." 
 The meeting was a happy one, barring one 
 regret, which was strongly manifested through- 
 out the evening, for the absence of Mr. Tho-. 
 mas Rcnwick, who had kindly consented to 
 occupy the chair, but owing to the boisterous 
 state of the evening was prevented from attend- 
 ing. Mr. Renwick, who is upwards of eighty- 
 five years of age, remembers well his once see- 
 ing Robert Burns, more than sixty years ago, 
 in the vicinity of Jedburgh, accompanied by 
 a Major Rutherford, then a resident in that 
 locality. 
 
 MUIRKIRK. — Burns' Centenary was so- 
 lemnised in Muirkirk in a manner befitting the 
 occasion. At twelve, noon, the two sister lodges 
 of St. Thomas and St. Andrew met at the Ma- 
 sonic Hotel, and after being marshalled into 
 order, were joined by St. John of Jerusalem's 
 encampment of Sir High Knight Templars. 
 All then proceeded to parade through the town 
 and Ironworks to excellent music by the New- 
 milns and Muirkirk Instrumental Brass Bands. 
 
 St. Thomas and St. Andrew's Lodges. — 
 These lodges, after the procession, dined in 
 Mr. Allan's Hotel, and passed an agreeable and 
 harmonious evening. 
 
 St. John's op Jerusalem, No. 28. — This 
 encampment, composed partly of masons of 
 some forty and fifty years' standing, proceeded 
 to Mr. Kay's, Black Bull Inn, where they had 
 a most elegant and sumptuous repast. The 
 cloth being removed, Mr. C. M'Donald, E.G., 
 after, as is usual on such occasions, toasting the 
 Queen and Royal Family, Army and Navy, 
 &c., proceeded to give the toast of the evening, 
 " The Memory of Burns." Having briefly re- 
 ferred to a few of the leading events in Burns' 
 life, he said — The fact of his songs being sung 
 by all classes, being enjoyed by the peasant, 
 and giving pleasure to the peer, enlivening the 
 cottage, and driving gloom from the ancestral 
 hall, being heard in the murky purlieus of our 
 large cities, and in the broad forests of the " far 
 west," were sufficient proofs of the high order 
 of genius possessed by Burns. He finished by 
 drinking to the " Memory of Burns" witli 
 
356 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 silent honours. Mr. Wm. Johnstone, the oldest 
 Templar in Muirkirk, if not in Ayrshire, sung 
 with great feeling, " The Farewell to Tarbol- 
 ton Lodge." As he remarked that he was now 
 a very old man, and that in all likelihood this 
 would be his last visit to a mason lodge, when 
 he came to the last two lines of the song — 
 
 " One louncl, I ask it with a tear 
 To him, tlie bard that's far awa." 
 
 the old man's heart filled, and there was scarce- 
 ly a dry eye in the room. Among the other 
 toasts, Mr. David Ross, C.Gr., gave the " Me- 
 mory of Sir Alexander Boswell." He said he 
 remembered about forty years ago being at the 
 laying of the foundation stone of Burns' Mau- 
 soleum, and that Sir Alexander presided over 
 the twenty -four lodges then met; that he 
 would never forget the mirth and harmony Sir 
 Alexander caused to pervade the meeting, now 
 excelling himself in singing Burns' songs, and 
 occasionally delighting his brother masons with 
 some of his own. 
 
 Masonic Ball. — In the evening there was 
 a masonic ball, to which each ' brother' brought 
 of course a ' sister.' Mr. Allan's ball-room was 
 finely decorated with evergreens for the occa- 
 sion. Dancing was kept up with spirit to an 
 early hour. 
 
 There was also a public dinner by the inha- 
 bitants of Muirkirk — A. Aird, Esq., Crossflat, 
 being Chairman, and Mr. C. Howatson, manager, 
 croupier. 
 
 MUSSELBURGH.— The day here was kept 
 almost as an entire holiday — ^the principal shops 
 being'shut the whole day, and the town bells 
 being rung at intervals. In the evening about 
 seventy of the inhabitants sat down to an en- 
 tertainment in the Arms Inn — the Provost in 
 the chair, and Bailie Brown acting as croupier. 
 The chairman, after giving the usual loyal 
 toasts, proposed, in a short and appropriate 
 speech, " The Memory of Robert Burns," which 
 was duly responded to with all the honours. 
 Several of Burns' songs were sung during the 
 evening. The company broke up at ten o'clock. 
 
 MUTHILL.— The brethren of St. John's 
 Lodge here met on the evening of the 25th, to 
 celebrate the centenary of Burns. There was a 
 large attendance of the brethren, presided over 
 by the D.M., James Miller, Broadley, when, 
 after " the feast of reason and the flow of soul," 
 the lodge was closed to give place to the gen- 
 eral meeting of the inhabitants. 
 
 Burns centenary was celebrated in the Ma- 
 sons' Hall here on Tuesday evening. The hall 
 was filled to overflowing by the inhabitants of 
 the villag-e and vicinity, dressed in holiday at- 
 
 tire. Mr. Ferguson, pai-ish schoolmaster, oc- 
 cupied the chair. After the usual loyal and 
 patriotic toasts, the Chairman, in a spirited ad- 
 dress, proposed "The immortal memory of 
 Burns," which was drunk in solemn silence. 
 The other distinguished Scottish poets, from 
 Barbour to Scott, were not forgotten. Messrs. 
 Charleton, Reid, Jolly, and M'Neill, sang a 
 number of Burns' best songs. Song and toast 
 followed each other in rapid succession. Broad- 
 ley, as the oldest soldier in the meeting, in 
 returning thanks for the army, gave a most 
 humorous account of a great battle fought at 
 Strowan by the Strathearn volunteers, and Mr. 
 Shearer, author of the " Antiquities of Strath- 
 earn," electrified the company by his reply for 
 " The Bachelors." A few minutes after nine 
 o'clock, the company retired from the hall in a 
 body with the Chairman, pronouncing the meet- 
 ing the happiest ever spent in Muthill. 
 
 NAIRN. — On Monday, forth came an an- 
 nouncement, taking the town by surprise, that 
 a celebration of the Burns centenary, in the 
 form of a public tea meeting, would be held in 
 Anderson's Hall, under the patronage of Pro- 
 vost and Mrs. Findlay. The meeting took 
 place on the 25th, and, notwithstanding the 
 shortness of the notice, and time for preparations, 
 was attended by about 160 individuals, repre- 
 senting the wealth and intelligence of the com- 
 munity. Among those present, we observed Pro- 
 vost and Mrs. Findlay; Capt. Gordon, and Mrs. 
 General Gordon ; H. Emlyn, Esq., and Miss 
 Emlyn ; A. Davidson, Esq., and Miss Davidson ; 
 Bailie Mann ; the Rev. J. Bisset, &c., &c. 
 
 After tea and cake were served, Mr. Dick 
 read an article in reference to the centenary, 
 headed— "What is it all about?" Several 
 readings were given — " The Cottar's Saturday 
 Night," and " Tam o' Shanter," by Mr. David- 
 son ; " Man was made to mourn," by G. Mennie, 
 V.S. Recitations — " Scots wha hae," and 
 " Mary in Heaven," by Mr. Stewart, Millbank. 
 Mr. C. B. Mackintosh read a paper, " An Esti- 
 mate of Burns' Life and Writings." Between 
 the readings, &c., songs were sung by various 
 ladies and gentlemen of the company, and the 
 proceedings were appropriately wound up by 
 an eloquent address from the Rev. Mr. Bisset. 
 
 NEWBURGH.— The Burns centenary was 
 celebrated here in a very spirited manner on 
 the 25tii. At two o'clock the shops were closed 
 and all business suspended. At three, the 
 Friendly and Odd Fellows' Societies, and Lin- 
 dores Lodge of Freemasons, preceded by the 
 
NEWLANDS— NEWTON-STEWART. 
 
 357 
 
 cliiidrcn of the several schools, walked through 
 the street in procession, with flags, accompanied 
 by three bands and a piper. At six p.m. a so- 
 cial entertainment took place in the Town 
 Hall, which was densely crowded by all classes 
 in the town. Bailie Eenton, chief magistrate, 
 occupied the chair, and commenced the pro- 
 ceedings with a short address. In the course 
 of the evening, addresses were delivered by Mr. 
 J. Yule, on proposing the toast of the evening, 
 " The Immortal Memory of Burns ;" by Mr. 
 James Storer, on The Parents of Burns ; by Mr. 
 George Nicol, on The Peasantry of Scotland ; 
 by Mr. Alexander Laing, on The Influence of 
 Burns ; an original poetical address by Dr. 
 Lyell, and another by Mr. John Dunn. A 
 number of Burns' songs were excellently sung 
 during the evening by different ladies and 
 gentlemen. After "Auld Langsyne" had been 
 sung by the whole company, they separated 
 about eleven o'clock. The Masons' Hall was 
 opened for dancing at eight o'clock, and this 
 amusement was kept up with spirit until an 
 early hour next morning. There were several 
 l)rivate parties throughout the town, and the 
 several societies had their respective social 
 meetings. 
 
 NEWLANDS.— At six o'clock, a goodly 
 number of the inhabitants of the parish of New- 
 lands met at Mrs. Hope's Inn, to celebrate the 
 centenary anniversary of the poet Burns — Mr. 
 E. Blacklock in the chair, and Mr. P. Wilson, 
 croupier. After partaking of a substantial din- 
 ner, furnished by Mrs. Hope, and when the 
 usual loyal toasts had been drunk, the Chair- 
 man, in a neat and humorous speech, in which 
 was portrayed a miniature history of the life 
 and works of the poet, gave the principal toast 
 of the evening, which was heartily responded 
 to. Some of the company sang several fine 
 songs, others told stories, and the rest encouraged 
 both by iin energetic clapping of hands ; in 
 short, a most agreeable evening was spent, till 
 fatal eleven ended the joviality, and each took 
 his difi'erent way. In the course of the even- 
 ing, Mr. Welsh recited some verses composed 
 by him for the occasion. 
 
 Tlie youths in the neighbourhood met at 
 Goldie's Mill, and celebrated the event by 
 dancing. 
 
 NEWMILL.— Tlie festival was long talked 
 of here, but up till the eleventh hour no steps 
 were taken to have a demonstration of our own, 
 a disposition being shown to fraternize with our 
 Keith friends, and join them in their soiree 
 musicaU. It, however, occurred to a few of 
 the more spirited of the inhabitaots that New- 
 mill might have a soiree of its own, and accord- 
 
 ingly a meeting was called on the Saturday 
 evening for the purpose of taking into consider- 
 ation the desirableness of such a demonstration. 
 Messrs. Jas. Smith, John Duncan, Wm. Wise- 
 man, John M'Conachie, and John M'Donald, 
 were appointed a committee to carry into efiect 
 the purpose of the meeting, and it was made 
 very speedily apparent to them that their chief 
 difficulty would be the procuring of a place 
 sufficiently large to accommodate the soiree, 
 \vhich the Newmillites proposed to attend en 
 masse. From this dilemma they were relieved 
 by Mr. Smith, who, with that readiness to oblige, 
 which is so peculiarly characteristic of that 
 gentleman, kindly made offer of his whole pre- 
 mises for the accommodation of his fellow-towns- 
 men, and the soiree accordingly took place there 
 on the 25th. The main body assembled in the 
 barn, which was tastefully decorated for the 
 occasion, and where nearly 140 sat down to 
 tea — Mr. Smith being voted to the cliair by 
 acclamation. The parlour also had its snug 
 tea party, the members of which, after partaking 
 of that refreshment, contrived to insinuate them- 
 selves into the overcrowded barn. Mr. Smith 
 having briefly announced the object of the meet- 
 ing, called upon Mr. John Duncan, feuar, who 
 favoured the meeting with a lucid sketch of the 
 life of the greatnational bard, and was followed 
 by Mr. Turner, who gave a short address on 
 the merits of Burns' Works, and the influence 
 of his writings upon society. The meeting was 
 then entertained by the singing of a large se- 
 lection of Burns' choicest songs, and, at appro- 
 priate intervals, fruit and other refreshments 
 were handed round in great abundance. A 
 very harmonious and pleasant meeting was 
 wound up by votes of thanks to Mr. Smith, as 
 Chairman, and for his kindness in affording the 
 use of his premises, and to the gentlemen form- 
 ing the committee, for the admirable manner in 
 which they had discharged their duties, which 
 were the more onerous on account of the short- 
 ness of the notice. A ball was also held at the 
 close of the soiree, which was numerously at- 
 tended, and spiritedly carried on to an advanced 
 hour in the morning. 
 
 NEWTON - STEWART. — The centenary 
 was celebrated here by the Mechanics' Institute 
 with a tea and cake soiree. Long before the 
 hour of meeting, the doors of the hall were 
 thronged by a crowd of people anxious to se- 
 cure seat accommodation, and to render the 
 hall more commodious, the Committee of the 
 Institute erected a gallery, capable of seating 
 about 150, which, on the doors being opened, 
 was speedily filled. At six o'clock Mr. W. G-. 
 Gumming took the chair, accompanied by the 
 Rev. Messrs. Small and Reid, and Mr. Gordon 
 
358 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAllY. 
 
 M'Leod of Killiemore, &c., &c. A blessing 
 was asked by Mr. Beid, and the stewards hav- 
 ing supplied the numerous guests witli a sump- 
 tuous repast, thanks were returned by Mr. 
 Small. 
 
 The Chairman then stated that they had 
 met that night to do honour to the memory of 
 the immortal Burns, and he gave a brief sketch 
 of his life and works, commenting especially ou 
 the influence his writings had on society ; how 
 they are appreciated wherever the English lan- 
 guage is spoken, but more especially by Scotch- 
 men. After a lengthened speech, replete with 
 the best feeling towards the memory of the 
 poet, the Chairman resumed his seat amid uni- 
 versal applause. 
 
 Mr. Kennedy sung, immediately after the 
 Chairman's address, " There was a lad was born 
 in Kyle," which gave great satisfaction to the 
 meeting. After a recitation of verses, made by 
 Mr. Erskine, guumaker, entitled " We hail thy 
 Natal Da}', sweet Bard," and the singing of 
 " A man's a man for a' that," the Chairman 
 called on 
 
 The Rev. Mr Small, who spoke for nearly an 
 hour on the " Life, Character, and Genius of 
 Burns," the audience marking their appreciation 
 of the rev. gentleman's address by prolonged 
 cheers. 
 
 " Thou lingering star," as a glee, and the 
 songs " Highland Mary " and " Bonnie Jean," 
 by Mr. Parker, came next in order, and were 
 received by bursts of applause. Mr. Gordon 
 next addressed the meeting, and he was followed 
 by the band singing, in full harmony, " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled." Mr. W. Skimming 
 then recited " Tam o' Shanter " with great 
 effect, causing the audience to be almost con- 
 vulsed with laughter, especially at Tarn's amaze- 
 ment at the scene at Alloway's auld haunted 
 kirk, and kindred passages from that inimi- 
 table epic. 
 
 Several other recitations were afterwards 
 given, and the Eev. William Reid addressed 
 the meeting at some length on the influence the 
 writings of Burns exercise over the working- 
 classes, and wound up his speech by reading 
 some original verses by an American in praise 
 of the great bard. A number of the best songs 
 of Burns were sung, and the Chairman having 
 announced that the programme was exhausted, 
 requested the audience to join the vocal band 
 in singing " Auld Langsyne," which was done 
 standing, and had a fine effect. Votes of thanks 
 were severally awarded to the Chairman, the 
 stewards, speakers, and singers, which being 
 duly responded to, the Queen's Anthem was 
 next sung, and the meeting separated. The 
 proceedings commenced at six o'clock, and ter- 
 minated at eleven p.m. 
 
 NINIANS (St.). — A select party, admirers 
 of the genius of Burns, met on the evening of the 
 centenary of his birth, in Mr. Johnstone's Wal- 
 lace Inn, St. Ninians — Mr. George Pitbladdo 
 in the chair, and Mr. Johnstone, croupier. A 
 substantial supper crowned the board ; and 
 when the .cloth was removed, the Chairman, 
 after giving the usual preliminary toasts, pro- 
 posed in a stirring speech " The memory of 
 Robert Burns." Several other toasts were 
 given, a number of Burns' songs were sung, and 
 after spending a very pleasant evening the com- 
 pany separated^at tlie statutory hour. 
 
 NITSHILL. — ^A public dinner in honour of 
 the hundredth birthday of Robert Burns took 
 place here, which was numerously attended. 
 At five o'clock the company met in Miss Dove's 
 Inn, where they partook of an excellent dinner, 
 which was served up in profusion, and so amply 
 furnished as would have dined double the num- 
 ber present. Mr. John Ettei-shanks, Priesthill, 
 presided, while Mr. William Anderson per- 
 formed the duties of croupier. After the re- 
 moval of the cloth, the Chairman gave the usual 
 loyal toasts, all of which were duly honoured. 
 The evening's proceedings were richly inter- 
 spersed with a number of Burns' songs, and 
 which were sung with great taste by Messrs. A. 
 Renfrew, William Anderson, and J. Fleming, 
 &c. During the evening a collection was made 
 in aid of Mrs. Thomson, PoUockshaws, when no 
 less than £3 lOs. was collected, and which re- 
 flects great credit to the district. 
 
 NORTH BERWICK. — Here the festival 
 centenary was held with great eclat. The 
 Freemasons, joined by most of the Bluejackets, 
 with innumerable flags, headed by a band of 
 music, proceeded from their Lodge-room to the 
 parish school, which was tastefully decorated 
 with evergreens, and accompanied by a crowd 
 of the inhabitants enthusiastically cheering. 
 
 The Right Worshipful took the chair. Past 
 Master Blair gave the opening address, and 
 " Caledonia and Caledonia's Bard," which was 
 received with enthusiastic cheering. Many of 
 the songs of Burns were sweetly sung, and 
 several of his poems recited. The room was 
 densely crowded, there being upwards of 300 
 present. 
 
 OCHILTREE.— This rural village, situated 
 on the banks of the Lugar, held no public de- 
 monstration on that day ; all remained quiet and 
 inactive, nothing indicative of the great en- 
 thusiasm which was prevailing everywhere else, 
 
OLDMELDRUM— PAISLEY. 
 
 359 
 
 until the evening, when a number of the ad- 
 mirers of the character and poetic genius of the 
 great bard assembled in the Eagle Inn, and par- 
 took of an excellent supper, Mr. Smith, Caw- 
 hillan, presiding ; Mr. Morton, croupier. After 
 the cloth had been removed, and the usual 
 loyal and constitutional toasts had been dis- 
 posed of, the Croupier, in a brief and pithy 
 address, paid a very high tribute to the charac- 
 ter and writings of Burns, after which he 
 craved a special bum)3er to the toast of the 
 evening — " The Immortal Memory of Robert 
 Burns," which was drunk with all honours ; the 
 " Memory of Willie Simpson," the winsome 
 Willie of Burns, was next given and duly re- 
 sponded to. Messrs. Weir and M'Intyre fa- 
 voured the meeting with a few of Burns' songs, 
 which were duly appreciated. A number of 
 other toasts of a local character were given, 
 and responded to, after whi«h the meeting sepa- 
 rated highly satisfied with the evening's pro- 
 ceedings. 
 
 On the same evening a ball took place in the 
 large granary at Hill farm, near the village, 
 which was kindly granted by Mr. Steele. At 
 the hour of meeting upwards of forty couples 
 had arrived, dancing commenced and was kept 
 up with great spirit till 5 o'clock next morning, 
 when the company broke up, and each took off 
 his several way. 
 
 OLDMELDEUM.— In celebration of the 
 centenary of Scotland's Poet, a large and select 
 company assembled in the Meldrum Arms Inn 
 — the Kev. W. Keay in the chair. After the 
 company had partaken of an excellent supper, 
 and the usual loyal and patriotic toasts had 
 been disposed of, the Chairman, in a neat and 
 appropriate speech, gave the toast of the even- 
 ing — " The Memory of Robert Burns." Dur- 
 ing the evening, some of Burns' most beautiful 
 songs were sung, and the proceedings through- 
 out were of the most social and becoming char- 
 acter. The chair was vacated half-an-hour be- 
 fore Forbes Mackenzie had any business to in- 
 terfere. 
 
 A supper was held in Mr. Pittendrigh's Inn, 
 attended by about fifty gentlemen — Mr. Wm. 
 M'Kay in the chair, and Mr. Alexander acting 
 -as croupier. 
 
 The Total Abstinence Society also held a 
 supper in the Town Hall. A ball came off in 
 the Temperance Hall, was numerously attend- 
 ed, and quite a happy affair. 
 
 PAISLEY. — This town, where the memory 
 of Burns has been always peculiarly revered 
 and honoured, at once determined to be in the 
 
 foremost rank in celebrating the centenary of 
 the Poet's birth, and an active committee, with 
 Mr. Robert Eirkland as president, and Mr. 
 James Caldwell as secretary, was organised to 
 carry out the arrangements for a grand ban- 
 quet on the occasion in the Exchange Rooms. 
 It was soon evident, however, that this would 
 not be sufliicient to satisfy all classes, and a 
 committee of the working classes made arrange- 
 ments for another large assembly in the Aber- 
 corn Rooms. Besides these, there were ulti- 
 mately arrangements made for no fewer than 
 ten social parties, and it is not too much to say 
 that in proportion to our population there were 
 more people who engaged in celebrating tlie 
 hundredth anniversary of the birth of Burns 
 on the 25th, than in any other town in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 Some proposals were made for a general ho- 
 liday on the occasion, but that idea was very 
 properly abandoned, as it would have led to 
 the working classes losing a day's wages. The 
 booksellers, however, and some other shop- 
 keepers shut their places of business at three 
 o'clock. 
 
 At the Exchange Rooms, where the princi- 
 pal assembly was lield, arrangements were made 
 to dine about 270 gentlemen, and to -admit 
 about 100 ladies to the gallery at the conclu- 
 sion of the dinner. In the two centre win- 
 dows of the large hall there were two beautiful 
 transparencies, the one containing a medallion 
 portrait of the Poet, with the date of his birth 
 and death, and the other a representation of 
 the genius of Coila crowning the Bard with 
 the descriptive stanza lettered above, and a 
 view of Tam o' Shanter crossing the brig of 
 Doon, and his mare's tail in the clutch of the 
 vindictive witch. There was likewise a beau- 
 tiful transparency in one of the windows of the 
 Renfrew County Kilwinning Lodge, and a 
 string of flags stretching across from another 
 window of the Lodge to the opposite side of 
 the High Street. The transparencies were 
 executed by the firm of Messrs. Murray & Son. 
 
 The dinner hour was five o'clock, and a few 
 minutes before that hour the members of the 
 St. Mirren's Lodge, and of the Renfrew Coun- 
 ty Kilwinning Lodge, to the number of about 
 sixty, left the St. Mirren's Lodge in New- 
 Street, in full masonic costume, and walked in 
 procession to the Exchange Rooms ; and by 
 ten minutes past five o'clock the whole compa- 
 ny were comfortably seated in the large hall, 
 which had been newly painted for the occasion. 
 Tlie number of Freemasons present altogether 
 was about ninety — John Carswell, Esq., R. W. 
 M., being at the head of the St. Mirren's, and 
 William Murray, Esq., R. W. M., being at the 
 head of the Renfrew County Kilwinning, Lodge. 
 
SCO 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 Robert Brown, Esq., Pi'ovost of Paisley, oc- 
 cupied the chair, and amongst the gentlemen 
 on and around the platform supporting the 
 chairman, we noticed the Rev. Andrew Wilson ; 
 the Rev. Mr. Rennison; H. E. Crum Ewing, 
 Esq., M. P. ; Bailie Alex. Pollock, jun. ; Bailie 
 Hamilton ; William Hodge, Esq., Town Clerk ; 
 John M'Innes, Esq. ; Mr. Treasurer Craig ; 
 James Caldwell, Esq.; Matthew Scott, Esq.; 
 Angus Macpherson, Esq.; Richard Watson, 
 Esq. ; Robert Walker, Esq. ; and G. M'Kenzie, 
 Esq. 
 
 Tlie Croupiers were Robert Kirkland, Esq., 
 David Murray, Esq., Bailie Lamb, and William 
 M'Kean, Esq. Amongst the gentlemen sup- 
 porting the croupiers we observed John Craw- 
 ford, Esq., James Ferrie, Esq., Peter Niven, 
 Esq., James Forbes, Esq., J. Yuill, Esq., Wil- 
 liam M'Arthur, Esq., M. P., P. C. Macgregor, 
 Esq. 
 
 In other parts of the hall we observed ex- 
 Provost Maofarlane, Peter Henderson, Esq., 
 John Affleck, Esq., Jas. Miller, Esq., Jas. Clark, 
 Esq., T. H. Macfarlane, Esq., J. Morgan, Esq., 
 John Hutcheson, Esq., A. Brown, Esq., David 
 Campbell, Esq., James Arthur, Esq., Alexander 
 Cattanach, Esq., Thomas Campbell, Esq., A. 
 R. Pollock, Esq., Robert Boyd, Esq., William 
 Gibson, Esq., R. L. Henderson, Thomas Mac- 
 Robert, Esq., F. M'Fadyen, Esq., James Hen- 
 derson, Esq., John Lorimer, Esq., Dr. Taylor, 
 Dr. W. B. Mackinlay, John Hart, Esq., John 
 Bartlemore, Esq., George Boyd, Esq., Renfrew, 
 Stewart Clark, Esq., John Cattanach, Esq., 
 James M'Arthur, Esq., George Findlay, Esq., 
 John M'Gown, Esq., William Barbour, Esq., 
 Adam M'Lellan, Esq., Patrick Macgregor, 
 Esq., James Macgregor, Esq., Neil Stewart, 
 Esq. of Annet, Eannach, J. 8. Crawford, 
 Esq. 
 
 While the company were assembling, an effi- 
 cient band, under the leadership of Mr. Dob- 
 son, played the " Overture to Alloway Kirk." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Rennison said grace, and 
 after the company had partaken of an excellent 
 dinner, well served, the Rev. Mr. Wilson re- 
 turned thanks. After the usual loyal, patri- 
 otic, and local toasts. 
 
 The Chairman said he had now come to the 
 principal toast, and the one which was the 
 cause of their meeting there that evening. 
 (Cheers.) Precisely one hundred years ago 
 was the birthday of Robert Burns, who had 
 truly been the greatest poet that Scotland ever 
 produced. Born of poor parents, their bard 
 was nursed and brought up in the lap of adver- 
 sity. And although compelled, when a mere 
 youth, to follow the plough, and to work at 
 agricultural labour to earn his daily bread, yet, 
 such was the strength of his mind, arid such 
 
 was the force of his genius, as to produce poe- 
 try and songs which have secured him a name 
 and a fame which will never perish. A Scot- 
 tisli peasant himself, he gloried in the class to 
 which he belonged, and his knowledge of thoir 
 rural life gave him an opportunity of under- 
 standing their character and feelings ; and well 
 have they all been described by him. (Ap- 
 plause.) It was not to be wondered, then, that 
 his poetry should be held in high estimation by 
 the rural population, and by the working classes 
 in all parts of the country, and that he should 
 have awakened in their minds a love of poetry 
 and of song, and of sterling national feeling 
 and independence. Although their bard had, 
 by his poetry, in many instances hallowed and 
 brought into notice places that would otherwise 
 have remained in obscurity, yet he had little 
 connection with this town, and so far as re- 
 membered by him, there was only one piece of 
 poetry relating to it, and which began with 
 the words, 
 
 " Where Cart rhis rowing to the sea." 
 
 If, however, he had no intimate acquaintance 
 in Paisley or its neighbourhood, they knew that 
 the great poet visited this town, and traversed 
 our own streets. This information he had 
 himself from Alexander Wark, an old friend of 
 his own, now no more, who told him that, one 
 day when he was looking out of the window he 
 saw a man on horseback on the street, whom 
 he thought was like the portraits he had seen 
 of the Ayrshire poet. Impressed with this 
 conviction, he hurried to the street, introduced 
 himself, and had the pleasure and satisfaction 
 of shaking Robert Burns by the hand. In an- 
 other way this town had been associated with 
 the name of the poet, for they knew that when 
 Jean Armour, his future wife, was under the 
 displeasure of her parents, she found in the 
 house of one of their townsmen here, shelter 
 and a home. Notwithstanding all the heart- 
 stirring poetry that had emanated from Burns, 
 it was melancholy to think, at the same time, 
 that we could not look into the history of his 
 life without being intensely grieved. (Hear, 
 hear.) Who could read the immortal verses 
 which his fertile genius had produced, without 
 lamenting that a man of his noble mind should, 
 through nearly his whole life, be fighting with 
 poverty, penury, and misfortunes ? and no one 
 could contemplate the degraded position in 
 which this extraordinary man was latterly 
 placed, without mourning that thereby his 
 life was embittered, his spirits broken, his 
 days shortened, and that he was hurried to 
 a premature grave. Undoubtedly, it must at 
 the same time be admitted that Burns had 
 faults ; he thought they should ascribe them 
 
PAISLEY. 
 
 361 
 
 more to the position in -which he was placed, 
 and the age in which he lived. (Loud 
 cheers.) One great characteristic of the poe- 
 try of Burns, is that it is expressed in sim- 
 ple yet vigorous and glowing language, and 
 that it is full of imagery at once the most beau- 
 tiful and correct. And all his descriptions, too, 
 were strictly according to life, and everything 
 founded upon nature. His poetry is also dis- 
 tinguished by a noble spirit of independence — 
 throwing aside the cloak of the hypocrite, and 
 holding up to view all that was good and gen- 
 erous. As Scotsmen, they might well be proud 
 of their bard and their countryman, for he had 
 made Scotland and her hills, and her glens, and 
 her scenery, and her people be known and be 
 sung of in every part of the habitable globe 
 where the English language was understood. 
 Such, too, was the admiration in which the 
 memory and the poetry of Bvyns was held, that 
 at the present moment his hundredth natal 
 day was not only being commemorated in every 
 village and town and city in his native country, 
 but likewise with a fervour and an enthusiasm 
 equally intense in every quarter of the world, 
 from the banks of the Mississippi in the West 
 to the banks of the Ganges in the East, He 
 thought he was correct also when he stated that 
 in no place in this country had the poetry and 
 genius of Burns been hitherto more — and, in- 
 deed, he might say as much — appreciated as in 
 their own good town. Among all classes and 
 among all ages here his poetry had since its 
 publication been familiar, and his songs had 
 been sung in every company and on all appro- 
 priate occasions. Native genius and talent had 
 also been awakened by the influence of his 
 poetry — and they thereby had in this town 
 writers of lyric poetry of great 'ability, and 
 whose works would be handed down to perpe- 
 tuity. (Cheers.) In this town, also, the memory 
 of Burns had always been revered, and in no 
 place had his recurring birthday been more 
 regularly commemorated, He was proud to 
 have it in- his power to say all this of his towns- 
 men, for it was creditable to their good sense 
 and their intelligence. He rejoiced also to see 
 there that evening such a great assembly to 
 hold the centenary festival of the birth of this 
 great poet, and he had now to ask them to 
 unite their cheers and applause with that 
 mighty multitude who where at that moment 
 similarly engaged in all parts of the world, and 
 to join him in drinking, with all the honours, 
 to the memory of Eobert Burns, their great 
 national poet. (Loud applause.) The toast 
 was received and acknowledged with the most 
 enthusiastic applause. 
 
 The band then played a beautiful selection 
 of Scottish airs, and Mr. Robert Stewart sung 
 
 with much spirit, " There was a lad was born 
 in Kyle." 
 
 Bailie Lamb in a masterly speech proposed 
 the memory of Shakspeare, concluding as fol- 
 lows : — It is the memory of a great man we 
 have to drink — a great poet of humanity — no 
 god, nor demi-god, nor hero, but the very 
 beau-ideal of a man. Who shall estimate the 
 influences which this master-mind bears on the 
 intelligences of the world from his day till ours. 
 There is scarcely a station in life that flnds not 
 instruction — ^there is scarcely a thought that 
 stirs the mind that finds not utterance in the 
 writings of Shakspeare. We find ourselves 
 thinking Shakspeare's thoughts and saying 
 Shakspeare's sayings, almost intuitively, so 
 much have they permeated humanity. The 
 poetry and letters of the day reflect his genius 
 — science and religion find appropriate illustra- 
 tion from him — his very sayings are familiar in 
 the mouth as household words. Kingdoms may 
 decay — democracies and oligarchies rise and 
 fall — the despotisms of the day may endeavour, 
 for their brief hour of Heaven's permission, to 
 crush out at once liberty, and literature, and 
 life itself; but this man of men, this represen- 
 tative man of England, as Bobert Bums is of 
 Scotland, remains unchanged, immutable, the 
 glory of his age and ours. 
 
 " I shaping brain I ! flashing fancy's hues I 
 1 boundless heart, kept fresh by pity's dews I 
 O! wit humane and blythe I O! sense sublime I 
 For each dim oracle of mantled time I 
 Transcendent form of Man I in whom we read 
 Mankind's whole tale of Impulse, Thought, and 
 Deed I" 
 
 (Cheers.) Gentlemen, I now propose the toast 
 with Ben Jonson's words, " I love the man, and 
 do honour to his memory, on this side Idola- 
 try." With all the honours, " Shakspeare." — • 
 The toast was drunk with applause. 
 
 Band — " Where the bee sucks." " The cloud capt 
 towers," by Glee Party. 
 
 Mr. Murray introduced the memory of 
 Scott in an eloquent speech, concluding as fol- 
 lows : — To whom will the world in future ages 
 be indebted for a knowledge of Scottish scen- 
 ery, and Scottish life of every historic period, 
 and of every grade of character from the mon- 
 arch to the peasant? Undoubtedly to the 
 genius and works of our great countryman 
 Scott. Like Shakspeare he is distinguished for 
 his truth to nature, his thorough knowledge of 
 the human heart, and for his deep sympathy 
 with humanity. Wlien we think of the life- 
 like pictures — those creations of his prolific 
 imagination, which he produced with such 
 marvellous rapidity as the " Great Unknown," 
 we feel that with the exception of Shakspeare, 
 there is no writer of the English language to 
 
362 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 be for a moment compared to him. (Loud 
 cheers.) Nursed and reared among the scenes 
 of Border Minstrelsy he was early inspired with 
 a love of ballad lore, and mixing with all classes 
 of his countrymen he was thoroughly conver- 
 sant with tlie traditions, habits, and feelings of 
 the people, and hence that intense nationality 
 which characterises all his productions. (Cheers.) 
 The toast was drunk with applause. 
 
 Sons — " Jook o' Hazeldean," in fine style by Mr. 
 E. Waterston. 
 
 Mr. J. S. Henderson proposed Alfred Ten- 
 nyson and the present English Foots. 
 
 Baud. — " 'Twas merry in the Hall." 
 
 Mr. A. R. Pollock proposed Tom Moore 
 and the poetry of Ireland. 
 
 Band—" The Minstrel Boy." 
 
 Mr. Angus MacPherson proposed The 
 Poetry of America, with Longfellow as its liv- 
 ing representative. 
 
 Band—" Yankee Doodle." Song—" Afton Water," 
 beautifully sung by Mr. Gilraour. 
 
 Mr. P. C. Macgregor proposed The Poets of 
 Scotland, in a brilliant speech, concluding as 
 follows : — Gentlemen, we will never again be 
 at another such meeting ; the youngest here 
 will have crossed their final bourne ere the next 
 centenary meeting of Burns comes round. Let 
 us then come down from our ordinary business 
 attitude, let us unlock the fountains of our 
 souls, and, with rapturous hearts, do enthusias- 
 tic honour to " The Poets of Scotland." (Great 
 cheering.) Let your acclaim be loud enough 
 that it will be borne by the night breezes of 
 time and carried to the verge of another cen- 
 tenary ; and when the Watchman on the tower 
 of Time shall ask, " what do you want?" Our 
 answer shall be. We want to put ourselves 
 right by anticipation, with our successors, the 
 men of the twentieth century — we want to 
 tell them, that the men of Paisley had nothing 
 in common with those chartered shepherds who 
 decried the first centenary of Burns — we want 
 to tell them, that despite of bigot's howl, our 
 town turned bravely out in honour of Scotia's 
 Bard. (Great cheering.) And if still asked by 
 these men of the next centenary " What do you 
 want?" We answer. We want to tell them 
 that the intelligence of Paisley has discovered 
 that true religion is a grand reality, permeating 
 and ennobling living hearts, and not the grim 
 phantasmal form some men would make it. 
 We want to tell them that we have learned the 
 truth too long hid from Scotland's eyes — a 
 truth, I prophesy, which will be well under- 
 stood by the men we are invoking, that 
 
 " A daw's not reckon'd a religious bird, 
 Because it keeps a-cawing from a steeple." 
 
 (Loud laughter and long-continued applause.) 
 
 We want to preach to them a Lay Sermon ; we 
 want to tell them that on this auspicious day 
 Paisley maintained her ancient character for 
 independent thought. We want to wipe out 
 the foul blot attempted to be fastened on her 
 escutcheon. We want to show, by the very 
 unanimity and strength of our acclaim, that we 
 love our poets as we love our fatherland, that 
 we have felt their power to hallow in our 
 minds the memorials of our early love and our 
 country's ancient independence — transmuting 
 all creation into a ' living hymn, every sound 
 of which is praise' — a poem, every syllable of 
 which is a star— a portrait, every touch of 
 which is wisdom, beneficence, and love ! (Loud 
 cheering.) 
 
 Mr. Crum Ewing proposed the " Provost and 
 Magistrates of Paisley," in a few complimentary 
 remarks. The toast was drunk amidst great 
 applause. 
 
 The Chairman acknowledged the compli- 
 ment. 
 
 Mr. Ferrie proposed " The memory of Tan- 
 nahill" in an excellent speech, in the course of 
 which he said : — While we are thus met to do 
 honour to the memory of this kingly spirit of 
 our literature — who has dignified by his genius 
 the humble life which some of us are destined 
 to lead — and whose achievements have made 
 the name of Robert Burns — a name at which 
 every true Scottish heart takes a tone of loftier 
 triumph and delight — (loud cheers) — while we 
 are thus met, I say, in honour of this prince of 
 our country's bards, it is meet that we should 
 not forget those lowlier, yet genuine Poet- 
 Souls who have followed him, though at a 
 distance, on his melodious way to immortality. 
 Not the least distinguished of these, but per- 
 haps next to Burns himself in the rank of 
 Scottish song-writers, is one whose history and 
 works are intimately associated with our town, 
 and whose memory I feel honoured in com- 
 mending to your regards — the gentle-hearted 
 Tannahill. (Loud cheers.) Though no Poet 
 of lofty genius or vast attainments, Tannahill 
 has yet good claims to the remembrance and 
 regard of his country, and especially in the 
 town where he lived, pursued his gentle handi- 
 craft, and sang those sweet songs of his which 
 have made his name familiar to the lips, and 
 dear to the heart of every lover of Scottish 
 song. (Renewed cheers.) Small and com- 
 paratively unimportant as may seem the works 
 which Tannahill has left to the world, they 
 contain elements which are likely to give them 
 an existence. Since those stormy old days 
 when Allan Ramsay— the first recorded Poet 
 who struck with any very notable skill the 
 lyrical strings of the Scottish lyre — down to 
 the present time, we have had no Bard — 
 
PAISLEY. 
 
 363 
 
 Bums out of view — who lias touched the harp 
 of Scottish song to so sweet, melodious, tender 
 tones; and mingled with his strains such simple 
 fidelity of natural description as our own gentle 
 Tannahill? Many poets we have had of a 
 higher order of genius, and who have left be- 
 hind them works of riciier and more varied 
 excellence in other departments of poetry — ^but 
 in the sphere of the song he stands unapproached 
 by any of these for simplicity, tenderness, and 
 truth. We would not indulge in a too fond 
 partiality, and be unjust to the merits of others 
 of our singers who may be held to outstrip 
 Tannahill in general poetic faculty. We can- 
 not forget the aerial music and the fairy visions 
 of Hogg — the gleeful lilts and fresh sparkling 
 strains of honest Allan Cunningham ■ — the 
 witching tenderness and graceful sweetness of 
 Motherwell — or the graphic force and living 
 truthfulness of description «f our own Alex- 
 ander Wilson. 
 
 But we may be permitted the partiality we 
 have for Tannahill as a song-writer when his 
 merit — as it undoubtedly does — sanctions the 
 preference. Tannahill's chief merit as a poet 
 will be found to consist, as I have said, in his 
 natural simplicity, tenderness, and truth. These 
 form at once the leading features of his charac- 
 ter and of his poetry. A gentle, quiet, kindly 
 Spirit, his breast is a haunt for the gentlest in- 
 fluences of nature and humanity. His heart 
 delights itself in the mild loving moods of 
 nature, and, in his artless effusions, her divine 
 features steal out in many lovely varieties of 
 expression, glorifying the verse which reflects 
 them so faithfully. (Cheers.) The gladsome 
 countenance of morning when "lavrocks fan 
 the snaw-wliite oluds" — the dusky beauty of 
 the twilight when " the plantin taps are tinged 
 wi' goud " — the calm breathing of the fields 
 when day is dead — and nature's solitude and 
 stillness at the evening hour " by yon burn- 
 side," — on these he gazed with loving joy, till 
 their mild spirit passed into his being, trans- 
 fusing itself through his thoughts, and he 
 stands before us, like a tender vision of some 
 calm summer day that returns upon the heart 
 with glimpses of the flowery braes and bright 
 rejoicing streams, and woods all motionless 
 and dream-wrapt in the deep bliss of nature. 
 (Great applause.) He loves to brood, too, on 
 the gentler and more pleasing emotions of the 
 soul, and on the simpler and fairer phases of 
 life as tliey present themselves around him. 
 And he has given to many of the simple affec- 
 tions of the heart a tongue of tender and me- 
 lodious truthfulness whose subduing strains 
 will not soon pass away, but shall fiow in 
 spaikling freshness through the memory of his 
 country, like a summer brook on the glad, 
 
 green hill side. To us, as his townsmen, 
 should his memory be specially dear, and if a 
 too fond partiality mingles with our estimate 
 of him, we may at least be excused for the 
 spirit which prompts it. Here it was in this 
 town of ours that he first saw the light of tiiis 
 world, which an inner trouble so mucli darkened 
 to him in his brief way through life. Here it 
 was that he spent his quiet days of lowly toil, 
 and loosed from his simple lyre those lovely 
 strains in which his name still lives. Here it 
 was, too, that, on that mournful night in May, 
 some fifty years ago, his gentle spirit, chased 
 by a despondency it could not conquer, hurried 
 wildly away from this tearful track of breath, 
 into the stillness of that land where despair 
 disturbs not, and the fiercest of earth's sorrows 
 can oppress no more. Around us are the scenes 
 he has hallowed by his song. " The bonnie 
 wood of Craigielee," near which the gentle poet 
 " spent life's early day " — the " dewy dell of 
 Gleniffer," where the " craw - flower's early 
 bell" still sounds in the ear of memory with 
 the name of the departed bard — the pleasant 
 scenes of "Stanley-green shaw" — the romantic 
 solitudes of "the dusky glen by yon buj-nside," 
 where a music sweeter than the sound of its 
 waters is still heard to linger. (Loud cheers.) 
 Though he who has lent to these scenes a love- 
 liness above their own has become as a dream, 
 they yet remain to us with influences from his 
 tuneful spirit to touch the purest and tenderest 
 chords of our nature, and evoke its slumbering 
 sympathies to things fair and good. And as 
 we now recall the spell of elevating pleasure 
 and refined sentiment from his hallowing song, 
 which has held us amidst these spots, let us 
 give to the gentle bard the tenderest pledge 
 of the regard which is due to his memory. I 
 beg now to call for a bumper to the " Memory 
 of Tannahill." The toast was received with 
 enthusiastic applause. 
 
 Band — "Loudon's Bonnie Woods and Braes." Song 
 — "Jessie the Flower of Dumblane," with fine effect, 
 by Mr. Cunningham. 
 
 The Kev. Mr. Rennison, in proposing "The 
 Peasantry of Scotland," said — Eor my presence 
 here to-night no apology or justification is 
 necessary to this large and respectable com- 
 pany. It cannot be concealed, however, that 
 there is a difference of opinion out of doors as 
 to the propriety of clergymen taking part in 
 this celebration. Some persons, indeed, are 
 very unreasonable. They think that ministers 
 should live in monasteries, and that their food 
 and drink should consist exclusively of dry peas 
 and cold water. They remind me of a decent 
 half-cracked woman, who, on hearing of a min- 
 ister being at a party, and of the male servant 
 of the Manse taking part in the musical per- 
 
364: 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 formance, exclaimed, " Hech ! sirs, what is the 
 world coinin' to! the minister at the dancin', 
 and the minister's man play in' the fiddle!" 
 But I must explain why I am charged with 
 the duty which had been assigned to my 
 friend, the Eev. Mr. Strachan, who would 
 have done ample justice to the toast. It 
 appears that Mr. Strachan is laid up with 
 influenza, and I am sure that he is a man of 
 such strong mind as to forbid the suspicion 
 that he has caught the malady in Canal Street. 
 I propose with ail cordiality " The Peasantry 
 of Scotland." I do so, because the Peasantry, 
 with the corresponding classes in towns, consti- 
 tute the substratum of society, and we must 
 wish well to them if we wish well to ourselves. 
 If there be serious defects in the basis, the 
 whole social fabric will be endangered. It is 
 gratifying to know that the rural population 
 have long been distinguished by a large amount 
 of piety, and by sober and industrious habits. 
 The labouring people of the country are there- 
 fore worthy of kind recognition by all good 
 citizens. Nor could the toast come more ap- 
 propriately from any than from one of my pro- 
 fession,— a profession indebted not a little to 
 the class in question for talents, and attain- 
 ments, and zeal, which have shed lustre on the 
 clerical office, and conferred immense benefits 
 on our land. Nay, from the same source have 
 sprung numerous highly gifted men, whose lot 
 it has been to pursue an upward course till 
 they reached the most conspicuous places of 
 honour and trust in church and state. Last of 
 all, I am sure of a hearty response to my toast, 
 on the ground that Burns belonged to the 
 Peasantry of Scotland. To this I ascribe much 
 of his excellence as a poet. The sphere in 
 which he moved was most favourable to the 
 development of his high genius. He there 
 conversed with nature face to face, and was 
 able therefore more graphically to describe her 
 beauties. He had opportunities of observing 
 the human heart in its naked simplicity, with- 
 out concealment by affectation or by the con- 
 ventionalisms of polished life. Hence he could 
 tune his harp to melodies which touch a chord 
 in every breast. If he had been nursed in the 
 lap of luxury, — if he had received a superior 
 education, he might indeed have produced 
 works of taste and elegance, but I make bold 
 to say, we should not have had the songs of 
 Robert Burns. (G-reat applause.) The toast 
 was warmly received. 
 
 Band— "Scots wha hae." Song— "A Man's a Man 
 for a' that," by Mr. Carawell. 
 
 Mr. William Mackean, in proposing " The 
 Clergy," showed from Burns' correspondence 
 that he was not the irreligious man which 
 some people called him, and therefore that it 
 
 was not inappropriate to toas,t " The Clergy " 
 on this occasion. The toast was received with 
 loud applause. 
 
 Band—" Old Hundred." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Wilson, who was received 
 with applause, in replying to the last toast, 
 said: — I am much obliged to the company 
 assembled before me on this very remarkable 
 occasion for the mark of respect they have 
 paid to the order which at this moment I have 
 the honour of representing. Certainly the 
 clergy sometimes came under the lash of Burns' 
 pen, but they should harbour no animosity on 
 this ground ; for the other learned professions, 
 the lawyers and the confreres of Dr. Hornbook, 
 did not altogether escape Scot free. (Ap- 
 plause.) The clergy, however, it is evident, as 
 a body are keeping aloof from the honours paid 
 to-day to the memory of Burns. Now, to what 
 is this circumstance to be ascribed ? It merits 
 observation on a variety of grounds ; for to 
 mention only one of them — it is not pleasant 
 to see the laity of a nation and its religious 
 instructors exhibiting a marked diversity of 
 opinion on so important a matter as the honour 
 due to one who has been styled — and in many 
 respects most justly styled — our National Bard, 
 as if they had no sympathies in common, but 
 held different rules of morality, or theories of 
 literary merit. It is quite childish and foolish 
 to suppose that the clergy resent the liberties 
 which Burns took with their order. They have 
 more good sense — more nobleness, and genero- 
 sity of mind, than that would imply. Their 
 keeping aloof from such meetings as this is 
 rather to be regarded as proceeding from a. 
 dread of being thought to countenance or ex- 
 tenuate by their presence those sins against 
 morality which were only too evident in the 
 life and writings of this extraordinary man. 
 (Cheers.) But surely we may discriminate 
 between the genius of a man and his errors — 
 (loud cheers) — and do homage to one who by 
 his writings has thrown an imperishable renown 
 around the peasantry and the literature of 
 Scotland, without thereby being supposed to 
 approve of, or to palliate those sins against vir- 
 tue and propriety of which it is idle to deny, 
 and would be shameful to conceal, he was often 
 guilty— which he himself in his cabner moments 
 bewailed— and of which he not less, nay, almost 
 more, than other men, reaped, as the closing 
 years of his life testify, the natural and bitter 
 fruits. To take a parallel case : in celebrating 
 the battles of Trafalgar and the Nile, surely 
 we may do homage to the splendid heroism of 
 the most renowned and brilliant of our great 
 naval commanders without thereby laying our- 
 selves open to the charge of extenuating, or 
 not condemning his domestic errors, or his 
 
PAISLEY. 
 
 365 
 
 Neapolitan scandals. (Cheers.) There are not 
 two rules of duty. The possession of high 
 genius cannot absolve a man from the eternal 
 obligations of morality. And yet is it not 
 true that in our public estimate of such men 
 we attend less to those errors which they in 
 common with many other men commit, and for 
 which they have passed to the judgment of a 
 higher tribunal — than to those properties — 
 those productions and achievements — through 
 wliich they enjoy a proud pre-eminence over 
 otber men — are formed into a separate and 
 higher class, and become land-marks in the 
 progress of society, and the lasting benefactors 
 of the race ? (Loud cheers.) What claims, 
 tiien, has Burns to belong to this class? His 
 claims, I tliink, are manifold and irresistible. 
 I admit with pain that a portion of his amatory 
 and bacchanalian songs, whatever admiration 
 they may have excited as literary productions, 
 merit, both from their tendency, and, I fear, 
 their efifect, our gravest censure, and are justly, 
 therefore, to be considered as blemishes upon 
 his fame. I admit, moreover, that there is a 
 dash of profaneness sometimes in his allusions 
 to matters of religion ; and yet is he not the 
 author of " Mary in Heaven," and " The Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night!" — poems which can only 
 perish with the language. And with respect 
 to the ridicule in which he indulges in some of 
 his other productions, surely we ought in all 
 fairness to acknowledge that his design was to 
 level it, not at religion itself, but at its blas- 
 phemous perversion and abuse. (Great cheer- 
 ing.) But setting this class of compositions 
 aside, what is the tendency and spirit of his 
 writings generally ? Do they embody senti- 
 ments of a demoralising or degrading character? 
 Quite the reverse. They breathe and inculcate 
 with inimitable force and beauty many of the 
 noblest and tenderests passions of the human 
 mind — friendship, gratitude, patriotism, the 
 love of independence, the hatred of oppression 
 and wrong. (Cheers.) This is the prevailing 
 character of his poetry, and of the man him- 
 self, and hence in part it is that he has done 
 so much to mould the character and enthrone 
 himself in the love and admiration of his coun- 
 trymen. (Applause.) It is the peculiar office 
 of poets to delight mankind. The philosopher 
 enlightens — the orator persuades — it is the 
 office of the poet to amuse us, through the 
 charms of his versification, and the witchery of 
 his creative fancy. Now, to some this may 
 seem rather a low definition of the functions of 
 the poet — in reality, however, it is not so, if 
 we are even to judge by the marvellous fewness 
 of those who have succeeded in doing it ; and 
 the fact of Burns occupying a prominent place 
 among the gifted few, gives him a just claim. 
 
 upon our gratitude. (Cheers.) Man lives not 
 by bread alone — he lives not merely in the 
 outward prosaic world of sense, and of cold 
 material realities — but also in an inner world 
 of feeling and imagination; and the poet, by 
 lighting up this inner world — animating it, 
 peopling it with vivid and brilliant imagery — 
 not only opens up to us an exquisite and con- 
 stant source of mental enjoyment, but benefits 
 us morally by leaving us less dependent for 
 happiness on the coarse gratifications of sense. 
 Consider, then, what a mighty contribution to 
 the intellectual enjoyment of mankind gene- 
 rally, and of his own countrymen in particular, 
 has been made by this modern Theocritus — 
 who, though not regularly trained to his art, 
 nor deeply learned in its technicalities, shows 
 always surprising originality, wit, fire, passion, 
 tenderness, and now and then reaches the mag- 
 nificent and the sublime. But Burns is a bene- 
 factor to his country in many ways. He has 
 helped not a little to give Scotland a high 
 standing intellectually among the great com- 
 munity of nations. We form a small but not 
 an obscure nation — not a people mentally mean 
 and contemptible — a rapid succession of bril- 
 liant thinkers and writers, of whom Burns is 
 not the least, has rendered us illustrious and 
 famous. (Loud cheers.) Is this nothing ? Let 
 your own exultant feeling at this remark — the 
 feeling that cannot but rise in your breast 
 while I speak — answer. It raises our self- 
 respect as a people ; and whatever legitimately 
 fosters our national pride, is morally beneficial 
 — is an element of our national happiness, and 
 a source of our national greatness ; for, by 
 awaking the consciousness of vast capacities, it 
 excites corresponding eflbrts and aspirations. 
 Consider, too, what Burns has done to develop 
 and perpetuate our nationality. The name and 
 the works of Burns form a warm and powerful 
 bond of union between Scotchmen all over the 
 world. To him, indeed, and to four other men 
 — first to Wallace and Bruce, whose fame and 
 his are now, and for all future time, insepar- 
 able, for has he not entwined his own laurel 
 wreath with theirs, in his immortal ode, " Scots 
 wha hae?" and then to Knox and Scott — to 
 these five men more than to all other men com- 
 bined, are we indebted for the individuality of 
 the Scottish people. These are the representa- 
 tive men of the nation. Blot these names out 
 of existence — undo their work — and what have 
 we as a people to excite our common sympa- 
 thies, or to bind us into a national unity ? 
 These are the secret causes, perhaps more felt 
 than understood by the people of Scotland 
 generally, which lie at the root of that enthu- 
 siasm with which they are laying to-day their 
 homage at the feet of their great national poet. 
 
366 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 I wish I had had time to unfold them with 
 greater elegance and precision ; it was only 
 last night, however, that I could finally arrange 
 to be present on this occasion ; but, being pre- 
 sent, I thought it due to myself, and due to 
 you, to state and vindicate the grounds on 
 wliich I could join with my fellow-townsmen in 
 paying tlie tribute of my admiration to the 
 genius of Burns. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. John Crawford proposed " The Memory 
 of Professor Wilson," in a long and able speech. 
 The toast was drunk amidst cordial applause. 
 
 Mr. R. L. Henderson proposed " The Bio- 
 grapliers and other Memorialists of Burns." 
 
 A number of eloquent speeches were made, 
 toasts were given, and songs were sung, and 
 tlie meeting was well worthy of the birth-place 
 of Tannahill and Wilson. 
 
 Mr. Henderson's dinner and arrangements 
 gave liigh and general satisfaction. 
 
 Working Men's Demonstration. — In the 
 Abercorn Rooms a numerous company, under 
 the presidency of Mr. Robert Cochran, met to 
 commemorate the centenary. The company 
 met at seven o'clock, and after partaking of a 
 social refreshment. 
 
 The Chairman rose and gave in succession 
 " The Queen," " The People, the fouutainhead 
 of genius," " Civil and Religious Liberty," " Sir 
 Colin Campbell and the Army and Navy," 
 "The Member for Paisley," "The Provost, 
 Magistrates, and Council." 
 
 In a characteristic and eloquent speech, the 
 Chairman proposed "The Immortal Memory 
 of Robert Burns." 
 
 Tlie Rev. Patrick Brewster replied in a long 
 speecii. 
 
 The following toasts were afterwards given 
 and responded to : — " The memory of Tanna- 
 hill and A. Wilson,'' by Mr. Cameron ; " The 
 Poets of Scotland," by Mr. Wingate; "The 
 Poets of England and Ireland," by Mr. Jaap; 
 "The Town and Trade of Paisley," by Mr. 
 M'Ghee; "The Press," by Mr. Hatchard; 
 "Tiie Clergy," by the Chairman; "The 
 Ladies," by Mr. Wingate ; " The Chairman," 
 by Mr. Osborne ; " The Croupiers," by Mr. 
 Arthur ; and the " Festival Committee," by 
 Mr. Bun tin. 
 
 The Block- Printers and others in the employ 
 of Messrs. James Dryburgh & Co., at Arkleston 
 Printworks, held the centenary of Robert 
 Burns in the house of Mr. M'Nee. Mr. 
 M'Queen was called to preside, who gave the 
 usual loyal toasts in very good style — all of 
 which were loudly applauded. During the 
 evening a number of the songs of Burns were 
 given with good effect by Messrs. M'Mui-ray, 
 Thom,son, Miller, Lambie, Smith, Brown, Tur- 
 ner, and others, which were richly interspersed 
 
 with recitations and readings — all of which 
 were highly worthy of the occasion. The com- 
 pany enjoyed themselves till a late hour, and 
 broke up after singing " Auld Langsyne " in 
 good style. 
 
 A grand festival was held in Mr. Russell's 
 beaming-room, 2 Silk Street, in honour of the 
 centenary of Robert Burns, when upwards of 
 fifty ladies and gentlemen sat down to supper. 
 The chair was ably filled by Mr. Alexander 
 Maxwell, and supported by Mr. William John- 
 ston and Mr. William Milton. After the re- 
 moval of the cloth, the Chairman gave the 
 usual loyal and patriotic toasts, which were all 
 duly responded to. The Chairman then rose, 
 and, in a few racy remarks, gave the toast of 
 the evening — " The immortal memory of Robert 
 Burns," which was drunk with all the honours. 
 Song, " There was a lad was born in Kyle," by 
 Mr. George Johnston ; Toast, " The memorj' of 
 Robert Tannahill," by Mr. Nairn ; Song, 
 "Jessie, the Flower o' Dumblane," by Mr. 
 Anderson; "Local Poets," by Mr. R. Max- 
 well ; Song, " Simple Johnny," by Mr. Bu- 
 chanan ; " Memory of Alexander Wilson," by 
 Mr. Davidson ; Recitation, " Watty and Meg," 
 by Mr. Milton; "Trade of Paisley and the 
 Working Classes," by Mr. Alexander Russell ; 
 Song, " A man's a man for a' that," by Mr. W. 
 Johnston ; " The Lasses," by Mr. Cameron ; 
 Song, " Green Grow the Raslies," by Mr. G. 
 Johnston ; Song, " Tarn Glen," by a young 
 lady. After a few more toasts and songs, the 
 company " tripped on the light fantastic toe " 
 till far on in . the morning. The supper was 
 provided by Mr. John Eraser, baker ; refresh- 
 ments by Mr. Samuel Neilson. 
 
 A meeting was held in the house of Mr. 
 James Holms, Broomlands, Mr. Thomas Patrick 
 in the chair. Mr. William Thomson acted as 
 croupier. After enjoying themselves with the 
 good things set before them, including the 
 chieftain of the pudding race, a good sonsie 
 haggis, the following toasts were proposed and 
 responded to with all honour ; — " Tiie Queen," 
 " The Army and Navy." The Chairman, in 
 rising to propose the toast of the evening, ex- 
 pressed his inability to do justice to the memory 
 of the immortal Robert Burns. Whatever 
 others might say of him, he would say he was a 
 man of genius, independence and love, which 
 noble characteristics were brilliantly displayed 
 throughout all his writings. He believed all 
 present were acquainted with these, as they had 
 now become household words to every Scotch- 
 man, and even throughout the world. He had, 
 llierefore, great pleasure in proposing " Tlie 
 Memory of the Immortal Robert Burns." The 
 toast having been drunk in solemn silence, Mr. 
 Hunter sung in first-rate style, " There was a 
 
PAISLEY. 
 
 367 
 
 lad VV113 born ia Kyle," after which a number of 
 )>oeins and songs were rehearsed by the mem- 
 bers, amongst which were " Green grow the 
 rashes, O," "Corn Riggs," " Willie brewed a peck 
 o' Maut," " Man was made to mourn," and that 
 master-piece, tlie " Cottar's Saturday Night." 
 The following toasts were proposed and re- 
 sponded to: — The Memory of Tannahill, the 
 Memory of Alexander Wilson, our Local Poets, 
 with James Yool, the Lasses, the Chairman, 
 the Croupier. After having enjoyed a happy 
 and harmonious niglit, the company broke up 
 with Scotland's national song, "Auld Langsyne." 
 
 A select party of young gentlemen of various 
 trades met with their sweethearts in the house 
 of Mr. John M'Kenzie, St. Mirren Street, to 
 celebrate the 100th birthday of the Ayrshire 
 Bard, Robert Burns. The chair was occupied 
 by Mr. Gavin Gowdie, Cooper, and was ably 
 supported right and left by Messrs. Fechney 
 and Anderson. Mr. Cravviijrd officiated as 
 croupier, supported by Messrs. Gray and Kil- 
 patrick. . After partaking of an excellent sup- 
 per, served up in Mr. M'Kenzie's best style, the 
 Chairman rose and gave the usual toasts, which 
 were heartily responded to. The Chairman 
 then, in a neat, concise speech, gave the toast of 
 the evening — To the Memory of Robert Burns. 
 Other toasts followed, introducing the Poets of 
 Scotland, Town and Trade of Paisley, Provost 
 and Magistrates, &c. During the evening, 
 Messrs. Fechney, Kilpatrick, and M'Gongle, 
 added greatly to the harmony of the meeting 
 by singing a few choice songs, chiefly Burns'. 
 The company, after singing " Auld Langsyne," 
 retired to the dancing hall, where till a late hour 
 they tripped on the light fantastic toe, when all 
 separated highly pleased with the night's en- 
 tertainment. 
 
 The Centenary was also publicly commemo- 
 rated in the following places, in addition to 
 many private parties : — The Paisley Literary 
 and Convivial Association met in the Hall, 
 Abbey Buildings ; another meeting was held in 
 the W^ilson Hall, High Street ; in the Sun Inn, 
 Bladda; in the Tea Gardens, Causeyside; in 
 Mr. P. Robertson's, Orchard Street ; Mr. John 
 Miick's, Causeyside ; the King Street Reading 
 Rooms ; Mr. M'Nicol's Hall ; in Miss Stirrat's 
 Coffee House, &o. 
 
 The Drapers' Assistants of Paisley held their 
 annual supper, combining with it the celebra- 
 tion of Burns' centenary. About 24 gentle- 
 men sat down to a sumptuous supper in the 
 Terrace Tavern. The chair was occupied by 
 Mr. M'Williams,and the duties of croupier were 
 ably discharged by Mr. Robert Henry. The 
 cloth having been removed, 
 
 The Chairman gave the Queen, Royal 
 Family, and Army and Navy. 
 
 The Croupier, in an able and well-expressed 
 speech, proposed the toast of the evening, " Tlie 
 Immortal Memory of Burns." He spoke feel- 
 ingly of the genius of Burns, his manly straiglit- 
 forward independence, hardy patriotism. He 
 said that Burns' character had always been 
 maligned and evil-spoken of by the " unco 
 guid," but that nevertheless his better qualities 
 would rise refined and purified and shine forth 
 with brighter effulgence. 
 
 The toast was drunk with enthusiasm, and 
 before sitting down, the company joined in 
 singing " Ye banks and braes " with harmoni- 
 ous effect. Thereafter Mr. M'Dougal sang 
 in a sonorous voice, " There was a lad was 
 born in Kyle." 
 
 The Croupier gave, " The Trade," followed by 
 Mr. Brunton singing "A man's a man for a' 
 that." 
 
 Mr, A. Stewart then in a few happy remarks 
 gave " The Lasses," he was sorry that they had not 
 their presence to enliven them, but hoped that 
 their next meeting might be graced by them. 
 After drinking the toast with all the honours, 
 Mr. A. Stewart sang Burns' appropriate song 
 " Green grow the rashes, O." 
 
 Mr. Brunton then, in a concise speech, in 
 which he sketched the life of Tannahill, Paisley 
 song-writer, gave "The memory of the great 
 men of Paisley." 
 
 Mr. Boyd followed with a comic song that 
 excited the risibles of the whole company, and 
 later in the evening recited, in the most effec- 
 tive manner, Wilson's " Eppie and the Deil." 
 
 The Chairman gave, "The strangers who have 
 honoured us with their presence." 
 
 The Croupier gave, " Our absent friends in 
 America and elsewhere." 
 
 Mr. Baird gave, " Shakspeare and other na- 
 tional poets." 
 
 The Chairman gave, " Our worthy host," re- 
 plied to by Mr. Renfrew in a few neat remarks. 
 The company, after spending a happy evening, 
 separated after singing in chorus " Auld Lang- 
 syne." 
 
 Soiree. — The public soiree held in Arthur- 
 lie Street Church, to celebrate the centenary 
 of our National Bard, was in every respect 
 a decided success. Upwards of six hundred 
 persons were present, a large platform having 
 been erected and all available space taken ad- 
 vantage of. Mr. John Lindsay, block-printer, 
 presided, and by originalitj', wit, and quaint 
 humour, kept up an interest in the proceedings 
 till the close of the meeting. The company 
 having partaken of a most excellent -tea, pre- 
 pared by Mr. James Crawford, 
 
 Mr. Lindsay introduced the business of the 
 evening, apologising for the position he oc- 
 cupied. The address was quite unique, dis- 
 
368 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 playing extensive reading, good taste, and 
 judicious selection of quotations, "from grave to 
 gay, from lively to severe," calling forth the 
 deafening acclamations of his assembled au- 
 ditory. 
 
 Mr. Cotterell, professor of music, Glasgow, 
 presided at the harmonium, and there was be- 
 sides an excellent turn-out of native talent, 
 
 " An' there was muckle fan an' jokin', 
 Ye needna doubt ; 
 At length we had a hearty yokin' 
 At sang about." 
 
 The proceedings of the evening were con- 
 fined to the life and writings of Burns. The 
 songs were well selected, and rendered in a 
 manner truly pleasing. Mr. J. Jones sung 
 the first song, " There was a lad was born in 
 Kyle." His " Scots wha hae" was the favourite 
 of the meeting. 
 
 " He ended, and the kebara sheuk 
 Aboon the choius roar, 
 While ffichted rattens back wad leuk. 
 And seek the benraost bore." 
 
 The well-known song, " A man's a man for a' 
 that," was sung by Mr. D. Ferguson with 
 taste and characteristic energy. Our sweet 
 singer, Mr. J. Brown, rendered " John An- 
 derson, my jo" in his own quiet way, and was 
 highly appreciated. Various songs, duets, and 
 glees, were sung by Messrs. Johnstone, Pat- 
 rick, Hunter, Meikle, Bruce, Reoch, Houston, 
 Kesson, and Carracher. To Mr. Carracher the 
 committee are peculiarly indebted for his 
 kindness in conducting the glee party, his ser- 
 vices being found very useful in varying the 
 musical department. 
 
 Mr. A. Craig, Gateside Mill, in a lengthen- 
 ed address, gave an outline of the life of 
 Burns, more especially referring to the period 
 during which the poet resided at Dumfries, 
 showing, from indisputable authorities, the 
 many bright spots in the character of this truly 
 great man. His pithy expression — 
 
 " I'll sned besoms, thraw saugh wuddies, 
 
 Before they want,'' 
 
 exhibits, in a remarkable manner, the affection 
 of the parent and the independence of the 
 man. The readings were select, and delivered 
 effectively by the Messrs. Craig, Stirling, M'Lel- 
 lan, and Dr. M'Kinlay. The pith and purity 
 of Scottish expression, so happily possessed by 
 Mr. M'Lellan, were brought out to great ad- 
 vantage in his reading of " Hallowe'en." Mr. 
 Peter Comrie recited the " Cottar's Saturday 
 Night," and the " Address to a Haggis," effec- 
 tively portraying the peculiar beauties of the 
 two pieces. The Barrhead instrumental band 
 was also present, and performed several fii- 
 vourite airs. 
 
 Votes of thanks having been passed to the 
 committee and the chairman by Mr. M'Lellan, 
 Mr. Lindsay replied, calling upon the company 
 to sing " Auld Langsyne" standing, which was 
 done with genuine Scottish enthusiasm. The 
 meeting dispersed a little after " the wee short 
 hour ayont the twal," well pleased with the 
 opportunity of demonstrating their apprecia- 
 tion of the works and worth of him, who sang — 
 
 " It's coming yet for a' that. 
 That man to man, the warld o'er, 
 Shall brithers be for a' that." 
 
 PALNACKIE. — At Palnackie there was 
 held in the Subscription School-room (which 
 was tastefully decorated with festoons of ever- 
 greens and flowers, with devices and banners), 
 a public dinner, provided by Mr. Scott of 
 Auchencairn (in even more than his usual re- 
 cherche and liberal manner), at which a large 
 number of the farmers in the district and in- 
 habitants of the village were present. G. H. 
 Thomson, Esq., of H. M. Customs, presided, 
 supported by Mr. Milligan of Chapelcroft, and 
 Mr. A. Coltart of North Glen. Mr. Samuel 
 Wilson of Auchenhill officiated as croupier, sup- 
 ported on the right and left by Mr. Muirhead 
 of Barchain, and Mr. M'Ewan of Park. Mr. 
 Ingram of Buittle was present, and sang a num- 
 ber of Burns' songs in the intervals between 
 the toasts, in a style worthy of the occasion. 
 The Chairman gave The Queen, — Prince Al- 
 bert and the rest of the Royal Family, — The 
 Army and Navy. The Chairman then, in a 
 telling speech, gave the toast of the evening, 
 " The Memory of Burns." The Croupier gave 
 The Memory of Bonnie Jean, the wife of 
 Burns, — The Surviving Sons of Burns. Mr. 
 Coltart, Our Native Land, the Land of Burns. 
 Mr. M'Ewan, The Peasantry of Scotland. Mr. 
 M'Gregor, The Memory of Sir Walter Scott. 
 Mr. Muirhead, The Schoolmasters of Scotland. 
 Mr. Dalling, The Agricultural Interest. Chair- 
 man, The Shipping Interest of the Water of 
 Urr. Mr. Milligan, Prosperity to the Village 
 of Palnackie. Chairman, The Press. Mr. 
 Livingstone, Lord Clyde and his Companions 
 in Arms. Mr. Caird, The Lasses. Mr. M'Gre- 
 gor, The Chairman. Mr. Milligan, The Crou- 
 pier. Chairman, Mr. and Mrs. Scott, who 
 have so handsomely entertained us, — Our aiii 
 Firesides, — artd Good Night. The company 
 dispersed at ten o'clock. 
 
 A tea-party and ball was held in the Wood- 
 head School-room, which was numerously at- 
 tended, there being upwards o/^60 present. It 
 went ofi" with great sjjirit. 
 
 A tea-party and ball was also held at Kipp- 
 ford, at which no fewer than between 60 and 
 
PAETICK— PEEBLES. 
 
 369 
 
 70 were present. With reference to the ball, 
 the managers deserve the moat unqualified ap- 
 probation for the spirit and decorum with which 
 it was conducted. 
 
 PAETICK. — Tlie centenary of Robert 
 Burns was celebrated in this burgh with the 
 utmost enthusiasm. In the evening upwards 
 of 100 gentlemen sat down to dinner in one of 
 the rooms of the Academy, Provost White 
 occupied the chair, and James Napier, Esq., 
 F.C.S., &c., officiated as croupier. After din- 
 ner the national anthem of Scotland, " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled," was sung and per- 
 formed by the Partick Instrumental Band, 
 which was in attendance. After the usual loyal 
 toasts were proposed and duly responded to, 
 the Chairman, amidst great enthusiasm, rose, 
 and in an appropriate address proposed " The 
 Immortal Memory of Eobert Burns," which 
 was duly honoured. The Croupier then, 
 amidst great applause, proposed the toast, 
 "Lord Clyde and his Companions in Arms," 
 which was warmly received. Toast, song, and 
 story then followed, interspersed with appro- 
 priate music, until half-past eleven o'clock, 
 when the proceedings terminated with the com- 
 pany singing " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 PATHHEAD. — On Tuesday night the 
 Town Hall here was the scene of one of the 
 most pleasant and attractive meetings that ever 
 took place within its walls. Between 40 and 
 50 of the most spirited inhabitants of the vil- 
 lage, joined by a few of their friends from 
 Kirkcaldy, met, their hearts in unison with 
 the tens of thousands of Scotland's sons, to do 
 honour to the memory of one whom Scotland 
 loves. After an excellent supper — of which a 
 " guid Scotch haggis "formed a prominent part, 
 prepared by Mrs. Dalrymple, and served up in 
 first-rate style, the Chairman, Captain James 
 Eeddie, one of the oldest, if not the oldest ser- 
 vant of her Majesty on the array list, proposed 
 in right loyal manner the health and happiness 
 of our gracious Sovereign the Queen, Prince 
 Albert, and the Eoyal Family. The Croupier, 
 Mr. Shepherd, floor-cloth manufacturer, then 
 gave, in a few brief but feeling remarks, the 
 toast of the evening — "Tiie memory of the 
 immortal Burns, his memory not only as a po- 
 et, but as a patriot and a man." The company 
 were favoured with many of Burns' beautiful 
 songs, which were sung with much pathos and 
 taste by Mr. Speedie, Mr. Pye, Mr. Brown, 
 and others. The venerable and gallant Chair- 
 man gave one of Burns' best convivial songs 
 with great unction, and otherwise entered into 
 the spirit of the evening with as much hearti- 
 ness as the youngest present. The croupier 
 
 and others recited some of the finest pieces of 
 Burns' poetry, and Mr. M'Pherson contributed 
 an original poem, which he had sent to the 
 Crystal Palace competition. 
 
 The working-men's festival in the Subscrip- 
 tion School came oflf also with great success, 
 every corner being crowded, and many had to 
 go away unable to obtain admission. Mr. 
 Heggie was called to the chair. The evening's 
 entertainment was composed of addresses, songs, 
 duets, glees, and recitations, and were deliv- 
 ered by Messrs. Christie, D. Weir, J. Ness, J. 
 Hutchison, J. Kilgour, J. Banks, D. Oswald, 
 and David H. Lawson, and Miss Cliristie and 
 Mrs. Smith. Various services of fruit, &c., in- 
 cluding two glasses of Willie Young's 1 1 o.p. 
 to each male individual above 15 years of age, 
 were distributed throughout the evening. Al- 
 together, we feel proud to say that a more 
 harmonious and orderly meeting never met in 
 Pathhead, every one vieing with each other who 
 would contribute most to make his neighbour 
 happy. After a vote of thanks to the Chair- 
 man, and the company singing " Auld Lang- 
 syne," the meeting broke up about V2 o'clock. 
 
 PATNA. — Among the inhabitants generally 
 of the thriving little village of Patna, so pleas- 
 antly situated on one of the " Brae sides of 
 Bonnie Doon," the 25th was held as a holiday. 
 On the top of the hill above the village, from 
 which an almost complete view of the Frith of 
 Clyde, and valley of the Girvan, is commanded^ 
 a large heap of material was collected by the 
 villagers, during the day, for a bonfire in the 
 evening. In the afternoon several foot races 
 were contested for prizes of considerable sums 
 of money, which was previously raised by sub- 
 scription. Towards evening, about fifty gentle- 
 men sat down to a hearty repast, in Mr. Gol- 
 die's Inn, presided over by Andrew Kerr, Esq., 
 and Mr. Thomas Dick, postmaster, acting as 
 croupier, both gentlemen being upwards of 
 four-score yeai's of age, and both enthusiastic 
 admirere of our honoured poet, many of whose 
 poems were recited in full during the evening, 
 in addition to the song and toast that add to 
 the hilarity of such meetings. The company 
 broke up about eleven o'clock, with " Ye banks 
 and braes o' bonnie Doon," in full chorus, 
 which was much appreciated. In very few 
 places could the enthusiastic spirit of doing 
 honour to our Robert Burns have been more 
 evinced than by our villagers. 
 
 PEEBLES.— Tuesday the 25th of January, 
 1859 — the centenary of the birthday of Scot- 
 land's bard — will be long remembered in Pee- 
 bles. The day had been anxiously looked for- 
 ward to by hundreds- who. desired to testify 
 2a 
 
370 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 their attachment to one who had enslirined 
 himself in their inmost hearts. The event was 
 celebrated by a public dinner, held in the front 
 rooms of the Tontine Hotel, at three o'clock, 
 and by a popular soiree in the evening, in the 
 Assembly Room. The demand for tickets for 
 both occasions was great; and for the soiree 
 especially, hundreds being excluded for want 
 of accommodation. We are glad, indeed, to say, 
 that both of these demonstrations passed oflf 
 with complete success, and every one seemed to 
 be highly gratified. The arrangements were 
 all that could be wished ; and the committees of 
 both parties deserve much credit for the man- 
 ner in which they had severally discharged 
 their duties. 
 
 The Dinner. — The room was tastefully de- 
 corated with evergreens, and numerous emble- 
 matical devices. At three o'clock, about eighty 
 gentlemen sat down to dinner. The chair was 
 occupied by Provost Stirling, supported by 
 Charles Alexander, Esq., John Binnie, Esq., 
 Councillor Donaldson, James M'William, Esq., 
 &c. The croupiers were. Bailie Dickson and 
 Mr. Alexander Girdwood. A few musical 
 amateurs, consisting of Mr. Gentle, Mr. Scott, 
 Mr. R. Potts, Mr. Andrew Walker, &c., de- 
 lighted the party throughout the evening 
 by singing a variety of the most popular of 
 the songs of Burns; while Mr. Alexander 
 Tait recited an ode, composed by himself for 
 the occasion. Mr. James Taylor and Mr. 
 Peter Walker also read original poems in 
 commemoration of the great event. After 
 the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, including 
 that of Princess Frederick William of Prussia, 
 the day being the anniversary of her marriage, 
 the Provost rose amid much cheering, and, in 
 giving the toast of the day, spoke nearly as 
 follows : — 
 
 We are this day assembled to do honour to 
 Scotland's greatest son, Robert Burns; even him 
 
 " Who walked in glory and in joy, 
 Behind his plough upon the mountain side." 
 
 Would that I could catch but one spark from 
 the bright fire of his genius ; would that but 
 one fold of his inspiring mantle only partially 
 enclosed me; then might I hope, however 
 feebly, to give expression to the feelings which 
 now tumultuate within my breast. But the 
 subject of my theme is so lofty, he was so re- 
 moved above the sphere and the ken of ordinary 
 mortals ; 
 
 " He had a voice whose sound was like the sea; 
 Pure as his native heavens, majestic, free;" 
 
 that my voice is all too weak to strike even the 
 lowest note of his praise. Ignorance and pre- 
 
 sumption indeed may " rush in " where higher 
 and purer qualities " fear to tread ;" but it is 
 he, and he only, who has thoroughly studied 
 Burns as the man and the bard, who will con- 
 fess his total inadequacy to do tjim justice. 
 How intensely interesting is the occasion for 
 which we are now assembled — the world this 
 day on pilgrimage to the land of Burns! Gen- 
 tlemen, why is it thus? Why is it that hej 
 nurtured in one of the lowliest cottages in the 
 land ; having no pretensions to a superior edu- 
 cation ; an Ayrshire ploughman, earning his 
 bread by the sweat of his brow ; the summit of 
 his worldly promotion — with shame be it spoken 
 — being that of a petty exciseman ; and thus 
 neglected, dying at a premature age in extreme 
 but honest poverty ; why is it that this man, 
 after the lapse' of a century, draws after him all 
 leal and true hearts, not only throughout Scot- 
 land, but throughout the world? To answer 
 this question fully, would require more time 
 than is allotted to the whole proceedings of this 
 evening ; but if I may be allowed to gather up 
 in one sentence the cause of this wide^spread 
 commotion, I would say — the true nobility of 
 his nature, his manly independence, his high- 
 souled patriotism, his keen and beautiful per- 
 ception of nature, and of man in relation there-^ 
 to — as portrayed in his matchless verse — these 
 are some of the qualities which stand out" in 
 bold relief, and stamp him as belonging not to 
 one age or country, but to all time and to the 
 whole human race. You all doubtless remem- 
 ber how, in the beautiful dedication of his 
 poems to the noblemen and gentlemen of the 
 Caledonian Hunt, he, in language drawn 
 from the " pure well of English undefiled," as* 
 serts his manly position — " I was bred to the 
 plough, and am independent." And again, as 
 if accounting for the high eminence he had at- 
 tained as the bard of Scotland, he exclaims, 
 " the poetic genius of my country found me as 
 the prophetic bard Elijah did Elisha, at the 
 plough, and threw her inspiring mantle over 
 me." Burns was a poet in the highest and 
 truest sense of the term. All objects, animate 
 and inanimate, ^hen touched by his magic 
 wand, became beautiful and fair. It were easy 
 for me to cull from his imperishable lays, 
 " flowers of all hues," to illustrate and adorn 
 what I have now stated ; but my time among 
 you is limited; and I notice from the pro- 
 gramme before me, that you will have ample 
 opportunity of doing this, and in a way much 
 more agreeable than I can pretend to, even in 
 sweet airs " married to immortal verse." — And 
 now, gentlemen, I call upon you to join me 
 with all the fervour and ardency of which your 
 souls are capable, when I propose, with every 
 honour^ " The Immortal Memory of Scotland's 
 
PEEBLES. 
 
 371 
 
 Bard, Kobert Burns." The toast was received 
 with the greatest enthusiasm. 
 
 During the delivery of the above address, the 
 Provost was frequently applauded. The fol- 
 lowing toasts, with appropriate remarks, were 
 given in succession — The Town and Trade of 
 Peebles, by Mr. Binnie. The Agricultural In- 
 terests of the County, by Mr. Blackie. The 
 Chambers Institution, by the Chairman. The 
 Sons of Burns, by the Chairman. The Me- 
 mory of Sir Walter Scott, by Mr. Charles 
 Alexander. Mr. Robert Chambers, as the Bio- 
 grapher of Burns, and the benevolent friend of 
 the Misses Begg, by the Chairman. The Me- 
 mory of the Ettrick Shepherd, by Mr. Alex- 
 ander Tait. Bailie Dickson proposed The 
 Health of the Chairman, and took the oppor- 
 tunity of passing a high eulogium upon that 
 gentleman, for the admirable manner in which 
 he had conducted the whole proceedings of the 
 day. The toast was received with much ap- 
 plause. The Provost, in returning thanks, ex- 
 pressed the high satisfaction and honour he ex- 
 perienced in presiding at such a festival — one 
 that could not again occur during the lifetime 
 of any now present. He thanked the company 
 for the agreeable and kindly manner in which 
 the chair had been supported. Mr. Girdwood 
 then proposed, A Happy Meeting to the Soiree. 
 Mr. Alexander Tait sung, in excellent style, a 
 song of his own composition, entitled " Our 
 Auld Burgh Yet." It being now fully six 
 o'clock, the Provost, wishing the party a plea- 
 sant evening, left the chair, which was imme- 
 diately filled by Bailie Dickson. Toast and song 
 successively occupied the party till nearly eleven 
 o'clock, when they separated, highly delighted 
 with the joyous proceedings of the day. We 
 should mention that the dinner and other ar- 
 rangements were, as usual, in Mr. Smith's ex- 
 cellent style. 
 
 The Soiree. — Precisely at seven o'clock, 
 the Provost — who had been requested to pre- 
 side — entered the Assembly room, and was ac- 
 companied to the platform by Sheriff Burnett, 
 Mr. Bathgate, Mr. Blackwood, Mr. Stirling 
 (Tweed Green), Dr. Junor, and Mr. Moffat 
 from Innerleithen. The room was chastely 
 and tastefully decorated with evergreens. Eigh- 
 teen ladies presided at an equal number of tea- 
 tables, around which the large party — about 
 three hundred — was densely packed. The 
 effect of this large party in holiday attire, and 
 many in full evening dress, together with the 
 pleased and happy countenances of all, ren- 
 dered the scene at once striking and joyous. 
 There being no clergyman present, the Chair- 
 man invoked the Divine blessing, and' almost 
 immediately afterwards, the efficient stewards, 
 under the generalship of Mr. Alexander Dick- 
 
 son, junior, loaded the tables with good cheer. 
 Nearly half-an-hour was spent at tea, each lady 
 acting as the centre of a family-party, while 
 good humour and the merry laugh resounded 
 through the hall. Tea being finished, the 
 stewards, in an incredibly short space of time, 
 removed the tables from the room, and all were 
 thus enabled to face about towards the Chair. 
 There was an eflicient musical party — which 
 gave its services gratuitously — under the leader- 
 ship of Mr. R. Stodart, consisting of several 
 members of the Peebles Glee Club, along with 
 a powerful chorus. Miss Stodart presided at 
 the piano, which was handsomely volunteered 
 for the occasion by Dr. Junor. The proceed- 
 ings opened with the song, " There was a lad 
 was born in Kyle," which having been well 
 sung, at once put the whole company into a 
 still more cheerful and happy mood. 
 
 The Chairman then rose, and made a brilliant 
 speech, in which he gave an eloquent exposition 
 of the varied beauty in the poetry of Burns, 
 after which he recited the whole of the " Cottar's 
 Saturday Night," which was listened to through- 
 out with breathless attention, and at its conclu- 
 sion the Provost was greeted with much ap- 
 plause. 
 
 " Scots wha hae," ■" Afton Water," and " O 
 Lassie, are ye sleeping yet," having been succes- 
 sively sung, Sheriff Burnett rose, amid much 
 cheering, and said, that he was indeed much 
 gratified by seeing so large an assembly, and 
 how glad he was to unite with them in ex- 
 pressing his gratitude and admiration of our great 
 National Poet — more truly national, he believed, 
 than any one the world had ever known. He 
 was delighted to think that the heart of Scot- 
 land was stirred to its depths on this occasion ; 
 and that our hearts should beat in unison with 
 the thousands — ^nay, millions — of Her Majesty's 
 subjects who were this day met — in aU the 
 various quarters of the world — to pay their 
 tribute of respect to the memory of Burns. 
 (Cheers.) " He would not attempt criticism on 
 his works — they were in all our hands, and 
 their variety was such that every one could find 
 something to please his own peculiar taste; 
 but for his own part, he was rather disposed to 
 think that his fame would ultimately rest upon 
 his most wonderfully vivid and truthful deli- 
 neations of the habits, manners, and modes of 
 thinking, of our rural population — and upon his 
 songs. Here he recited a few lines from the 
 poem of the " Twa Dogs," describing the intro- 
 duction of the new year in a rural family. He 
 thought no picture could be more perfect ; and 
 he could only regret that the pure Scots, in 
 which it is written, is so rapidly falling into 
 disuse among us ; and, unless prevented by a 
 study of Burns, is likely soon to become a dead 
 
372 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 language — an event which every admirer of his 
 must deplore, when he sees to what inimitable 
 poetic purposes it can be turned, when in such 
 hands. Mr. B. then alluded to some late at- 
 tempts to revive calumnies against the personal 
 character of Burns — which, he had hoped, after 
 the lapse of more than half-a-oentury, might 
 have been allowed to rest in merited oblivion. 
 (Loud cheers.) He said that he would neither 
 insult the memory of Burns, nor do injury to 
 the feelings of his audience, by entering upon 
 any defence of his character from such asper- 
 sions — Burns himself had severely stated his 
 own faults and follies, aud he had deplored 
 them in language equally beautiful and pathe- 
 tic — and he (Mr. B.) felt assured, that as the 
 parties alluded to felt no real synipathy with 
 Burns, so they would meet with none from any 
 assembly like the present. (Cheers.) The 
 only answer he would condescend to make to 
 them, was by a short extract from the Poet, 
 addressed, " To the Unco Guid and the Rigidly 
 Righteous," which he recited, as applicable not 
 only to such men, but as containing a profound 
 moral lesson to all, Mr. Burnett resumed his 
 seat amid much applause. 
 
 Many other speeches were spoken, songs were 
 sung, and the company separated at a late hour 
 after spending a delightful evening. 
 
 PENICUIK Burns' Centenary was ob- 
 served here in a manner worthy of tlie occasion. 
 All the shops were closed at two p.m. At three 
 o'clock the children from the various schools 
 in the village and neighbourhood assembled at 
 the parish church to the number of 400, and, 
 accompanied by their teachers and preceded by 
 the village band, marched in procession to the 
 hall at Valleyfield Paper Mills, which was 
 kindly granted for the meeting by Messrs. A- 
 Cowan & Sons. On entering the hall the 
 children were supplied with fruit. The Rev. 
 Thomas Girdwood took the chair. The chil- 
 dren were then called on to compete for thir- 
 teen handsome volumes of Burns' works to be 
 given as prizes to the best singers and reciters 
 of pieces from Burns' poeips, and also for essays 
 on his character and genius. Each school per- 
 formed its part well ; and many and loud were 
 the cheers as the chairman awarded the prizes 
 to the successful competitors. The hall was 
 filled in every corner by visitors anxious to 
 witness this pleasing meeting. At six o'clock 
 another large meeting took place in the same 
 hall, filled to overflowing — nearly 700 persons 
 having been present. After a service of cake 
 and fruit, Mr. John Cowan was called to the 
 chair, and opened the meeting with an excel- 
 lent address in honour of our national bard. 
 
 Addresses were also delivered by the Eev. 
 Messrs. Stewart, Duncan, and Girdwood. 
 
 Upwards of seventy individuals sat down to 
 dinner in the Parish School-room, to celebrate 
 the hundredth anniversary of Robert Burns, 
 our national Bard. The room was tastefully 
 fitted up for the occasion. Mr, M'Lean, farm- 
 er, Braidwood, occupied the chair, supported 
 by Mr. Bird, Dr. Symington, Mr. Tait, Mr. H. 
 Symington, &c., &c. ; Messrs. John and An- 
 drew Paterson acted as croupiers, supported by 
 the most influential farmers and merchants in 
 country and village. 
 
 After the usual loyal toasts, th« Chairman 
 rose and gave " The Memory of Burns." He 
 said — I believe you selected me to preside over 
 you on this occasion from having performed 
 the various avocations of the farm, of many of 
 which the Poet seemed passionately fond. In 
 this manner I may be considered no bad repre- 
 sentative of the Ayrshire ploughman. But had 
 any eulogium from me been required to insure 
 to the toast I am about to bring under your 
 notice a Scottish welcome, I would have shrunk 
 from the task, as being totally incompetent. 
 After a graphic sketch of the Poet's life, the 
 Chairman continued — The writings of Burns 
 have enlivened the mansions of the rich, and been 
 thumbed in the cottage and around the homely 
 hearth of the poorest in his native land. He 
 never ceased to sing of the beauties of nature 
 with extreme delight. His love of country was 
 sincere and unbounded, and the most trivial 
 incident became a subject for his muse. He 
 rejoiced in verse to immortalise her hills and 
 her dales, her' streams and her groves, her lads 
 and her lasses ; and after the lapse of a hundred 
 years, meetings are held in every city, village, 
 and cottage, nay more, in the hearts of every 
 leal and true Scotchmen, by our cousins in 
 America, and wherever the English language is 
 understood. A few self-conceited Puritans, or 
 would-be considered religious Presbyterians, 
 allege that the writings of Burns are not fitted 
 for the people in this refined age. I have not 
 been able to discover such glaring defects as 
 some pretend to ; I believe no one present but 
 regrets the style in which some of his works 
 are written, and which he was frank enough 
 himself to acknowledge. His honesty of pur- 
 pose and detestation of hypocrisy sometimes 
 carried him too far. Who cannot admire the 
 following upon himself? — 
 
 " God knows, I'm no the man I should be, 
 Nor even am I what I could be, 
 But twenty times I rather would be 
 
 An Atheist clean, 
 Than under gospel colours hide me 
 
 Just for a screen." 
 
 These lines were sent to the Rev. John M'Math, 
 
PERTH— PETERHEAD. 
 
 373 
 
 along with a copy of the Holy Fair, at his own 
 request, and from what I myself have seen, and 
 others present, both in our own and neighbour- 
 ing parishes, scenes have been witnessed at 
 Sacramental occasions which were more to be 
 regretted than some of the severest sarcasms of 
 the Poet ; and if that poem was influential in 
 doing away with tent preachings throughout 
 Scotland, it deserves our best regards. Mr. 
 M'Lean then proposed the toast, which was 
 enthusiastically cheered. 
 
 Mr. John Paterson gave " The Lord of the 
 Manor," the Right Hon. Sir George Clerk, 
 Bart. Mr. Andrew Paterson gave "Educa- 
 tion," and in doing so spoke in glowing terms 
 of the inestimable value of a sound education 
 in laying the foundation of our country's happi- 
 ness and independence, whether in a civil or a 
 religious point of view. The singing was all 
 arranged by a committee aTOointed for the pur- 
 pose, and the selection, Eoong with the per- 
 formance, was all that could be desired. " Auld 
 Langsyne," with a hearty chorus, finished the 
 proceedings. Auchindining and neighbour- 
 hood added both to the number and harmony 
 of the evening. The dinner was served up in 
 Stewart's best style, and gave general satisfac- 
 tion. The party broke up about ten o'clock, 
 highly pleased with the general hilarity of the 
 whole proceedings. 
 
 Meeting of Farm Servants. — A few dis- 
 trict farmers assembled their farm servants and 
 labourers in the Old School-room, Glencross, 
 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of 
 Robert Burns, the ploughman bard ; having 
 considered it a fitting opportunity for exchang- 
 ing those kindred feelings which are so essential 
 to the best interests of master and servant. Seven 
 o'clock was the hour of meeting, allowing the 
 necessary duties of the homestead to be com- 
 pleted beforehand. The room was fitted up for 
 the occasion, and tastefully decorated with ever- 
 greens, &c. Mr. Wilson, farmer, Crosshouse, 
 occupied the chair, supported by the Rev. T. 
 Fleming, Gilmerton, and Mr. Alexander, paro- 
 chial teacher, Penieuick. Messrs. John Wilson, 
 House of Muir, and Mr. Fleming, Coats, acted 
 as croupiers, supported by Messrs. A. Tait, 
 Bank House, T. Brown, Pentland Mains, Wm. 
 Wilson, and J. Paterson, banker, Penieuick. 
 Mrs. Wilson, Crosshouse, Miss Duncan, Ful- 
 ford, Mr. M'Lean, Mr. Stewart, and Mr. Ro- 
 bertson, Bank Accountant, were placed at con- 
 venient distances to assist in the duties of the 
 evening. 
 
 After the usual loyal toasts had been sever- 
 ally given and warmly acknowledged, the 
 Chairman proposed the "Memory of Burns," 
 and glanced at his power of genius, his kind 
 and generous feelings, his stern independence. 
 
 and devoted nationality, all so prominent in the 
 character of Scotia's bard. 
 
 It was truly gratifying to see upwards of 
 seventy farm servants and labourers assembled 
 to partake of an excellent supper, accompanied 
 with fruit amply provided for the occasion. 
 Husbands with their wives and chubby-cheeked 
 weans — 
 
 " Lads and lasses in their best, 
 Fu' trig frae tap to tae." 
 
 Songs of the poet were sung by the sonsy 
 country lassies, the sturdy ploughmen and 
 others present. Dancing commenced and was 
 carried on with great spirit till an early hour. 
 The meeting will be gratefully remembered by 
 all present, and its promoters will rejoice if 
 they have done any thing to produce a better 
 feeling amongst classes which are weddeji to- 
 gether by many social, moral, and religious 
 ties. 
 
 PERTH. — The Burns centenary was cele- 
 brated in various places and forms in this city. 
 The large meeting was in the City Hall, which 
 was beautifully decorated for the occasion. The 
 doors were opened at six o'clock, and the hall 
 continued to fill till half-past six, by which 
 time the tables were full. The scene from the 
 gallery was quite imposing. A numerous corps 
 of stewards soon covered the tables with oat 
 cakes and Ayrshire cheese, and porter in pint 
 bottles. There was considerable stir and clatter 
 while the large company were regaling them- 
 selves with this cheer, but nothing approaching 
 to disorder. A small quantity of spirits was 
 distributed, amounting only to three dozen 
 bottles of whisky among not fewer than 900. 
 Of course the teetotal portion of the company 
 had none of it, and most of the ladies only 
 looked at it. While the repast was going on, 
 the band of the Perthshire Rifles played national 
 airs, &o., in fine style, and throughout the 
 evening contributed much to the enjoyment of 
 the company. Mr. J. Kettles, Bridgend, occu- 
 pied the chair, and was supported by the Rev. 
 Mr. M'Gilchrist, St. Stephen's Gaelic Church, 
 Perth ; Messrs. J. Mitchell, grocer; C. A. 
 Hunt, draper ; J. Sprunt, Scott, Dewar, Mur- 
 ray, &c. 
 
 Festivals and banquets also took place at the 
 Royal George Hotel, the British Hotel, the 
 white Horse Inn, and other places in the city, 
 
 PETERHEAD.— Peterhead has done its 
 part in the national jubilee well. Never was 
 seen such a general commotion and thorough 
 determination to have enjoyment. Although 
 there were four large gatherings, and some of 
 them over-crowded, besides numerous private 
 
374 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 parties, hundreds had to seek enjoyment else- 
 where. Broad Place seemed to be the great 
 Centre of attraction. Over the entrance was 
 placed an old Scotch plough, the same as that 
 which the Ayrshire ploughman used to hold, 
 and at which he feared no rival. There was 
 also a reaping-hoolc, both being most appro- 
 priate emblems of the times of Burns. On the 
 balcony was placed a female figure, intended to 
 represent Scotland. Over the massive build- 
 ing waved a red and white flag, which had 
 been appropriately prepared for the occasion. 
 These decorations were highly creditable to 
 Mr. Gray, by whom they were put up, con- 
 sidering the auspicious occasion, and the fes- 
 tive companies that were soon to assemble in 
 his extensive and commodious premises. 
 
 The Festival. — The meeting in Broad 
 Place Pavilion was a marked success. By six 
 o'clock, a brilliant company of ladies and 
 gentlemen had assembled, and having been 
 conveniently fitted up with tables, presided 
 over by a number of matrons, the spacious 
 building never presented a happier or more 
 enlivening scene. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Mitchell, who had kindly 
 agreed to preside, on being called to the chair, 
 said: — Ladies and Gentlemen,— I can assure 
 you that I have seldom felt more gratified than 
 by the request which was made to me in the 
 name of your managing committee, that I 
 should preside over this festal meeting. It was 
 not so much on account of the friendly feeling 
 which it showed towards myself, but it was 
 chiefly on account of the spirit which, as I con- 
 ceive, suggested the idea that this festival 
 should be presided over by a minister of the 
 gospel. It was this which made me at once, 
 and without any hesitation, accept the oflfice 
 which I have now the honour to occupy. I 
 will not soon forget the manner in which those 
 who waited upon me urged their suit. "By 
 your presence," said they, " a guarantee will be 
 given that nothing will be said, or sung, or 
 done inconsistent with that religion of which 
 you are a minister." Now, I regard this as a 
 great moral and religious triumph. That a 
 social party, meeting together to do honour to 
 our great national poet, should deliberately 
 request a minister to preside over their festivi- 
 ties is a token for good which only those who 
 are wilfully blind or hopelessly prejudiced can- 
 not fail to recognise. I look upon this as a 
 decided step on your part towards a result 
 which I have long desired to see — viz., religion 
 no longer banished from innocent enjoyment, 
 but mingling with it, pervading, hallowing, and 
 ennobling all. Religion has been too much 
 separated from enjoyment, and the divorce has 
 been injurious to both — religion becomes 
 
 gloomy, sour, and ascetic, while enjoyment 
 becomes coarse, boisterous, and sinful. God 
 intended that they should go hand in hand; 
 and while some dismal souls would say " forbid 
 the bands," you this night do practically reply, 
 " What God hath joined together let no man 
 put asunder." May our meeting this evening 
 prove that the union, so far from degrading our 
 religion, elevates and purifies our joys. Again 
 I thank you not merely for the honour you 
 have done myself personally, but for the re- 
 spect you have shown to the office of the 
 ministry by desiring that the spirit of religion 
 should hallow all your intercourse. 
 
 A blessing having been asked by the Chair- 
 man, the company were served with a most ex- 
 cellent tea, after which a tune was played on 
 the pianoforte. 
 
 The Chairman, on whom it devolved to give 
 the connecting link to the various entertain- 
 ments, preface the songs, and supply any blank 
 that might happen to be in the programme, 
 had his ingenuity taxed throughout the even- 
 ing for these purposes, all of which he accom- 
 plished in a most admirable manner. His easy 
 and familiar observations tended greatly: to 
 promote sociality amongst the company, and 
 his able, generous, yet discriminating review of 
 the character and writings, of Burns, was much, 
 appreciated and warmly applauded. Also, he 
 read, with excellent effect, " The Cottar's 
 Saturday Night." 
 
 A suitable song having been sung, and 
 various tunes played, the company were regaled 
 with a sumptuous service of fruit ; after which 
 Mr. Reid, of the Sentinel, gave a most interest- 
 ing account of Burns' visit to the north, which 
 he concluded by referring to the well-known 
 correspondence between the veteran Skinner 
 and Burns, as follows: — An interesting corre- 
 spondence was kept up for some time between 
 these rhyming brothers, and an attachment 
 formed, the depth and strength of which can 
 only be known by the "strange wild" sons of 
 the muse. Burns responded to the " Epistle," 
 not in " rhyming ware,'! but, as he expresses it, 
 "in plain dull prose," and designates it the 
 best poetical compliment he ever received. "I 
 regret," he says, " and while I live shall regret, 
 that when I was in the north I had not the 
 pleasure of paying a younger brother's dutiful 
 respect to the author, of the best Scotch song 
 ever Scotland saw — ' TuUochgorum's my de- 
 light-!' " This is a strong and, because genuine,- 
 a great compliment, and we like Burns all the 
 better for speaking thus" of one whose memory 
 is as deeply and sincerely cherished in the dis- 
 trict of Buchan as that of the Ayrshire plough? 
 man is throughout broad Scotland. 
 
 We have met this evening like thousands more 
 
PETERHEAD. 
 
 375 
 
 of our countrymen to do honour to our national 
 poet, and let us join in the grand jubilee right 
 heartily. It well becomes us to celebrate the 
 birthday of one who has sung our joys and 
 sorrows and sentiments so sweetly and truly — 
 one who loved his country and its people with 
 such intense devotion, and who gave utterance 
 to such noble and patriotic strains. 
 
 Several appropriate pieces of music were 
 then discoursed, and the company allowed a 
 short time for conversation. 
 
 At a later period of the evening, the Chair- 
 man proceeded to answer the question — " Why 
 ■we should do honour to the memory of Robert 
 Burns?" He deplored the coarseness of much 
 of his writings, although this was in so far 
 characteristic of much of the writers in that 
 day ; the bacchanalian character of many of 
 his songs,, which yet were an improvement upon 
 most of the similar songs ,of the period, and 
 the satires on religion which disfigured many 
 of his pages. But after stating that the pre- 
 sent temperance meeting was a silent protest 
 against the merely animal part of his nature, 
 and an expression of sympathy only with his 
 higher character, he showed that, while ridicule 
 was a most powerful weapon to wield against 
 hypocrisy in religion, yet it was also a most 
 dangerous one, inasmuch as it frequently 
 wounded religion itself. That Burns had not 
 been sufHciently careful of this, and that he had 
 sometimes crushed not merely the " worm i' 
 the bud," but also the bud itself. He quoted 
 passage after passage to show how Burns had, 
 in words of withering scorn, torn the mask ofif 
 hypocrisy, and exposed her in all her real de- 
 formity. He spoke of Burns as emphatically 
 the poet of Scotland, and that his intense 
 nationality marked hini out for the admiration 
 of every true patriot who had not given way 
 to the weakness so common in our day of being 
 ashamed of everything Scottish. He showed 
 that, despite of his intense nationality, he was 
 yet the poet of humanity, waking responsive 
 echoes even in English hearts, in spite of his 
 rugged, and to them almost unwieldy old lan- 
 guage. He spoke of him as the poet of nature, 
 showing that he had broken through all the 
 conventionalisms by which Pope and others 
 liad been distinguished — that he had left the 
 mere frivolities of fashionable life, which others 
 had hitherto been content to celebrate, and 
 going to the fields, considered the lilies — how 
 they grew, proclaimed the beauty of the daisy, 
 "wee, modest, crimson tippit flower" — and 
 taught men to look up from nature to nature's 
 God. He then traced the influence which this 
 feature of Burns' poetry had exercised upon 
 tlie more polished minds of Wordsworth and 
 of Tennyson. He concluded by claiming for 
 
 Robert Burns the honour of bringing forward 
 the oft -forgotten Bible truth of the common 
 brotherhood of man, and of breaking down all 
 merely artificial barriers which separated class 
 from class — assuring his audience that there 
 was in our day a more thorough sympathy be- 
 tween rich and poor than ever there had been 
 before, and that however some might choose to 
 doubt or disbelieve this, yet 
 
 " For a' that, and a' tliat, 
 It's coming yet for a' that, 
 That man to man, the world o'er, 
 Shall brothers be for a' that." 
 
 After votes of thanks to the matrons, the 
 musicians, and the committee of the festival, 
 an acknowledgment to the Rev. Mr. Mitchell, 
 for his kindness in agreeing to preside, and the 
 admirable way in which he had filled the 
 honourable post, was moved by Provost Ander- 
 son, and enthusiastically responded to, and tlie 
 company broke up exactly at ten o'clock. 
 
 Dancing Party. — After ten o'clock the 
 tables in the Pavilion were promptly removed, 
 and a number of the ladies and gentlemen pre- 
 sent formed themselves into a dancing party. 
 With excellent music, and every other require- 
 ment, the happy band enjoyed themselves most 
 pleasantly till about two o'clock in the morn- 
 ing. We ought to mention that every facility 
 and accommodation was kindly afforded by Mr. 
 Gray, and that ' the arrangements were such as 
 to promote the comfort of all present. 
 
 Dinner of the Bukns Club. — The dinner 
 of the Burns Club took place in " The Inn," 
 Broad Place. The members of tho Club wore 
 on their breasts a neat medallion of the poet, 
 cast for the occasion. The chair was occupied 
 by Thomas Knox, Esq., and Bailie Morrison 
 and John Mackintosh, Esq., acting as croupiers. 
 There were upwards of fifty gentlemen present, 
 and the arrangements were in every respect 
 creditable to Mr. Watt, the dinner being' one 
 of the best in Peterhead. During the evening 
 three excellent violinists discussed sweet music, 
 generally connected with the poet's songs. 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, the 
 Chairman proceeded to give the toast of the 
 evenings" The Memory of our National Poet, 
 Robiert Burns." He said — 
 
 Gentlemen, in rising to propose the toast of 
 the evening, he had to express his gratification 
 that so many of his fellow-townsmen had joined 
 the Burns Club to celebrate the Centenary of 
 our great National Poet. Previous to the 
 advent of Burns, Scotland had produced a 
 considerable number of poets, appearing from 
 time to time like beacons to enlighten the almost 
 general darkness that surrounded them. Our 
 countrymen were in the practice of celebrating 
 
376 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 their loves, their wars, and their heroes in bal- 
 lads, many of which possess uncommon merit 
 and beauty. These were committed to the 
 care of the wandering minstrel, who recited 
 them from hearth to hearth. When the print- 
 ing press appeared, the occupation of the poor 
 minstrel was gone, and he soon afterwards 
 became extinct, and unfortunately he carried 
 with him a considerable portion of his stock-in- 
 trade. Fortunately, however, the beauty of 
 some of these fraginents attracted the attention 
 of men of taste, and it is to the honour of Allan 
 Ramsay that he was the first to collect what 
 ballads came within his reach, and to preserve 
 them for his country. This laudable example 
 was followed by several others, particularly 
 Sir W. Scott, and our own townsman, Peter 
 Buchan. (Hear, hear.) It was strange, then, 
 considering this current of poetry running 
 among the people, that our country had not 
 given birth to a great national poet. It has 
 been asserted that a great poet seldom appears 
 in any nation when it is engaged in foreign 
 wars or internal broils. This, whether correct 
 or not, is to a certain extent corroborated by 
 the literary histories of England and Scotland. 
 In England, during the wars of the Roses, and 
 the struggle of the Reformation, there scarcely 
 appeared a name worth noticing ; but when 
 she became prosperous and powerful, under 
 the firm reign of Elizabeth, then it was that 
 Shakspeare and his great contemporaries came 
 upon the scene. But there was no peace at 
 that time for our own poor country. For five 
 hundred years she had, with little intermission, 
 been a scene of anarchy and bloodshed. In 
 the Highlands and Borders, clan fought against 
 elan, and the other parts of the country were 
 almost equally disturbed by the ambition and 
 turbulence of the nobility. When these feudal 
 broils had ceased, they were succeeded by the 
 troubles of the Reformation, the wars of the 
 great rebellion, and the attempts of the Stuarts 
 to recover their lost throne. But when the 
 last die of the Jacobites was thrown upon the 
 bloody field of CuUoden, Scotland was at last 
 free from internecine war. Then it was that 
 agriculture, commerce, and the arts sprung 
 into new life — (hear, hear) — and as a fit ac- 
 companiment to this beginning of better things, 
 the poet Burns was ushered into the world, 
 this day one hundred years ago. He would 
 hot enter into the details of the poet's life, 
 these were well known, and, as remarked by 
 an elegant writer, his life was one of almost 
 continued trial, misfortune, and poverty, but 
 his poverty never betrayed him into any mean 
 or sordid action, or lowered the manly integrity 
 and sturdy independence of his character. He 
 believed his countrymen respected him as much 
 
 for these manly qualities as they admired him 
 for the beauty of his poetry. Burns' works 
 consist of his letters and poems. His letters 
 show that he had obtained a great command of 
 the English language. His correspondence 
 with Thomson is one of the most charming 
 collection of letters that one needs peruse. Of 
 his poetry it is almost unnecessary to speak. 
 It is replete with fire, humour, and pathos. 
 He has portrayed the joys and loves, and man- 
 ners and customs of his countrymen with the 
 hand of a master. He sung the mountains, 
 the lakes, and the rivers of his country in such 
 a manner that it makes the heart of every true 
 Scot burn within him. He has given to us 
 some of the best poems in the English language, 
 and has bequeathed to us the finest collection 
 of lyrics possessed by any nation. (Cheers.) 
 These words were not his (the chairman's) own, 
 but were the opinions of the greatest critics of 
 our land. It is to be regretted that the poet 
 died before reaching his full strength, for we 
 have every reason to believe that he would 
 have done still greater things. In proof of 
 this it has been pointed out that " Tam o' 
 Shanter," the song "Ae Fond Kiss," and 
 "Bruce's Address," are among his later pro- 
 ductions. Other poets may yet arise in Scot- 
 land, possessed of as high and perhaps greater 
 powers than Burns, and doubtless our country- 
 men will give them all due homage; but of 
 this he felt assured, that their greatest love 
 would always bo accorded to the wondrous 
 peasant who was the glory and delight of their 
 forefathers. (Great cheering.) 
 
 The toast was drunk with profound respect. 
 
 Song — " There was a lad was born in Kyle," 
 
 Various other toasts were given. 
 
 Mr. Brown gave the " Early Patrons of 
 Burns, coupled witl) the memory of the Earl of 
 Glencairn." 
 
 Song — "Should Auld Acquaintance be forgot," &c. 
 
 Toast and song followed, and the meeting 
 broke up at an early hour. 
 
 The Carpenters' Meeting. — The only body 
 which made a public display was the Apprentice 
 Carpenters. From three till four o'clock in the 
 afternoon they marched through the town with 
 all the insignia of the craft — model ships in 
 the various stages of building, axes, adzes, 
 crows, &c., an ancient looking model of the 
 ark, and various appropriate colours. They 
 were accompanied by a number of musicians, 
 including two Highland pipers, attired in the 
 Highland garb. Broad Place Hall was finely 
 decorated for the occasion. Over the door 
 stretched an arch of evergreens, the pillars 
 being also ornamented with the same material, 
 and profusely hung with oranges. 
 
 The young men having met in the hall, and 
 
PITLOCHRY -POLLOKSHAWS. 
 
 377 
 
 been joined by their sweethearts, tea and coffee 
 were served out to the company in silver plate. 
 
 After tea, &o., various songs were sung, in- 
 cluding "My Nannie O," in full chorus. A 
 large antique punch-bowl was then placed on 
 the table, and the evening's toasts were pro- 
 posed by Mr. Gray, who spent the earlier part 
 of the evening in a very hearty manner amongst 
 the " honest lads and bonnie lasses." The first 
 toast was — "The freshest and fairest of the 
 human creation — the Lasses of Scotland^— par- 
 ticularly the 'rosy witches' in this room," — 
 which was responded to in a becoming way. 
 After which various songs were sung, includ- 
 ing " My Love is like a red, red Kose," " Of a' 
 the airts the wind can blaw," &c. 
 
 Mr. Gray then proposed the toast of the 
 evening, "The Revered Memory of Robert 
 Burns — a blazing star who, in his almost 
 matchless poems, had deputed and conserved 
 the ancient manners, habits, feelings, and spirit 
 of his countrymen." The toast was drunk in 
 solemn silence, " because," as it was explained, 
 " the struggles in life and premature departure 
 of the 'sweet sky-lark of Doon,' had left in the 
 hearts of Scotchmen regret deep and lasting 
 as the pride gratified by his refulgent memory." 
 
 " Is there for Honest Poverty," and other 
 songs, &c., were then sung, and dancing was 
 ket up with great spirit till six o'clock in the 
 morning. 
 
 PITLOCHRY The centenary of our na- 
 tional bard was generally celebrated here with 
 enthusiasm. The different schools gave a holi- 
 day, and the scholars, joined by the young men 
 in the village, paraded the district in procession. 
 Each carried a branch of evergreen, which, 
 with the scarlet flag, had a fine effect. In the 
 evening, a large party sat down to supper in 
 Fisher's Hotel — Archibald Butter of Easkally 
 in the chair, supported by Sir William Baillie, 
 Mr. Mitchell, and Mr. M'Gilliwie; the Rev. 
 James Stewart Robson, croupier. The even- 
 ing was spent in a most harmonious manner. 
 Several able speeches were made, and many of 
 Burns' songs were sung in excellent style. 
 
 Mrs. DuflT, Auchnahyle, entertained a select 
 party of about twenty of her friends and neigh- 
 bours to a sumptuous tea and supper, in com- 
 memoration of the Bard of Coila. In the in- 
 terval between tea and supper, the hilarity of 
 the evening was kept up by a number of Burns' 
 choicest songs, accompanied by the accordion. 
 After supper, and the usual loyal toasts, Mr. 
 Duff proposed the " Memory of the Immortal 
 Burns," stating that we were not met to cele- 
 brate his real or supposed failings, but his 
 virtues and genius. Song—" A Man's a Man 
 for a' that." After spending a very cheerful 
 
 and happy evening, the party broke up about 
 twelve o'clock with " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 PITSLIGO.— The liundredth anniversary 
 of the birth of Robert Burns was celebrated 
 here by a procession of all the trades, crafts- 
 men, and ploughmen. The procession started 
 from the square, under the command of Messrs. 
 Strachan and Coutts, proceeding along the 
 various streets of the village, every trade bear- 
 ing the insignia of their trade — the ploughmen 
 not excepted, having mounted a model plough 
 on a majestic pole, with a portrait of the Scot- 
 tish Bard on another pole, holding the plough. 
 The procession was headed by the Fife and 
 Drum Band, who are always ready to contri- 
 bute to the hilarity of any public demonstration 
 in the place. During the evening the Forbes 
 Band gave a grand concert of vocal and in- 
 strumental music in the Hay Friendly Society's 
 Hall, at which singing of Burns' songs, recita- 
 tions, and readings from his writings, consti- 
 tuted a prominent part of the entertainment. 
 The hall was crowded. The Philharmonic 
 Band also gave a grand concert in the Parish 
 School, which was literally crowded. The 
 amusements on this occasion were much of the 
 same nature, with the exception that this con- 
 cert finished off the evening's entertainment 
 by a ball in the same place. 
 
 P0LL0K8HAAVS.— A very numerous and 
 highly respectable party of the inhabitants of 
 the burgh and surrounding district dined to- 
 gether in the Town-Hall, in lionour of the me- 
 mory of Scotia's bard. William Hector, Esq. 
 of Shawlands, occupied the chair, and the du- 
 ties of croupier were discharged by William 
 Colledge, Esq. of Hillhead, factor on Pollok 
 estate. At six o'clock the assembled company 
 partook of an excellent dinner, provided by the 
 landlord of the Maxwells' Arras Inn, and among 
 the Scotch dishes on the table was a fine hag- 
 gis made for the occasion by the hands of 
 Burns' daughter, Mrs. Thomson — ^just such an 
 one as had excited the muse of her renowned 
 father, and well deserved the honour of being 
 designated " chieftain of the pudding race." 
 
 When the cloth was removed the Chairman 
 gave the toasts of the Queen, the Prince Con- 
 sort, and the rest of , the Royal Family, the 
 Army and Navy, and her Majesty's Ministers, 
 all of which were enthusiastically responded to. 
 
 The Chairman then rose to propose the 
 toast of the evening, and said — Croupier and 
 gentlemen, Scotchmen honour the names, and 
 are proud of the deeds and the genius of Sco- 
 tia's heroic and gifted sons when living ; but 
 they are still more remarkable for revering, 
 cherishing, and honouring the memories of the 
 
378 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 dead. Is it' not indeed proverbial, that what- 
 ever the amount of distinction conferred in 
 Scotland on the living, there is always a full 
 measure of justice done, and honour bestowed 
 on the illustrious dead ? The intense love of 
 country, and the almost universal desire of 
 Scotchmen to lay their bones on the spot where 
 they first drew breath, brings them, after tra- 
 versing the whole habitable globe in search of 
 wealth, or perhaps of distinction in their coun- 
 try's service, to seek to spend the autumn, or 
 it may be the winter of their lives in their na- 
 tive country — often in the most sequestered 
 villages, or rural or remote and barren districts, 
 the early associations and recollections of which 
 have never for a moment been efiaced from 
 their memory — there to endeavour to realise 
 again the pleasures of their youth, among 
 friends and scenes that have ever been dear to 
 them. Here they hope to gratify those ever- 
 cherished home-longings in peaceful enjoyment 
 and rest, after a life of toil and anxiety and 
 care, amidst the yet surviving friends and com- 
 panions of their infancy and youth who had 
 joined them in their sports, shared in their ad- 
 ventures, or sat with them on the same school- 
 forms — but whose once blooming cheeks and 
 flowing locks and buoyant spirits have now 
 given place to hoary heads and countenances 
 equally furrowed and careworn as their own ; 
 and here also, in the quiet and lonely church- 
 yard, where the bones of their beloved parents 
 rest in peace, they desire to rest, when the 
 threescore years and ten of their pilgrimage on 
 earth shall have passed away, and the world's 
 cares, or its pleasures, have ceased to interest 
 them. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, it is this 
 strong national feeling — this home sympathy — 
 this love of everything Scottish — this pride of 
 country and desire to honour the memory of 
 Scotia's sons who in their lives have increased 
 its glory — that has this evening brought toge- 
 ther, not only in every town and village in 
 Scotland, but in every place throughout the 
 world where " Scot can meet his brither Scot," 
 so many of the true and leal-hearted sons of 
 old Scotland to join in celebrating with all due 
 honour the centenary of the birth of one, whose 
 genius has shed a bright and imperishable lus- 
 tre upon their native country. It is indeed 
 gratifying to see, that in this town there is such 
 a high appreciation of the genius of Burns, as 
 to draw together this evening an assemblage 
 so large and respectable — and while I acknow- 
 ledge the honour you have done me by placing 
 me in the chair, I frankly acknowledge that I 
 feel unequal to the duties and responsibilities 
 of my position. Unlike the duties of the chair 
 at our usual festivities in this Hall, in which I 
 have so often taken part with my townsmen. 
 
 the object of our present meeting imposes' on 
 your chairman a far more difficult task, for he 
 has to speak of the genius of Burns, and to ask 
 you, in suitable words, to do honour to his 
 memory — and this is a task for which, while I 
 have the will, I want the ability. If, there- 
 fore, I cannot even attempt to do justice to 
 such a theme, I have the satisfaction of know- 
 ing that whatever I lack you can well supply 
 — for I venture to say, that there is not one 
 among you to whom the life, character, and 
 writings of Burns are not as familiar as house- 
 hold words. This at once relieves me from 
 anxiety and responsibility. 
 
 After a masterly sketch of the life and char- 
 acter of Burns, the Chairman concluded his 
 eloquent speech as follows : Burns was one of 
 the 'first to teach the world that high moral 
 poetry resided in the humblest subjects. 'What- 
 ever he touched he elevated. His songs have 
 all the beauties and few of the faults of his 
 poems : they flow to the music as readily as if 
 both air and words came into the world toge- 
 ther. His poetry is all life and energy — the 
 wit of the clouted shoe is there without the 
 coarseness ; there is a prodigality of humour 
 without licentiousness, a pathos ever natural 
 and manly, a social joy akin sometimes to sad- 
 ness, a melancholy not unallied to mirth, and a 
 sublime morality which seeks to elevate and 
 soothe. Having said so much of Burns' poetic 
 genius, I have given myself no time to speak 
 of Burns as a prose writer. His prose has 
 much of the original merit of his verse. John 
 'Wilson says of it, " Simple we may well call it: 
 rich in fancy, overflowing in feeling, and dashed 
 ofi' in every other paragraph with the easy bold- 
 ness of a great master." Such is a brief notice 
 of the life, the character, the genius, of Burns ; 
 and I trust I have said enough to secure for my 
 toast a cordial reception ; and I have now to 
 propose that we drink, with all due respect 
 and with all the honours, " The Memory of 
 Scotland's immortal bard, Robert Burns." The 
 toast was received in the most enthusiastic 
 manner, and drank amidst loud and prolonged 
 cheers. The band then plaved the appropriate 
 tune of " The Land of the Leal." 
 
 The following toasts were then proposed, 
 being most of them preceded by short and pithy 
 addresses, well suited to the various toasts and 
 to the occasion ; and with toast, speech, and 
 song, and the strains of an instrumental band, 
 the hilarity and harmony of the company was 
 kept up to a late hour : — Sir John Maxwell, 
 Bart., Lord of the Manor ; The Member for the 
 County; The Clergy of all Denominations; 
 The Magistrates and Town Council of PoUok- 
 shaws ; Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace in 
 the District, and Mr. Colledge j The City of 
 
POLMONT— PORTOBELLO. 
 
 379 
 
 Glasgow ; Scottish Poets ; Colonel Burns ; 
 Lord Clyde and the Scotchmen serving their 
 country in India ; Lord Elgin, and Success to 
 his Mission to China and Japan ; The Chair- 
 man ; Mrs. Thomson, Daughter of Burns ; The 
 Memory of Sir Walter Scott ; Lord Brougham 
 and Cheap Literature ; The Press ; The Agri- 
 cultural Interest; The Burgesses of PoUok- 
 shaws ; The Ladies. 
 
 The whole proceedings reflected much credit 
 on the gentlemen who undertook the getting 
 up of the dinner, and in no part of the king- 
 dom could there have been shown more enthu- 
 siastic appreciation of Burns* genius or respect 
 for his memory than by this party. 
 
 Supper and Ball. — The annual supper and 
 ball of the merchants of PoUokshaws was held 
 in the Maxwell Arms Inn. In the absence of 
 Provost Litster, who was prevented by profes- 
 sional engagements from being present, Bailie 
 Mackay occupied the chair. Ex-Bailie Hen- 
 derson ably filled the office of croupier. There 
 were between 20 and 30 couple present, chief- 
 ly young persons. The ladies, who were a 
 good specimen of the beauty of our town, were 
 dressed in a gorgeous and tasteful style. The 
 repast was excellent as usual, the toddy first 
 class, and the singing and music delightful. 
 The assembly met at seven o'clock, and the 
 programme of toasts, songs, &c., having been 
 finished, about ten o'clock the ball commenced, 
 and the company enjoyed the enlivening and 
 healthful exercise of dancing until an early 
 hour. 
 
 . The Total Abstainers also did honour to the 
 occasion by a large meeting in their hall, who 
 spent the evening in that harmonious and quiet 
 enjoyment which characterises such meetings, 
 — speeches and songs appropriate to the occa- 
 sion keeping the company together to a late 
 hour, and all being greatly delighted with the 
 evening's entertainment. 
 
 POLMONT. — A large number of the ad- 
 mirers of our great national poet Burns, in the 
 village and vicinity, met in the Black Bull here, 
 to dinner, on the afternoon of Tuesday. Wil- 
 liam Thorburn, Esq., ably and characteristically 
 fulfilled the duties of the chair, while the duties 
 of croupier were equally well performed by 
 Messrs. Dorwai-d and M'Kay. Ample justice 
 was done to the object of the meeting, and ap- 
 propriate songs and toasts were spiritedly given 
 and enthusiastically responded to. Mine host- 
 ess catered for the company in her usual efficient 
 manner, having appropriately headed the table 
 with a capital specimen of the " great chieftain 
 o' the pudding race." 
 
 PORTGORDON This place did not forget 
 
 the centenary birthday of Scotland's immortal 
 bard. A number of young men met in Mr. 
 Badenoch's Inn, where they spent such an even- 
 ing as Burns himself would have delighted to 
 honour with his presence. Mr. Peter Thomson, 
 Newbigging, contributed greatly to the happi- 
 ness of the company by singing in first-rate style 
 some of our illustrious poet's best songs. Mr. 
 Badenoch, jun., Carnach, also sung several ex- 
 cellent songs. Before separating, Mr. Thomson, 
 Portgordon, in a brief speech, suitable to the 
 occasion, proposed a toast to the memory of 
 Burns; he also recited some very aflTecting 
 pieces upon the death of the poet. The com- 
 pany were greatly indebted to Mi", and Mrs. 
 Badenoch for the manner in which they exerted 
 themselves to promote the general happiness. 
 
 PORTOBELLO. — On Tuesday night, a 
 party of gentlemen, numbering about seventy, 
 sat down to dinner, in honour of the centenary 
 of Robert Burns, in the large hall of the Com- 
 mercial Hotel, Portobello, under the presidency 
 of the Provost, Colonel Johnstone. Mr. Dou- 
 glas and Mr. Kemp acted as croupiers. 
 
 After the usual loyal toasts had been drunk, 
 Mr. Douglas — who, in consequence of the infirm 
 health of the Provost, which rendered it some- 
 what uncertain whether he would be present on 
 the occasion, had kindly undertaken to propose 
 the toast of the evening, " The Immortal Me- 
 mory of the Bard of Scotland " — rose and said : 
 — Mr. Chairman and gentlemen — This night 
 the sons of Scotia, in almost every clime and 
 every country, will celebrate the centenary of 
 him whose name and* whose fame is a watch- 
 word to all who hold Scotia dear. Well may 
 we rejoice that Burns is our own — in originality 
 second to none — in the fervent expression of 
 deep feeling, in the keen perception of nature, 
 equal to any one who has ever revelled in the 
 fairy land of poesy. O that he could have fore- 
 seen the perpetuity of fame he created for him- 
 self. It might have alleviated the dreary hours 
 he spent during his unfortunate farming opera- 
 tions, and brightened the dark days of his pil- 
 grimage on earth. Well does the poet deserve 
 our homage — he who portrayed " The Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night " in strains unrivalled in 
 simplicity and truth. Who else could tell of 
 the glories of the Wallace and the Bruce, in 
 language which has alike immortalised the poet 
 and the warrior ? He who could call inspira- 
 tion from a mountain daisy, and yet thunder 
 out the heroic words of the song of death ; he 
 who murmured forth in strains the very incar- 
 nation of poetry and love, and yet could thunder 
 forth the bitterest shafts of satire — a poet by the 
 hand of Nature, at whose name every Scottish 
 heart beats high, whose name is a household 
 
380 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAKY. 
 
 word in the palace as well as in the cottage. 
 To whom should we pay honour if not to the 
 memory of our immortal Burns? Mr. Chair- 
 man and gentlemen — as we have little chance 
 of looking upon his like again, I call upon you to 
 join the tens of thousands who will this evening 
 in every part of the world, be celebrating the an- 
 niversary of the birth of our national poet, by 
 tossing an overflowing bumper to the memory 
 of our immortal Eobert Burns — in solemn 
 silence. The toast was heartily responded to. 
 
 Song — " There was a lad was born in Kyle," by 
 Mr. Thomas Scott. 
 
 Various other toasts were proposed, songs 
 were sung, after which " Auld Langsyne " was 
 sung with thrilling voices, and the company 
 broke up shortly after ten o'clock. 
 
 There was also a select dinner party, num- 
 bering about twenty gentlemen, assembled at 
 five o'clock in the Blue Bell Inn, which was 
 presided over by Mr. John Tough. The din- 
 ner was in all respects worthy of the event, and 
 included, among more costly viands, the " Chief- 
 tain " of Scotch dishes. Tlie toast of the even- 
 ing was given by the Chairman in a short and 
 eloquent speech, and gave a general sketch of 
 the more prominent incidents in the life of 
 Burns, which called forth repeated applause. 
 The toast was responded to with repeated en- 
 thusiasm. The room was effectively decorated. 
 Song and sentiment prevailed; and the har- 
 mony of the meeting continued up till a late 
 hour, when all parted delightted with the enter- 
 tainment provided by the worthy host of the 
 Blue Bell. 
 
 PORTREE. — Although we, who are situated 
 in this far distant isle of the Gentiles, cannot 
 compete with cities like Bon- Accord in getting 
 up festivals, still we did our best in keeping 
 Burns' centenary — a number of individuals 
 having met in Mr. Ross' hotel here, to do honour 
 to the memory of Robbie Burns, under the able 
 presidency of Mr. Mollison, accountant. North 
 of Scotland Bank. A good many of Burns' 
 songs were sung during the evening, amongst 
 which were " Auld Langsyne," by the worthy 
 Chairman in a very excellent manner. It 
 is only necessary to add that Mr. Ross served 
 the company with the viands in his usual first- 
 rate style. 
 
 PORTSOY.— The celebration here of the 
 centenary of him who, though humble in birth, 
 has ruled with potent sway the myriad minds 
 of earth, and whose strains can make the bosom 
 swell or the eye weep by turns, was most suc- 
 cessful, and not only did him honour, but at the 
 same time did honour to the taste and spirit of 
 our good town. About two o'clock, almost all 
 
 the shops were shut, and most people enjoyed 
 a half-holiday, which was gladly taken advan- 
 tage of by the young, in order to show their 
 desire to commemorate the return of the hund- 
 redth birthday of the peasant poet, and paraded 
 the streets in large numbers, carrying flags, 
 with the words "Triumphant Genius! — -Cen- 
 tenary of the immortal Burns, Scotia's noblest 
 son," painted on them. 
 
 In the evening, a grand concert took place 
 in Mr. Minty's Hall, which was tastefully deco- 
 rated for the occasion. Long before the hour 
 announced for the performance to commence, 
 every ^ " hole and corner " of the hall was 
 crowded to excess, large numbers standing 
 about the doors and passages. At eight o'clock, 
 the performers took their places on the plat- 
 form, and were followed by the committee^ 
 Messrs. James Moir, banker; A. L. Minty, 
 merchant ; John Forbes, solicitor ; James Gar- 
 diner, M.D. ; John Allan, corn merchant ; and 
 Wm. Findlay, druggist — who were greeted with 
 great applause, and took up their places on seats 
 before the platform. Besides the committee, 
 we observed present — • Mrs. Moir, Mrs. 
 M'William, Mrs. Klingner, Mrs. Forbes and 
 family. Miss Pirie, Miss Minty, Miss Young, 
 Miss Allan, and Misses M'Callum, Portsoy ; 
 Miss Bartlet, Banfi"; Miss Mitchell, Glassaugh; 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, Durn ; Mr. Alexander 
 and the Misses Donaldson, Auchip ; Mr. H. 
 Watson, jun., and Mrs. Watson ; Messrs. Wil- 
 liam Minty, merchant ; F. Ward ; Alex. Allan, 
 corn merchant ; John Murray, land surveyor ; 
 Wm. Wright, stamp office ; Thomas Anderson, 
 printer ; John Bisset, accountant ; J. Fyfe, 
 
 baker ; Wilson, Coppersmith ; A. Ingram, 
 
 blacksmith; William Thomson, house carpenter; 
 Wm. Paterson, shipmaster ; John Sutherland, 
 shipmaster; Rev. James Davidson ; and a num- 
 ber of parties from the country. Indeed, never 
 was the hall so crowded ; with few exceptions, 
 all the inhabitants being anxious to mark the 
 memorable event as it deserved. 
 
 Mr. Moir, banker, was called to the chair. 
 Many of the songs of Burns were beautifully 
 sung. Several of his poems were well recited, 
 and altogether the meeting was the most har- 
 monious that has taken place here for many a 
 day, and, as remarked by some of the speakers, 
 we may never see the like again. 
 
 PORT WILLI AM.— The truly national 
 movement to do honour to our great Scottish 
 bard, was carried out here with much enthu- 
 siasm. Our flourishing little seaport was as 
 gay as the weather would permit. The vessels 
 in the harbour were decked with flags and ban- 
 ners ; and, although our usual business was not 
 
TEESTONPANS. 
 
 381 
 
 interrupted, there was apparent a holiday air 
 about the place. 
 
 At five o'clock upwards of forty gentlemen 
 dined together in the Monreith Arms, Mr. 
 Fraser, banker, in the chair, — supported by Mr. 
 Hendrie, Boreland ; Mr.* Gilchrist, Killantrae ; 
 Mr. D. M. M'Farlane, Boghouse ; Mr. M'Dow- 
 all, Auchengallie ; Mr. P. Anderson, Gillespie; 
 Mr. Eiddal, Challochglass ; Mr.Dalziel, Lanoch; 
 Mr. M'Gowan, assistant teacher ; &c. The 
 Croupier's seat being occupied by Mr. M'Jannet, 
 Barsalloch (a native of the Banks o' Bonny 
 Doon), supported by Mr. Hannay, Cornhulloch ; 
 Mr. Dickson, Portwilliam; Mr. M'Whinnie, 
 Milton; Mr. Kowan, from Australia; Mr. Eoss, 
 Portwilliam; Mr. Eoutledge, Old Mill; Mr. 
 Marshall, Portwilliam ; &c., &c. After par- 
 taking of a sumptuous feast, served in excellent 
 style, in which the good old Scotch haggis and 
 sheepheads formed not uninteresting append- 
 ages, the cloth was removed, — and the Chair- 
 man gave, in succession, the usual loyal and 
 patriotic toasts, which were received with hearty 
 cheers from manly, loyal, and patriotic throats. 
 
 " Burns, Scotland's immortal Poet," was then 
 given by the Chairman in a long and elaborate 
 speech. After sketching the life of the poet, 
 he, by quotations from his works, attempted to 
 show how Burns was entitled to be honoured 
 and revered by all Scotchmen. He has done 
 more than any man to keep alive our nationality 
 and love of home. When Scotchmen leave their 
 native land, as they are often forced to do — to 
 pursue fortune in other and far distant coun- 
 tries — the sweet singer of the Doon and the 
 Lugar, the Tweed and the Nith, go with them. 
 In the backwoods of America, in the damp 
 mines of distant Australia, on the banks of Zam- 
 besi, or at the head of the Ganges, the poems 
 and songs of Burns bring his native land and his 
 ain fireside home to the Scotchman. The sailor, 
 pacing the deck in the midnight storm, or aloft 
 in the giddy mast, is cheered with the thoughts 
 of his native hills, barren though they be. 
 He thinks of his lowly cottage where, it may 
 be, his father or his mother, with the big " ha' 
 bible" on his or her knee, is ofiering up a short 
 prayer for his safety — in whose words but those 
 of Burns can he bring so vividly before him 
 that cottage home and that family circle ? The 
 young aspirant to the hand of beauty, as of 
 worth, rushes off to a distant land, to make his 
 fortune, and to return to claim his bride. 
 While toiling there, in high hope, it m.ay be, or 
 in disappointment, what strains so forcibly pic- 
 ture to him the virtues, the constancy, the 
 goodness, or the loneliness of her he has set his 
 heart upon, as those inimitable pictures qf love 
 drawn by our immortal Bard ? (Cheers.) Burns 
 should be cherished in our memories too, be- 
 
 cause his poems enkindle and keep alive our 
 patriotism and love of liberty. In no country 
 in the world, perhaps, has this spirit been so 
 potently exemplified as in our own beloved 
 Scotland, and Burns has thrown these feelings 
 into never-dying verse. The Chairman then 
 introduced an anecdote of the Eussian war 
 bearing upon this subject, which was received 
 with much cheering. Having developed by 
 quotation the spirit of independence in which 
 the works of Burns are bathed, he by a length- 
 ened criticism showed that in all the shades of 
 life, in all the peculiarities of human nature, in 
 all the phases of sentiment and of passion to 
 which we are liable, the transcendent mind of 
 Burns has drawn the most faithful pictures with 
 the pencil of consummate genius. It is impos- 
 sible, he concluded, to over-rate the effects of 
 the genius of Burns on his country and on his 
 countrymen for ages to come. Though born 
 in the lowest rank, the highest in rank and 
 wealth and genius are now doing homage to 
 his memory. The Chairman then, in the midst 
 of great cheering, called for a bumper, a flow- 
 ing bumper, to the toast, which was drunk 
 with great acclamation, and with repeated 
 rounds of cheers. 
 
 Song — " A man's a man for a' that," by Mr. M'- 
 Jannet. 
 
 Mr. M'Gowan then rose, and gave a very 
 able speech on the works of Burns as his " real 
 enduring monument." (Great applause.) 
 
 Mr. Macfarlane, in an eloquent address, gave 
 " Patriotism, inspired and intensified by Wal- 
 lace and by Burns, the greatest of Scotland's 
 sons." (Drunk with all the honours.) 
 
 Song — " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," by Mr. 
 P. Anderson. 
 
 Toasts and songs went round until the 
 Chairman rose to drink Good night, when the 
 company rose en maise, and chanted in enthu- 
 siastic and regularly Scotch fashion "Auld 
 Langsyne;" which terminated one of the plea- 
 santest evenings ever spent in the Monreith 
 Arms Hotel. 
 
 Great praise is due to the worthy host and 
 hostess, Mr. and Mrs. M'Master, whose healths 
 were not forgotten by the company, for the ex- 
 cellence of the viands, the wines and spirits, 
 and for the condition in which all appeared on 
 the table. 
 
 A few brethren of the mystic tie also dined 
 in the Ship Inn here, to commemorate the 
 same great event ; and the evening was spent 
 in true masonic fashion. 
 
 PEESTONPANS.— The centenary of Burns 
 was celebrated here by a public dinner in the 
 Queen's Arms Inn, where above forty gentle- 
 
382 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 men were present. The room was handsomely 
 decorated. 
 
 The chair was ably filled by Dr. Ritchie — 
 Mr. Davie, merchant, acting as croupier. The 
 Chairman gave " The Memory of Burns " in a 
 short and elegant speech, touching upon the 
 character of Burns as a man and his place as a 
 poet. He also read a letter in Burns' hand- 
 writing, addressed to his brother Gilbert, now 
 in the possession of a lady in the town, who 
 kindly lent it for the occasion. 
 
 The meeting was of a most pleasing nature, 
 and terminated by the whole party standing up 
 and singing " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 PRESTWICK.— In the multitude of cele- 
 brations which hailed the Centenary of our 
 Poet, the inhabitants of our ancient burgh par- 
 ticipated. In commemoration of the occasion, a 
 number of our burgesses met and partook of an 
 excellent supper, arrangements for which were 
 made by a Mutual Improvement Association 
 lately established in this place. After the 
 usual loyal and constitutional toasts, the Chair- 
 man, in an able, pathetic, and eloquent speech, 
 proposed " The Memory of Burns," which was 
 responded to with a burst of enthusiasm, and 
 drained glasses. After the exhaustion of a 
 select list of appropriate toasts, neatly inter- 
 spersed with the best songs of our Poet, the 
 proceedings were brought to a timely close. 
 The evening was spent in a manner at once 
 agreeable and social, and the meeting broke up 
 after singing " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 QUEENSFERRY (South.) — The cente- 
 nary was celebrated in the Town Hall of this 
 royal burgh by a dinner, attended by about 
 40 gentlemen of the burgh and neighbourhood, 
 and presided over by Provost Wyld ; Messrs. 
 Glendinning of Leuchold, and Burton, Dal- 
 meny, croupiers. After the usual loyal toasts, 
 the Chairman gave " The Memory of Burns," 
 which was most enthusiastically responded to. 
 In a short and. elegant speech he touched upon 
 the character of Burns as a man and his place 
 as a poet. Mr Burton next proposed the me- 
 mory of " Bonnie Jean," Burns' wife, which was 
 drunk in silence. Other toasts followed^as 
 "The Sons of Burns," by Mr. Thomson of 
 Echline ; " The Lord-Lieutenant of the County, 
 Lord Rosebery," by Dr. Greig ; " The Provost 
 and Magistrates," by. Mr. Glendinning ; " The 
 Poetry of Scotland, coupled with the names of 
 Professor Aytoun and Professor Blackie," by 
 Mr. Geikie, H. M. Geological Survey ; " The 
 Clergy;" "Education, with the health of Mr. 
 
 Burton, parochial scboolmaster of Dalmeny, 
 and Mr. Byers, burgh schoolmaster of South 
 Queensferry;" "The Chairman," &c. Through- 
 out the evening, many of Burns' most popular 
 songs were sung, and the meeting terminated 
 about nine o'clock with "Auld Langsyne," 
 and a hearty cheer for Burns. 
 
 A large party of the young people of the 
 district met at ten in Bailie Wood's workshop, 
 where the arrangements were presided over by 
 Mrs. Wood. Dancing, songs, and recitations 
 from Burns kept up a merry meeting to a late 
 hour. 
 
 QUILQUOX.— The Burns' Centenary Sup- 
 per, in connexion with the Quilquox Mutual 
 Improvement Society, came off in the School- 
 house. The School was comfortably filled, and 
 every one present seemed to have come with 
 the determination of enjoying a nicht in me- 
 mory of Scotland's Ploughman Poet. The 
 chair was occupied by Mr. William Marshall, 
 jun., Skelmanae; while Messrs. Leask, Skel- 
 mafilly; and jConnon, Auchnavard, ably dis- 
 charged the duties of croupiers. After the 
 usual loyal and patriotic toasts, the Chairman 
 gave the toast of the evening, " The Immortal 
 Memory of Burns." Other toasts followed in 
 succession, and the proceedings of the evening 
 were enlivened by appropriate songs from 
 Messrs. Gray, Simpson, Hay, Jaffray, and 
 others. Mr. Kennedy of the "Baron's Inn," 
 Auchnagatt, supplied the supper in his usual 
 good style. 
 
 RATTRAY. — Our ancient village was not 
 behind its neighbours in paying its tribute of 
 respect to the memory of Auld Scotland's pea- 
 sant bard. A number of gentlemen met in 
 Mr. Grant's Inn, in the evening. The large 
 room was nicely fitted up for the occasion. 
 Around the walls might be seen such appro- 
 priate mottoes as " Better a wee bush than nae 
 bield," " Hurrah for the Thistle," &c. A little 
 after 7 o'clock about thirty persons sat down to 
 supper. Mr. Andrew Thom occupied the chair, 
 and Mr. James Eraser, smith, acted as crou- 
 pier. Grace being said, the company partook 
 of a splendid supper, served up in Mr. Grant's 
 best style. The manner in which the company 
 discussed the viands testified that a worthy 
 successor of " Meg Dodds" had watched over 
 the "pot." The cloth having been removed, 
 the usual loyal toasts were given and responded 
 
 to. Then followed the toast of the evening 
 
 " The memory of the immortal Robert Burns." 
 The toast was received with great enthusiasm. 
 
BEDDING. 
 
 383 
 
 The remainder of the time was spent in great 
 liikrity, each one seeming determine! to 
 " Taste life's glad moments." Music, both 
 vocal and instrumental, was called forth to aid 
 the harmony of the meeting. 
 
 BEDDING. — A very enthusiastic celebra- 
 tion of the centenary of Burns took place in 
 Bedding-Muirhead School, on Tuesday evening, 
 which was crowded, there being nearly 400 pre- 
 sent. Mr. Liddell, in a few complimentary terms, 
 moved that Mr. Dorward, Polmont, take the 
 chair, who gave a hearty and social tone to the 
 meeting, which his admirable chairmanship sus- 
 tained to the close. 
 
 Mr. DoRWABD introduced the toast of the 
 evening in a very able speech, from which the 
 following remarks are extracted : — He said — 
 This day and night in all parts of the world is 
 consecrated to the honour and glory of the 
 Scottish bard. Away amid the backwoods of 
 loyal Canada, on the rocky steeps of New Eng- 
 land, on the far-spreading prairies of the Unit- 
 ed States, in the glowing islands of the west, 
 among the valleys of California and Columbia, 
 by the deep savannahs of South America, his 
 words are being recited or his songs sung. At 
 the Cape, and far inland by the exploring party 
 of Livingstone — men's hearts are honouring 
 Burns' memory. On the plains, amid the 
 towers, and wherever a Scottish soldier lies at 
 his bivouac in the jungles of India, by the low 
 coast of Australia, and the groves of the eastern 
 isles, the hearts of men are stirred by his words, 
 and bettered by the legacies of his life's work. 
 In the cities of polished Europe, and specially 
 and universally in his own country, are men 
 gathered in honour of Burns. Such a wide 
 recognition and all-embracing love for a fellow- 
 man is unprecedented. Greater men there 
 have been — but a more genuine and true 
 brother-man than Bobert Burns, we cannot 
 summon forth to the world's regard. His 
 genius and patriotism, doubt and faith, love 
 and grief, joy and pain, toil and independence, 
 errors and remorse, strike thrillingly upon 
 the heart-strings of universal humanity. Bear 
 with me a little while I give vent to my 'feelings 
 towards the detractors of Burns in these modern 
 times. I speak not of the calumnies and de- 
 tractions of his own days, for he himself met 
 them most witheringly. That men should re- 
 suscitate charges against the dead, and that in 
 the name of Christianity and morals, argues a 
 gross deficiency of the Christian spirit and 
 moral decency — 
 
 " Lightly they talk of the spirit that's gone, 
 And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him, 
 But little he'll reck, for hf, ever livet on 
 In the homage aU true hearts have paid him." 
 
 I challenge the purest of his calumniators to 
 live in such times as his, to travel his life's 
 journey, to mingle in the influences on his 
 being, and issue to the world's scrutiny with a 
 tithe of the honour, with a fraction of the 
 nobility, manliness, and independence which we 
 are met this evening to admire and venerate, as 
 embodied in Bobert Bums — 
 
 " Men's evil manners live in brass, 
 Their virtues we write in water." 
 
 When a man has played his part on life's stage, 
 and gone the way of all the earth, let his faults 
 and mere outward details be consigned to obli- 
 vion, if, as in Bums, the inner life be sanctified 
 by remorse and repentance. He has been 
 calumniated as a drunkard and a sot. Cun- 
 ningham has truthfully remarked on this charge 
 — " That Burns ever sunk into a toper ; that he 
 ever was addicted to solitary drinking ; that 
 his bottle ever interfered with the discharge of 
 his duties ; that he ever ceased to be a most 
 affectionate husband, are false charges." He 
 has been further charged with hypocrisy, irre- 
 ligion, and scoflSng at sacred things. Tell me 
 not that the man, who from his inmost soul 
 hated, and by his intellectual strength exposed, 
 hypocrisy, was himself a hypocrite ! Tell me 
 not that the man who made Cowper hie daily 
 companion was irreligious ! Tell me not that 
 the man who composed the " Cottar's Saturday 
 Night" was a scoffer at sacred things. As the 
 best of men are but men at the best, to his 
 detractors I would say, in the words of Words- 
 worth — 
 
 " Let no mean hope your souls enslave — 
 Be independent, generous, brave; 
 Our Poet such example gave, 
 
 And such revere ; 
 But be admonish'd by his grave, 
 
 And think and fear." 
 
 And let us never forget that we have the like 
 passions that Burns had, and he had the same 
 God to trust and Judge to meet as we have. 
 
 During the evening the " Cottar's Saturday 
 Night," and ode " To Mary in Heaven," were 
 feelingly read by Mr. Liddell, who also contri- 
 buted to the enjoyment of the evening by sing- 
 ing a few of the best of the songs of Burns, in- 
 troducing these by appropriate remarks. His 
 various efforts elicited much applause. De- 
 pending entirely on local effort to supply the 
 means of instruction and amusement, we were 
 agreeably surprised at the numbers who lent 
 their aid to this end during the evening. The 
 songs of Burns were done ample justice to, fur- 
 nishing additional proof of the hold the off- 
 springs of his genius have taken on the popular 
 mind ; and when the concluding song of " Auld 
 Langsyne" was sung by the company, the hall 
 rang again. 
 
384 
 
 THE BUBNS CENTENARY. 
 
 EENEREW. — The centenary was celebrated 
 here in the hall of the Athenaeum. Upwards 
 of 100 gentlemen sat down to dinner, and a 
 more agreeable meeting could scarcely be ima- 
 gined. The chair was ably filled by Provost 
 Bell, while the duties of the croupiers were dis- 
 charged in the most efficient manner by Bailie 
 Robertson, ex-Provost Robin, and Councillor 
 Cumming. After the usual introductory toasts, 
 the Chairman delivered a masterly speech ad- 
 mirably suited to the occasion, which was re- 
 ceived with great applause. In the course of 
 the evening numerous toasts, such as the object 
 of the meeting suggested, were proposed and 
 responded to ; while a variety of songs, in ex- 
 cellent taste, contributed greatly to the general 
 harmony. The Renfrew band was in attend- 
 ance. The dinner and its consequents did the 
 greatest credit to Mr. Garbett, of the Ferry 
 Inn. 
 
 EHONEHOUSE.— A ball took place here, 
 to celebrate the centenary of our great national 
 poet, Robert Burns. It was attended by about 
 fifty-six couples of the youth and beauty of the 
 district, and dancing was kept up with great 
 spirit until four o'clock on the following morn- 
 ing, when all parted highly delighted with the 
 enjoyment of the evening. If there was one 
 feature more than another which characterised 
 this happy meeting, it was the brilliant display 
 of young ladies present. At eleven o'clock the 
 company sat down to partake of some refresh- 
 ments provided for them by the active members 
 of committee, when, with the unanimous con- 
 sent of all present, Mr. J. Johnstone was re- 
 quested to occupy the chair, and made some 
 appropriate remarks on the life and character 
 of the poet. He said that Burns' poems, 
 though purely national, are, notwithstanding, 
 as universal as the English language itself. 
 Although obscured by a dialect to some fasti- 
 dious ears uncouth, yet emanations of a master 
 mind shine through the rustic garb, just as the 
 lineaments of a lovely maiden cannot be dis- 
 guised, homely and unattractive though her 
 habiliments may be. Dear as Burns' poems 
 are to every lover of poetry, dearer are they 
 still to the heart of a native Caledonian. In 
 perusing his works, particularly his Days of 
 Auld Langsyne, the sweet visions of the past 
 are renewed, we are carried back to our native 
 homes, and every fibre of our affections rein- 
 twined with the land of the mountain and the 
 flood. The kind open-heartedness of his "Auld 
 Langsyne," and the patriotic and independent 
 valour of his "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," 
 touch a chord which vibrates to the heart's core. 
 Burns saw the peasant's humble life not as an 
 Arcadian scene, nor yet with the eye of the 
 
 novelist, but he saw it in all its harsh and 
 smoky reality; and in that humble circle he 
 found ample scope to astonish the world with 
 the originality of his conceptions, to softeil 
 every heart with his deep and melting pathos, 
 and to delight all with his portraits of moral 
 beauty. The pleasures of the evening were 
 very much enhanced by many beautiful songs, 
 both from the ladies and gentlemen present. 
 
 RICCARTON.— On Tuesday evening, about 
 ninety gentlemen sat down, in the Crown Inn, 
 to a sumptuous supper, to honour the memory 
 of the great bard. Supper was on the table 
 at seven o'clock. Mr. John Cook, of Capring- 
 ton, was in the chair, supported on the right 
 by Mr. Shaw, and on his left by Mr. Moffat ; 
 Mr. John Manson performing the duties of 
 croupier. He was supported on the right by 
 Mr. Walls; on the left by Mr. Borland, of High 
 Hillhouse. After the company had done ample 
 justice to the dainties on the table, the cloth 
 was removed. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 The Chairman gave the toast of the even- 
 ing. He said — In rising to propose a toast to 
 the memory of him who, during a short and 
 chequered life, laid the foundation for a fame 
 and a popularity, that has widened and bright- 
 ened, till at the present moment the whole 
 literature and science, wit and worth, of guid 
 Auld Scotland are vicing with each other in 
 expressions of admiration for his genius — who 
 took his topics from a life, and his scenes from 
 a land, with which we are all familiar. The 
 extent of his popularity is commensurate with 
 the enterprise of his countrymen ; for where 
 can you find a Scotchman, whether under the 
 burning sun of an eastern clime, or amid the 
 unexplored wastes of the far west, whether in 
 the pursuit of fortune or of fame, whose pulse 
 does not throb in unison to the cadences of his 
 name? That his genius was of the highest 
 order, every one at all acquainted with his 
 writiiigs have been ready to admit. . The youth 
 smitten with the darts of Cupid, his heart 
 vibrating like an ^olian lyre, seeks expression 
 to his sentiments, and sings what signifies the 
 life o' man, &c. The man of more mature 
 years battUng with the cares of an unkind 
 world, who with all his exertions finds himself 
 still at the very "elbow of existence," seeks 
 consolation from his muse, and finds his senti- 
 ments expressed. 
 
 " For' a' that, and a' that, 
 Our toil obscure and a' that, 
 The rank is but the guinea stamp^ 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 The Chairman, having finished, requested the 
 
ROSEMAllKIE— ROSEWELL. 
 
 385 
 
 company to give him a toast to " The Memory 
 of Burns," which was duly responded to in 
 silence, after which Mr. Livingstone siing "My 
 Burns is gane," with great effect. 
 
 Many other toasts were given and songs 
 sung, and after spending a most delightful 
 evening, the whole proceedings terminated by 
 " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 ROSEMARKIE.— The occasion of the Burns 
 centenary was celebrated in this town in the 
 Parish School-room, by an amateur concert, 
 followed by a ball. It is only doing justice to 
 the musical talent of the place, to say that the 
 singing was considered very superior, and that 
 it reflected great credit on the " honest lads 
 and bonnie lasses" who kindly took part on 
 the occasion. Mr. Simpson's performance on 
 the violin plainly showed that age makes little 
 impression on his powers of wielding the 
 " bow." • 
 
 ROSEWELL An enthusiastic meeting 
 
 connected with the centenary of Robert Burns 
 took place at Rosewell, on the estate of White- 
 hill. About fifty gentlemen assembled to do 
 honour to the memory of the national bard. 
 Previous to sitting down to dinner, Mr. Robert 
 Hunter, of Dalhousie Chestus, read an admirable 
 paper on the progress of agriculture — a subject 
 which, as the day marked the lapse of a hundred 
 years since the ploughman poet was born, was 
 neither uninteresting nor unfitting for the occa- 
 sion. The company sat down to dinner in Mr. 
 Murdoch's Inn at six o'clock, and the chair was 
 occupied by Mr. A. J. Main; Messrs. Philip, 
 Hunter, and Dr. Main acting as croupiers. After 
 the usual loyal toasts, responded to with true 
 loyalty. 
 
 The Chairman proposed " The Immortal 
 Memory of Robert Burns." He said — Were I 
 to do nothing more than simply to give the 
 toast as it stands in its order on the list, I 
 should do immensely more justice to the sub- 
 ject of it than by any remarks I am capable of 
 making. What meretricious disquisitions on 
 his talent and genius can so eifectually secure 
 the admission of his claims to both, as the 
 mere mention of his own name ? Is a proof of 
 this fact wanted ? We have it in the universal 
 shout of welcome which the centenary of his 
 birth hais called forth. A complete ovation is 
 paid to his memory this day! Yes, poor Burns! 
 Left to fill a premature grave from the effects 
 of a crushed spirit, thy country remembers its 
 faults this day, and to thy genius we pay a tri- 
 bute greater yet than mortal man has known — 
 a kingdom honours the memory of its peasant 
 bard. (Loud cheers.) It is not necessary to 
 enter into detail on the birth and parentage of 
 
 Burns. This we all know — he was a peasant's 
 son, and himself a ploughman. " The poetic 
 genius of my country," he says, "found me as 
 the prophetic bard Elijah did Elisha — at the 
 plough, and threw her inspiring mantle over 
 me." His genius received no aid from a re- 
 fined or liberal education ; it stands revealed 
 in the intense effulgence of its own brightness 
 ■ — a star burning with no borrowed light. And, 
 found poor, he remained poor, and died poor — 
 alas, how poor! Just so much of a superior 
 element was permitted to mix itself with his 
 social position as enabled him to study with 
 greater care the pulses of the human heart. 
 But in sympathy and affection he remained stilt 
 the " ploughman." Hence the fire that kindled 
 his muse found its light and its fuel in the 
 humble homes and simple doings of his peasant 
 companions. It was the glory of Burns' genius 
 that in the lads and lasses of the " farmer's 
 ingle" — under the "hodden grey" of the pea- 
 sant, and the " russet gown " of the peasant's 
 wife and daughter — it discovered a character 
 worthy to be developed in strains of immortal 
 verse. Thus, the genius of Burns was true to 
 it circumstances ; — unaided by a brilliant edu- 
 cation, it was uninfluenced by brilliant society. 
 But he was no dreamy leveller — his was not a 
 misanthropic "independence" — ^proud because 
 he was poor. Burns was every inch a man ; 
 and he recognised man in every position of the 
 social scale. We have been asked, what good 
 has the poetry of Burns' effected ? Why, if it 
 had done no more than to teach us that moral 
 worth, linked with poetic beauty — manly virtue 
 with independent excellence, lived in, and was 
 cherished as a dear inheritance by, the humble 
 followers of our ploughs, and the labourers and 
 reapers of our fields — let me ask has it not 
 done much ? But it has done more. (Hear, 
 hear.) The force of his genius has affiliated 
 the titled and the noble, the savan of learn- 
 ing and the possessor of thousands, to the rus- 
 tic labourer and the hard-working mechanic. 
 For, while the poems of the ploughman bard, 
 bound in gold and vellum, adorn the rich man's 
 library, it tells the refined possessor of that 
 luxurious hoard that men and women live in 
 the humblest ranks of life ; that here, as there, 
 the spirit of piety, reverence, love, and truth 
 are to be found ; and it tells both classes that, 
 wherever independent worth and moral beauty 
 are developed, whether on the throne or in the 
 thatch-roofed cot, in the lordly halls, the far- 
 mer's barn, or the dusty loom-shop, it matters 
 not, the stamp of God's likeness is on them all — 
 
 " A man's a man for a' that." 
 
 (Great cheering.) To speak of the genius of 
 
 Burns, as the subject deraands> one would need 
 
 2b 
 
386 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 to feel something akin to the stirrings and heat 
 o£ that fire which burned in his own breast. 
 But every one who has read his works must 
 feel that his genius was universal, and, there- 
 fore, of the very highest type and order. His 
 spirit was akin to all creation, and every object 
 in nature which he approached recognised the 
 relationship, and leaped with joy to his embrace. 
 It mattered not what object interested him, 
 whether physical or spiritual, it spoke a lan- 
 guage he understood, and at once the warmest 
 and strongest passions of his heart were evoked 
 to give expression to the harmony of his affec- 
 tions. What he felt, he sung. Of the char- 
 acter of Burns we intend to say little, and that 
 little will be general. Of this we are sure, 
 that whatever were his faults, he was no un- 
 believer. In Burns' own words, in the sublime 
 works of Nature he saw proofs of "a God who 
 made all things — man's immaterial and immor- 
 tal nature, and a world of weal or woe beyond 
 death and the grave." The man who drew such 
 deductions from nature, could not be irreligious. 
 But we still live too near his own times to 
 estimate his character rightly. The skirts of 
 absurdities which he ridiculed, perhaps too 
 roughly, are as it were just passing from our 
 view, and are yet too intimately associated with 
 the present to allow us to see why he should 
 have handled them so irreverently. Another 
 hundred years, and the mists of prejudice will 
 be swept aside, and Burns will be praised or 
 blamed with a juster appreciation of the facts 
 which entitle him to either ; and certainly the 
 proceedings of this day will do much to stir up 
 inquiry, and we feel sure will result in placing 
 our poet in a moral position infinitely more 
 worthy of him. The Chairman concluded, 
 amid loud applause, by proposing " The Im- 
 mortal Memory of Robert Burns." The toast 
 was drunk with the greatest enthusiasm. 
 
 Subsequently Mr. Phillip gave, in a happy 
 vein, " The Land o' Cakes ;" Mr. Landale, 
 "The Memory of Sir Walter Scott;" and Dr. 
 Main, with much effect, proposed "The Living 
 Bards of Scotland." Mr. Cunningham, of 
 Kirkettle, discoursed eloquently on " The wives 
 and lasses of Scotland," and had a respond 
 amidst " thunders of applause." Mr. Murdoch, 
 in a speech of much taste and feeling, proposed 
 " The Health of the Lord of the Manor, Mr. 
 Wardlaw Ramsay," and Mr. Hunter was not 
 less happy in proposing " The Marquis of Dal- 
 housie." Mr. Hood, in " well set phrase," gave 
 " The Health of the Young Laird of White- 
 liill," whose birthday falls on the natal day of 
 the poet, "and many birthdays may he see," 
 was warmly and enthusiastically responded to. 
 Mr. Mitchell, of Cockpen, proposed, in an elo- 
 quent speech, "The Clergy of Scotland;" and 
 
 several other toasts were given and responded 
 to with hearty goodwill. Some excellent songs 
 were sung and recitations given during the 
 evening, and much humour and spirit displayed. 
 The fare provided by Mr. Murdoch was excel- 
 lent and abundant, among which the good old 
 Scotch dishes of " haggis " and " sheep head " 
 were not omitted. The company evinced their 
 appreciation of Mr. . Murdoch's exertions by 
 toasting his health and that of his worthy lady 
 with hearty feeling and goodwill. 
 
 , ROTHES. — The Burns centenary was cele- 
 brated here with great eclat. At three o'clock 
 P.M., the members of the St. John's Operative 
 Lodge of Masons, accompanied by a large con- 
 course of the inhabitants, inarched in profession 
 through the village with all the pomp of mili- 
 tary parade. 
 
 In the evening a goodly number assembled 
 in the Mason Hall, which was tastefully deco- 
 rated for the occasion. John Grant, Esq., of 
 Glengrant, presided — supported right and left 
 by Mr. William Graham, jun., and Mr. Archi- 
 bald Simpson. After the usual loyal and 
 patriotic toasts were disposed of, the Chairman, 
 in an elegant and pithy speech, proposed the 
 toast of the evening — The Memory of our 
 National Bard — which was drunk with due 
 solemnity. At nine o'clock the ladies entered, 
 when dancing was commenced and kept up 
 with great spirit till twelve, after which supper 
 was served out, and not of course before the 
 " wee short hour ayont the twal " did the party 
 separate. The proceedings were greatly en- 
 livened by a vocal band of amateurs who sung 
 at intervals several select and appropriate airs 
 with fine effect. It is needless to add that the 
 viands, &c., particularly the haggis, reflected 
 the greatest credit on " mine hostess " of the 
 Grant Arms. 
 
 In addition to the above toasts, the following 
 were also proposed — Colonel and Major Burns, 
 The Nieces of Burns, and The Memory of Sir 
 William Wallace, all by the Chairman; The 
 Lord of the Manor, by Mr. James Riach ; The 
 St. John's Operative Lodge of Masons, coupled 
 with Mr. Archibald Simpson, R.W.M., by Mr. 
 Rennie; The Chairman, by the Master of the 
 Lodge; The Ministers of the Parish, by Mr. 
 Alexander Simpson; The Inland Revenue 
 Officers, coupled with Mr. Cumming, by Mr. 
 William Watson; The Memory of Sir Walter 
 Scott, by Mr. Graham ; The Ladies, by Mr. 
 James Stewart; The Croupiers, by Mr. Cum- 
 ming; and the Hostess, by Mr. Gardner. 
 
 ROTHESAY.— On the evening of Tuesday 
 the brethren of the mystic tie sat down to 
 a sumptuous supper, served by Brother Grieve 
 
RULEWATER— RUTHWELL. 
 
 387 
 
 of the Commercial Inn here — the R.W.M. Mr. 
 Robert Crawford in the chair. Tiie lodge be- 
 ing closed before supper, several other gentle- 
 men honoured the meeting by their presence; 
 also, several of the wives and sweethearts of 
 the brethren graced the meeting. The usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts were given and duly 
 responded to, after which the toast of the 
 evening was given and responded to in a man- 
 ner which proved that' the deceased bard and 
 brother mason was a right good fellow, and 
 that none of them were ashamed, but all were 
 "proud of Robin." About half-past ten the 
 company adjourned to the Masonic Hall, Bishop 
 Street, and danced on the light fantastic toe 
 until after " the wee short hour ayont the twal." 
 Mr. Grieve deserves credit for the very superior 
 manner in which he served up the supper, the 
 viands being first-class. 
 
 Several of our most spirited leaders of 
 psalmody gave a concert composed of Burns' 
 songs, in commemoration of the centenary of 
 Burns, in the Victoria Hall, in the evening, 
 and a few of our shopkeepers retired to the 
 Queen's Hotel, and supped and sung until the 
 hour that shows the door to all but bona flde 
 travellers. 
 
 RULEWATER. — A company numbering 
 between seventy and eighty persons, nearly one- 
 half of these being of the fair sex, assembled in 
 an apartment at Weens Offices on Tuesday 
 evening to celebrate the hundredth anniversary 
 of the birthday of Scotland's immortal bd,rd. 
 After a sumptuous repast of tea and cake, Mr. 
 William Sibbald, Weens Cottages, was called 
 to occupy the chair, when toasts, songs, and 
 recitations followed each other in rapid suc- 
 cession for upwards of three hours. After the 
 usual loyal toasts, the Memory of Burns was 
 given with all the honours, the company 
 standing. 
 
 In the " Wee Clachan," of Blakeley, a soiree 
 was also held, at which there were more than 
 a hundred present. Mr. Robert Amos ably 
 filled the chair, and Mr. T. Hogg delivered an 
 able speech on the hero of the evening, Robert 
 Burns. Other addresses on various subjects 
 were delivered, which were alternated by songs, 
 recitations, &c. A room having been set apart 
 for those who wished to engage in the merry 
 dance, all the lads and lasses repaired thither 
 early in the evening, where they enjoyed them- 
 selves till three in the morning. A second 
 party was held in the workshop of Mr. D. 
 Taylor, at which there was a rich profusion of 
 the most suitable viands, including two " chief- 
 tains o' the pudding race." The chair was 
 occupied by Mr. J. Baptie, and Mr. J. Oliver 
 acted as croupier. 
 
 Tiie spontaneous enthusiasm with which the 
 occasion has been marked, not only in the 
 Border district, but throughout the country 
 generally, indicates that Burns has been acquir- 
 ing a deeper and deeper hold on the regards of 
 his countrymen, and that by the mass of the 
 people he is held as the champion of human 
 rights, and one of the leading representative 
 men of the Scottish nation. 
 
 RUTHERGLEN.— A meeting was held in 
 Mrs. Fife's Hotel — Mr. R. Fife in tlie chair. 
 A band, engaged for the occasion, paraded 
 through the town before dinner. 
 
 RUTHWELL.— At a numerously attended 
 meeting of the inhabitants of Ruthwell, held 
 some time ago, it was proposed and cordially 
 agreed to that a very suitable manner of cele- 
 brating the centenary of " Scotland's plough- 
 man Bard," would be to hold their annual 
 ploughing match on that day. The scene of 
 action was in a field on the farm of Mr. Pater- 
 son, Horse-close; Mr. and Mrs. Paterson kept 
 open house on the occasion. Tlie number of 
 competitors was nearly double that of any 
 former year since the formation of the associa- 
 tion. The quality of the work performed was 
 pronounced by competent judges to be superior 
 to that executed on any former occasion of the 
 same kind in the parish. 
 
 The Dinnee. — In the afternoon the mem- 
 bers of the association with a numerous com- 
 pany of friends dined in the Castle Inn, 
 Clarencefield. The spread was indeed a 
 sumptuous one, and reflected much credit on 
 mine host and hostess, Mr. and Mrs. Crichton. 
 William Jamieson, Esq., Comlongan Castle, 
 occupied the chair, supported on the right by 
 Mr. Coulthard, Greenfield, and on the left by 
 Mr. Nicholson, Howthat. Mr. Frood acted as 
 croupier, supported on the right by Mr. 
 Graham, Hayberry Mill, and on the left by Mr. 
 Henderson, Clarencefield. The Chairman dis- 
 charged his duties with admirable taste and 
 tact, evincing much practical knowledge and 
 critical acumen in the science of agriculture. 
 In proposing The Immortal Memory of Bums, 
 he narrated several very touching incidents of 
 the Bard's life when a ploughman. He re- 
 counted the many visits the Poet made to the 
 parish of Ruthwell — especially when his health 
 began to fail — how he loved to walk on the 
 shore of the Solway, particularly when the tide 
 was making to the full, and how he delighted 
 to sit under " The thorn that hangs aboon the 
 well." He feelingly alluded to the scene which 
 took place in the Manse where he drank' tea on 
 the night previous to his leaving Brow, and his 
 farewell to all his old associates in Ruthwell 
 
388 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 just three days before his death. — The Croupier 
 did much to promote the hilarity of the com- 
 pany. The utmost cordiality and good fel- 
 lowship prevailed. Many brilliant sallies of wit 
 and sprightly repartees were made. Various 
 toasts and sentiments were proposed and duly 
 responded to, which we lack space even to en- 
 umerate. The meeting was indeed a happy 
 one, and cannot fail to be remem-bered with 
 pleasure by every one present. 
 
 The Ball. — In the evening a ball on a 
 magnificent scale was held in the spacious 
 school-room at Clarencefield, which was taste- 
 fully decorated for the occasion. A chair, 
 which had belonged to " Scotia's darling Bard," 
 placed under a canopy at the upper end of 
 the room, formed an object of peculiar interest 
 and attention, and was pressed by many a fair 
 form during the festivities of the evening. 
 
 SALTCOATS.— The Saltcoats Burns Club 
 held their thirty-fifth anniversary on Tuesday 
 evening, on which occasion they celebrated the 
 centenary of the bard by a public supper, which 
 took place in the Town Hall. Upwards of 
 forty gentlemen were present. Mr. Thomas 
 Miller occupied the chair, and Messrs. Grim- 
 wood and Stirling officiated as croupiers. The 
 cloth having been removed, the Chairman, after 
 a brief introductory address, gave a number of 
 toasts appropriate to the occasion, which were 
 duly responded to. In the course of the even- 
 ing a number of the poet's choicest songs were 
 sung by Messrs. Muir, Stirling, Macnair, Leitch, 
 Eeid, Miller, &c., all of which elicited hearty 
 applause. After spending a very pleasant even- 
 ing, the company separated at an early hour. 
 The supper, which was got up under the super- 
 intendence of Mrs. James Muir, gave the great- 
 est satisfaction to all present. 
 
 SAJNQUHAR. — Sanquhar claims a connec- 
 tion with the immortal Poet. In performing 
 liis duties as an exciseman, he frequently passed 
 many nights in Sanquhai', formed many friend- 
 ships, and was honoured in having conferred 
 upon him the pri\ilege of a burgess of our an- 
 cient royal burgh. 
 
 It was resolved to celebrate the Centenai-y 
 of his natal day by a complete holiday. By 
 twelve o'clock, the various bodies intending to 
 join the procession assembled in Queensberry 
 Square, and shortly after were put in marching 
 order. They then moved off from the ren- 
 dezvous in the following manner, viz.: — The 
 Magistrates and Town Council, Ploughmen, 
 Merchants, Colliers, Labourers, Hammermen, 
 
 Shoemakers, Squaremen, Railway Employees, 
 Shepherds, Weavers, and last, though not least, 
 a large body of Children from the diflferenl 
 Schools, attended by their Teachers. The 
 banners and insignia were very attractive, dis- 
 playing mottoes most appropriate to the various 
 occupations and the occasion. Two instru- 
 mental bands of the town played appropriate 
 airs in a masterly style, also a flute band, and 
 the spirit-stirring strains of the Highland bag- 
 pipe.. The procession halted in the Square oi 
 the Old Castle or Peel, and were addressed by 
 Mr. James Kennedy, the local poet, with a few 
 original stanzas ; he was followed by Mr. W. 
 Wilson, who delivered a speech on the genius 
 of Burns. When the procession returned to 
 Queensberry Square, James Orr, Esq., delivered 
 a most able and comprehensive speech on the 
 manly fortitude and the versatility of talent of 
 Burns, and gave happy illustrations of the 
 humour, pathos, and the sublimity of the im- 
 mortal Bard. 
 
 At three o'clock, four diiferent parties sat 
 down to dinner. The company in the Queens^ 
 berry Arms Inn amounted to fifty, and were 
 presided over by S. Whigham, Esq., Provost 
 of the burgh ; James Kennedy, Esq., Brand- 
 leys, acting as croupier. In Mrs. Watson's 
 Inn the company numbered eighty-six: John 
 Williams, Esq., discharged the duties of chair- 
 man, and Bailie Scott those of croupier. In 
 the Crown Inn, the Weavers' party numbered 
 fifty-eight; Mr. Thomas Scott, chairman", and 
 Mr. Wm. Russell, croupier. The Hammer- 
 men's party, in the same Inn, numbered 
 twenty - three, and were presided over by 
 Convener Hyslop, as chairman, and Mr. Samuel 
 Howat, Ironmonger, as croupier. And at the 
 sam^ hour, in the Town HaU, a party of Total 
 Abstainers, amounting to 170, sat. down to tea, 
 over which Mr. John Laing, Grillhall, presided, 
 The various chairmen prefaced the " Immortal 
 Memory of Burns" in the most glowing and 
 appropriate language. The difierent companies 
 were enlivened by many of the poet's most 
 beautiful songs, and by the recitation of several 
 pieces of poetry composed for the occasion. 
 
 At six o'clock in the evening two soirees 
 were held, one in the Crichton School, and one 
 in the Parish School, at which upwards of 60() 
 people were present. In the Crichton School, 
 Jr P, Willison, Esq., presided, and delivered a 
 talented address on Burns. In the Parish 
 School, Jas. Orr, Esq., presided, to the entire 
 satisfaction of the large audience. At both 
 soirees the entertainment consisted of addresseSj 
 recitations, and songs. 
 
 A ball was held in the Town Hall after the 
 termination ojf the tea party, which was attended 
 by nearly JUU. 
 
8AUCH1E— SELKIRK. 
 
 389 
 
 Tlie greatest liiharity and joj' pervaded the 
 whole proceedings, and a universal glow of 
 happiness seemed to shed its benign influence 
 over all the inhabitants. From the grasp of 
 mind and breadth of information displayed in the 
 various speeches, addresses, and original pieces 
 of poetry, from the chasteness of the various 
 readings and recitations, and from the masterly 
 manner in which some, if not all of the songs 
 were sung, we must confess we were quite as- 
 tonished at the amount of literary, poetical, 
 and musical talent, as well as taste, that appear 
 to exist in this town and neighbourhood. 
 
 SAUCHIE. — The inhabitants of Sauchie 
 and neighbourhood, unwilling to be behind in 
 doing honour to the mighty genius of our 
 Scottish bard, paraded the street and road 
 leading to the colliery school-house, (a large 
 and commodious building kindly granted for 
 the occasion by Mr. Paton,) bearing torches, 
 and headed by the brass band of the village. 
 Mr. Durrie was appointed chairman, and, in a 
 short address, eulogised the extraordinary men- 
 tal powers and genius of the poet, after which 
 several gentlemen sung a considerable number 
 of Burns' songs, relieved occasionally by the 
 brass band, and by Mr. Easton, an excellent 
 performer on the concertina. It is but right 
 to add that a song composed for the occasion 
 by Mr. Sim, an inhabitant of the village, was 
 also sung, and much admired and applauded. 
 Before separating, a hearty vote of thanks was 
 tendered to Mr. Paton fol* the use of the school, 
 and the company, highly delighted with the 
 evening's entertainment, quietly dispersed to 
 their homes, shortly after ten o'clock. 
 
 SCONE. — A gratid commemorative festival 
 was held in the parish School-room at Scone, 
 which was crowded by a very respectable and 
 enthusiastic audience. Andrew Gray, Esq., 
 Scone, occupied the chair, supported by A. 
 Anderson, Esq., of Taft; William M'Corquo- 
 dale, Esq., Jeannie Bank ; John Gray, Esq., 
 of Gray Brothers, Perth ; Mr. Watson ; Mr; 
 Keay, parish schoolmaster, &c., &c. The 
 Chairman delivered a very excellent address, 
 and Mr. Robert Gairns and William Munro, 
 two poets of Scone, gave, amid great applause, 
 several original pieces composed by them for 
 the occasion. 
 
 SCOTLANDWELL.— A meeting in cele- 
 bration of this event was held here in the 
 Parish School, which was densely crowded on 
 the occasion. Mr. S. Forrest was called on to 
 preside. Mr. Forrest gave a brief and concise 
 account of Burns and his family, which was 
 listened to with great attention. The meeting 
 
 was entertained from half-past seven o'clock 
 until eleven, with the singing and recitation of 
 some of Burns' most choice productions. "The 
 night drave on wi' songs and clatter," in such a 
 manner, that, as was evident from the hearty 
 applause with which the several performers 
 were greeted, gave great delight to the com- 
 pany. The intervals were enlivened with bursts 
 of instrumental music of a very superior descrip- 
 tion, and which contributed greatly to the night's 
 enjoyment. The songs were finely rendered by 
 Messrs. D. A. and T. Reid; T. Ritchie; R. 
 Scarlet; and R. Ferguson. An additional 
 verse to the song " Robin," extemporised by 
 Mr. D. Reid, was very appropriate to the oc- 
 casion, and was much applauded. The poems 
 recited were expressed with much feeling by 
 Messrs. J. Barclay ; T. Ritchie ; A. Hay, &c., 
 and excited general admiration. 
 
 After votes of thanks had been accorded to 
 the performers and chairman, the proceedings 
 were brought to a termination by the whole 
 company singing "Auld Langsyne." 
 
 Refreshments were distributed several times 
 during the course of the evening. 
 
 After the proceedings in the School-room 
 were brought to a close, the younger members 
 of the company adjourned to the dancing-room, 
 where they continued " to shake their foot " 
 with great glee until the "wee short hour ayont 
 the twal." 
 
 SELKIRK. — The spirited manner in which 
 the centenary of our national poet was celebrat- 
 ed here has fully verified our former remark, 
 that there are many ardent admirers of Burns 
 in the Forest. On Tuesday all classes alike 
 joined in doing honour to the memory of Scot- 
 land's bard, and testified most unequivocally 
 their admiration and appreciation of his great 
 poetic genius. The factory operatives ceased 
 working at two o'clock, and all the tradesmen 
 and labourers got a half-holiday or nearly so, 
 in order that they might have an opportunity 
 of uniting with others in the celebration of the 
 great event. The majority of the shops were 
 also shut. At four o'clock our flute band made 
 its appearance, and, at the head of a procession 
 of bona fide " souters," walked round the town, 
 playing some lively favourite airs. Before the 
 commencement of the proceedings, there was a 
 vast concourse of people in the Market Place. 
 A few minutes after four o'clock a very respec- 
 table company, numbering 137 persons, assem- 
 bled in the ball-room of the County Hotel, and 
 sat down to an excellent and substantial dinner, 
 which had been prepared by the culinary skill 
 of Mrs. Dryden in unexceptionable style. Pro- 
 vost Roberts occupied the chair, and Bailies 
 Muir and Forsyth acted as croupiers. After 
 
390 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 the cloth had been removed, and the sparkling 
 glasses brought in, the Chairman rose and pro- 
 posed " The Queen," which was drunk with 
 great enthusiasm, the company giving prolonged 
 cheers and standing, while the instrumental 
 band played " God save the Queen." Second 
 toast — " Prince Albert and the Royal Family." 
 Music — "The British Grenadiers' March." 
 Third — " The Army and Navy." Music — 
 "Rule Britannia." Fourth — "Her Majesty's 
 Ministry." Music — " Let Whig and Tory a' 
 agree." After having proposed the foregoing 
 toasts in a very able manner, Mr. Roberts said 
 that they had now come to the principal toast 
 of the evening — " The immortal memory of 
 Burns.'' He never heard of any poet's name 
 or memory being lionoured in the same way as 
 . Burns' was this evening throughout nearly all 
 Scotland. This was owing to his songs and 
 poems being of a national character. They 
 were not only national, but natural also, and 
 therefore went directly homo to every one. It 
 was truly astonishing how he had acquired so 
 much fame, being merely a common plough- 
 man, who had got but little more than the el- 
 ementary branches of education. Some people 
 thought that he had sneered at religion in some 
 of his poems, as in " Holy Willie's Prayer," but 
 he was of a different opinion, and believed 
 Burns meant only to cut up the canting hypo- 
 crisy of the times by a style of writing con- 
 taining the keenest satire. He referred to the 
 "Cottar's Saturday Night" as a refutation of 
 the charge. He then spoke of the natural 
 beauties that pervaded the poet's works, and 
 happily illustrated his remarks, by reciting 
 some verses from " Tam o' Shanter " and other 
 pieces with great glee and humour, much to 
 the amusement of the compa,ny. After he had 
 expatiated on the distinguishing characteristics 
 and merits of the bard's poetry, he called upon 
 the company to drink to " The itumortal Mem- 
 ory of the Scottish Bard," which Ihey did with 
 the utmost enthusiasm. Mr. Crichton then 
 sung "A man's a man for a' that" with much 
 spirit. 
 
 " The Memory of Sir Walter Scott," pro- 
 posed by Bailie Forsyth ; " The Sons of Burns," 
 by Bailie Muir ; " The Lord-Lieutenant of the 
 County," by Mr. Mitchell of Kirkhope ; and 
 " The Memory of Professor Wilson," by Mr. 
 William Brgwn, sen,, were drunk in succession. 
 
 During the course of the evening's proceed- 
 ings, Mr. Bathgate, whilst proposing the health 
 of the Provost, presented him with a very cost- 
 ly edition of Burns' Poetical Works and Let- 
 ters, along with a handsome portrait of the 
 poet, which hung at the upper end of the room 
 during the evening. In presenting it, Mr. 
 Bathgate made a very clever, pithy speech, al- 
 
 luding in particular to the good services that 
 Mr. Roberts had rendered to the town, in the 
 capacity of Provost. Mr. Roberts replied in a 
 few well-chosen remarks. Contributions of Is. 
 each were given by the middle classes for the 
 purchase of the gift. 
 
 The speeches and toasts were interspersed 
 with a variety of suitable-songs, glees, and du- 
 ets, from Messrs. Crichton, Horsburgh, Elliot, 
 and Brown, who all sung exceedingly well, and 
 were much applauded. Mr. Horsburgh sung 
 with great taste an original song on Burns, 
 which elicited the hearty applause of the com- 
 pany. 
 
 Besides the regular toasts, a tew were pro- 
 posed by Messrs. Wm. Brown, J. Dunn, and 
 Mitchell of Newhouse, and a great many vol- 
 unteer songs and recitations were given by 
 several of the company. The instrumentalists 
 composing the band were Messrs. Henderson, 
 Elliot, Johnstone, Nicol, Coutts, and James 
 Scott, jun. ■ The band played in admirable 
 style a great variety of beautiful tunes, adding 
 much to the hilarity and entertainment of the 
 company. Provost Roberts discharged the 
 duties of the chair to the entire satisfaction of 
 all present. All the proceedings of tlie even- 
 ing passed off in a manner befitting the grand 
 occasion, and the company broke up a little 
 before eleven o'clock. 
 
 SouTERs' Pie. — The shoemakers, after 
 walking in procession round the town, met in 
 the Freemasons' Hall, along with others of dif- 
 fei'ent trades, and sat down to an excellent pie. 
 The company numbered 113 persons. Mr. 
 William TurnbuU, president of the trade, oc- 
 cupied the chair. The proceedings were car- 
 ried on with great spirit for some hours, the 
 companj' being enlivened and delighted with 
 beautiful songs from Messrs. James Inglis, 
 George Riddell, William Inglis, William Ro- 
 berts, and John Dickman. A variety of ap- 
 propriate toasts and recitations were also given. 
 Mr. Thomas Little sung with spirit an origi- 
 nal song on Burns, somewhat similar to the 
 one sung at the dinner. Mr. John Hall, 
 poet-laureate of the town, recited a fine poem 
 on Burns, of his own composition, with which 
 he highly delighted the company. Mr. James 
 Currie, our Crimean hero, gave one also, which 
 was much applauded. Mr. Currie, letter-car- 
 rier, delivered an able speech on Freedom, in 
 which be made a fine allusion to Burns. 
 
 The centenary was observed by several other 
 minor parties in the town, of which all the pro- 
 ceedings passed off with great eclat. 
 
 SLAMANAN. — A soiree was given in the 
 Parish School -room here. Notwithstanding 
 the heavy rain, which began to fall about sun- 
 
SOUTHEND— SPITTALFIELD. 
 
 391 
 
 set and continued the whole evening, long be- 
 fore the chair was taken the house was literally 
 crammed. Mr. E. Taylor having been called 
 to the chair, introduced to the meeting the 
 Rev. Mr. Home, who gave a very interesting 
 and humorous address. John Boyd, Esq., 
 M.D., then addressed the meeting, and very 
 fully and ably discussed the prominent features 
 in the character of the poet, as shown by his 
 craniological development. Mr. Christie drew 
 attention to the connection between music and 
 poetry, to the position Burns occupies as a wri- 
 ter of songs, and to the influence his writings 
 have had on the popular mind of Scotland. 
 In addition to a collection of fruit and pastry, 
 the evening was enlivened by several of the 
 poet's choicest songs, sung by Messrs. Forrester, 
 Wood, and Hutton. After a hearty vote of 
 thanks to the speakers and singers, and the 
 chairman, the meeting senarated, highly satis- 
 fied with the evening's treat, as was evidenced 
 by their breathless attention during the three 
 hours which the proceedings lasted. 
 
 SOUTHEND.— Upwards of thirty gentle- 
 men sat down to dinner, in the Argyle Arms 
 Inn here, to celebrate that great event which 
 gave to Scotland and the world their greatest 
 poet. James Dunlop, Esq., Ballyshear, occu- 
 pied the chair, supported on the right by 
 Messrs. Hugh Andrew, Capregan, and R. Hun- 
 ter, Lepenstrath ; and on the left by Messrs. 
 M. Cornes, and A. Dunlop. Mr. Hunter, 
 Machrebeg, officiated as croupier, supported on 
 the right by Dr. Trotter ; and on the left by 
 Mr. M'Millan, Aucharna. Mr. Andrew having 
 asked a blessing, the company did ample justice 
 to a sumptuous repast, which reflected great 
 credit on our worthy host Mr. Taylor. Mr. 
 Corner having returned thanks, and the cloth 
 being removed, the Chairman, in a felicitous 
 manner, gave the usual loyal toasts, which were 
 duly responded to. The Chairman, on rising 
 to propose the toast of the evening, was greeted 
 with cheers, he eloquently adverted to the 
 fame of Burns as spread over the whole surface 
 of the globe. He said that he had lived long 
 before the age in which his great talents could 
 be properly appreciated, but in proportion to 
 the advance of education, literature, and science, 
 so would his fiime increase in reality, and the 
 million become acquainted with the soul-stir- 
 ring stanzas which emanated from his mighty 
 mind. He briefly adverted to the honest 
 pride that Scotchmen must feel, and particular- 
 ly the people of Ayrshire, in being the country- 
 men of the illustrious poet. He called on the 
 company to drink a flowing bumper to the 
 "Memory of the immortal Robert Burns." 
 (Great applause.) Song — "There was a lad 
 
 was born in Kyle," by Mr. Lightbody. The 
 croupier on rising, said, Mr. Chairman and 
 Gentlemen, — The toast that I have the honour 
 to propose is one that, I am sure, you will all 
 be proud to do justice to. We are met to- 
 night to do honour to talent born from among 
 the peasantry of our land, but my toast is talent 
 born from among the nobles of our land. He 
 is an ornament to our aristocracy and our na- 
 tion — I mean the noble Duke of Argyle — May 
 he live long, be a blessing to his family, an 
 honour to his country, and gain immortal fame. 
 The croupier resumed his seat amid great ap- 
 plause. Song—" Scots wha hae," by Mr. 
 M'Millan. Mr. James Hamilton on rising, 
 said, the toast that I have to propose is one, I 
 am certain, you will all respond to with plea- 
 sure. It is the health of an old lady in this 
 place, whose many amiable qualities will en- 
 title her to a flowing bumper, independent of 
 any other consideration — but my reason for 
 proposing her health at this time is her con- 
 nection with the family of Burns. She is, I 
 believe, the only individual in Kintyre who has 
 had the honour of personally knowing and as- 
 sociating with the poet. It is the healtli of 
 Mrs. Paterson of Cattadale, (great cheering,) 
 whose sister was the wife of Gilbert Burns, the 
 poet's brother. There was something like ro- 
 mance in the courtship ; there was a big tocher 
 in the question, and the ' auld folk' ill to please 
 in a son-in-law, but Gilbert Burns was not the 
 man to be daunted when courage arid persever- 
 ance could avail in furthering his schemes, 
 especially when love was the stimulating power, 
 so he at last gained his point, and Mrs. Pater- 
 son attended the wedding in the capacity of 
 bridesmaid, in company with the Ayrshire bard. 
 (Loud and prolonged cheering.) She was then 
 in her fifteenth year, and remembers him well. 
 I have no doubt she was the heroine of some of 
 his songs, composed after that occasion. So, 
 gentlemen, I crave a bumper to Mrs. Paterson, 
 sister-in-law to Gilbert Burns, with all the hon- 
 ours. Mr. Hamilton sat down amidst vocifer- 
 ous cheering. Mr. David Paterson feelingly 
 replied. The remainder of the evening was 
 agreeably spent, with toast, song, and senti- 
 ment, till about eleven o'clock, when the meet- 
 ing broke up by the company singing " Auld 
 Langsyne." 
 
 SPITTALFIELD.— A party of twenty cou- 
 ples met in the hall here on Tuesday evening, 
 to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Ro- 
 bert Burns. Two violinists and a ' stunning ' 
 piper having been engaged for the occasion, it 
 was not for want of music if the good folks did 
 not foot it merrily. During the evening the 
 party formed themselves into procession, and 
 
392 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 marched out to where a pole about ten feet 
 high was erected. On the top of this pole a 
 large vessel full of naphtha had been placed. 
 Eire being put into contact with the inflam- 
 mable liquid, a very brilliant light was speedily 
 thrown upon the aifair. The party then re- 
 turned to the hall, where the night was spent 
 'mid dance, and song, and friendly chat, and 
 doubtless both piper and- fiddlers were right 
 glad when the code did craw and the day did 
 daw, to -let them get their eyes opened on a 
 new day. 
 
 SPROUSTON. — A large and respectable 
 number of the inhabitants sat down to a sup- 
 per served up in Mrs. Kerss' very best style in 
 the Boathouse, for the purpose of contributing 
 their mite of honour to the memory of the im- 
 mortal bard of Scotia. After supper, and the 
 usual loyal and patriotic toasts had been dis- 
 posed of, " The Memory of Burns," together 
 with a number of other toasts connected with 
 the poet, were introduced in succession by ap- 
 propriate remarks, and warmly and feelingly 
 responded to by the company. Several of the 
 bard's finest pieces were read and a number of 
 his most popular songs sung with taste and 
 feeling during the evening, and although For- 
 bes Mackenzie did not interrupt the conviviali- 
 ty, the company broke up at a respectable hour, 
 highly delighted with the entertainment, and 
 with the unanimity and harmony that pervaded 
 the meeting. There was a ball in the village 
 on the occasion, which was kept up with great 
 spirit until an early hour. 
 
 STANLEY Two meetings were held here 
 
 in honour of the centenary of Scotia's darling 
 bard. 
 
 Geobge Inn Hall. Public Supper. — 
 This meeting was attended by 64 gentlemen. 
 Mr. J. M'Earlane, farmer, Shielhill, occupied 
 the chair ; Mr. H. Anderson, Burnside, acted 
 as croupier. The Hall was tastefully decorated 
 with evergreens and Burns' tartan. The sup- 
 per, along with two " chieftains o' the puddin' 
 race," was served up in excellent style. Burns' 
 Grace before meat was said by the Chairman. 
 After the cloth was removed and the loyal and 
 patriotic toasts given, the Chairman, in a few 
 remarks, proposed " The Immortal Memory of 
 Robert Burns," which was drunk in solemn si- 
 lence. Among other toasts proposed and re- 
 sponded to, were Burns' Sons and relatives, by 
 Mr. W. Fleming, sen. ; His Grace the Duke of 
 Athole, by the croupier ; Sir W. D. ' Stewart 
 of Murthly, by Mr. T. Jackson ; Hon. D. Mur- 
 ray, Taymont, by Mr. Smith ; Samuel Howard, 
 Esq., of Stanley Mills, by Mr. J. Robertson ; 
 Poets of Great Britain and Ireland, by Mr. 
 
 Buttle. Addresses were delivered by Mr. But- 
 tle on poets and poetry, by Mr. W. Sprunt on 
 the humanity and sympathy of Burns. Both 
 speakers were deservedly applauded. Songs, 
 mostly from Burns, were sung by Messrs. J. 
 Cuthbertson, A. Smith, J. Cranmer, W. Flem- 
 ing, jun., and P. M'Lagan, in a masterly man- 
 ner. Three violinists played appropriate airs 
 at intervals, much to the delight of the com- 
 pany. After giving expression to their satis- 
 faction with the night's proceedings, at a late 
 hour next morning 
 
 " Each took aif his several way, 
 Eesolved to meet" on next birthday. 
 
 Gordon Place Supper and Ball. — ^Mr. 
 W. Low, Gordon Place, kindly gave the use of 
 his largest apartment for this meeting. It was 
 attended by 42 ladies and gentlemen. Mr. 
 Low occupied the chair. After all partaking 
 of an excellent supper, the Chairman gave the 
 usual loyal and patriotic toasts, then, in an ex- 
 cellent speech on the patriotism of Burns, pro- 
 posed " The Immortal Memory of Scotland's 
 greatest Bard," which was drunk with raptur- 
 ous cheering. A number of other toasts were 
 proposed and responded to, and songs sung by 
 Messrs. Docherty, T. Low, Donald M'Donald, 
 and a number of the ladies, all in excellent 
 style. 
 
 " Tile storm without did rair and rustle, 
 They didna mind the storm a whistle ; 
 For hornpipes, jigs, strathspeys and reels 
 Put life and mettle in their heels," 
 
 until 5 o'clock next morning. 
 
 STEWARTON. — A very happy meeting 
 was held in the Masons' Hall. At the upper 
 end of the hall stood a bower of evergreens, in 
 which the Chairman sat. Over the centre of 
 this bower was suspended a small banner, with 
 a portrait of Burns, and at each side a large 
 banner, and all round the hall hung rich fes- 
 toons of evergreens — from one of which, imme- 
 diately opposite the entrance, was suspended a 
 large portrait of the bard, in oil-coloui-s, which 
 looked among the leaves as if he was there in 
 person, emerging from the hermitage on the 
 Nithside, or waiting to keep a tryst with his 
 Mary in some cosy nook near the Castle of 
 Montgomery. Mr. John Anderson officiated 
 as Chairman, and made an excellent speech on 
 Burns and the object of the Centenary cele- 
 bration. 
 
 Many excellent speeches were made, songs 
 were sung, and tunes were played by the in- 
 strumental band, and the meeting, after spend- 
 ing a happy evening, separated about half-past 
 eleven o'clock. 
 
STIRLING. 
 
 393 
 
 STIRLING. — The Burns centenary was cele- 
 brated in Stirling with the utmost enthusiasm 
 and in a manner highly creditable to the town. 
 A number of the principal shops were closed in 
 honour of the occasion during the whole day, 
 and in the afternoon business was generally 
 suspended. The public bells were, by order of 
 the Provost and Magistrates, rung between the 
 hours of five and six o'clock. It was intended 
 that a procession should take place, but owing 
 to the inclemency of the weather — a heavy gale 
 blowing from the westward with rain — it would 
 have been a matter of impossibility to have dis- 
 played any banners or insignia, and conse- 
 quently that part of the arrangement was not 
 carried out. 
 
 A grand musical festival took place in the 
 large hall of the Corn-Exchange, at six o'clock. 
 The hall was splendidly fitted up for the occa- 
 sion, and seldom indeed have the decorations 
 been so tasteful and attractive in our market- 
 place as they were on Tuesday evening, in 
 honour of the ploughman bard. The whole 
 was fitted up with seats, a spacious platform 
 occupying the eastern end. Behind the plat- 
 form were three great arches of evergreens. In 
 the centre arch the coat of arms, composed and 
 adopted by Burns himself, was displayed. Crest : 
 a woodlark on a sprig, with the motto above, 
 " Wood Notes Wild." On the shield a shep- 
 herd's crook and pipe, with a bush of holly 
 underneath, with berries, motto: " Better a wee 
 bush than nae bield." The letters of these 
 mottoes were formed by innumerable small jets 
 of gas, throwing a lustre over the decorations 
 and the platform, and were most creditable to 
 the skill and taste of Messrs. Merrilees and 
 Hardie. In the arch to the left of the chair 
 was a trophy, composed of a harrow and other 
 agricultural implements. Under the trophy 
 Avas a life-size head of a grey horse, full har- 
 nessed, as if coming out of the stable with a 
 " full bite " of fodder in its mouth. In the arch 
 to the right of the Chairman was an ancient 
 plough, surmounted by a trophy, composed of 
 scythes, rakes, and other agricultural imple- 
 ments. The two side-arches were surmounted 
 by sheaves of corn emblematical of plenty — ^the 
 whole agricultural implements being significant 
 of the vocation of the bard, who said, " I was 
 bred to the plough, and am independent." On 
 the platform to the right were a number of model 
 grain stacks. The rest of the hall was profusely 
 decorated with festoons of evergreens. Fruit 
 was served to the audience — which numbered 
 upwards of 700 — as they entered the hall, and 
 refreshments were laid on the platform. 
 
 A number of gentlemen, accompanied by 
 members of committee, took their places on 
 tlie platform a little after six o'clock. Bai- 
 
 lie Rankin was unanimously called to the 
 chair. 
 
 The Chairman said he was gratified to see 
 so many of his fellow-townsmen assembled to 
 do honour to the memory of Scotland's illustri- 
 ous poet, Robert Burns. His name was a house- 
 hold word, and his beautiful compositions were 
 known and appreciated wherever the Scot- 
 tish language was spoken, (Cheers.) He could 
 not adequately give expression to the admiration 
 his countrymen felt of his genius, but he ob- 
 served an article by Leigh Hunt, which was 
 very admirable, and from which he would make 
 occasional quotations in the course of his re- 
 marks. Certain it was that never on any pre- 
 vious occasion had such honours been paid to 
 any poet, for in every town, and village, and 
 hamlet in Scotland, the inhabitants were meet- 
 ing together in his honour and in commemora- 
 tion of his birth. In the Crystal Palace, in 
 London, thousands had that day assembled. 
 In America, too, meetings were to be held, and 
 their fellow-countrymen in the Canadas were 
 also assembling for a similar purpose with them- 
 selves. It was a curious circumstance that the 
 night on which the bard was born was a tem- 
 pestuous blowy night like the present. (The 
 Chairman read a number of extracts from the 
 article by Leigh Hunt, and concluded a very 
 excellent address amidst loud applause.) 
 
 " Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled," was then 
 admirably sung by the Choral Society, led by 
 Mr. Graham. The Milton Instrumental Band, 
 which was stationed at the other end of the 
 hall, played the same spirit-stirring air. The 
 song " Rantin' rovin' Robin," was then sung by 
 Mr. William Dowell, which was enthusiastically 
 received, and he sung " My Nanny's awa " with 
 much feeling. Miss Ferguson of Glasgow, 
 then sung " Of a' the airts the wind can blaw," 
 which was given with much taste, but unfortu- 
 nately this lady laboured under a slight cold. 
 The song was much applauded. 
 
 Mr. Theodore Rceding, teacher of French 
 and German in the High School of Stirling, 
 rose and said he wished to say a few words on 
 the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Burns. 
 It might appear presumptuous, he said, for a 
 foreigner to address them, but his heart was 
 stirred within him with feelings of no ordinary 
 kind when he thought of the beautiful songs 
 of Robert Burns, which were sung in every 
 cottage. The songs of Burns had taught him 
 that there was something endearing and beau- 
 tiful in Scotland. He could tell them that they 
 were also much admired and appreciated in 
 Germany. His (Mr. Roeding's) uncle had 
 translated every word iri the works of Burns 
 into the German language — (loud applause) — 
 and many a time had he sat down and com- 
 
394 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 pared them. The songs and poems of Burns 
 were full of delightful pathos, and breathed the 
 most glowing sentiments of patriotism. Many 
 of you may think, he said, that it is owing to 
 your great military men — ^Wallace and Bruce — 
 that Scotland was so beloved by continental 
 nations. You are, he said, to a certain extent 
 mistaken. These were undoubtedly admired 
 for their chivalrous deeds, but there were two 
 men whose works had made Scotland renowned 
 throughout the world — Robert Burns and Sir 
 Walter Scott. Stirling Castle was as familiar 
 to him, from reading, ten years ago, as it was 
 now. Thoroughly independent. Burns never 
 went a-begging in his whole life; but when 
 found, he acknowledged a noble man, ay, 
 although he was under a moleskin jacket. 
 Burns had the purest humanity, and had a heart 
 overflowing with sympathy, and he lashed all 
 that was unworthy or mean with an unsparing 
 hand. Let us be as indignant as he was ; let 
 us be as loving as he was. Pardon me, con- 
 tinued Mr. Reeding, for addressing you. What 
 I have said comes from the heart. Accept it 
 as an expression of love and admiration of Burns 
 from my beautiful fatherland, Germany. (Great 
 applause.) 
 
 The Chairman then said that the Rev. Mr. 
 Blair would read an extract from Burns' Works, 
 and the rev. gentleman gave a very pleasing 
 reading of " The Twa Dogs." Miss Ferguson 
 then sung "Afton Water," and the Choral 
 Society sung the beautiful part-song "Thou'rt 
 gane awa frae me, Mary." Between the parts 
 the band performed the " Cameronian Quad- 
 rilles," A song, composed for the occasion by Mr. 
 W. Sinclair, was then sung by Mr. Sutherland, 
 leader of psalmody in the U. P. Church, St. 
 John Street, with clear and powerful intona- 
 tion. 
 
 The Rev. W. Blair, Dunblane, delivered 
 a speech on the genius and character of 
 Burns. 
 
 " John Anderson, my Jo," was then sung by 
 the Choral Society ; " Wandering Willie," by 
 Miss Ferguson ; " The Birks o' Aberfeldy," by 
 Miss Ferguson and the Choral Society. 
 
 The Chairman said that a gentleman — an 
 Englishman — had volunteered to sing " A man's 
 a man for a' that," which he did in a manner 
 rather amusing to Scottish ears ; but as all were 
 determined to be pleased, he was favoured with 
 a due amount of applause. 
 
 The Chairman, after alluding to the beauti- 
 ful style in which the hall had been decorated, 
 proposed a vote of thanks to the gentlemen of 
 the Committee who had evinced so much spirit, 
 and had so successfully managed the details of 
 the demonstration. The meeting had been a 
 most happy one, and he was sure all present 
 
 felt grateful to the Committee for their exer- 
 tions. (Loud applause.) 
 
 It may be added that the designs in the hall 
 were by Mr. Nisbet ; and Mr. Rutherford su- 
 perintended the details, assisted by the mem- 
 bers of Committee. The music of the Milton 
 Instrumental Band was much admired, and, in 
 short, the whole proceedings gave general satis- 
 faction. 
 
 STONEHAYEN.— The centenary birthday 
 of our great national poet will long be remem- 
 bered in Stonehaven. Before one o'clock, the 
 greater part of the men, mounted on the splen- 
 did horses belonging to the farmers in the dis- 
 trict, assembled in the Square. The horses, 
 numbering 120, were beautiful specimens of 
 what the " Men o' the Mearns " can produce. 
 The procession having proceeded through the 
 principal streets, returned to Market Square, 
 where the procession was formed into an octa- 
 gon, the horses forming two sides of tlie Square, 
 and the children and multitude the other two 
 sides. The windows around the Square were 
 occupied by the ladies and others whose patron- 
 ising vivas and waving of handkerchiefs added 
 greatly to the harmony of the scene. The 
 flags belonging to the Town Council waved 
 bravely from the steeple, and the bell rung out 
 a merry peal. The following admirable speech 
 was then delivered by Sheriff Robertson 
 to the ploughmen: — 
 
 Hardy Sons of the Soil, — I am truly happy 
 to see you on this interesting and auspicious 
 occasion, which commemorates the hundredth 
 anniversary of the birthday of our countryman 
 and poet, Robert Burns. His warm and gene- 
 rous heart would have rejoiced had he been 
 spared to witness the universal enthusiasm with 
 which his name and his genius have this day 
 been held by his admiring countrymen in every 
 city, hamlet, and village of his beloved Scotland, 
 and in every place throughout the world where 
 Scotchmen are to be found. It well becomes 
 you to join in the general acclamation of praise, 
 for he was one of yourselves — an honest and 
 true-hearted ploughman, who knew your condi- 
 tion and warmly sympathised with your feelings. 
 It is peculiarly appropriate that the ploughmen 
 in Kincardineshire should take a prominent 
 part in the proceedings of this day, because his 
 father and many of his ancestors were " Men of 
 the Mearns," and he did not forget this district 
 either on the occasion of his father's death in 
 1784, or on his northern tour in 1787. On the 
 former of these events he thus writes to a friend 
 — " I hope my father's friends in your county 
 will not let their connection in this place die 
 with him." Let us echo back this kind senti- 
 ment, and this day endeavour to perpetuate the 
 
STONEHAVEN. 
 
 395 
 
 connection of this county with a man who was 
 an honour to the peasantry of Scotland, and 
 whose highest ambition it was to delight the 
 rustic inmates of the hamlet. I regret that, 
 notwitlistanding the rapidity with which photo- 
 graphic lilsenesses are now executed, I cannot 
 present each of you with his picture, but I shall 
 endeavour in one sentence to describe to all of 
 you his appearance, that you may have some 
 idea of him as he walked tlie stubborn soil of 
 his unproductive farm. In height he was about 
 five feet ten inches, and his ordinary dress con- 
 sisted of a blue bonnet, a long-tailed blue coat, 
 corduroy knee breeches, rig and furrow stock- 
 ings, and " cutikins." His brow was lofty and 
 massive — his cheeks sunburnt — and his eye was 
 eloquent, keen and glowing. He did all in his 
 power to assist his father, and to relieve him 
 from the toil which pressed heavy on liis declin- 
 ing years. At the early age of thirteen he 
 commenced to thrash his fatner's corn, and when 
 only fifteen years old he began to plough the 
 stubborn soil of Mount Oliphant. His father, 
 whom he sincerely loved and for whom he worked 
 hard, late and early, was in the habit of con- 
 versing freely about the affairs of the farm with 
 him and his brother Gilbert. In these respects 
 their conduct is well worthy of imitation, for no 
 sight can be more beautiful than such conduct 
 towards a revered and afiectionate father, or 
 better calculated to shed peace and happiness 
 around the firesides and homesteads of our 
 beloved land. He was an excellent ploughman, 
 scyther, and bandster, and his brother Gilbert 
 records, that, after a hard day's work, he was 
 the least tired of any at his happy home. That 
 home is touchingly described in his famous poem 
 of the " Cottar's Saturday Night," and presents 
 for imitation a scene of domestic felicity hallowed 
 by the music of sacred song, and the sounds of 
 earnest prayer. — I trust that you are no strangers 
 to such scenes, and that the time will never come 
 when family worship will be banished from the 
 homes of our farmers, but that they will en- 
 deavour by example as well as by precept to 
 lead those under them to the cultivation of 
 personal piety. Burns was intensely fond of 
 Nature, and while following the plough was 
 holding sweet intercourse with her wonderful 
 works, spread, in the richest profusion, around 
 him. He loved the summer cloudlet as it sailed 
 in joyous buoyancy over his head. He loved 
 to hear the music of the gentle summer wind as 
 it sighed by the " banks and braes of bonnie 
 Doon," and he was in friendship with every 
 tree that waved around him, and with every 
 flower that bloomed at his feet. You know 
 how he celebrated gentle and lovely Afton's 
 sweet waters, and embodied in immortal verse 
 the "wee modest crimson-tippet flower." He 
 
 was a great reader, and a great thinker. He 
 had no idle hours ; he used to read on liis way 
 to and from his work, and while following the 
 stilted plough was either whistling one of Scot- 
 land's sweet melodies, or gathering in fresh 
 materials for his heart -stirring and pathetic 
 songs. He was your friend. He felt his call- 
 ing to be to illustrate your peasant life, and 
 though courted by the noble and the learned, 
 he never forgot his humbler associates, and 
 delighted in the society of the ploughmen and 
 farm-servants of his dear native land. I rejoice 
 to know that a new farmers' association is to 
 be formed in Kincardineshire, and intend to be 
 present at its meeting to-morrow at Laurence- 
 kirk, and to enrol myself as one of its members. 
 Some years ago a society was formed for the 
 improvement of your dwelling-houses, and some 
 good has been achieved by its instrumentality. 
 I ardently hope that these associations will co- 
 operate in the accomplishment of this desirable 
 object, and that much benefit may accrue to 
 you by the amelioration of your condition in 
 many respects. Imitate Burns in his honesty. 
 For many years he had only seven pounds per 
 annum, and it was a matter of principle with 
 him that his expenditure should not exceed his 
 income. Imitate him in the manly indepen- 
 dence of his character. He was no sycophant. 
 He never flattered the great, nor despised his 
 inferiors, and while he felt himself to be a true 
 genius, and one of nature's nobility, he was 
 kind to the poor, and afiectionate to the desti- 
 tute. Nay, the lower animals participated in 
 his kindness, and even the little mouse acci- 
 dentally destroyed by his ploughshare excited 
 his tender pity and regard. Be ye also kind 
 to the animals placed under your care, and be 
 it yours to sympathize with that humane law of 
 our country which seeks to protect the lower 
 animals from the cruel tyranny and treatment 
 of the hard-hearted and unfeeling. Burns had 
 a fond heart and a leal friendship. His voice 
 was ever raised against tyranny and oppression. 
 His patriotism was deep and pure, and glowed 
 with devoted fervency on the fields of CuUoden 
 and Bannockburn. He thus writes of himself : 
 — " The sterling of his honest worth, poverty 
 could not debase, and his independent British 
 spirit oppression might bend, but could not 
 subdue." I cannot trust myself to speak of his 
 songs ; they are inimitable and enshrined like 
 our love for him in our innermost heart, and 
 are sung by every Scotchman with admiration 
 for the poet and with gratitude to the man. 
 May his memory be ever as green as the sides 
 of the heath-covered mountains of Scotland, 
 and live in the hearts of his admiring country- 
 men. And when another hundred years shall 
 have come and gone, may the men of that gen- 
 
396 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 eration be enabled to point back to the pro-' 
 ceedings of this day as a noble trophy, better 
 than sculptured urn or monumental marble, 
 erected throughout the breadth and length of 
 Scotland, in the hearts of the people, to a man 
 whose genius and poetry shall never cease to 
 be the subject of grateful admiration, and to 
 ■warm the best affections of our common nature. 
 
 STONEHAVEN.— Upwards of 100 gentle- 
 men sat down to a most sumptuous dinner in 
 the Commercial Hotel, provided by Mr. and 
 Mrs. Craig. 
 
 Sheriff Robertson occupied the chair, sup- 
 ported on the right by Mr. W. E. Tindal and 
 Mr. John Falconer, and on the left by Mr. 
 Walker, Portlethen, Mr. Geo. Tindal, and 
 Mr. Eitchie, Glenurie Distillery. The crou- 
 piers were A. W. Kinnear, Esq., and C. Q. 
 Munro, Esq. After the usual loyal and patri- 
 otic toasts had been proposed by the Chairman, 
 and responded to by the company with more 
 than ordinary enthusiasm, the Chairman, in an 
 eloquent speech, proposed the toast of the 
 evening, which was rapturously received. He 
 said : — Burns was a true genius, devoid of 
 " fustian " or conceit ; he was conscious of his 
 genius, but was not thereby elated with self- 
 adulation, but preserved ever the becoming 
 garb of modesty, and panted after higher at- 
 tainments in knowledge. He lived his poetry, 
 it was his inner life, and like a gushing fountain 
 which seeks to spread around its living, life- 
 giving waters, it welled out in its beauteous and 
 ennobling streams. He wrote what he knew 
 and felt in his own heart. He took not to 
 rhyming as a mere trade. Poetry was himself, 
 and he delighted, with open, frank, generous 
 heart, to speak and write the glowing thoughts 
 which longed for utterance. This feature of 
 his character often led him to say of himself 
 what greater worldly wisdom would have taught 
 him to conceal, and thus he did not seek, in 
 the frankness of his nature, to hide his own 
 failings and weaknesses. In this way he has, 
 from certain quarters, drawn on himself much 
 abuse, which might be more legitimately be- 
 stowed on men of less amiable dispositions. 
 Perfect sincerity and truthfulness were the 
 main-spring of his lashing satire. He exposed 
 all cant and hypocrisy wherever he found them, 
 whether among the clergy or the laity, in the 
 circles of polished society, or among the rougher 
 walks of peasant life. I cannot believe that 
 he was irreligious. The spirit of religion — 
 that blessed thing which should shape every 
 action in our lives, and prompt every motive 
 within — breathes in many of his productions. 
 Again, how intense was his love for nature. 
 It is much to be regretted in this ledger-loving 
 
 age, that men seem to steel their hearts against 
 the beauties of the external world. In every 
 cloud which sailed over his head, in every mur- 
 mur of the mighty sea, in every whisper of the 
 sighing summer wind, and in every blade of 
 grass, that had its "ain drap o' dew," in every 
 flower that bloomed at his feet as the weary 
 ploughman plodded his way homeward— in the 
 bursting of the thunder storm, and the flash of 
 the swift-winged lightning, -his soul rejoiced 
 and his discerning mind saw evidence of the 
 existence of a great Creator, and of mankind's 
 eternal being. In the raging storm he took 
 especial delight, and with the reins dropped 
 carelessly over the neck of his pony, he, with 
 folded arms, and meditative, upturned eye, 
 would gaze at the war of elements till his soul 
 was identified with the glorious scene. Like 
 him, let us sometimes leave the beaten, dusty 
 path of daily business, and contemplate the 
 "sublime and beautiful" spread in rich effusioil 
 above and around us. Did he not love Nature? 
 Listen to his own enraptured strain — 
 
 "0 natuve, a' thy shows and forms 
 To feeling pensive hearts hae charms, 
 Whether the summer kindly warms 
 
 Wi' life and light; 
 Or winter howls in gusty storms 
 
 The lang dark night." 
 
 Toast and song followed in rapid succession. 
 
 The day's proceedings were brought to a 
 close by a grand ball in the hall of the Mill 
 Inn. The music was led by Mr. Hunter from 
 Aberdeen, and his band. Another ball came 
 off in the Temperance Hall, conducted by Mr. 
 J. A. Niven, professor of dancing, and which 
 also came off with great spirit. 
 
 Dinner to the Eetired Farmers and 
 Crofters. — Mr. Campbell, Bellfield, Mr. 
 Brown, Megray, Mr. Connon, Elf Hill, and 
 other gentlemen, entertained at dinner, in the 
 Stonehaven Hotel, about twenty aged and re- 
 tired farmers and crofters of the town and 
 neighbourhood. Mr. Campbell occupied the 
 chair, and Messrs. Brown and Connon crou- 
 piers. Many a battle was fought over again 
 that evening ; many a " drouthy simmer " and 
 stormy winter long ago was recalled to mind 
 when the jolly old rustics were young and in 
 their prime. Conclusion — " Should Auld 
 Acquaintance be forgot," and, parting " richt 
 merrilie." 
 
 The Operative Shoemakers. — "Fu' blithe 
 this day" were the shoemakers in their place of 
 meeting in Eodney Street— Mr. James Eoss 
 in the chair ; Mr. John Mackie, croupier. It 
 would be "ower long a tale to tell" how joy- 
 ously the shoemakers went to it, with song, 
 and speech, and merry tale on this occasionj 
 
STONEHOUSE— STEANRAER. 
 
 307 
 
 Suffice it, tliat tbey themselves were highly 
 pleased with the day's proceedings. 
 
 STONEHOUSE.— Stonehouse was not be- 
 hind neighbouring towns in doing honour to 
 the memory of Scotland's Immortal Bard. No 
 fewer than six public convivial parties were held 
 in different parts of the town in which persons 
 of all ranks met together, admiration of the 
 great poet's genius being the only pass-word 
 for admittance. Of the above description, one 
 party dined in Mr. Jeffrey's Hotel, over which 
 Mr. Alex. Russell, mineralist, presided, sup- 
 ported right and left by Corporal P. Leiper, 
 latp of the Royal Artillery, and Mr. Peter 
 Syme of Newfield ; Mr. Wm. Gilmour officiat- 
 ing as croupier, supported right and left by Mr. 
 J. Fleming, and Mr. S. Jack. Mr. Jeffrey, in 
 his usual manner, supplied an excellent sub- 
 stantial dinner, in which t|ie haggis, with its 
 honest sonsie face, was not omitted, and a two- 
 year-old kibbock made upon the farm of Moss- 
 giel. During the evening many excellent 
 speeches were delivered ; among others that of 
 Mr. J. Fleming, upon the genius and poetry of 
 Burns, called forth rapturous applause from the 
 speaker's just appreciation of the poet's power 
 and eloquent exposition of his worth, as a man, 
 a patriot, and a poet. The evening was spent 
 in the greatest harmony, proving that Scotch- 
 men of all ranks can meet and mingle together, 
 leaving pleasing associations not soon to be for- 
 gotten. After drinking the health of Forbes 
 M'Kenzie, a little before 11 o'clock, the meet- 
 ing broke up. 
 
 STOW.— The centenary of the birth of 
 Robert Burns was celebrated here by a public 
 soiree, which was held in the Town Hall, and 
 notwithstanding the inclemency of the evening, 
 was numerously and respectably attended. 
 After tea had been served and the table clear- 
 ed, Mr. J. F, Walker (parochial schoolmaster), 
 who presided on the occasion, delivered an ad- 
 dress in honour of the memory of Robert 
 Burns. 
 
 Able and appropriate addresses were also 
 delivered by Mr. John Paton, Mr. Sutton, Mr. 
 R. Sanderson, and the Rev. Mr. Robertson. 
 During the evening a number of the popular 
 songs of Burns were sung by Messrs. Gellatly, 
 Fowler, Stoddart, Robertson, Cowan, and Mrs. 
 Fairgrieve. The meeting was closed after the 
 singing^of " Auld Langsyne," in the chorus of 
 which the audience heartily joined. 
 
 STRAITON.— A few kindred spirits, here, 
 having resolved that while other places, through- 
 out the length and breadth of Britain, had so 
 nobly and as with one voice resolved to do 
 
 honour to the natal day of Robert Burns, 
 Straiton, or Strath-town, though remote, yet 
 so picturesquely situated amid the loveliest 
 scenery of Girvan's fairy-haunted stream, should 
 not be a recreant exception. The centenary 
 of the Scottish Poet was celebrated here by a 
 ball in the Parish School, under the auspices of 
 the Straiton curlers. The day was lowering 
 and gusty, and towards evening the wind 
 brought torrents of rain. Nothing daunted, 
 however, parties began to arrive at seven o'clock, 
 numbers of them from considerable distances, 
 and in a very short time the room was filled 
 with a large assemblage of the youth and beauty 
 of the district. Under the management of 
 Messrs. Hugh Dalziel, John Hood, Alexander 
 Hasel, Quintin Macadam, and James M'Turlc, 
 the arrangements were excellent, and dancing 
 commenced with great animation to the stirring 
 music of Messrs. Gerrand, Dalraellington. The 
 spirit of enthusiasm and hearty humour which 
 so distinguished him that's awa, seemed in a 
 liberal measure, under the influence of the 
 great occasion of their meeting, to inspire all 
 the company. Refreshments were liberally dis- 
 pensed throughout the evening, and at a suit- 
 able hour a substantial supper announced. A 
 number of excellent songs were sung, those of 
 Burns being specially called for. Mr. David 
 M'Call, precentor, sung " Green grow the 
 rashes," and " Scots wha hae," in excellent 
 style. Mr. Charles M'Limont also gave " My 
 Nannie, O," with good feeling and taste. Sev- 
 eral of the ladies also charmed the meeting 
 with some beautiful airs, among which " Tam 
 Glen" attracted particular attention. Mr. 
 Young, parochial teacher, took a convenient 
 opportunity, in a few appropriate terms, to pro- 
 pose three cheers in honour of the great name 
 whose festival had called them together. 
 
 STRANRAER. — The great day was aus- 
 piciously commenced here. It is true, we had 
 no masonic processions with flags and flaunt- 
 ings ; but we had a nobler procession of nearly 
 400 of the deserving poor, who walked to the 
 Cross, there to receive each a quartern loaf, 
 with a supply of tea and sugar, to give them, 
 too, a happy evening. This was the way in 
 which Lord Stair honoured the centenary of 
 the Great Peasant. The streets were crowded 
 with well-dressed people, and at 4 o'clock 
 The Banquet was held in the Town Hall, 
 which had been beautifully fitted up for the 
 occasion by Mr. Fowler, Castle-Kennedy, and 
 Mr. Park, Corsewall. A spacious gallery had 
 been provided for the ladies, fronted with 
 graceful arches covered with evergreens, while 
 the walls were covered with pictures of the 
 poet, and of places made conspicuous from con- 
 
398 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 nection with him — and the windows were 
 adorned with mottoes from his works, tastefully 
 printed on red transparencies. The dinner, a 
 substantial one, and comprising the- Scotch 
 dishes made famous by the bard, and the wines 
 and spirits were furnished by Mr. Meikle of the 
 Commercial Hotel. The Provost, D. Guthrie, 
 Esq., occupied the chair — supported on right 
 by the Rev. Mr. Simpson, Bailie M'Culloch, 
 &c., and on left by the Rev. Mr. Cavan, Mr. 
 W. Murdoch, &c. N. Taylor, Esq. of Belmont, 
 and Bailie Dalrymple were the croupiers. 
 After thanks had been returned by the Rev. 
 Mr. Cavan, 
 
 The ladies, to the number of 100, entered 
 their gallery, and were received by the com- 
 pany standing up, with prolonged cheering. 
 The coup d'ceil at this time, we will venture to 
 say, could not have been surpassed by any other 
 display elsewhere. There were 150 gentlemen 
 present. 
 
 The Chairman, in rising to propose the 
 toast of the evening, said. 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen — it is now my privi- 
 lege — a privilege which, conscious of my own 
 deficiency, I approach with shrinking apprehen- 
 sion, to propose to you the Memory of " Robert 
 Burns." (Cheers.) May I not say the immor- 
 tal memory — for has it not grown greener and 
 fresher by the lapse of every year, since the 
 unhappy bard — ^neglected by his country — sank 
 with a sorrow -riven heart into an untimely 
 grave on the banks of the Nith. (Cheers.) Or 
 why is it that we are this night met on the 
 hundredth anniversary of his birth — met with 
 thousands upon thousands of our countrymen 
 not only in Scotland, but in England, Ireland, 
 and every land where the adventurous spirit of 
 our country has carried her sons — (cheers,) — 
 yes, in his own imperishable lines, — 
 
 " Time tut the impression deeper makes, 
 As streams tUeir channels deeper wear." 
 
 But some may say why are we in Galloway 
 thus met ? I answer, has Galloway — has Wig- 
 townshire no interest in Coila's Bard ? Not to 
 speak of our Maidenkirk, which he has rendered 
 classical and for ever immortal — have we not 
 here many of the children of those who were 
 the compeers and companions of Burns while 
 he lived, and who treasure in their remem- 
 brance many bright thoughts flashed direct 
 from the Bard into the hearts of their sires, and 
 transmitted fresh from sire to son ? Have we not 
 in view the seat of one whose father was among 
 his earliest and most kindly patrons, the genial 
 and elegant Dr. Moore, to whom, above all 
 others, the poet most unburdened his soul, and 
 to whom he addressed his only autobiography? 
 Have we not here, also, in the family of Cairn- 
 
 ryan, the representative of Mrs. Dunlop, his 
 most frequent and most cherished correspond- 
 ent? Was it not too, from Galloway, went 
 forth the kindly discerning voice of Dr. Black- 
 lock, which arrested poor Burns "when his 
 gloomy night was gathering fast" — when, in 
 tiie depths of misery and despair, he was on his 
 way to a distant land, and sent him at once to 
 Edinburgh and to fame ? And above all, are 
 we not Scotchmen — his compatriots — sharers of 
 our country's glory — and shall we not partici- 
 pate in the commemoration of the noble genius 
 of him who shed such a beauty and a glory on 
 our much beloved land? (Great cheering.) 
 But it may be asked, why commemorate the 
 genius departed, which our forefathers neglect- 
 ed when living ? Ah, ladies and gentlemen, if 
 our fathers erred, should we perpetuate the 
 wrong? or rather should we not seek to re- 
 dress it, as far as that is now possible ? Yes, 
 Scotland is this day in a repentant attitude to- 
 ward her Burns; and, therefore, we are this 
 night met to show our appreciation of his 
 genius — his manly and generous qualities — 
 although we cannot penetrate the proud mau- 
 soleum which a repentant country has raised 
 over his grave, or reach those ears now so 
 long closed in death. And may we not by 
 such commemorations encourage and sustain 
 other kindred spirits whom we trust our coun- 
 try may yet produce, or be even now produc- 
 ing — " hearts pregnant with celestial fire" — 
 who, born like Burns in poverty, and striving 
 with trials and temptations, may be ready to 
 sink amid the adverse billows with vfhich they 
 have to contend ; and thus go far to provide 
 that no future Burns — no future son of genius 
 — shall be left to pine and die in penury and 
 neglect. But what can I say of Burns to ren- 
 der your appreciation of him more intense? 
 What poet of any age or any land ever so lived 
 in the hearts of his countrymen ? Genius found 
 him at the plough and flung her inspiring 
 mantle over him, and under that inspiration 
 how exquisitely has he sung. How harmoni- 
 ous with Nature's chords is every strain, and 
 hence how perfect the melody — how universal 
 — how undying the influence. (Cheers.) How 
 hath he clothed with fresh beauty every stream 
 and vale of Coila's land, and not of Coila only, 
 but of our beloved Scotland — from Aberfeldy's 
 Birks and Bruarwater to the sweet winding 
 Nith, and the far-sounding Solway — giving to 
 every rill a music not its own — to every flower 
 a sweeter fragrance — and to every bird a more 
 thrilling melody. How did his sympathies go 
 forth to nature animate and inanimate. How 
 has he depicted the scenes, the lights and sha- 
 dows of humble Scottish life. While reconcil- 
 ing poverty to its lot, and giving contentment 
 
STRANRAER. 
 
 399 
 
 to the poor sons of toil, ho breathed into their 
 souls a noble independence and fired their 
 hearts with the lofty patriotism which glows in 
 " Scot's wha hae," that noblest of odes ; 
 (cheers,) and then, what a beauty, tenderness 
 and purity, does he throw around their loves 
 — what a pathos around their sorrows ; and, 
 above all, what a beautiful picture of true 
 religion and its handmaid happiness have we 
 in his " Cottar's Saturday Night" — a poem 
 I venture to say which better illustrates what 
 a cottar's house should be, and which places 
 before us religion in a form more attractive, 
 because more practical and real, than has been 
 done in any other poem or by any other writer 
 since the world began. But Burns, we are told, 
 had faults — yes, grievous faults, and grievously 
 has he answered for them. I am not here to 
 palliate these faults — exaggerated though they 
 have been by some — exaggerated even by the 
 unhappy Bard himself, but this I may say, his 
 faults from the transparency of his character, 
 were patent as the day, and were lighted up 
 and made glaringly conspicuous by the very 
 fire of his genius, while those of other meaner 
 men have been only dimly seen or hid altoge- 
 ther in the secret recesses of the heart. When, 
 however, we think of poor Burns' faults, let us 
 also look at the circumstances in which he was 
 placed — the position in which he was born — 
 the elevation and temptations to which he was 
 introduced — to the age in which he lived — not 
 remarkable for the faithfulness of its spiritual 
 watchmen, but only for its deep drinking and 
 excessive sociality ; and above all to the pas- 
 sionate, sensitive, impulsive nature which he 
 had as a poet, and which unfortunately seems 
 too frequently the concomitant of poetic genius. 
 All ! if I could unfold to you his big and manly 
 and kindly heart — with its mighty pulsations — 
 its passionate throbbings — its exquisite sensi- 
 bilities, you would behold a thing of rarest 
 mechanism — but of most difficult guidance. If 
 I could bring before you the seductive influ- 
 ences, the rude joltings — the sad depressions to 
 which he was subjected, you would see some- 
 thing of the great difficulties with which the 
 unhappy bard had to contend ; and if I could 
 depict— but vain is any language of mine to do 
 so — the fearful remorse — the anxious strivings 
 — the bitter repinings, and the deep despondency 
 of which we have glimpses in his letters, and 
 in regard to which the strings of his lyre 
 often yielded the most thrilling strains ; — I 
 say, if I could bring before you, however feebly, 
 these passionate excitements — exquisite sensi- 
 bilities, dire temptations, anxious strivings, and 
 above all, the deep and bitter remorse which 
 filled his soul — wearing his heart away, and 
 which sent him to hide his sorrows in an early 
 
 grave,-— you would, in place of seeking to recall 
 and dwell upon his mortal failings, be led with 
 feelings more charitable and godlike, to blot 
 them out for ever from your remembrance, and 
 raising your eye, — mayhap not undimmed with 
 tears, contemplate alone his noble and tran- 
 scendent genius, — a genius which has struck 
 the lyre of his country to strains so lofty and 
 so full of fire, such as only Homer, Milton, and 
 the Bard of Avon have surpassed — strains so 
 full of love — of pathos — of patriotism — ay, and 
 of religion too, such as no poet of our land has 
 ever sang — strains which have found an echo in 
 every breast, and which shall continue to vibrate 
 in the heart of every son of Scotia — as long as 
 love, pity, patriotism and piety, shall have a 
 dwelling within our much-loved land. (Great 
 applause.) I ask you then not in silence, but 
 with every enthusiasm to drink the immortal 
 memory of Robert Burns. (Great cheering.) 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Simpson proposed "Alfred 
 Tennyson and the Poets of England," which 
 met with great applause. 
 
 Mr. R. W. Jamieson, in a powerful speech, 
 replete with passages in the history of Scot- 
 land, proposed " The land o' cakes." The toast 
 met with a true Scottish response. 
 
 Mr. H. M'Lean, writer, Stranraer, in a neat 
 address, in which he showed the rapidly in- 
 creasing prosperity of the town, and the im- 
 petus which the railway, now in progress of 
 construction, would give to the trade of the 
 burgh, proposed " The Town and Trade of 
 Stranraer, coupled with the name of Mr. 
 Alexander Douglas," which was received with 
 loud cheers. Mr. Douglas briefly responded. 
 
 Mr. Mavor, in an able address, proposed 
 " The Poets of Scotland, and Professor Ay toun." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Cavan, in an interesting and 
 instructive speech, proposed " The Peasantry 
 of Scotland." 
 
 Mr. Niven proposed " The Sons and Nieces 
 of Burns," and after a few words, stated that 
 the Bard's uncle was my uncle ; my aunty 
 Meg was hisaunty Meg; my father was Burns' 
 bed-fellow while at the school at Kirkoswald; 
 my grandfather was schoolmaster. (Great 
 cheering.) 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Fergusson, of Inch, then, de- 
 livered an able address on Shakspeare, and con- 
 cluded by proposing " The Memory of Shak- 
 speare." 
 
 Mr. Murdoch proposed "The Tenantry of 
 Wigtown." (Great cheers.) 
 
 Mr. David M'CuUoch, Auohness, in a few 
 suitable remarks returned thanks. 
 
 Mr. Allan Ingram, writer, Stranraer, in 
 brief and .appropriate language proposed " The 
 Health of the Ladies, and thanks for their be- 
 ing present on the occasion," 
 
4:00 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Mr. Taylor proposed "The Provost and 
 Magistrates of Stranraer," to which the Chair- 
 man replied. 
 
 The ladies then retired, and the meeting dis- 
 persed to make way for the ball. There were 
 120 gentlemen at the Banquet. Appropriate 
 songs were sung at intervals between the ad- 
 dresses by Messrs. M'Dowall, Dalrymple, Dyer, 
 Porteous, and M'Harg. 
 
 The Ball. — About 50 couple assembled, 
 amongst whom were Mr. and Mrs. Provost 
 Guthrie ; Lieut. Cooper ; Mr. and Mrs. M'Cul- 
 loch, of Auchness ; Mr. and Mrs. Black, Sea- 
 bank, mostly all the Town Council and ladies, 
 &c. There was a quadrille band from Glas- 
 gow, conducted by Mr. William Priestly, which 
 contributed considerably to the evening's en- 
 joyment. 
 
 STRATHAVEN.— The centenary of Burns 
 was celebrated in this place by several latge 
 assemblies, each in their own way and place, 
 doing honour to themselves in revering the 
 name and works of our illustrious Scottish 
 poet. The first of the meetings proposed was 
 by a few of our active and leading men in the 
 parish, who agreed to celebrate the occasion by 
 a public dinner, to be held in the Avondale 
 Assembly Hall. The tickets were soon all 
 sold, and on Tuesday, at five o'clock, 125 
 gentlemen sat down to dinner, which was 
 served up by Mr. Young in his more than 
 usual good order. Wm. Gebbie, Esq. of Hall- 
 burn, occupied the chair. John Clark, Esq. of 
 Kirklandpark, and Thomas Tennent, Esq., 
 banker, acted as croupiers. After the cloth 
 was removed, the Chairman gave the usual loyal 
 and patriotic toasts, which were warmly, re- 
 sponded to. Then followed the toast of the 
 evening. The Chairman himself being an Ayr- 
 shire born man, with pride and feeling said he 
 could not overstate the merit of his toast, and 
 gave " The Immortal Bard of Scotland," which 
 was received and responded to with great en- 
 thusiasm ; after which, toast and song followed, 
 all having a reference to the illustrious poet. 
 After singing " Auld Langsyne," the meeting 
 separated about eleven o'clock, having some 
 awe for Forbes Mackenzie. 
 
 The members of the Stra'ven Caledonian 
 Society met in Mr. A. Alston's School-room. 
 The meeting was confined to members of the 
 society, with their wives and sweethearts. 
 About thirty sat down and partook of a sump- 
 tuous repast, provided by Br. Miller. After 
 the cloth was removed, our worthy Master, 
 Mr. J. Scott, who occupied the chair, gave, in 
 a very neat and appropriate speech, " The 
 Memory of the Immortal Bard," which was re- 
 ceived and responded to with great warmth of 
 
 feeling. After a few other toasts and songs, 
 all having a reference to Burns, as a man, and 
 Scotia's greatest poet, then followed the great 
 treat of the evening, viz., " The Jolly Beggars," 
 acted in real character by the following bre- 
 thren: — J. Gray, who recited the several stan- 
 zas ; J. S. M'Kechnie, who acted the Auld 
 Sodger; E. Wilson, the Tinker; D. Prydie, 
 Gut Scraper ; and the' rest of the characters 
 were well represented by Brothers Scott, Lis- 
 ten, Reid and Miller, After the company 
 could compose themselves from the effects of 
 laughter, Br. J. Speirs read an admirable poem, 
 composed by himself for the occasion. The 
 evening's entertainment was kept up with great 
 spirit, until the " wee short hour ayont the 
 twal." 
 
 The Strathaven Young Men's Mutual Im- 
 provement Society met in Mr. Walter Brown's, 
 Pathfoot, Strathaven, for the purpose of cele- 
 brating the centenary of Burns. Sixteen gentle- 
 men sat down to an excellent supper, served up 
 in Mr. Brown's best style. Mr. George Steel 
 occupied the chair, and Mr, James Hamilton 
 ably officiated as croupier. After supper had 
 been discussed, and the usual loyal toasts given, 
 the 'Chairman, in an eloqueht and glowing 
 speech, gave the toast of the evening, " To the 
 Memory of the Immortal Bard, Robert Burns," 
 which was responded to by all, with deep and 
 enthusiastic feeling. And after an evening- 
 devoted to the feast of reason and the flow of 
 soul, such as each declared he had never spent 
 before, 
 
 " Each took off his several way, 
 Resolved to meet some other day." 
 
 STRATHDON.— About fifty of the inhabit- 
 ants of our upper Strath met at Bridgend of 
 AUargue Inn. The company sat down to din- 
 ner about half-past five, in a large apartment 
 beautifully decorated with evergreens from the 
 garden and plantations of AUargue. Conspi- 
 cuous in one end of the apartment was a col- 
 lection of the badges of the Highland clans, 
 disposed in tasteful groups. The Rev. Charles 
 M'Hardy occupied the chair, and Dr. Profeit, 
 Strathdon, officiated as croupier. After an ex- 
 cellent dinner, which did Mrs. Coutts much 
 credit. 
 
 The Chaibman gave " The Immortal Memory 
 of Burns." He said : — There is a propriety in 
 this meeting being constituted by such as are 
 now present, for Burns belonged to the very 
 class to which you belong ; and by the great- 
 ness of his genius, he threw around that class 
 a lustre which neither wealth nor rank could 
 purchase. It is a remarkable fact that the 
 finest. songs of our country were written in the 
 language of humble life, by a man in humble 
 
TAIN. 
 
 401 
 
 life — a plougliman — and that the subjects of his 
 inspiration were the bright eyes, the flushing 
 cheeks, and the symmetrical forms of the coun- 
 try lasses around him. Burns, like other men, 
 had his errors and faults : it would have been 
 strange if ho had been a man without errors 
 and frailties. I do not attempt to defend his 
 errors, nor do I say that they should not be 
 condemned ; but whilst we regret and condemn 
 them, let us not withhold our tribute of admi- 
 ration to the splendour of his genius, and the 
 manly and fervent independence which his 
 writings breathe. 
 
 The Chairman spoke at considerable length, 
 and concluded amid general cheering by pro- 
 jjosing the toast. 
 
 A number of other toasts were given, many 
 of Burns' songs were sung, and the meeting 
 was most successful. 
 
 At nine the ball-room ,was crowded. The 
 music was ably conducted by Mr. A. Walker, 
 Castle Newe, assisted by Messrs. Symon, Cum- 
 ming, Coutts, and M'Hardy. There were 
 nearly 200 in the ball-room, and as many of 
 these had no opportunity of joining in the toast 
 of the evening at dinner, it was again proposed, 
 and enthusiastically responded to. Several 
 Scotch songs were sung, and dancing kept up 
 till a late hour. 
 
 TAIN. — The centenary celebration at Tain, 
 which was got up under the auspices of the 
 Mechanics' Institute, Sheriff Murray, and other 
 enterprising citizens, passed off in the happiest 
 possible manner. Tlie Masons of St. Duthus 
 Lodge turned out to a man, and, having walked 
 in procession through the principal streets, 
 dined together at five o'clock. As the hour 
 approached for the soiree, they again formed 
 into line, and went in a body to the Court- 
 house, the gallery being appropriated to their 
 use. The appearance they presented there, 
 dressed in their " clothing," and having their 
 insignia of office, produced a very pleasing 
 effect. 
 
 The chair having been taken by Mr. Macleod 
 of CadboU, Mr. Ken. Murray delivered an ora- 
 tion on the character and works of Burns. 
 This address was cheered to the very echo — a 
 compliment it richly deserved. It concluded as 
 follows: — The rough old ballads that our 
 fathers chaunted, the spirited old lays our 
 mothers sung, have handed down to us, as no 
 bald history could have done, their glorious 
 deeds, their independent will. Our loves, our 
 hates, OUT daring, our disgrace — all that is 
 great, all that is little in our people, our poets 
 
 tell in praise or scorn. And manliest, truest, 
 noblest of them all the patriotic songs of Burns, 
 few though they be, are law to Scotland. They 
 are the hearthstone music of our liberty. They 
 bid defiance to oppression, lay or priestly. We * 
 are dauntless, honest, while we breathe them. 
 Not for the high in rank and station — though 
 they love them too — but for the people whom 
 he loved he struck those manly chords. It is 
 the people's will he sings and animates — that 
 peasant will which never swerved, and shall 
 not, from the cause of right and freedom. 
 These are not words of course to-night. 
 Though for two hundred years our shores have 
 not beheld the face of foe — though we can 
 scarcely realise the thought of self-defence, 
 the patriotic fire is burning bright as ever! 
 It is unseen only because the sun of freedom 
 overpowers its lustre ; but let the storm-clouds 
 for a moment lower between us and that sun, 
 and the phcenix flame will be beheld ruddying 
 the hill tops as of old. Bitter and unkind in 
 some things temporal, wretchedly divided in 
 some things spiritual, we are still as one man 
 in loyalty and love of country. (Enthusiastic 
 cheering.) 
 
 The address was followed by a concert, in 
 which Mr, Mair and his juvenile band of choris- 
 ters gave telling effect to the ballads of the 
 bard, and in one of his songs (" Last May a 
 braw wooer cam' doon the lang glen") Mr. 
 Mair received an enthusiastic and well-deserved 
 encore. A few verses to the air of " Eantin' 
 rovin' Kobin " were sung. 
 
 Mr. Morine, from Inverness, presided at the 
 pianoforte, and delighted the fair portion of his 
 auditors by the brilliancy of his executions. 
 By way of variety, Mr. W. R. Black, from 
 Stratford, read selections from " Tam o' Shan- 
 ter " and the " Cottar's Saturday Night." These 
 readings were given in the happiest style, and 
 called down the enthusiastic plaudits of the 
 audience. Mr. Black introduced the selections 
 with a few humorous remarks, and succeeded 
 in riveting the attention of the audience 
 throughout, more especially in those portions 
 of the " Cottar's Saturday Night" where deep 
 pathos was necessary. He succeeded in tho- 
 roughly enlisting the sympathies of the audi- 
 ence, who listened to his elocution with breath- 
 less attention. 
 
 Before breaking up, votes of thanks, pro- 
 posed by Cadboll, to Mr. K. Murray, Mr. 
 Black, Mr. Mair, and Mr. Morine, were carried 
 by acclamation. Dr. Vass, in a neat speech, 
 thanked Cadboll for his conduct in the chair, 
 to which he replied in a feeling and appropriate 
 manner. 
 
 " Auld Langsyne" having been sung (the 
 whole people joining), and then " God Save 
 
 2c 
 
402 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 the Queen,'' this crowded gathering, consisting 
 of upwards of four hundred, who had assem- 
 bled in the most orderly manner, dispersed in 
 the same way, all expressing their delight and 
 * sympathy in the success of the celebration. 
 
 TAEBOLTON.— In tlie earlier part of the 
 day, a procession was formed to visit some of 
 the scenes rendered prominent from the poet's 
 connection with them. It proceeded to the 
 hill from which the town takes its name, and 
 wound round the artificial mound of Druidical 
 formation, from the summit of which a view 
 can be obtained of Lochlea, where he lived for 
 upwards of seven years ; of Boghead, the resi- 
 dence of the rough, ready-witted Rankine ; of 
 Spittle-side, where the brother Davie of the 
 poet dwelt; while the road wends its way 
 round to Willie's Mill, to the scene of " Death 
 and Dr. Hornbook." In the distance are to be 
 seen the Cumnock hills, the Braes of Balloch- 
 myle, Mauchline, Mossgiel, and Galston Moor; 
 on the left, the monument erected on Barnwell 
 Hill to Sir William Wallace. The procession 
 consisted of the magistrates, the school-children, 
 each with a small flag, the town band, the 
 brethren of St. James' Lodge, with the banner, 
 interesting as the same under which a Mont- 
 gomerie, a Burns, and a Hamilton has walked, 
 and a large proportion of the inhabitants of 
 the parish, with banners flying. They walked 
 past the house in which the St. James' Lodge 
 held their meetings when Burns was Depute- 
 master ; the site of the school where Dr. Horn- 
 book obtained his notoriety; the house in 
 which was formed the debating club ; and 
 passed with a feeling of interest, an old woinan 
 who was engaged about Willie's Mill wl,ien 
 Jean Armour made a short stay there, and who 
 has a distant recollection of the poet ; thence 
 through the town to 
 
 " That place of Scotland's isle, 
 That bears the name of Auld King Coil," 
 
 for the purpose of visiting Mary's thorn, 
 memorable as the trysting place of Burns and 
 Highland Mary, their farewell meeting spot on 
 the Fail ; and the castle of Montgomerie, the 
 residence of Sir James Montgomerie when he 
 was Grand Master of St. James' Lodge, he 
 whom the poet has described as having 
 
 " A name to Masoniy and Scotia dear." 
 
 The procession here paused, and "Ye banks 
 and braes and streams around the castle of 
 Montgomerie," with other songs, having been 
 sung, all present joined in singing "Auld Lang- 
 syne." After giving a vote of thanks to the 
 lord of the manor for his kindness in opening 
 his grounds on that day, the procession returned 
 
 in the same order to the town, where each of 
 the children received a bun after their walk 
 through those scenes in the early life of the 
 poet. In the afternoon, upwards of a hundred 
 sat down to an excellent dinner, provided by 
 mine host of the Crown; after discussing which, 
 the Ciiairman gave the usual toasts. He then, 
 in a neat and appropriate speech, gave the toast 
 of the evening, " The Centenary of Burns," 
 which was received with great enthusiasm, fol- 
 lowed by the song "There was a lad was born 
 in Kyle." The Ci-oupier, in a speech replete 
 with feeling, gave " The Memory of Jean 
 Armour." A number of toasts and songs, 
 appropriate to the occasion, were given through- 
 out the course of the evening, all of which 
 were received with acclamation. The meeting 
 then separated about ten o'clock, all being 
 highly gratified by the night's enjoyment. As 
 a grand finale to the day's proceedings, the 
 members of St. James' Lodge made a torch- 
 light procession through the town, but the wind 
 and snow put out their torches, and the storm 
 expended its rage so unmercifully upon them, 
 that it would have extinguished the enthusiasm 
 of any less ardent admirers of our great poet. 
 
 TARLAND The villagers of Tarland and 
 
 their farming neighbours produced a brilliant 
 assembly. Dr. Robertson, Indego, Commis- 
 sioner to the Prince Consort, occupied the 
 chair. Suitable toasts, songs, and interesting 
 addresses were forthcoming on all hands. The 
 Chairman told several anecdotes of Burns 
 which he had received from the persons to 
 whom the poet had related them. The Rev. J. 
 Wattie, croupier, gave an address on " The 
 beauties of Burns' Poems ;" Mr. Grant, Tar- 
 land, sung " Scots wha hae," and " For a that, 
 and a' that ;" Mr. Troup, Pet, sang " Of a' the 
 airts the win' can blaw." " Auld Langsyne " 
 was the signal for opening the ball, which went 
 off' beautifully. 
 
 TARVES. — Here, about forty of the most 
 respectable farmers and gentlemen in the parish 
 sat down to an excellent dinner, prepared by 
 Mrs. Duguid, of the New Inn. The chair was 
 ably filled by Mr. Shepherd, Shethin— Mr. 
 Melyin acting as croupier. After dinner, the 
 Chairman, in briefest, though most appropriate 
 and glowing terms, gave the toast of the even- 
 ing, « The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns." 
 "The Man of Independent Mind" was then 
 given by the Croupier, as one of the most 
 striking characteristics of Burns — a toast the 
 effect of which was greatly enhanced by the 
 song, "A man's a man for a' that," which imme- 
 diately followed. "The night drave on wi' 
 sangs and clatter." Toasts and sentiments 
 
THORNHILL. 
 
 403 
 
 nailed wi' Burns were given and cordially re- 
 sponded to, and the spirit of the evening did 
 not for a moment flag. 
 
 THORNHILL.— Thornhill was not behind 
 in giving her hearty response to the world- 
 wide ovation to the memory of Scotland and 
 the world's immortal peasant bard. The pro- 
 cession formed at 12 o'clock, and followed the 
 route indicated in the programme. The arch- 
 es, and banners fluttering in the breeze, had a 
 very gay and tasteful appearance. On the re- 
 turn of the procession to the Cross, suitable 
 addresses to the crowd were delivered by Mr. 
 Thomas Kellock and Mr. John M'Caig. At 
 the dinner which was held in the Masons' Hall, 
 227 sat down, and another hundred tickets 
 could easily have been disposed of had there 
 been accommodation. The Chairman, Mr. 
 John Hastings of Livernool, was supported 
 right and left by Mr. Thomas Kellock, and Mr. 
 Leach of Kirkland ; and the croupier, Mr. Wil- 
 liam Brown, was supported on the right by 
 Mr. James Hastings, author of ' Hartley Hall,' 
 and on the loft by Mr. Jones of Manchester. 
 After dinner the usual loyal and patriotic toasts 
 having been proposed from the chair, 
 
 Tlie Chairman gave the toast of the evening 
 in a speech which was most enthusiastically 
 applauded throughout. He took a wide and 
 comprehensive view not only of the poet's 
 -writings, but of the incidents of his life. He 
 said — It was a pitiless stormy night that one a 
 hundred years ago, when he whose name all Bri- 
 tain is uttering this evening came on to the 
 stage of life. That night, so rough and harsh, 
 seemed to indicate the future career of the poet, 
 his struggles, his poverty, and his early death. 
 It is for us to atone if we can for that boister- 
 ous career. He was poor, because it was the 
 will of God he should be so, more than his own 
 shortcomings. Genius such as his seldom ac- 
 companies the plodding money-making mind, 
 and thus it is that genius, unless supported by 
 those for whom it toils and suffers, generally 
 lives and dies in misery. But Robert Burns 
 was born to manifest to the world how an Ayr- 
 shire lad could rise to a pinnacle of h,me, and 
 how mighty genius is not to be hid under a 
 bushel. Every Scotchman to-night would give 
 almost his right hand away if he could first 
 shake that one which wrote the lines to " High- 
 land Mary," or " Auld Langsyne." How the 
 very words of the last song remind us of part- 
 ing hours with old friends, hand-in-hand sing- 
 ing those memorable words. Their cordial 
 truth and honest meaning find an echo in every 
 faithful heart ; and in the moments of sadness 
 can we not turn to the " Twa Dogs," "Duncan 
 Gray," &c., and become merry ? Can we read 
 
 "Tam o' Shanter" without marvelling at its 
 author's power? can we read his great war- 
 ode, " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," with- 
 out feeling that as long as we have blood in 
 our veins to shed for our country, no foe shall 
 ever tread upon the soil, nor any banner but 
 that one of British liberty wave over it ? (Great 
 cheering.) Then we have the " Cottar's Sat- 
 urday Night," enough to make the worldling 
 pious. Its humble piety and fervent thoughts 
 tell faithfully how tenderly Robert Burns' heart 
 yearned towards the Giver of his intellect, and 
 how he longed to be a good example to his 
 fellow-creatures. He knew he should not be 
 appreciated fully in his own time, and he ap- 
 pealed to the future, which is now, for that 
 reward which was not granted to him then. 
 Let us with one voice, therefore, commemorate 
 his birth, his life, and his memory. He said 
 himself that perhaps his natal day would figure 
 in the almanacs with the Black Monday and 
 the Battle of Bothwell Bridge. That expecta- 
 tion was a low estimate. The world is up in 
 reverential praise of him. All the Black Mon- 
 days in the course of time, all the battles that 
 were ever fought, never caused such a general 
 day of festivity as the Centenary of the birth 
 of the Ayrshire boy upon that tempestuous 
 night. (Protracted applause.) The battles 
 brought weeping and pains, Robert Burns has 
 made us blithe and joyful. 
 
 " To make a happy fireside clime 
 To weans and wife, 
 That's the true pathos and sublime 
 Of human life." 
 
 (Cheers.) These were his tenets. Then from 
 Thornhill, gentlemen — where I daresay Robert 
 Burns often trod, for he knew my father well 
 and other residents in this town — let the tri- 
 bute we offer this night be one that conies 
 from the heart, one that we would give were 
 the poet himself here with his happy counte- 
 nance, his joyful eyes, his sparkling wit, and 
 generous soul. You know your duty, gentle- 
 men ; I will only pronounce the words that 
 will act like magic throughout the land to- 
 night — Robert Burns. (Great cheering.) 
 
 Song — " Eantin' Eovin' Eobin," by Mr.B. M'Carlie. 
 
 The Croupier then, after a few preliminary 
 words, said — It was while the poet was en- 
 gaged in the humble but honourable occupa- ' 
 tion of farmer on the cold and unkindly soil of 
 Mossgiel that his quick and penetrating eye 
 was captivated with the charms of Jean Ar- 
 mour, and from that time his mind was so filled 
 with her image that everything was full of po- 
 etry to him : 
 
 " He saw her in the dewy flower, 
 Sae lovely, sweet, and fair ; 
 
404 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 He heard her in the tuneful bird, 
 
 With music charm the air. (Cheers.) 
 
 The Croupier, after a few more remarks, pro- 
 ceeded to notice the intention of Burns to go 
 abroad. But, he said, from the success of his 
 published poems, Burns was induced to relin- 
 quish his Jamaica scheme, and push his fortune 
 in Edinburgh; There he was all but idolized, 
 and with J500 in his pocket came back to 
 Mauchline and obtained his Bonnie Jean in 
 lawful wedlock, and with her settled down at 
 EUisland as farmer and exciseman. She made 
 an excellent wife, attending to her duties of the 
 family and farm by day, and in the evening 
 criticising the productions of his muse, or sing- 
 ing to him some of his latest songs. (Cheers.) 
 EUisland, however, turned out a bad specula- 
 tion ; perhaps Burns was a bad farmer ; I fear 
 he was, when he says ; 
 
 " The rough buvr-thietle, spreading wide 
 Among the bearded here, 
 I turned the weeder-clips aside, 
 And spared the symbol dear." 
 
 Such sensibility will not do for the practical 
 farmer, and so we next find him giving up 
 farming altogether, and removing with his wife 
 and little ones to Dumfries ; and here it was 
 that her trials increased — his income but small, 
 and an appearance of respectability to keep up, 
 while his company was more and more sought 
 after. Still we find her the indulgent, uncom- 
 plaining wife. And now disease lays its ruth- 
 less hand upon the poet, and carries him off to 
 an untimely grave. She is left with five help- 
 less children, the oldest only ten years of age, 
 the youngest born on the morning of his fath- 
 er's funeral. Surely a severe and trying posi- 
 tion for her. And now we find that the God 
 of the widow and the fatherless did not desert 
 her, but raised her up friends for the poet's 
 sake on every side, so that she and her children 
 were placed above the fear of want. And here 
 I am reminded of his prayer for her at a former 
 period, in his epistle to Davie, to which I have 
 already referred. He says — . 
 
 " Thou Being all-seeing, 
 O bear my fervent prayer : 
 Still take her and make her 
 Thy most peculiar care.'' 
 
 And now that the name and fame of Burns 
 ■were on every person's lips, we find her still 
 the same modest unassuming woman, and that 
 rot for a year or two, but during her protract- 
 ed widowhood of 38 years, and at last dying at 
 Dumfries, beloved and respected by all who 
 knew her. So that I have no doubt but you 
 will agree with me in saying that she was in- 
 deed a model to her sex, whether as a wife, a 
 
 mother, a widow, or an humble Christian. In 
 conclusion, I am sure you will heartily join me 
 in pledging "The Memory of the Widow of 
 Robert Burns." (Great cheering.) 
 
 Song — " Of a' the airts the wind can blaw," by Mr. 
 J. Thomson. 
 
 Mr. R. Wallace gave " The Memory of Gil- 
 bert Burns." 
 
 Song — " A man's a man for a' that," by Mr. R. 
 Brown. 
 
 Mr. J. Leach gave, in appropriate terms, 
 « The Sons of Burns." 
 
 Song — " Does haughty Gaul invasion threat ?" by 
 Mr. J. Hastings. 
 
 Mr. J. Laidlaw gave the " Memory of High- 
 land Mary." 
 
 Song — " Highland Mary," by Mr. W. Muirhead. 
 
 Mr. John M'Caig gave the "Memory of 
 Wallace." 
 
 Song — " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled," by Mr. 
 J. Hastings. 
 
 Mr. James Hastings, (author of "Hartley 
 Hall,") proposed " The Memory of Sir Walter 
 Scott." 
 
 Song — " Jock o' Hazeldean," by Mr. M'Carlie. 
 
 Mr. Peter Brown proposed " The Memory of 
 the poet Robert Ferguson." After a few pre- 
 paratory sentences, lie said: — One hundred and 
 eight years ago, in the metropolis of Scotland, 
 did he first see the light. There, also, in the 
 twenty-fourth j'ear of his age, did he close his 
 eyes in death. But his poetry hath embalmed 
 his name, and declared that it shall last as long 
 as time is told. And from the inseparable con- 
 nection between Robert Ferguson and his suc- 
 cessor Robert Burns, their names shall descend 
 together through the dark vista of future ages. 
 Robert Burns was pleased to acknowledge him- 
 self an imitator of Robert Ferguson, and that 
 Ferguson's works were the key he applied to 
 open his own poetic cabinet. Mr. Brown then 
 spoke in high terms of Ferguson's works, and 
 lamented his early death before his poems were 
 matured. Mr. Brown then in feeling language 
 depicted the sad close of Ferguson's career in a 
 madhouse. His remains, he went on to say, 
 were interred in the Canongate churchyard, 
 where his grave remained quite undistinguished 
 until Robert Burns appeared in Edinburgh, 
 When he approached the grave of Ferguson it 
 was with a slow and measured step. He un- 
 covered his head, while his broad shoulders 
 heaved as the fountain of his heart was opened, 
 and down his cheeks in rapid succession ran the 
 tears of pity, and bedewed the grave of poor 
 Ferguson. He then knelt down and embraced 
 the cold clay that enshrouded the remains of 
 this illustrious poet. He afterwards obtained 
 permission from the magistrates to erect a 
 monument to the memory of Ferguson, which 
 he inscribed with this beautiful stanza: 
 
THORNHILL. 
 
 405 
 
 " No sculptnred marble here, nor pompous lay — 
 ' No storied urn, nor animated bast:' 
 This simple stone directs pale Scotia's way 
 To pour her sorrows o'er her Poet's dustl" 
 
 (Great cheering.) 
 
 Song — " My Nannie's awa," by Mr. Thomson. 
 
 Mr. R. Thomson gave " The Memory of 
 Thomas Campbell." 
 
 Song — " Ye Mariners of England," Mr. P. Brown. 
 
 Mr. H. Dalziel proposed " The Memory of 
 the Ettrick Shepherd." 
 
 Mr. Thomas Jones proposed " The Memory 
 of Lord Byron." 
 
 Song — " Loohnagar," by Mr. R. M'Carlie. 
 
 Mr. Joseph M'Caig gave " The Memory of 
 Robert Tannahill." 
 
 Song — " Gloomy Winter," by Mr. J. Thomson. 
 
 Mr. W. Marshall gave " The Memory of 
 Hugh Miller." 
 
 Song — " Land o' the Leal," by Mr. J. Hastings. 
 
 Mr. T. Kellock then gave " The Peasantry 
 of Scotland." 
 
 Song — " My Nannie O," by Mr. P. Brown. 
 
 Mr. D. Mathison proposed " The Plough" in 
 a few excellent observations. 
 
 Song — " John Andersoh My jo, John," by Mr. G-. 
 Thomson. 
 
 Mr. Robert M'Carlie, of the Inland Revenue, 
 gave " The Ladies." 
 
 Song — "Green grow the rashes, O," by Mr. E. 
 Brown. 
 
 Burns' famous cantata, "The Jolly Beggars," 
 was then given in character by Messrs. Kellock, 
 Hastings, M'Carlie, Brown, and Muirhead, in a 
 style which gave great entertainment to the 
 company, and finely diversified the proceedings 
 of the evening. 
 
 The Health of the Chairman was proposed 
 by Mr. D. M'Call ; that of the Croupier by Mr. 
 William Leach ; and that of Mr. Hastings by 
 Mr. John M'Caig ; and all the three toasts 
 were feelingly responded to by the gentlemen 
 to whom they referred. Thus closed the great 
 centenary festival at Thornhill. 
 
 We may state that out of doors a barrel of 
 ale was distributed at the Cross by Mr. William 
 M'Caig, brewer, and boxes of oranges each, 
 amongst the children, by Messrs. J. H. Kellock 
 and William Davidson, merchants. 
 
 Dinner in Qubensberby Arms Hotel 
 
 The number present was seventy. Dr. Russell 
 of Breckonside in the chair. Messrs. Hunter, 
 Morton Mill, and Hewitson, Auchinbenzie, 
 ofiiciated as croupiers. In proposing the me- 
 mory of Robert Burns, the Chairman spoke as 
 follows : — 
 
 Gentlemen, — It is just one hundred years 
 this day since Robert Burns was ushered into a 
 world in which was prepared for him much of 
 enjoyment and much of suffering. We have met 
 
 here in order to show our respect for the me- 
 mory of this extraordinary man ; and meetings, 
 with the same object in view, have already as- 
 sembled, or will yet assemble this evening, not 
 only in every town of Scotland, but in every 
 clime on the surface of the globe where Scot- 
 land's sons do congregate. But our meeting 
 here in this small town of Thornhill is of very 
 humble sort if compared with some of those 
 other splendid assemblages, where the first men 
 of the land will sit side by side, and the most 
 eloquent amongst eloquent men will portray in 
 " tones that breathe and words that burn " the 
 joys and the sorrows of a man whose name will 
 ever be his country's pride. But we will yield to 
 none of them in our admiration of native genius 
 and in our love for our native land. I will not 
 presume to give an estimate of the character and 
 writings of Robert Burns, or of the influence 
 of these upon his countrymen. On these points 
 judgment has already been pronounced long 
 ago by the most competent authorities. He 
 was gifted by nature with an intellect of the 
 very highest order. If not the greatest, his 
 was certainly the brightest genius that ever 
 rose above the horizon of this, or perhaps of any 
 other country. But, alas ! his sun went down 
 at noonday. And it was not till after his rays 
 were quenched in irrevocable night, that his 
 country began to perceive that the light he had 
 shed upon them was the rarest gift of heaven. 
 They discovered, when too late, that the stream 
 they had drunk of had flowed from a fountain 
 unsealed to mankind only once in many gene- 
 rations. Had his life been prolonged, with 
 judgment matured, and the lessons of experience 
 deeply impressed on his mind, what might he 
 not have accomplished for his country and for 
 his kind? One characteristic of Robert Burns 
 next to his great genius, commands our admi- 
 ration — his nationality or patriotism, his ardent 
 love of his fatherland, its language, its customs, 
 and its traditions. This .sentiment was with 
 him quite a passion, and strongly marks many 
 of his best productions. Gentlemen, — It is 
 usual to drink to the memory of the departed 
 in solemn silence. But I presume to think that 
 the rule does not apply in this case. We are met 
 on the anniversary, not of the death but of the 
 birth of Robert Burns — to rejoice that such a 
 man was born in our country. I therefore call 
 on you to drink the toast with every demon- 
 stration of joy. (Drunk with enthusiastic ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 Many other able speeches were delivered, 
 and many of the poet's songs were sung with 
 much spirit; and after spending a most delight- 
 ful evening, the company separated at ten 
 o'clock (they had met at four), after singing 
 " Auld Langsyne," standing -yrith hands joined. 
 
406 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 THURSO The Procession.— The day 
 
 dawned inauspiciously, and as the afternoon ap- 
 proached, the sky became still more threatening. 
 Notwithstanding this, crowds gathered in the 
 streets for the purpose of witnessing the pro- 
 ceedings, and pipers, followed by great numbers 
 of the younger generation, attracted more by 
 the novelty of the pipers than by their music, 
 perambulated the town in different directions, 
 and proceeded to Oldfleld and Pennyland. 
 At half-past twelve o'clock the Freemasons, 
 marching to their favourite air, proceeded from 
 the Caledoiiian Hotel, in beautiful order, adorned 
 with aprons, and carrying in their hands their 
 insignia, headed by the sword and standard- 
 bearers, to the front of M'Donald's Square. 
 The tailors, as being next in order of procession, 
 proceeded from Swanson's Coffee-house, headed 
 by several pipers. The shoemakers then fol- 
 lowed, carrying a very beautiful flag, surmounted 
 with a gilded crown, and carrying in their hands 
 sticks, the point being shaped like that of a 
 spear. The Thurso Musical Club now marched 
 down to the Parish School, with their banner 
 flying, to play the operative masons up to the 
 starting point. The Club wore Balmoral bon- 
 nets, adorned with harps, while their flag also 
 represented the same on a larger scale, along 
 with other instruments peculiar to them. 
 Having arrived at the School, they wheeled 
 round and played back again, followed by the 
 operative masons. Before marching a very 
 severe shower of rain came' on, drenching them 
 all to the skin. Nothing daunted, however, the 
 trades commenced marching, with pipes, drums, 
 and flutes, accompanied by the John O'Groat 
 Musical Club, who kindly came up from Wick 
 for the occasion. 
 
 Exactly at one o'clock the various trades 
 prepared to start from the place of rendezvous, 
 " M'Donald's Square." At the time of starting, 
 as well as during the whole time of the proces- 
 sion, the rain poured down in torrents, and the 
 sudden gusts of wind rendered it no easy mat- 
 ter to keep their flags floating in the breeze. 
 The way in which the different trades were 
 marshalled did honour to the committee on 
 whom this onerous duty devolved. Foremost 
 amongst these we observed Mr. Smith, Penny- 
 land, Mr. Stephen, Post-master, and Mr. 
 Brims, Fiscal ; the other gentlemen, who, as 
 members of the Committee, had the onus of the 
 preparations, being Messrs. J. Craig, J. Hay, 
 W. Mackay, A. Duncan, J. Henderson, A, Mac- 
 lean, and \V. Shearer. During the procession, 
 the Serjeant and constables recently appointed, 
 were also very serviceable in clearing the way, 
 and looked exceedingly well in their new uni- 
 forms. Some rivalry had existed amongst the 
 trades for the honour of taking the lead, but 
 
 this was ultimately decided by lot, and the ex- 
 act order of procession was as follows: — Band 
 of pipers. Freemasons, band of pipers, tailors, 
 John O'Groat Musical Band, shoemakers, 
 Thurso Flute Band, masons, band of pipers, 
 joiners. Each trade had an appropriate banner 
 displaying pictorial illustrations of Burns' works, 
 or bearing mottoes drawn either from the same 
 source or from the proverbs of the country. 
 The procession, thus formed, first marched out 
 as far as Pennyland on . the Scrabster Koadj 
 when they returned, and for some time peram- 
 bulated tlie town. The music was varied and 
 excellent, and would not have disgraced a town 
 with infinitely higher pretensions than the 
 Thurso people have the modesty to lay claim to. 
 In spite of the fulminations from the pulpit, 
 the vast majority of the people had made up 
 their minds to honour our national bard with a 
 holiday, and a holiday they determined to have, 
 come what might. They seemed to look upon 
 the processionists witli no little pride, and they 
 had good reason for so doing, for their counte- 
 nances, beaming with health, their robust forms, 
 and imposing array, tended to inspire that love 
 which Scotchmen proverbially entertain for their 
 country and their countrymen. 
 
 The Dinner. — The dinner pa ty consisted 
 of about forty gentlemen belonging to the town 
 and neighbourhood. They assembled in the 
 hall of Bain's Hotel, where, under the presidency 
 of D. Smith, Esq., Pennyland, and with Mr. 
 Dunbar of Brawl Castle as croupier, they sat 
 down at five o'clock to a dinner in every respect 
 worthy of the reputation of the house and its 
 cuisine, a prominent dish on the table being a 
 real Scotch haggis. Besides a number of gen- 
 tlemen resident in Thurso, the party included 
 Mr. Walker, Barrogill, Mr. J. Purves, jun., Mr. 
 W. Purves, Lieut. Smith, Mr. M'Kidd, Mr. 
 Mackay, and others, and, but for unavoidable 
 circumstances, their number would have been 
 considerably augmented by the attendance of 
 other gentlemen from different parts of the 
 county. 
 
 On the removal of the cloth, the usual loyal 
 and patriotic toasts were very happily proposed 
 by the Chairman, and drunk with due honours. 
 
 The health of the Lord-Lieutenant of the 
 county followed. In pi-oposing the toast, the 
 Chairman referred to his Lordship as a noble- 
 man of whom Caithness, as well as his own 
 class, might well be proud. But for his having 
 to leave the county, he would have honoured 
 them that night with his presence, and have 
 occupied the chair. By the Chairman and 
 Croupier alternately the toasts of the health of 
 County and Burgh Members, Sir George Sin- 
 clair, Bart., J. G. T. Sinclair, &e., were after- 
 wards given, the sentiments expressed by the 
 
THURSO. 
 
 407 
 
 gentlemen in connection witli each being heartily 
 responded to by the company. 
 
 The Chairman then gave the toast of the 
 evening — " Burns, Scotia's Immortal Bard." 
 In doing so he said, he whom they were met to 
 honour that night had left behind him, as an 
 inspired poet and a patriot, a name which would 
 never die. Keeping in view not what faults he 
 might have had, but the noble parts of the man, 
 which reflected honour not alone upon himself, 
 but all who could claim him as a countryman, 
 they had met there to keep the recollection of 
 him fresh in their memories, and he rejoiced to 
 see the enthusiasm with which the toast was 
 received. In organising this demonstration for 
 that purpose they had, neither directly nor in- 
 directly, interfered with any one, but were 
 actuated simply by a desire to follow the worthy 
 example of their countrymen both at home and 
 abroad. He was sorry, however, that, notwith- 
 standing this, they had b#en made the subject 
 of much misrepresentation and even declama- 
 tion from the pulpit, and one gentleman had, 
 he understood, in the course of a severe lecture 
 for their benefit, gone the length of comparing 
 their demonstration to the worship of the devil, 
 or saying something to the same effect. He 
 would abstain from noticing such conduct; it 
 was beneath him to do so ; and they sliould 
 treat it with the silent contempt it deserved. 
 They would look to the bright side of the pic- 
 ture, and having, he hoped, not less intelligence 
 than those who decried their proceedings, ex- 
 press in word and deed their admiration of the 
 bright genius and the many virtues of the 
 world-renowned Robert Burns. 
 
 The toast was responded to by the company 
 with indescribable enthusiasm. 
 
 The Chairman subsequently gave " Tlie Me- 
 mory of Robert Burns," which was drunk in 
 solemn and impressive silence. Another toast 
 drunk in solemn silence was " The Memory of 
 Hugh Miller," proposed by Mr. Craig. 
 ■ The Croupier gave " The Bards of Scotland." 
 In connection with the toast, he read some im- 
 promptu verses by Mr. James T. Calder, whose 
 health was drunk, and upon whom high en- 
 comiums were passed as a countryman eminent 
 for his taste and talent. 
 
 The clerical, medical, and legal professions 
 were subsequently recognised, the Chairman 
 and Croupier, with other gentlemen, taking oc- 
 casion in the course of their remarks to con- 
 demn the arrogant spirit displayed by a minority 
 of the clergy, in exercising their much-abused 
 power to banish from society all taste for those 
 innocent pleasures and amusements which were 
 the salt of life, and to substitute for it a dark, 
 dead, unhappy, and unhealthy existence. 
 
 A well-selected list of toasts was afterwards 
 
 gone through, all the speakers, in language more 
 or less eloquent, paying tributes to the immor- 
 tal memory of the poet. 
 
 As the evening advanced, local and personal 
 toasts alternated, and with these, and witli 
 some of Burns' best songs, well sung by differ- 
 ent gentlemen in the company, the good-fellow- 
 ship and hilarity which were the distinguishing 
 characteristics of the meeting were preserved 
 until the approach of the small hours, when the 
 proceedings were fitly concluded with the song 
 of " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 The Soiree. — It was expected that James 
 Sinclair, Esq. of Forss, would preside at the 
 soiree, but, as the weather continued boisterous, 
 and as that gentleman has been somewhat in- 
 disposed of late, he did not find it possible to be 
 present. Mr. Stephen, post-master, read an 
 apology from Mr. Sinclair, and was thereafter 
 voted into the chair. 
 
 In the decoration of the hall for the occasion 
 with banners, evergreens, &c., much taste and 
 skill were displayed. The chair was fancifully 
 embowered in a canopy formed of fir twigs and 
 moss, with a recess immediately above" the chair, 
 in which was placed a small but handsome por- 
 trait of the immortal poet. Opposite the chair 
 a large thistle was displayed, surrounded with a 
 double circle of evergreens, having on one side 
 a picture of " Tam o' Shanter," and on the 
 other " The Twa Dogs." The monotony of the 
 walls was in other parts relieved by wreaths 
 and tortillons appropriately disposed. 
 
 The stewards then brought in an abundant 
 supply of tea, cake, &c., and, a blessing having 
 been asked by Mr. Taylor, teacher, Forss, the 
 audience proceeded to enjoy the good things 
 provided, the band playing the while several 
 excellent airs. The national anthem having 
 then been performed, the Chairman briefly ad- 
 dressed the assembled party. In the course of 
 his remarks he said — It may be well for us to 
 inquire what has brought us here to-night. To 
 do honour to the memory of a fellow-country- 
 man, born a hundred years ago, and who has 
 since passed to the tomb. Not because there 
 were no other poets in Scotland do we give so 
 high a place to Burns. We have reason to be 
 proud of our country, for it has produced many 
 eminent men in every department of science 
 and literature. Not because Burns was a Scot- 
 tish bard, but because he was the Bard of Scot- 
 land, do we ever wish to honour his memory. 
 This it is that endeai's Burns to every Scottish 
 breast in every counti'y and under every clime. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Several of Burns' songs having been sung 
 with great glee, Mr. Taylor recited with much 
 taste an original ode. The seats and tables 
 were then so arranged as to admit of a prome- 
 
408 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 nade, and, that concluded, the company re- 
 ceived a service of fruit. Several excellent 
 songs, both comic and sentimental, and two 
 comic recitations, followed, and for the remain- 
 der of the evening the entertainment was varied 
 by promenades, by songs from Mr. Ross and 
 others, and by the excellent music of the band 
 and pipers present. Votes of thanks to Mr. 
 Taylor, to the Chairman, and to others, con- 
 cluded the proceedings, and at midnight all 
 parted highly satisfied therewith. 
 
 TILLICOULTRY. — On the evening of 
 Tuesday the 25th January, a grand dinner took 
 place in Cargill's Hotel, Tillicoultry. Upwards 
 of forty gentlemen were present. J. Macturk, 
 Esq., acted as chairman, and Robert Walker, 
 Esq., officiated as croupier. After doing justice 
 to a sumptuous dinner, the loyal toasts were 
 given by the chairman and croupier, and drunk 
 with loud applause, after which Mr. M'Call 
 sung " The Red, White, and Blue." 
 
 Song — " There was a lad was born in Kyle," by Mr. 
 Denham. 
 
 The Chairman then proposed " The Immor- 
 tal Memory of Robert Burns." In doing so he 
 said, — This, gentlemen, is no ordinary occasion 
 on which we have met. - Ours is no trivial, no 
 merely local, no party object. For were it so, 
 why is it that at this moment, throughout the 
 length and breadth of our land — in the obscure 
 hamlet as well as in the wealthy and populous 
 city — so many enthusiastic groups are gathered 
 by hundreds and by thousands for the same 
 purpose with ourselves? — and not merely in 
 Scotland, or in England, or ' in Ireland, but 
 wherever throughout the world a leal-hearted 
 Scotchman, or the descendant of a Scotchman, 
 is found. (Cheers.) Our kinsmen of the 
 United States and our brethren of Canada, in 
 the lofty halls of their great cities — the scat- 
 tered Backwoods-men of America, round the 
 blazing hearth of some log-cabin in the wilder- 
 ness — the gold-miners of California and Aus- 
 tralia, in their rude huts near the river's brink 
 — our soldiers, round their camp-fires in the 
 jungles of India — are met, like ourselves, to do 
 honour to the great poet of our native land. 
 The peer has left his palace and the peasant his 
 cottage ; the merchant his ledger and the man 
 of letters his books ; all distinctions of wealth 
 and rank for the season set aside, and are at 
 this moment generously vieing with each other 
 which shall twine the brightest laurels for the 
 wreath of Robert Burns. (Applause.) And 
 most fitting it is that it should be so. Poets 
 and poetry have been held in high estimation 
 in all ages of the world and in all stages of 
 society. The art is one of the earliest to take 
 its rise and the latest to decay. If we are thus 
 
 to believe, as I do, that poets in general are tlie 
 great sweeteners of life and refiners of society, 
 with justice may we exclaim — " Blessings be 
 with them and eternal praise!" But how 
 much more nearly does it concern us that we 
 should render all due homage to the name of 
 him who is emphatically our own — the poet of 
 Scotland — the poet of our hearths and homes 
 — the poet whose words more than any one's 
 else have electrified our hearts, and whose name 
 is " familiar in our mouths as household words." 
 Most fitting it is, that Scotland as a nation 
 should meet this day to rejoice over the birth 
 of one who, of all her long array of illustrious 
 heroes, statesmen, philosophers, and poets, is 
 her greatest ornament and glory ; that the 
 noble and the eloquent should thrill admiring 
 multitudes with his story like " the electric 
 shock of a nation's gratitude." (Cheers.) By 
 his intense nationality and ardent patriotism, 
 Burns has done njore than any other man to 
 endear his native land to the heart of the Scot- 
 tish exile, and to awaken within him the ten- 
 derest recollections of the home and the friends 
 of his youth. As in the tale of the Forty 
 Thieves, " Open, Sesame" were the magic 
 words that at once unlocked the cave with the 
 golden treasure, so a quotation from Burns is 
 a passport to a Scotchman's heart. The men- 
 tion of his name is like an acknowledged sign 
 of free-masonry with him all over the world. 
 He was indeed a mighty musician who could 
 strike at pleasure every chord of that infinitely 
 varied and grandest of all instruments, the hu- 
 man heart ; and his was the skill not of deep 
 study and patient investigation, but of the true 
 home-born intuitions of genius. He imbued 
 everything he touched with some engrossing 
 human emotion, and he has touched nothing 
 which he has not adorned. Does he describe 
 the homely manners of the Scottish peasantry, 
 as in " Hallowe'en" and the " Cottar's Saturday 
 Night" — and "rustic life and poverty grow' 
 beautiful beneath his touch." Boes he wish to 
 show us the true inspiration of genius ? — and 
 he extracts the finest poetry — true pathos, hu- 
 mour, and even sublimity, from the most un- 
 likely' subjects — a field mouse and a mountain 
 daisy. He balances himself on the hind-lega 
 of his elbow chair, and he turns off the most 
 exquisite songs in the world. He lies for 
 hours in a clear frosty night among straw in 
 the farm-yard of Ellisland gazing intently on 
 the evening star, — and next morning he pro- 
 duces that deepest, saddest utterance ever 
 wrung from the human heart — his address to 
 " Mary in Heaven." We see him riding at full 
 gallop along the bleak moors of Galloway, 
 amidst, the driving storm — and he fires the 
 soul with patriotism and glory in " Scots wha 
 
TILLICOULTRY. 
 
 409 
 
 hae.'' We see him striding like a madman for 
 three successive hours along the banks of the 
 Nith, and before the day has closed he has al- 
 ready composed that ^masterpiece of genius — 
 the inimitable " Tam o' Shanter." (Great ap- 
 plause.) The width of his sympathies is un- 
 bounded. It extends over all nature — and 
 even beyond it. He saves a mouse from the 
 "murdering pattle" of his ploughboy, and he 
 makes it immortal. He sees a wounded hare 
 limp by him, and he bursts forth into stanzas 
 of noble indignation at the inhumanity of man. 
 Does he describe a winter storm ? He cannot 
 but think of 
 
 " the ourie cattle, 
 Or silly sheep, wha bide this brattle 
 
 0' winter war. 
 And thro' the drift, deep-lairing, sprattle 
 
 Beneath a scaur. 
 
 " Ilk happing bird, wee, Inlpleas thing, 
 . That in the merry month o' spring. 
 Delighted me to hear thee sing. 
 
 What comes o' thee ? 
 Whare wilt thou cower thy chittering wing, 
 And close thy e'e ? " 
 
 Even in his inimitable " Address to the Dei)," 
 he cannot help expressing sympathy for his fate 
 and a hope for his salvation :■ — 
 
 " But fare ye weel, Auld Nickie-ben I 
 Oh, wad ye tak a thocht and men' I 
 Ye aiblins might — I dinna ken — 
 
 Still hae a stake ; 
 I'm wae to think upon yon den. 
 
 Even for your sake ! " 
 
 (Laughter.) It is this constant appeal to the 
 deepest human passion that is the true secret 
 of his power and the enduring cause of his 
 popularity : — so true is it that " one touch of 
 nature makes the whole world kin." And it 
 is this which, in a great measure, made the 
 publication of the poetry of Burns date a new 
 era in the history of the literature of our coun- 
 try. By his original songs, and by his improve- 
 ments upon those which he found, the work of 
 nameless bards — many of them floating frag- 
 mentary and unwritten among the peasantry of 
 Scotland — he has left us such a body of na- 
 tional songs as no other country can boast of. 
 And were it for nothing else than this. Burns 
 must ever hold a distinguished place as the ben- 
 efactor of his species, and one of the greatest 
 though unacknowledged legislators of lus coun- 
 try. (Applause.) 
 
 But Burns was no mere poet — no mere man 
 of imagination with the other faculties weak or 
 undeveloped. In his poetry everywhere, in- 
 deed, he "impresses the stamp of his under- 
 standing upon the offspring of his fancy ;" but 
 his prose compositions still more strikingly de- 
 monstrate that the powers of his understanding 
 
 were perhaps even greater than those of his 
 imagination, and that there was no walk of lit- 
 erature in which he was not fitted to excel. 
 The extraordinary fascination of his conversa- 
 tion proved how well he could have wielded 
 the thunder of eloquence and commanded the 
 applause of listening senates. His great pow- 
 ers, indeed, if subjected to a different disci- 
 pline and placed in other circumstances, might 
 have enlarged the boundaries of human know- 
 ledge, might have led armies to victory or em- 
 pires to glory. (Applause.) 
 
 " Burns was a poor man by birth, and an 
 exciseman by necessity ; but," he has himself 
 finely said, " the sterling of his honest worth 
 poverty could not debase, and his independent 
 British spirit oppression might bend, but could 
 not subdue." (Cheers.) Whilst we remember 
 with sorrow that there are dark spots on his 
 fame, we remember with pride that the splen- 
 dour of his fame, like the lustre of the sun, 
 will bear many spots. Whilst we regard his 
 virtues with admiration and love, let us, in 
 charity, throw the veil of oblivion over his 
 frailties, and remember his poverty and ne- 
 glect, his sufferings and untimely tomb. And 
 I would point to his own confession on his 
 Epitaph : — 
 
 " The poor inhabitant below, 
 Was quick to learn, and wise to know, 
 And keenly felt the friendly glow 
 
 And softer flame ; 
 But thoughtless follies laid him low, 
 
 And stained his name I " 
 
 Let him who would still detract from the mem^ 
 ory of fallen greatness reflect with humility on 
 his own errors, and learn to exercise that Chris- 
 tian charity which he may himself so largely 
 require. (Hear, hear.) " The Immortal Mem- 
 ory of Burns ! " (Cheers.) 
 
 Song — " Highland Mary," by Mr. Anderson. 
 
 The next toast given was the " Poets and 
 Poetry of Scotland," by Mr. J. GilfiUan. 
 
 Song—" The Garb of old Gaul," by Mr. T. 
 Hall, and a recitation by Mr. Thomas Graham. 
 Mr. Vicars gave "WiUie brewed a peck o' 
 Maut." 
 
 Mr. Keyden proposed the "Scottish Pea- 
 santry." 
 
 "A Man's a Man for a' that," was then sung 
 by Mr. J. Ure, and " Duncan Gray " by Mr. 
 R. Monteath, after which Mr. A. Walker rose 
 and proposed "The Health of the Scotch 
 Lasses." 
 
 " Green grow the Rashes, O," was then sung 
 by Mr. Ure, and a recitation given by Mr. 
 Graham, after which Mr. Hall sung very finely, 
 " Of a' the airts the wind can blaw." 
 
 Mr. D. Anderson proposed "The Land of 
 Burns." 
 
410 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY, 
 
 Song — "Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon," by 
 Mr. Uie. 
 
 Mr. Vicars proposed " The Press." 
 
 Song — " My Nannie's awa," by Mr. Uie. 
 
 Mr. J. GrilfiUan proposed the "Cause of 
 Education." 
 
 The next toast proposed was "Scotland," 
 from the Chairman, who made a few neat re- 
 marks, after whicli " Scotland yet " was sung 
 by Mr. Denham. 
 
 Mr. P. Dow then proposed the " Town and 
 Trade of Tillicoultry," coupled with the health 
 of Mr. J. RoUand, who replied. Song — " Of 
 a' the airts the wind can blaw," by Mr. Hall, 
 and "My Nannie O," by Mr. Mills, after which 
 "The Agriculture of the District" was pro- 
 posed by Mr. Robert Graham, in a few neat 
 and appropriate remarks, which was drunk, 
 and replied to by Mr. J. Ritchie. " Corn 
 Riggs," by Mr. Denham, was then sung. Mr. 
 Vicars proposed the Health of the worthy 
 Chairman; Mr. Gilflllan proposed the Health 
 of the Croupier, both of which were responded 
 to and <Jrunk with great glee. Messrs. Mills 
 and Monteath afterwards sung some other 
 songs. Mr. R. Graham, sen., and Mr. Thomas 
 Graham gave each a recitation, after which the 
 company joined in singing " Auld Langsyne," 
 and parted highly gratified with the evening's 
 enjoyment. 
 
 Great credit is certainly due to Mr. Cargill for 
 the manner in which he got up the dinner. 
 The large room was finely decorated with 
 evergreens, and the dinner given in first-rate 
 style. 
 
 The inhabitants, to the number of about 
 three thousand, paraded the principal streets 
 in the evening, carrying various coloured 
 torches, and accompanied by three bands and 
 a number of pipers. After the procession, 
 about seven hundred adjourned to the Hall 
 and Independent Chapel, (two separate build- 
 ings, there not being a room in the town large 
 enough,) where fruit soirees and concerts vi'ere 
 held. Mr. James Snowdowne filled the chair 
 in the Chapel, and Mr. Peter Smeaton in the 
 Hall. After tea, the meeting in the Chapel 
 was addressed by the Chairman, and after- 
 wards by "the Rev. Mr. Craigie, Tillicoultry. 
 The remainder of the evening was enlivened 
 by several gentlemen reading the poems and 
 singing the songs of the bard. 
 
 TOMNAVOULIN. — Mr. Grant, school- 
 master here, gave a lecture on Burns' life and 
 poetry to a large audience. The style of lec- 
 ture was admirable ; and at the close Mr. 
 Grant interspersed some admirable advice to 
 young men. 
 
 TONGLAND. — Burns' centenary was cele- 
 brated in this parish by a concert and ball. 
 The concert was given by a party of amateurs 
 within the School-room. Mr. James Murray, 
 author of " The Maid of Galloway," in a neat 
 and eloquent address, passed a high eulogium 
 on the life and genius of the Poet. Mr. Murray 
 resumed his seat amidst great applause. Mr. 
 Andrew Alexander then sung "There was a 
 Lad was born in Kyle." M. M'Girvan then 
 sung, "I gaed a waefu' gate 3'estreen." Mr. 
 Urquhart, " Highland Mary," " Ye Banks and 
 Braes," as a duet, and " Ca the Ewes to the 
 Knowes," by the ladies. A great many more 
 of Burns' choice songs were sung during the 
 evening with great taste and feeling, which 
 called forth the plaudits of all present. The 
 company was honoured with the presence of 
 one of the very few now alive who attended 
 the mortal remains of our immortal Bard to 
 their last resting-place in St. Michael's Church- 
 yard, Dumfries. After the concert was con- 
 cluded, a well-attended ball was held in Ring- 
 ford, which was kept up to an advanced hour 
 in the morning, when all departed, well satis- 
 fied with their night's entertainment. 
 
 TRANENT.— The centenary of Scotland's 
 bard was celebrated here in a most enthusiastic 
 and patriotic style. All classes of the commu- 
 nity joined heart and hand in the celebi-ation. 
 In Messi-s. Black and Nimmo's inns large and 
 respectable companies sat down to excellent 
 dinners, and the evening was enlivened by 
 speeches, songs, and toasts most appropriate to 
 the occasion. The great toast of the evening 
 — " The Immortal Memory of Burns," was re- 
 ceived with heartfelt rapture. The Mechanics' 
 Society also had a dinner in their own hall ; 
 and the tradesmen of the town held a ball in 
 the evening in honour of the great occasion. 
 It may be mentioned that Mrs. Begg and her 
 daughters, sister and nieces of the great poet, 
 resided for some years in Tranent. 
 
 TROON. — The large, railway shed was 
 splendidly decorated with flags, flowers, ever- 
 greens, pictures, landscapes, and portraits ; 
 amongst the last were to be seen those of 
 Burns, and the late Duke of Portland. At 
 seven o'clock, between eighty and ninety ladies 
 and gentlemen sat down to supper. The 
 supper was provided by Messrs. White and 
 Jones, and was tastefully arranged and well 
 served up. The liquors were supplied by 
 Messrs. Shields & Finlay, and were pronounced 
 to be excellent. A band was in attendance, 
 who sang some of the most heart-stirring and 
 sweetest songs of the Ayrshire Poet in their 
 best stylo. John Gairdner, Esq., Comptroller 
 
TURRIFF— WALKERBURN. 
 
 411 
 
 of Customs, ably presided, and Andrew Cowan 
 Esq., coal-agent, acted as croupier. The day 
 was kept as a holiday, and flags were hoisted 
 at the harbour, and on several places in the 
 town ; and a number of parties met in the 
 evening in private houses. 
 
 TURRIFF. — By twelve noon all the places 
 of business here were closed for the day, and 
 things appeared silent and sombre until two 
 P.M. At that hour a gay and goodly company 
 assembled on the Square, consisting of the 
 united trades of Turriff, ranged under their 
 appropriate banners, and bearing each some 
 insignia of their calling. Headed by the in- 
 strumental band, mounted on an omnibus, and 
 drawn by a pair of spirited chargers, they per- 
 ambulated the several streets of the burgh. 
 It is calculated that nearly two hundred joined 
 in this trades' walk. Tli» band kindly gave 
 their services gratuitously, as did also Mr. 
 Taylor the use of his omnibus and horses. 
 
 A social tea-meeting was held in the Hall in 
 theevening,underthemanagementof theMutual 
 Improvement Association, and here, too, every- 
 thing was successful. Not fewer than 370 or 
 380 are believed to have been present, and to 
 this number the stewardesses readily supplied 
 refreshments, although only three hundred were 
 expected. Bailie Hutcheon and Mr. Storrar 
 divided the labours of the chairmanship, and 
 delivered excellent addresses upon " The by- 
 gone Century," and "Burns as a Member of 
 Society," respectively. Besides these, the 
 meeting was entertained by addresses from 
 Mr. Wallace on " Burns parting with Mary 
 Campbell;" Mr. Kerr on "Burns a Satirist;" 
 Mr. M'Andrew on " Burns an elevator of the 
 Working-Classes;" Mr. Duncan on "Burns as 
 a Writer of Love Poetry." A number of 
 pieces from the works of the immortal bard 
 were recited by Messrs. Oliphant, Smith, Sime, 
 Pirie, Barclay, and Webster, all of whom 
 reflected great credit on themselves and the 
 association with which they are connected. 
 The Misses and Mr. Shand, from Bogton, sang 
 a number of Burns' sweetest songs, in a style 
 which charmed all, and would have enchanted 
 the Bard of Ayr could he have heard the sweet 
 melody. The Turriff Instrumental Band was 
 also in attendance, and discoursed music in 
 their usual able manner. 
 
 UPHALL The Burns Centenary was 
 
 celebrated here by a dinner, held in Mr. David 
 Glen's. A large company assembled, notwith- 
 standing that many had engaged themselves to 
 
 parties in Bathgate and Edinburgh. The toast 
 of the evening, after an appropriate address 
 from the Chairman — Captain Shairp — was re- 
 ceived with the greatest enthusiasm. Mr. Lind 
 also handsomely entertained the men in his 
 employment with a supper. Binny Craig was 
 lighted up with a splendid bonfire. 
 
 WALKERBURN.— The centenary has been 
 observed here with a zeal and spirit that we 
 believe will not have been eclipsed by any de- 
 monstrations in any part of Scotland. 
 
 Supper. — All the adult males in the place 
 had a supper together in the evening, when a 
 plentiful supply of " the great chieftains o' the 
 pudding race" vanished in a style that fully 
 sustained the high reputation Walkerburn has 
 acquired for its appetite-creating powers. 
 
 Mr. David Thomson occupied the chair, 
 and in a few pointed remarks, opened the pro- 
 ceedings. "Auld Langsyne" was then sung 
 by the audience, after which the gentlemen wi' 
 the sonsie faces were introduced to the com- 
 pany by Mr. Robert Melrose, who recited 
 Burns' address to the haggis in a style which 
 he and no other can do. After supper, the 
 Chairman gave as a toast " The Memory of 
 Burns," which was drunk in silence. Mr. 
 George Howden gave " Prosperity to Scot- 
 land," in a speech of remarkable power and 
 conciseness. The Chairman gave " The Lasses 
 o' Walkerburn," paying a high eulogium to them 
 for the taste and spirit they had displayed in 
 getting up their demonstration in honour of 
 our greatest bard. Songs and readings exclu- 
 sively Burns' were given alternately during the 
 evening ; — the vocal part being contributed by 
 Messrs. Christison, Tait, Morris, and Cameron ; 
 while the readings were given by Messrs. G. 
 Tait, A. Willison, Robert Melrose, and John 
 Melrose. The most remarkable fact connected 
 with the affair, however, was, that we had no 
 less than four poets forward with original pro- 
 ductions on this occasion. They were W. Dow, 
 Robert Melrose, Peter Morton, and David 
 Thomson. The excitement created by these 
 and the other amusements rendered the meet- 
 ing an extremely happy one, and prolonged it 
 till an advanced hour in the morning. 
 
 A demonstration got up by the lasses of 
 Walkerburn came off in the evening, when be- 
 tween thirty and forty sat down to an excel- 
 lent supper. We cannot give particulars, but 
 we understand they had a very happy meeting. 
 A number of Burns' songs were sung, and 
 some toasts proposed, among which was " The 
 Memory of Burns," given from the chair. An 
 
412 
 
 THE' BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 original song composed for the ladies by Peter 
 Morton, elicited great applause. The meeting 
 lasted till an early hour in the morning ; and 
 throughout was conducted in a style that re- 
 flected the highest credit on the management. 
 
 WANLOCKHEAD.— The miners met and 
 formed a procession, with flags flying, and 
 carrying a plough ; they walked around the 
 village, with an instrumental band playing ap- 
 propriate music. At six o'clock 170 met toge- 
 ther to celebrate the centenary of Burns, under 
 the presidency of Mr. Thomas B. Stewart, 
 engineer, who, after having given the usual loyal 
 toasts, and the Army and Navy, coupled with the 
 health of Lord Clyde, with all the honours, gave 
 the toast of the evening, "The Immortal Memory 
 of Burns." During the course of his speech the 
 Chairman considered Burns as a Christian, as a 
 man, as a poet, and as a song writer. As a 
 poet. Professor Wilson was quoted when he 
 says that Burns' poetry " has the greatest of all 
 merits — life-pervading and life- breathing truth." 
 When he came to speak of Burns as a song 
 writer he dwelt upon the beauty and force of 
 many of his songs, and classed among the first 
 " A man's a man for a' that ;" also observing that 
 to Scotsmen abroad the songs of Burns were the 
 still, not small, but sweet voices which whispered 
 to them across the waters that Scotland still stands 
 firm, though ruggedly pre-eminent, the Land of 
 Liberty, the home of the brave and the free. 
 The Chairman concluded by asking the com- 
 pany to drink with him a cup from the brim to 
 the bottom to the memory of Eobert Burns, the 
 Poet of Scotland — the Poet of Scotland's peo- 
 ple — and the Poet of Scotland's nationality. — 
 Mr. Shannon, croupier, gave the health of the 
 surviving relatives of Burns, with a few appro- 
 priate remarks ; and Mr. Gilbert Carmichael 
 sung elegantly "A man's a man for a' that." 
 The Rev. Mr. Hastings gave, at considerable 
 length, the Poets and Poetry of the United 
 Kingdom, expatiating on the history and traits 
 of Burns' character as a poet, Milton's, Sir 
 Walter Scott's, and Moore's Irish melodies ; and 
 mentioned many other bright names which 
 adorn our hemisphere. Mr. Dawson, teacher, 
 recited " Tam o' Shanter" in a very interest- 
 ing and correct manner. Mr. Shannon pro- 
 posed the health of the Duke of Buccleuch, 
 and pointed out his many excellencies as a land- 
 lord. Mr. John Watson sang, beautifully, 
 " John Anderson my Joe." 
 
 A variety of songs and toasts were given, 
 and after Mr. Thomas Muir had proposed the 
 health of the Ladies, Mr. Thomas Little the 
 health of the Croupier, and Mr. William Weir 
 the health of the Chairman, who had acquitted 
 himself so nobly, and he was sure to the high- 
 
 est satisfaction of the meeting, the company 
 separated, obviously highly pleased and de- 
 lighted with the entertainment of the evening, 
 concluding by standing up and singing " Auld 
 Langsyne." 
 
 WATERSIDE.— The most important de- 
 monstration of our valley took place at this 
 village, , which belongs to the Dalmellington 
 Iron Company. About ten days before the 
 25th a few young men met and resolved on a 
 commemoration festival; to consist, 1st, of a 
 display of fireworks ; 2d, of a supper party ; 
 3d, of a ball. A sum of money was subscribed 
 and despatched to Mr. Barlow, pyrotechnist, 
 Glasgow, for a selection of rockets, Roman 
 candles, &c. This part of the programme, un- 
 fortunately did not make the display that was 
 expected, owing to the violence of the storm of 
 wind, sleet and rain. The fireworks that did 
 go off" were beautiful, but the greater portion 
 gave but a feeble sputter and died in the vain 
 attempt to ascend to the clouds, and the re- 
 mainder were withdrawn for some future occa- 
 sion. The supper party assembled at eight 
 o'clock in the joiners' shop, which was elegantly 
 fitted up for the occasion. The number who 
 sat down to partake of a well-dressed supper of 
 hot joints, &c., &c., was about 250 ; and if the 
 sparks and flames of the fireworks, out of doors, 
 made no display, there was plenty of young 
 sparks and flames within doors, besides a goodly 
 number of douce guidmen and sonsy wives. 
 Few assemblages, gathered together for the 
 centenary celebration, could be found that made 
 a more respectable appearance. The appear- 
 ance had that of a full dress party that might 
 have done credit to any city or town in Scot- 
 land. It is true, that they were every one 
 hardy sons of toil from the mines, the furnaces 
 and workshop ; yet their conduct and manners 
 could not have been better had they been the 
 finest ladies and gentlemen of the land. The 
 Rev. Thomas E. Macfadyen presided over the 
 banquet, and Mr. Dickson, underground man- 
 ager, was croupier. The usual loyal and con- 
 stitutional toasts were given from the chair, 
 and responded to with hearty good will. The 
 memory of Burns was proposed after a speech 
 of some length from the chair, in which refer- 
 ence was made to the character of Burns as a 
 man, and as a poet ; the many good qualities of 
 his character in both views were dwelt upon, 
 while all sympathy with anything objection- 
 able in either was repudiated. The Croupier 
 gave the living poets of Scotland, coupled with 
 Mr. Crawford of the Railway Station, as no 
 mean specimen of the rising men of talent. 
 Mr. Crawford responded with some original 
 verses. The living relatives of Burns was pro- 
 
WEMYSS (East)— WESTQUARTER. 
 
 413 
 
 posed by Mr. Crawford. Mr. Hopple, smith ; 
 Mr. Gavin, clerk to the Iron Company ; Mr. 
 Tweedie, engineman; and Mr. Fulton, &c., 
 &o., in neat, appropriate and eloquent speeches, 
 proposed the sentiments and toasts usually 
 given at similar meetings. We must not omit 
 the hearty response that hailed the toast of 
 success to the Iron Conipany, coupled with the 
 name of Mr. John Houldsworth ; and the pro- 
 posal of the health of Mr. John Hunter, the 
 manager, who always takes a deep interest in 
 the welfare of the men under his charge, and 
 to whom the meeting was indebted for the 
 room for their accommodation. Messrs. Craw- 
 ford, Gavin, Hugh Crawford, M'Clelland, Begg, 
 &c., sang a variety of Burns' songs, and Messrs. 
 Halliday and Muir varied the amusements by 
 reciting " Man was made to mourn" and the 
 " Twa dogs." The supper company broke up 
 at half-past twelve, and the ball, which was 
 held in the pattern loft, handsomely fitted up 
 for the occasion, held the votaries of the light 
 fantastic toe for some time longer. Both par- 
 ties separated highly gratified with the night's 
 proceedings. 
 
 WEMYSS (East). About six o'clock, be- 
 tween forty and fifty gentlemen sat down to 
 supper in the Hall, the walls of which were 
 tastefully decorated with ships' flags and col- 
 ours, and at the head of the room was displayed 
 the national standard. Mr. J. G. Robertson, 
 teacher, occupied the chair, supported on the 
 right and left by Mr. W. Burns, West Wemyss, 
 and Mr. James Forrester, Kennoway. Mr. 
 Walter Black officiated as croupier. After 
 ample justice had been done to the good things 
 provided, the Chairman, in a neat address, 
 opened the business of the evening. Then in 
 succession were sung a number of Burns' best 
 songs. The night drove on with song and 
 clatter, and the company did not mind the 
 storm that raged without. Several pieces of 
 original composition were recited, which were 
 much applauded, particularly the piece by Mr. 
 Thomas Ness. Mr. John Ness gave some reci- 
 tations from Burns' works with fine taste. Mr. 
 Walter Ness sang "Afton Water" and "Scots 
 wha hae" with grand efiect. Mr. George Oswald 
 came out in the comic line, and was a treat to 
 all present. Mr. W. Burns gave an address 
 on the genius of the poet, showing the tempta- 
 tions and difficulties he had to contend with, 
 and even amid them all he poured forth the 
 eifusions of his muse. Thus with speech, sen- 
 timent, and song, the night glided away. The 
 whole was kept up with untiring energy till an 
 early hour next morning, when all parted in 
 peace and harmony. 
 
 A few also met in Miss Burt's tavern, and, 
 
 after partaking of pies, &c., pledged a bumper 
 to the memory of the immortal Burns. The 
 greatest good humour prevailed at this meet- 
 ing also. 
 
 WEMYSS (West).— Tuesday was ushered 
 in by the ringing of the town bell, and the 
 floating of the town banner from the steeple. 
 By nine A.M., a procession was formed by Mr. 
 Alexander Williamson of this place in the 
 character of Tam o' Shanter, mounted on his 
 grey mare Meg, having on the real Tam's 
 breeches, gamashes, bonnet, plaid, and every- 
 thing else conforming, supported by Mr. Wm. 
 Salmond in the character of Souter Johnny, 
 with red night-cap, leathern apron, leggings, 
 &c., &c., followed by Mr. Robert Anderson, 
 also on horseback, in the character of Kate, 
 Tam's better half, dressed in white tosh, sow- 
 backed mutch, petticoats, &c., followed by a 
 band of music. After perambulating the town 
 they proceeded through East Wemyss, and 
 thence to Leven, where they were joined by 
 congregated thousands. In the evening a 
 numerous company of the admirers of Burns 
 sat down to an excellent supper in the Town 
 Hall — Bailie Robert Morrison in the chair ; Mr. 
 Thomas Williamson croupier. After the usual 
 toasts were given and lieartily responded to, 
 then came the toast of the evening from the 
 chair, " The Memory of the Immortal Burns," 
 to which the Chairman did great justice. The 
 Croupier being called upon for his toast, gave 
 " J. H. E. Wemyss, Esq., Lord of the Manor." 
 Tune—" Whigs of Fife." Bailie Baxter, in a 
 very neat speech, proposed " The Health of J. 
 Bywater, Esq., factor on Wemyss estate for 
 nearly half- a -century." Councillor Robert 
 Hendry then gave " The Bulwarks of Britain, 
 the Army and Navy." Mr. Alexander William- 
 son sung in great glee, " Rantin,' rovin' Robin." 
 Chairman's song — "A man's a man for a' that.'' 
 The night was spent with toast, song, and sen- 
 timent. 
 
 WESTERKIRK.— In this parish, the birth- 
 place of Telford, and the four famed knights 
 of Eskdale, the centenary of Burns was cele- 
 brated by a party of upwards of fifty dining 
 together in the Johnstone Arms Inn, Bentpath 
 — Mr. James Moffiit, farmer, Midknock, occupy- 
 ing the chair; Mr. William Graham, Cariesgill, 
 being croupier. The evening was passed with 
 great delight, appropriate song and toast pass- 
 ing round the table right and left. 
 
 WESTQUARTER-^Burns centenary was 
 here, as in other places, celebrated in the 
 Parish School of Glasford, which was tastefully 
 decorated for the occasion with flowers and 
 
414 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 evergreens — Mr. M'Nab, teacher, in the chair. 
 The company, upwards of 200, having partaken 
 of a rich repast, the Chairman, previously to 
 introducing the musical performers, delivered 
 an able and instructive address on the life, 
 character, and genius of him whose natal day 
 they had met to commemorate. The musical 
 department, vocal and instrumental, was truly 
 excellent, and its being made up of non-profes- 
 sionals, testifies how dearly and universally 
 appreciated are the lays of Coila's bard. Fruits, 
 &c., were distributed in course of the evening, 
 and the proceedings altogether terminated to 
 the satisfaction of (if such there were) even the 
 most fastidious. Votes of thanks were unani- 
 mously accorded to the several parties that had 
 so cheerfully contributed to the evening's en- 
 tertainment, as also to Mr. M'Nab for the effi- 
 cient and instructive manner in which he dis- 
 charged the duties of the chair. 
 
 WEST-WATER.— Mr. D. M'G. Peter, 
 teacher of Tillybardyne School here, celebrated 
 Burns centenary in his own way, viz., by ex- 
 temporising — 
 
 " ! eighteen hundred and fifty-nine, 
 In Westwater thou'It aye mindit be! 
 For there 'a blast o' Januar' win' ' 
 Ushered in Burns' centenary. 
 
 He then told his pupils that that day was the 
 hundredth birthday of the poet Burns, conse- 
 quently called centenary. That the original 
 name of the poet was Burnes, and derived 
 from the abrogated parish of Burnes, in the 
 island of Sanday, Argyleshire ; that his great- 
 grandfather, James Burnes (b. 1656), farmer 
 of Brawlinmoor, Glenbervy, Mearns ; that his 
 grandfather, Robert Burnes, took a lease of 
 the farm of Clochanhill, near Stonehaven, but 
 was reduced to poverty by the "great frost of 
 1740." His two sons, James and William, 
 went south to push their fortunes — the former 
 settling at Montrose as a joiner ; the . latter. 
 Burns' father, was bred a gardener. The 
 former. Burns' uncle, was great-grandfather of 
 Dr. James Burnes, knight of Hanover, and 
 Mr. Adam Burnes, writer in Montrose. Mr. 
 Peter then caused his Collection Class to read 
 "To Mary in Heaven," (as the only specimen 
 of Burns' works within the school.) At the 
 conclusion thereof, he told them how " apt the 
 author (Burns) was to learn, and quick to 
 know" — how that he was a good grammarian 
 at the early age of ten years. He then com- 
 pared Burns' works to a well-stocked garden, 
 with most beautiful flowers, delicious fruits, but 
 many poisonous plants alongside of these, re- 
 quiring a skilful botanist to feast upon them ; 
 consequently Burns' works required a fine taste 
 
 to select the flowers and fruit, and leave alone 
 the poisonous plants. Mr. Peter then told his 
 audience how the times Burns lived in were 
 full of loose expressions; compared with the 
 present, both "gentle and simple" were coarser. 
 That Burns being " a' body's body, an' nae his 
 ain body," was quite spoiled by "gentle and 
 simple." 
 
 WHINNYLIGGATE.— The inhabitants of 
 this village had a ball in honour of Burns cen- 
 tenary in the village school-room, and enjoyed 
 themselves in dancing and singing Burns' songs 
 till a late hour in the morning. 
 
 WHITBURN.— A meeting was held in the 
 Parish School, Whitburn, to do honour to the 
 memory of Scotia's immortal Burns. An ex- 
 cellent supper, prepared for the occasion, was 
 tastefully served up. A paper on the life and 
 genius of Burns was read by the Chairman, 
 Mr. Little. A few of the select songs and 
 poems of Burns enhanced the evening's enjoy- 
 ment. The meeting separated at a seasonable 
 hour, when 
 
 " Each took off bis different way, 
 In hopes to meet some other day." 
 
 WHITHORN.— The centenary of the birth 
 of Burns was celebrated here by two public 
 dinners and a ball. At five o'clock p.m. a large 
 number of gentlemen (upwards of a hundred) 
 assembled in the Town Hall, from whence they 
 marched in procession, headed by our instru- 
 mental band, to the Galloway Arms Hotel, to 
 partake of a dinner in honour of the above 
 event. Our much-respected townsmen,. Mr. Jas. 
 M'Keand, acted as president, and Mr. James 
 M'Adam as vice-president, assisted by ex- 
 Provost Simpson, &c. After the usual patriotic 
 toasts, the President gave " The Memory of 
 the immortal Scottish Bard," prefaced by a neat 
 and suitable address, in which he extolled highly 
 the mighty poetical and intellectual powers of 
 the great poet. Making these the chief subject 
 of his speech, he paid the highest compliments 
 at the shrine of his genius, and wisely refrained 
 from subjecting the character of "Robin" to an 
 analytical examination of his presumed virtues 
 or vices. The toast was drunk in solemn 
 silence, and was followed in succession by 
 various others, including " The Peasantry of 
 Scotland ;" " The Trades of Whithorn ;" "The" 
 Agriculturists of Scotland," &c., &c., all of 
 which were appropriately replied to. The 
 meeting was in every way a happy one — such 
 a one, in our opinion, as the social spirit of the 
 poet himself would have relished. At eight 
 P.M. the dining-room was deserted for the ball- 
 
WICK. 
 
 415 
 
 room, and dancing was kept up with great 
 spirit till a late hour in the morning. 
 
 A like respectable company, but fewer in 
 number, dined in the Grapes Hotel. Tlie chair 
 was occupied by Provost Main, who discharged 
 the duties in a most satisfactory manner. 
 
 WICK. — In Wick the Burns centenary was 
 celebrated by the observance of the day as a 
 general holiday, and by a festival and soiree, 
 held respectively in the Town Hall and Pul- 
 teneytown Academy. At the meeting in the 
 Town Hall, which was presided over by Pro- 
 vost Bruce, there were about a hundred per- 
 sons present, including gentlemen connected 
 with the diflferent professions and public offices, 
 and a number of the principal merchants in 
 the town. A numerous assemblage of ladies 
 also graced the hall by their presence, those of 
 their number who took the most active part in 
 the preparations for the occasion presiding at 
 the different tables, upon which were laid out, in 
 becoming style, an inviting variety of viands. 
 By the introduction of gas, the hall was also 
 brilliantly lighted, and the adornments, in the 
 form of wreaths of evergreens, &c., with some 
 water-colour and chalk sketches of scenes from 
 Burns' country, were displayed to much advan- 
 tage. The presence of the John o' Groat 
 Musical Club and some amateur musicians, who, 
 at suitable intervals, sung some of the best of 
 Burns' songs, likewise lent a charm to the pro- 
 ceedings. 
 
 After tea, the Provost, in some i-emarks, in 
 the course of which he complimented the ladies 
 and gentlemen of the committee for the taste 
 and spirit they had displayed in organising 
 such an entertainment, referred briefly to the 
 object of the meeting. Our object (said the 
 Provost) is to celebrate the centenary of our 
 national bard; and as a proof of the manner 
 in which his talents are appreciated, thousands 
 and tens of thousands are now assembled 
 throughout the length and breadth of Scotland 
 to do honour to the memory of Robert Burns. 
 Who but Burns, he continued, could express in 
 such beautiful and truthful language the loveli- 
 ness and virtues and excellencies that adorn 
 the female cliaracter? Who but Burns could 
 so well expose hypocrisy or false professions of 
 religion, and at the same time so beautifully 
 describe the evening devotions of a truly pious 
 family ? Who but Burns could so well expose 
 the gross superstitions that prevailed in his 
 day, and corruptions in the highest offices of 
 State, and infuse and diffuse a love of liberty, 
 freedom, and independence — principles which, 
 I trust, will continue to be dear to Scotia's 
 sons for many ages jet to come. As a further 
 evidence of the manner in which the works of 
 
 Burns are appreciated, his songs and poetry 
 have been translated into every language of 
 the civilised world, and are everywhere sung 
 and admired fully as heartily as in his native 
 land. May our meeting be a worthy tribute to 
 his memory. 
 
 Mr. Pjeploe, agent for the Commercial Bank, 
 subsequently addressed the meeting. To-day 
 (said Mr. Peploe) has been one of the most 
 astonishing, as it must remain one of the most 
 memorable, epochs in our country's history. In 
 all places and by all ranks a nation has united 
 in holding high festival in commemoration of 
 one man's birth. The cities, burghs, and even 
 hamlets of our land have suspended the ordi- 
 nary business of life to pay the highest honour 
 which they can ascribe to the name and memory 
 of a Scottish peasant, a Scottish poet, and a 
 Scottish man, of whom all ranks are eager to 
 declare their pride that he was of their country, 
 their admiration of his surpassing genius, and 
 their gratitude for the rich legacy which he has 
 left for their intellectual and moral enjoyment. 
 The name of Burns bears with it more than 
 enough to preclude any man from attempting 
 at this time of day to offer a formal exposition 
 of his claims as a great genius, and as a man 
 who has made and will continue to exercise 
 the most powerful effect upon the mind of 
 Scotland. Why should I then attempt to explain 
 to you his claims as our great Scottish genius, 
 and as one of the most potent instances of 
 what a Scot from the humblest ranks may, by 
 native pith and vigour, accomplish ? But there 
 is one especial aspect of his power to which I 
 would advert, and that is the instructive, 
 healthy, and moral influence which his writings 
 have exercised upon the minds of the Scottish 
 people, and of those whose circumstances pre- 
 clude them from the lessons of a more preten- 
 tious caste of instructors. I mean the class to 
 which he himself belonged. Speak to one of 
 that class from whom Robert Burns sprung, of 
 the intrinsic value of a man's character apart 
 from his conventional rank. He will at once 
 show that he is well aware of the truth, by 
 answering us in the language of Burns, that 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 This is but one instance of a thousand which 
 may be cited of the ingrafted hold which the 
 sentiments of Burns have secured in the public 
 mind. I might quote innumerable others which 
 exemplify that he is their " guide, philosopher, 
 and friend," in relation to the scorn of every- 
 thing that is servile and mean; it is more 
 pleasing, however, to remember how much he 
 has done to maintain the spirit of national 
 patriotism by such strains as " Scots wha hae," 
 
416 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 and national piety by such as the " Cottar's 
 Saturday Night," and many even more direct 
 and affecting effusions ; and the old national 
 love for humour and fun, of which " Tarn o' 
 Shanter" is only one, but a sublime, instance. 
 But perhaps the ladies here will agree that no 
 one who ever attempted the theme, has more 
 earnestly, more continuously, and more grace- 
 fully, because more truthfully, described the 
 charms of the fair and all the fascinations with 
 which feminine grace, affection, and purity, 
 adorn, sweeten, and dignify human life ; and it 
 is thus, by his noble appeals to the masculine' 
 mind, in urging rectitude, honour, and inde- 
 pendence, and in his varied and exhaustless 
 tributes to female excellence, that he has 
 earned and secured the respect and enthusiastic 
 attachment of both these great classes of human 
 society — all that Burns cared for — and whom 
 he summed up in the comprehensive appellation 
 of " Honest Men and Bonnie Lasses." 
 
 Mr. Peploe's address was received with much 
 applause. 
 
 The recitation of an ode on the centenary 
 by Mr. Hay, who joined the meeting for a short 
 time at request, and to whom a hearty vote of 
 thanks was accorded, varied the sources of 
 entertainment, and songs and tunes by the 
 band continued to alternate. 
 
 As the evening advanced, the assemblage 
 partook of the character of a ball, and till 
 about one o'clocls dancing was kept up with 
 much spirit, the entertainment, thus pleasantly 
 concluded, having throughout given the great- 
 est satisfaction to all present; indeed, a more 
 happy, harmonious, and enthusiastic meeting 
 has not taken place in Wick for a long series of 
 years ; and Messrs. M'Alister and M'Kenzie, 
 and the other gentlemen who proposed the 
 votes of thanks at the close, though they over- 
 looked themselves, were right in saying that to 
 the Ladies' Committee the community were 
 deeply indebted. 
 
 PULTENBYTOWN AcADEMY FbSTIVAL 
 
 Under the auspices of the Young Men's 
 Societies of the town, a festival was held 
 in Pulteneytown Academy, the attendance 
 at which numbered fully 200. Music was 
 a chief attraction, the instrumental part of 
 which was conducted by Messrs. Ander- 
 sons, Geddes, Fletcher, and Webster. Miss 
 Webster excellently performed several national 
 airs on the piano, being assisted in the vocal 
 department by another young lady. A variety 
 of the choicest songs of the Poet were also 
 sung during the course of the evening by 
 Messrs. Panton, Couper, GuUand, Masson, 
 Anderson, and Manson, and recitations were 
 given by Messrs. Anderson and Duncan. 
 The chair was occupied by Mr. George Hay, 
 
 of the Journal, who was supported by the Rev. 
 John Currie, the Rev. William Hutchison, 
 Mr. M'Lean, rector, Pulteneytown Academy, 
 Mr. Morris, Westerseat, and other gentlemen. 
 Grace having been said by Mr. Currie, and the 
 tea part of the entertainment disposed of, and 
 after the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, the 
 Chairman introduced the toast of the evening 
 in an excellent speech illustrative of the Poet's 
 life, character, and genius. After which he 
 delivered a poetic effusion composed by him for 
 the occasion. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Currie proceeded to propose 
 the toast of "The Poets of Britain." After 
 some preliminary remarks the rev. gentlemen 
 proceeded — I shall tell you in a word or two 
 why I am here to-night. I saw that the nation 
 had resolved to keep this centenary. It seemed 
 to me that wherever the arrangements for the 
 commemoration were such that a minister could 
 with propriety attend he might have an oppor- 
 tunity of doing what he could to impart a 
 healthy tone to the meeting, and I am pleased 
 to see that some of our most influential journals 
 have given expression to much good sense in 
 anticipation of the engagements of this day. 
 We are not here to say that the man who more 
 successfully than any other has struck the 
 chords of the nation's heart was faultless. We 
 are not here to affirm that his virtues atoned 
 for his vices. We are not here to deny that in 
 some respects his life was a sad one, that his 
 constitution was shattered by excess, and that 
 when little more than thirty-seven years of age 
 he was laid in what may have been a premature 
 grave. Neither are we here to signify our 
 approval of everything that Burns wrote — ^far 
 from it. That which is impure and licentious 
 in our literature will perish sooner or later, 
 even though it may have emanated from a 
 genius like Burns. When, however, we have 
 cut out the objectionable parts of our Poet's 
 writings, I need hardly say that a great deal 
 remains that is as beautiful as it is pure, and as 
 pure as it is beautiful. If the observance of 
 this centenary should have the effect of making 
 the young men of the present generation imitate 
 the faults and vices of Burns it will be a sad 
 calamity. But I have no fear of that. If the 
 observance of this centenary should have the 
 effect of imparting new life to the licentious 
 parts of the Poet's writings, that too will be a 
 sad calamity. On the other hand, if the ob- 
 servance of this centenary should have the 
 effect of inspiring us with a love for the beauti- 
 ful in nature akin to that of him who sung of 
 the " wee modest crimson tippit flower ; " if it 
 should have the effect of inspiring us with a 
 feeling of kindness towards the inferior animals 
 akin to that kindness towards the brute creation 
 
WIGTOWN. 
 
 417 
 
 winch he displayed who sang of the " woe bit 
 cow'ring tim'rous beastie," whose nest was dis- 
 turbed by the cruel ploughshare ; if it should 
 liave the effect of inspiring us with that respect 
 for man as man which he evinced who sang "A 
 man's a man for a' that;" if it should. have the 
 uH'cL't of inspiring us with the noble independ- 
 ence whieli finds expression in some of the 
 stanzas of " Man was made to mourn ; " if it 
 should have the effect of inspiring us with that 
 pati'iotism which pervades " Scots wha hae wi' 
 Wallace bled ; " if it should have the effect of 
 inspiring us with that hearty hatred of hy- 
 pocrisy by which Burns was characterised ; and 
 if it should induce us all to admire the true 
 religion, the genuine piety, of the " Cottar's 
 Saturday Night," then this centenary shall not 
 be without good fruit. 
 
 Mr. John Weir in a few words proposed the 
 toast of " The Scottish Clergy," responded to by 
 tlie Rev. Mr. Currie. 
 
 Mr. DouU, in an eulogistic speech, proposed 
 " The Scottish Peasantry," to which Mr. Mor- 
 ris, Westerseat, gave an appropriate acknow- 
 ledgment. 
 
 The Kev. William Hutchison gave " The 
 Benevolent Institutions of our Country." In 
 the course of his remarks, he observed how 
 these institutions had increased since the time 
 of Burns, and how much they were in unison 
 with the sentiments to which the Poet had 
 given expression. There was not a line in the 
 whole of Burns' writings but was instinct with 
 humanity. Had he lived in our day, he might 
 have been a nobler man, as he would have been 
 surrounded by nobler influences. The Poet was 
 but a man, and therefore a sinner, and it was 
 for those who were without sin to cast the first 
 stone. He was not worse than his times, and 
 it would not be difficult to frame a correct code 
 of morals out of his writings. He was a man 
 to be admired and honoured for his genius, and 
 for the use which he had made of it — the good 
 of his species and of Scotland, and there could 
 tiierefore be no reason why honour should not 
 be given where it was due. 
 
 Mr. David Petrie replied to Mr. Hutchi- 
 son's toast, noticing ragged schools as important 
 among our benevolent institutions, these schools 
 being the result of that universal benevolence 
 the spirit of the poetry of Burns. 
 
 Mr. D. Sutherland proposed " The Scottish 
 Lassies " in a graceful speech, Mr. James 
 Sinclair acknowledging on the part of the 
 ladies in terms equally neat and graceful. 
 
 " The Press " was given by Mr. James 
 Duncan, who traced the advance in the intel- 
 ligence of the operative classes to its influence. 
 
 Mr. William Coghill, as connected with the 
 printing profession, responded. 
 
 Several votes of thanks were then proposed, 
 including one, moved by Mr. M'Leau, to the 
 Chairman, which having been acknowledged, 
 " Auld Langsyne " was sung by the company, 
 when a very harmonious and enthusiastic meet- 
 ing was brought to a close. 
 
 Supper. — A sumptuous supper was prepared 
 in Mackay's Wellington Hotel for a numerous 
 company, who met at seven o'clock, and who, 
 under the presidency of William Grey, Esq., 
 writer, with Mr. David Gunn as croupier, en- 
 joyed an exceedingly pleasant evening, and did 
 all honour to the memory of Burns. The room 
 was elegantly decorated for the occasion, and to 
 the host great praise was given for the provision 
 which had been made for the party. On tlie 
 separation of the company, a collection was 
 made for behoof of the unemployed. 
 
 There was also a very respectable supper 
 party at Lybster, in Waters' Hotel — Mr. 
 Sutherland, Latheron, Mains, in the chair, and 
 Mr. Mowat, bankei', Lybster, acting as croupier, 
 A soiree was held at Golspie, and was well 
 attended ; also a soiree at Cromarty, at which 
 there was an excellent turn out. 
 
 WIGTOWN. — The Centenary was com- 
 memorated here by a public dinner, held in 
 the Commercial Inn, a concert, &c. Provost 
 M'Guffie presided at the dinner. Bailies 
 Murray and Graham were croupiers. Fifty- 
 six sat down. The front of the Inn had been 
 decorated with evergreens, and the dining- 
 room with artificial flowers. At the upper 
 end of the room a beautiful device, bordered 
 with Christmas roses, snowdrops, and other 
 winter flowers, adorned the wall, and bore in 
 large gilt letters the following inscription : — 
 " In Memory of the Poet Burns." The bless- 
 ing was asked by the Eev. Irving Beattie. — 
 " The Memory of Burns " was proposed by G. 
 C. Black, Esq., in an able address. After some 
 preliminary observations, he drew attention to 
 the fact of Wigtownshire being immediately 
 adjacent to that which could claim the honour 
 of being Burns' place of birth, and expressed 
 the regret he had often felt that there appeared 
 no authentic evidence of Burns having ever 
 visited this county. In that case, and had 
 Burns found a patron among any of our 
 gentry, our many lovely scenes, such as Glen 
 Trool, Castle Kennedy, &c., might have shared 
 in the immortality conferred on the banks of 
 the Doon, on Alloway Kirk, and many other 
 spots made famous by him. But, apart from 
 mere localities, for how many generous, patri- 
 otic, and tender sentiments do we not stand 
 indebted to Burns ? In reading Burns' writ- 
 ings, we must not omit to look at his life, the 
 morality of which had at times been so much 
 2d 
 
418 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 assailed, but after all, what did the proved 
 charges against him amount to? That he, a 
 man of very melancholy temperament, Vfith 
 few opportunities of mixing in society, had at 
 times been tempted to indulge in conviviality 
 beyond the strict limits of propriety, and had 
 occasionally at such times written verses, which 
 he subsequently bitterly regretted. In opposi- 
 tion to this, there is good evidence of his having 
 been in early life sincerely devout, and the 
 close of his life presented the same picture. 
 Poor as he was. Burns was ever ready to help 
 a friend in distress, and with all his alleged 
 extravagance, he died without leaving a shil- 
 ling of debt. The best test of his character is 
 to be found in the fact that he preserved the 
 esteem of all his best friends, several of them 
 estimable and virtuous ladies, to the last ; and 
 Mr. Black here alluded to the striking story 
 told by Lockhart of Mrs. Dunlop's daughter 
 on her deathbed, and soon after the poet's re- 
 mains had been removed to the mausoleum, 
 having desired that she might be laid in the 
 grave that had contained the remains of Robert 
 Burns. In the course of the next ten years 
 we may be called on to celebrate the hundredth 
 birthday of a Scotchman still more eminent — 
 Sir Walter Scott — and it should never be for- 
 gotten that it was owing to the success of 
 Burns in making the Scottish language popular 
 and intelligible, both here and in England, that 
 Scott was induced to make such liberal use of 
 it in his immortal Waverley Novels. For many 
 years has Burns' birthday been celebrated 
 wlierever our language is spoken, — nay, he 
 (Mr. Black) had been informed by an Ayr- 
 shire friend that he had lately met with a very 
 intelligent Spanish gentleman who assured him 
 that there was a Burns Club in Madrid. There 
 is little doubt that this feeling, which has hither- 
 to gone on increasing, will in future years only 
 gather strength ; and looking to benefit and 
 pleasures which the muse of Burns has con- 
 ferred upon us all, we may confidently exclaim, 
 "Estoperpetua!" [The toast, "The Memory," 
 was then drank in solemn silence, and appar- 
 ently with deep feeling by the whole company 
 standing, and during Mr. Black's address he 
 was repeatedly interrupted by the cheering of 
 the guests, whose sympathies were unmistak- 
 ably demonstrated.] 
 
 John Moore, Esq., gave — The Descendants 
 of Burns. Mr. Carson gave — The Memory of 
 Sir Walter Scott, whose Centenary he hoped 
 all present would live to see. Bailie Murray 
 gave — The Memory of Allan Ramsay and 
 Christopher North. James ' M'Lean, Esq., 
 gave — The Living Poets of England. Alex- 
 ander Aitken, Esq., of Bladnoch — Our Living 
 Scotch Poets. Dr. Snowdon gave — The Me- 
 
 mory of Thomas Moore. Bailie Graham— The 
 Peasantry of Scotland. 
 
 On the motion of William Carson, Esq., a 
 hearty vote of thanks was 'awarded by the 
 meeting to Provost M'GuflSe for his conduct in 
 the chair. Songs were sung by Mr. Pritchard 
 and Mr. Hodgson. 
 
 The Concert. — The committee of the Me- 
 chanics' Institute having agreed to celebrate 
 tlie centenary of the Poet, and to raise funds 
 for purchasing books for the library at the 
 same time, held a public concert in the As- 
 sembly Room in the evening. Mr. Carson, 
 President, presided. So great was the demand 
 for admission that the room was perfectly 
 crammed, and many had to go away for want 
 of accommodation. All the songs were Burns', 
 and were sung by members of the Institute, 
 aided by a few young ladies of the town. TJte 
 first song, " There was a Lad was born in 
 Kyle," was introduced by Mr. Murray, and 
 sung by Mr. R. M'Clympnt in fine style. 
 Next, Mr. William Blacklock, a mechanic, read 
 an excellent essay on "Burns as a Poet," whicli 
 was rapturously applauded. Mr. Aitken, in a 
 very clever s])eech, introduced " Scots wha hae 
 wi' Wallace bled." Mr. Husband, in a short 
 and appropriate address, introduced "Higliland 
 Mary," which was very feelingly sung by Mr. 
 Thomas M'Knight. The other singers were 
 Messrs. H. Pritchard, Alexander M'Queen, and 
 Robert Payne. A ball in honour of the Poet 
 was held at Bladnoch. 
 
 WISHAW. — A party of about 50 sat down 
 to dinner, on the evening of the 25th, in Mr. 
 Clark's Hotel here, to celebrate the centenary 
 of Scotia's bard, Robert Burns. Dr. Steel in 
 the chair. Mr. Barrowman officiated as crou- 
 pier. On the cloth being removed, the Chair- 
 man gave " The Queen," and the croupier gave 
 the toast of the evening, " The Immortal Mem- 
 ory of Robert Burns." Mr. Hogg, poet, re- 
 plied, after which he recited his prize poem on 
 the centenary of Burns. Mr. Sneddon gave 
 the Miners of Wishaw, coupled with the health 
 of Mr. A. Robertson, the secretary of the Mi- 
 ners' Society; Mr. Robertson replied. Mr. 
 Thomas Barrowman gave the Strangers, cou- 
 pled with the Singers ; Mr. Deans replied. 
 The meeting was enlivened with some of Burns' 
 best songs, which were sung by Mr. Deans and 
 party with great taste. The dinner was served 
 up in Mr. Clark's best style, and was all that 
 could be desired. The thanks of the meeting 
 were given to Mr. Wm. Reid for the manner 
 in which he looked after the comfort of the 
 company in various ways, during the course of 
 the evening. 
 
 The people's celebration of this national 
 
WISTON (Pawsh of)— ZETLAND. 
 
 419 
 
 event came ofF with great eclat, in Mr. Thomas 
 Brownlie's (Wishaw Inn). At about six o'clocli 
 upwards of forty (male and female), sat down 
 to a sumptuous supper, provided by mine host, 
 and served up in a very handsome manner by 
 Mr. William Beid, pastry baker, Main Street. 
 Tiie chair was ably filled by Mr. J. Reid, and 
 the duties of croupier were discharged by Mr. 
 Thomson. The meeting having been addressed 
 by several speakers, and song and sentiment 
 passed ofi freely, the company adjourned (in 
 consequence of Forbes Mackenzie's interfer- 
 ence), to a room prepared for their reception, 
 
 " To trip it gaily as tliey go, 
 Upon the Tiglit fantastic toe." 
 
 A meeting, consisting of dinner and ball, 
 was held in the Public School. Bailie Thom- 
 son presided at dinner, supported by the Eev, 
 James Dunn, and James Jijivingstone, M.D.; 
 Mr. Steele, writer, officiating as croupier, sup- 
 ported by Dr. Barrie and James Glass, Esq., 
 factor, Coltness. Amongst the usual toasts 
 given at dinner, was "Burns' Centenary and 
 his Living Relations,'' &c., proposed by the 
 croupier, and responded to by Mr. W. BurnS 
 Begg, a grandson of the poet. After a most 
 enthusiastic fellowship of about four hours, the 
 dinner party separated. 
 
 WISTON (Parish of). — Among the many 
 paragraphs that chronicle the universal demon- 
 stration to the memory of Burns, tlie proceed- 
 ings of the parish of Wiston at the base of 
 Tinto, deserve also to be " printed." " On 
 that ne'er to be forgotten day " an enthusiastic 
 meeting of the spirited youths of that locality 
 took place at Castledykes, on the estate of 
 Hardington, presided over by Mr. Jack, veter- 
 inary surgeon, and " gudeman " of the house, 
 who had every preparation in perfection ; the 
 table was most ingeniously decorated with de- 
 vices, emblematical of the ploughman bard, and 
 every other arrangement in tasteful correspon- 
 dence. Mr. William Muir, junior, acted as 
 croupier. The chairman, in whose breast there 
 burns a spark of genuine patriotism, introduced 
 the necessary toasts in befitting style, and the 
 " Toast of the evening" was drunk with heart- 
 felt nature, and deafening applause. With 
 song and anecdote a happy evening was spent ; 
 nor can we omit to mention how well Mrs. 
 Jack can produce " the chieftain o' the pudding 
 race," — 
 
 " Wi' liurdies like a distant hill, 
 And pin would help to inend a mill, 
 In time o' need." 
 
 WOODHALL. — A supper party met here 
 at seven o'clock, which wiis numerously at- 
 
 tended — Mr. John Thomson in the chair. 
 After supper the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts were given, when the Chairman, in an 
 eloquent speech, proposed " The Immortal 
 Memory of Burns." Song and toast followed 
 in rapid succession. Two original odes for the 
 occasion were read ; and the meeting, after 
 spending a very happy evening, and singing in 
 unison " Auld Langsyne," separated about two 
 o'clock in the mornins;. 
 
 ZETLAND, North Yell.— The Centenary 
 birthday of Burns was celebrated in tlie Parisli 
 School-house here on the evening of the 25th. 
 The chair w<as occupied by Thomas Irvine, Esq., 
 of Midbrake, and Mr. Houston acted as crou- 
 pier. 
 
 The Chairman, in opening the meeting, 
 said he felt it an honour to be called upon to 
 preside at a meeting in one of the remotest 
 corners of the Zetland Isles to express their 
 admiration of Burns as a poet. He lamented 
 his inability to do justice to his own feelings, 
 or to deliver a suitable eulogium on the poetry 
 of Burns. Its praise, he said, was in the mouth 
 of the peasant and the peer. It was not from 
 John O'Groats to Sohvay Strand, nor from 
 Skaw of- Unst (the most northerly point in 
 Zetland), to the Land's End in Cornwall that 
 his poems were read and admired, but from the 
 western shores of America to the eastern verge 
 of Asia. Wherever a true-born Scotchman 
 was found. Burns had, as he might say, canon- 
 ized the Scottish dialect. His genius had been 
 extolled by all. He had to struggle with the 
 difficulties of humble birth, limited education, 
 and want of fortune, yet his genius burst 
 through all obstacles, and soared above all re- 
 straints. Bigotry, envy, or prejudice might 
 attempt to slander him, but in vain. Burns 
 possessed a thorough knowledge of human 
 nature, deep penetration, a strong mind, and 
 sound judgment, a keen perception of all the 
 feelings and sympathies of the heart with wit 
 and humour — equally at home in the pathetic, 
 the grand, or the ludicrous. The Chairman 
 also referred to Burns' love of freedom and 
 patriotism. Burns, he said, had the frailties 
 and failings of human nature, but he (the 
 Chairman) did not belie\e that any right- 
 minded man, imbued ^yith sound principles 
 of morality and religion, had ever been de- 
 moralized by Burns' poems. For his own part, 
 he could say that tliey had often elevated his 
 sentiments and inspirited his heart. 
 
 At six o'clock tea was served round. In 
 addition to the nice cakes prepared for the 
 
420 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 occasion, tliere was an excellent and genuine 
 one from Ayrshire, a gentleman from that 
 county being one of the party. After tea it 
 was moved by the Chairman that every gentle- 
 man should sing a song of Burns' composition, 
 and that it be accompanied with the violin. 
 Here the Chairman made a few happy allusions 
 to Burns, and struck up " A man's a man for 
 a' that." 
 
 The Croupier, before singing his song, made 
 a few remarks by way of introduction, in the 
 course of which he said — When I see such a 
 large amount of the intelligence of the parish 
 assembled within these walls, of which I am 
 the humble tenant, I feel proud of the honour 
 which your presence confers ; but the feeling 
 of pride becomes transformed into that of 
 gratitude when I know that you have as- 
 sembled here to celebrate the centenary birth- 
 day of none other than the immortal Burns — 
 a man whose memory will be ever dear to 
 those who are qualified to admire and appre- 
 ciate towering intellect and unparalleled genius 
 — a man who, although the continual subject 
 of pecuniary difficulties of no ordinary nature, 
 still breathed the noble spirit of independence 
 — and who, had he taken hypocrisy as his 
 handmaid, and bent the knee to the powers 
 tliat then were, might not only have been 
 placed beyond the reach of pecuniary embar- 
 rassments, but ranked amongst the noblest of 
 the land. But Burns, as we all know, despised 
 hypocrisy, and his noble spirit could not stoop 
 to the degrading position of bespattering rank 
 with fulsome praise. He always judged and 
 spoke of his fellowmen impartially, and poured 
 forth his poetic effusions in such touching lan- 
 guage, that his readers are drawn unconsciously 
 into the very centre of his scenes, looking on 
 the one hand with reverential awe and holy 
 feelings on the " lyart haffits " of the cottar as 
 he closes " the big ha' bible, ance his father's 
 pride," and bends his knee at the family altar ; 
 
 I and on the other, turning with disgust from 
 that foul hypocrite, end-serving, and Deity- 
 mocking " Holy Willie." It is true Burns had 
 his failings, but who wants them ? His ene- 
 mies take delight in presenting his "cracks 
 an' flaws" to the world through a magnified 
 medium, but his virtues they carefully keep in 
 the back-ground. Who amongst those of his 
 revilers would dare attack him were he still in 
 Scotland to defend himself. A few dashes 
 from his pen would force them, if not to sue 
 for mercy, to hide their diminished heads, and 
 shelter in the shade of obscurity. The good 
 qualities of Burns more than counterbalanced 
 his failings^ and the majority of his poems may 
 be perused with impunity by the most rigid 
 " holy Willie " in the world ; and those unfor- 
 tunates who cannot appreciate true-born poetic 
 genius are objects of commiseration. Gentle- 
 men, when we know that the noblest of the land 
 are this night employed like ourselves, whether 
 descended from tlie Saxon, the Celtic, or the 
 Scandinavian, to commemorate departed genius, 
 it should satisfy us that we too have taken a 
 step in tlie right direction; and now let us sing 
 " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." 
 
 The following gentlemen then sung each a 
 song, introducing it with brief but appropriate 
 remarks : — Messrs. A. A. Ferguson ; W. Pole, 
 yr. of Greenbank ; P. M. Sandison, merchant ; 
 Bruce A. Sutherland, merchant ; J. M. Moar, 
 late from Australia ; Neil Macleod, a hero of 
 Alma, Balaclava, and Sebastopol ; J. Spence, 
 proprietor of Mursetter ; and T. Sutherland, 
 from TJnst. 
 
 After partaking of a substantial supper, a 
 vote of thanks was proposed to the Chairman, 
 and also to the Croupier, who had been the 
 original proposer of the meeting, "the wee 
 short hour ayont the twal" reminded them 
 that they had begun a new day, iind after 
 singing "Auld Langsyne" with great glee, 
 the meeting separated. 
 
ENGLAND. 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 Crystal Palace. — This long - expected 
 event came off on Tuesday in due course, and 
 was attended by one of those enormous crowds 
 only to be met with at th^ Crystal Palace, be- 
 cause no other building is large enough to liold 
 them. 
 
 Soon after the doors were thrown open, visit- 
 ors began to arrive in considerable numbers; 
 and long before the liour appointed for com- 
 mencement, the trains, both from Pimlico and 
 London-bridge, were pouring in their hundreds 
 without cessation. Nevertheless the Palace 
 was by no means inconveniently crowded when 
 the first part of the entertainment took place ; 
 though the shouts of satisfaction which hailed 
 the uncovering of the Bust, and the " Court of 
 Eelics," were something to remember. The 
 Bust (modelled and executed by W. Calder 
 Marshall, R.A.), was elevated on a pedestal in 
 the centre of the " Court of Relics," and in 
 front of the Handel Festival orchestra. The 
 interval between the ceremony of unveiling 
 and the time for the concert to begin — during 
 which the crowd, continually reinforced by 
 fresh arrivals, rendered passage to and fro no 
 easy matter — was busily employed in examin- 
 ing the various objects of interest which had 
 been industriously brought together for the oc- 
 casion. Among these were the Nasmith, Tay- 
 lor, David Allan, and Stewart Watson por- 
 traits ; the desk at which " Tam o' Shanter" was 
 written ; a variety of manuscripts, including 
 among the j'est, that of the famous war-song, 
 " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled ; " a lock of 
 the poet's hair ; a lock of his wife's hair 
 (" Bonny Jean") ; a silver snuffbox, made out 
 of a Charles I. ten-shilling piece, &c. The 
 most unremitting attention, however, seemed 
 to be attracted by the autographs; and the 
 glass cases in which they were deposited were at 
 all times difficult to approach. Meanwhile the 
 band of the Caledonian Asylum, the band of 
 the Scots Fusilier Guards, and the pipers of 
 the same regiment, alternately played spirited 
 
 medleys, composed of well-known Scottish 
 tunes. In another part of the building (the 
 lecture-room) the admirable poem of " Tam o' 
 Shanter" was recited at appointed intervals to 
 overflowing but attentive audiences, the prin- 
 cipal " situations" being illustrated by dissol\ - 
 ings views photographed from the subjects by 
 Mr. John Faed, R.S.A. This was decidedly 
 one of the most popular incidents of the day, so 
 much so, indeed, that scarcely more than a third 
 of those who were desirous of attending the 
 recitals could at any period obtain admission. 
 Lastly, the military bands, after playing in the 
 great Handel orchestra, repaired to the galle- 
 ries above the proscenium erected for the Ita- 
 lian opera concerts ; and from that elevated 
 point their strident harmony was heard rever- 
 berating through the edifice in a well varied 
 series of performances, terminating with " God 
 save the Queen." 
 
 Thus much accomplished, the refreshment 
 department was eagerly invaded, and the ofii- 
 cial representatives of Messrs. Sawyer and 
 Strange were at their wits' end to satisfy the 
 innumerable demands of pressing and hungry ap- 
 plicants, anxious not to lose one note of the forth- 
 coming concert. Among the comestibles most 
 congenial to the occasion were " Cock-a-Leekie," 
 " Haggis," " Dumfries Meringues," and " Ayr- 
 shire puddings," to promote the comfortable 
 digestion of which a "drop of whiskey" was 
 evidently looked upon as indispensable by many 
 of the Scottish visitors, who, aware that such a 
 commodity was not to be obtained at the Crys- 
 tal Palace, had come provided with convenient 
 Basks of their own, which passed from mouth 
 to mouth in right good fellowship. 
 
 At 2 P.M. the concert began ; and this fea- 
 ture in the day's amusements must, in strict 
 justice, be condemned as utterly unworthy the 
 Crystal Palace and the occasion. The overture 
 to Guy Mannering, performed by the band of 
 the establishment, under the direction of Mr. 
 Manns, being a pot pourri of familiar Scottish 
 airs, was quite in keeping ; nor, considering 
 that the festival was in commemoration of 
 
422 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 Bums, could anything have been more appro- 
 priate than a selection of the songs of Burns, 
 set to the national melodies of his country. 
 But, except in the instances of Miss Dolby and 
 Miss Eansford, the singing was as bad as could 
 well be imagined ; and the miserable expedient 
 of a pianoforte accompaniment in so vast an 
 arena, and one so hopelessly unaccommodating 
 to the transmission of sound, produced an effect 
 verging upon the ridiculous. A sounding-board, 
 hung from the roof directly over the heafls of 
 the singers, was so constructed, and of such 
 diminutive proportions, as to be absolutely 
 good for nothing. The following ballads were 
 included in the first part of the concert: — 
 "There was a lad was horn in Kyle" (Mr. 
 MacDivatt); "Lord Gregory" (Miss Dolby, 
 sung with exquisite feeling); "A Highland 
 lad my love was born'' (Miss Eansford); " The 
 Banks of the Devon" (Miss Lizzie Stuart); 
 " Ye banks and braes o' bonny Doon" (Miss 
 Eansford); "I love my Jean" (Madame Poma); 
 "Highland Mary" (Mr. MacDivatt); "0 were 
 I able to rehearse" (Miss Dolby); and " O my 
 luve is like a red red rose" (glee by the four 
 singers). 
 
 The important event of the day was now at 
 hand — the opening of the sealed envelope con- 
 taining the name of the author of the Prize 
 Poem — the Fifty-guinea Ode to Burns, "not 
 less than 100 nor more than 200 lines in 
 length," the copyright of which becomes the 
 property of the Sydenham donor. Breathless 
 was the attention with which the short preli- 
 minary address of Mr. Phelps was listened to. 
 The popular tragedian, with lungs of Stentor, 
 said — " I am requested to break this seal, and 
 to announce the name of the author of the 
 poem I am about to read to you." Mr. Phelps 
 deliberately broke the seal, and as deliberately 
 pronounced the favoured name — which, to 
 those situated near enough, sounded very like 
 " Esau Crag," but to those farther away was 
 unintelligible. The directors, however, had 
 caused the name of the fortunate minstrel to 
 be written on parchment, and by exhibiting 
 this, revealed to the spectators the legitimate 
 orthography. The prize poem was the work 
 of a lady—" Isa Craig" — a communication 
 hailed with reiterated plaudits. Mr. Phelps 
 then declaimed, in that grave and weighty 
 style for which he is notorious, the following — 
 
 "ODE ON THE CENTENAEY OE BURNS. 
 
 " We hail this morn 
 A century's noblest birth : 
 
 A Poet peasant-born, 
 Who more of Fame's immortal dower 
 Unto his conntry brings 
 Than all her kings! 
 
 " As lamps high set 
 Upon some earthly eminence — 
 And to the gazer brighter thence 
 Than the sphere-lights they flout — 
 Dwindle in the distance and die out, 
 While no star waneth yet: 
 So through the past's far-reaching night 
 Only the star-souls keep their light. 
 
 " A gentle boy— 
 With moods of sadness and of mirth, 
 
 Quick tears and sudden joy — 
 Grew up beside the peasant's hearth. 
 His father's toil he shares ; 
 But half his mother's cares 
 From his dark searching eyes, 
 Too swift to sympathise, 
 
 Hid in her heart she bears. 
 
 " At early morn 
 His father calls him to the field; 
 Through the stiff soil that clogs his feet, 
 
 Chill rain and harvest heat, 
 He plods all day ; returns at eve outworn 
 
 To the rude fare a peasant's lot doth yield : 
 To what else was he boni ? 
 
 " The God-made King 
 Of every living thing 
 (For his great heart in love could hold them all ); 
 Thedumbeyes meeting his by hearth andstall — 
 Gifted to understand — 
 Knew it, and sought his hand ; 
 And the most timorous creature had not fled, 
 Could she his heart have read, 
 Which fain all feeble things had blessed and sheltered. 
 
 " To Nature's feast — 
 Who knew her noblest guest. 
 And entertained him best — 
 Kingly he came. Her chambers of the east 
 She draped with crimson and with gold. 
 And poured her pure joy-wines 
 For him, the poet-souled, 
 For him her anthem rolled, 
 From the storm-wind_ among the winter pines, 
 
 Down to the slenderest note 
 Of a love-warble, from the linnet's throat. 
 
 " But when begins 
 The array for battle, and the trumpet blows, 
 A king must leave the feast and lead the fight; 
 
 And with its mortal foes — 
 Grim gathering hosts of sorrows and of sins — 
 
 Each human soul must close. 
 
 And fame her trumpet blew 
 Before him, wrapped him in her purple state. 
 And made him mark for all the shafts of fate 
 
 That henceforth round him flew. 
 
 " Though he may yield 
 Hard-pressed, and wounded fall 
 
 Forsaken on the field — 
 
 His regal vestments soiled, 
 
 His crown of half its jewels spoiled — 
 
 He is a king for all. 
 Had he but stood aloof ! 
 Had he arrayed himself in annour proof 
 Against temptation's darts ! 
 So yearn the good — so those the world calls wise 
 With vain presumptuous hearts. 
 Triumphant moralise. 
 
LONDON. 
 
 423 
 
 " Of martyr-woe 
 A sacred shadow on liis memory rests; 
 
 Tears have not ceased to flow ; 
 Indignant giief yet stirs impetuous breasts, 
 
 To think — above that noble soul brought low, 
 That wise and soaring spirit fooled, enslaved — 
 
 Thus, thus he had been saved I 
 
 " It might not be ! 
 That heart of harmony 
 Had been too rudely rent; 
 Its silver chords, which any hand could wQund, 
 
 By no hand could be tuned, 
 Save by the Maker of the instrument. 
 Its very strings who knew. 
 And from profaning touch his heavenly gift withdrew. 
 
 " Regretful love 
 
 His country fain would prove 
 By grateful honours lavished on his grave — 
 
 Would fain redeem her blame 
 That he so little at her hands can claim, 
 
 Who unrewarded gave 
 To her his life-bought gift of song and fame. 
 
 " The land he trod * 
 Hath now become a place of pilgrimage, 
 Where dearer are the daisies of the sod 
 That could his song engage. 
 
 The hoary hawthorn, wreathed 
 Above the bank on which his limbs he flung 
 While some sweet plaint he breathed; 
 The streams he wandered near; 
 The maidens whom he loved; the songs he sung — 
 All, all are dear I 
 
 " The arch blue eyes — 
 Arch but for love's disguise — 
 Of Scotland's daughters soften at his strain; 
 Her hardy sons, sent forth across the main 
 Todrivethe ploughshare through earth'svirgin soils. 
 Lighten with it their toils ; 
 And sister-lands have learned to love the tongue 
 In which such songs are sung. 
 
 " For doth not Song 
 
 To the whole worid belong ! 
 Is it not given wherever tears can fall. 
 Wherever hearts can melt, or blushes glow, 
 Or mirth and sadness mingle as they flow, 
 
 A heritage to all ?" 
 
 Many passages were interrupted by applause, 
 and among others the sixth strophe, alluding 
 to the poet's intimate familiarity with all the 
 phenomena of nature; the eighth, which in- 
 sinuates the folly of regretting that he pos- 
 sessed the weaknesses of a man; the tenth, 
 which implies that only the Almighty could 
 have made him other than he was; the eleventh, 
 alluding most eloquently to the veneration that 
 now attaches to every scene and object with 
 which the poet was familiar during his life- 
 time; and the twelfth, setting forth how his 
 songs have been endeared to distant lands, 
 through emigrants whose" toil they have helped 
 to lighten. The termination was followed by 
 deafening shouts of applause, and repeated calls 
 for the author, which last were so obstinately 
 persisted in, that Mr. Bowley, general manager, 
 
 was compelled to come forward and protest. 
 " It is," said tlie zealous and able functionary, 
 " the wish of the directors, as weU as of your- 
 selves, to have the lady here; but you must 
 be aware that we cannot bring her here. I 
 hope, therefore, you will allow the concert to 
 proceed." Tlie logic of this appeal proved 
 irresistible, and the second part of the concert 
 began. The subjoined pieces were introduced 
 — " Auld Langsyne" (solos by Mr. Eansford) ; 
 "The Deil's awa wi' the Exciseman" (Miss 
 Lizzy Stuart); "For a' that and a' that" (Mr. 
 MacDivatt); "John Anderson my jo'" (Miss 
 Dolby); "Duncan Grey" "Somebody" (Miss 
 Eansford); "Green grow the rashes, 0" (Mr. 
 MacDivatt); "Whistle and I'U come to you, 
 my lad" (Madame Poma) ; " Willie brewed 
 a peck o' maut" (glee); "Scots wha hae" 
 (Mi:. MacDivatt); and the National Anthem, 
 to which the following occasional stanza, 
 written by Mr. T. Oliphant, Hon. Sec. to the 
 Madrigal Society, and Poet Laureate to the 
 Crystal Palace, was appended : — 
 
 " Long live her daughter fair, 
 Loved wife of Prussia's heir, 
 
 And future Queen. 
 On this their wedding day, 
 Sing we a joyful lay; 
 God bless them both, we pray — 
 
 God bless the Queen!" 
 
 In all the above pieces — except " John An- 
 derson my jo'," which Miss Dolby sang with- 
 out accompaniment and to perfection — the 
 thousands of visitors were expected to join. 
 Their zeal, however, was by no means over- 
 powering, the only instance in which discretion 
 wholly gave way to enthusiasm occurring in 
 the National Anthem. 
 
 The Caledonian Society op London. — On 
 an occasion so interesting to Scotsmen as the 
 centenary of the birth of their most distin- 
 guished poet it would have been singular, in- 
 deed, had a body so thoroughly national in its 
 character as the Caledonian Society of London 
 remained silent amid the festivities by which 
 that event has been celebrated. When the 
 first note of preparation for commemorating the 
 birth of Eobert Burns was sounded in the north, 
 it was taken up by the Caledonian Society of 
 the metropolis with characteristic warmth and 
 energy, and preparations were made to do all 
 due honour to the memory of the poet. The 
 largest room of the London Tavern was fixed 
 upon as the place of meeting, and there, ac- 
 cordingly, a very numerous and respectable 
 company of ladies and gentlemen sat down 
 to dinner, — a considerable number of per- 
 sons anxious to be present having been dis- 
 appointed from want of accommodation. The 
 room was very tastefully decorated for the occa- 
 
424 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 sion \yitli flags and insignia of various kinds. 
 Behind the chair was a framed likeness of 
 Burns by Nasmyth, and several very interest- 
 ing relics of the poet were exhibited by Mr. "W. 
 Chambers of Edinburgh, who appeared as one 
 of a deputation from the body of gentlemen by 
 whom the centenary festival has been got up in 
 Edinburgh. 
 
 The chair was occupied by Mr. R. MarshaU, 
 the president of the Caledonian Society, and 
 among the gentlemen present were — Mr. Charles 
 Knight, Mr. William Chambers, Professor Mas- 
 son, Dr. W. B. Hodgson, Mr. D. Roberts, R.A., 
 Mr. Calder Marshall, R. A., Mr. Hepworth Dixon, 
 Major Adair, Captain Adair, Lieutenant Mal- 
 comson. Major Leith, Mr. A. Maclure, Mr. R. 
 Hepburn, Mr. F. Carew, Dr. M'Laren, Rev. W. 
 H. Gray, &c. Grace was said by the Rev. Mr. 
 Gray. The dinner, which was served up in 
 the usual style of the London Tavern, embraced 
 some favourite Scottish dishes, among which, 
 worthy of special notice, appeared a huge haggis, 
 sent from the neighbourhood of Kirk Alloway, 
 " warm reekin', rich." During dinner the com- 
 pany were solaced with the sounds of the bag- 
 pipe, and when it is mentioned that not fewer 
 than five pipers, blowing might and main, 
 marched at one time round the tables, some 
 idea of the harmony that prevailed will be con- 
 veyed to the readers. 
 
 The Chairman gave in succession, prefaced 
 with appropriate observations, " The Queen," 
 " Prince Albert and the Royal Family," « The 
 Army and Navy," for which Major Adair re- 
 turned thanks ; " the Caledonian Society," the 
 characters and social qualities of which he 
 briefly described to the meeting. 
 
 Mr. Hepburn, late president, proposed " the 
 memory of Burns." In the course of his obser- 
 vations he said, — You are all aware that we are 
 met here to-night to do honour to the memory 
 of one who has long since passed away, — who 
 now lies slumbering sUently in the " Auld 
 Kirkyard," in that grave which has been so 
 often watered by the tears of a repentant peor 
 pie. (Hear, hear.) We are met to do honour 
 to the memory of one of whom a distinguished 
 writer of the present day (Thomas Carlyle) says, 
 " he was the greatest soul that lived in all that 
 18th century;" we are met to do honour to one 
 of the most gifted sons of Scotland, her own im- 
 mortal bard, Robert Burns. (Cheers.) To-night 
 " ayont the Tweed," in the modern Athens, in 
 the Western Capital, and in nearly every town 
 and village from " Maiden Kirk to John o' 
 Groat's," vast numbers are at this moment as- 
 sembled, commemorating the centenary of his 
 birth. The sentiment I am about to express 
 has already been enthusiastically responded to 
 by all ranks and classes, it now resounds through- 
 
 out the length and breadth of Scotland, it 
 finds a genial and an almost universal echo on 
 this side of the border, and it is re-echoed from 
 across the eastern and western waters. Me- 
 thinks it now falls on the ears like the murmur- 
 ing of winter winds, the rustling of autumnal 
 leaves, the rushing of mighty waters, and the 
 sound of distant thunder; and strange would it 
 have been had Scotchmen not have assembled 
 to-night in this great metropolis to swell the 
 lofty strain (cheers); strange, indeed, would it 
 have been had this society, which has ever been 
 foremost in the cause of nationality, not have 
 assembled to-night in such large numbers to do 
 honour to the nataldayof Scotia's poet; stranger, 
 indeed, would it have been had this assembly 
 not been graced by the presence of those who 
 have better feelings, warmer affections, and 
 kindlier hearts than ours, to testify thus their 
 symjjathy with the cause that brings us together. 
 Is it not pleasing to find around this festive 
 table men who are highly distinguished in the 
 literature and arts of our country — men of kind- 
 red spirit, who have come noblyforward to assist 
 us in twining fresh laurels around the brow 
 of our great national poet? Is it not pleasing, 
 sir, to see Englishmen here to-night, ofiering 
 that homage at the shrine of Burns which we 
 have ever offered at the shrine of Shakspeare? 
 (Cheers.) Is it not pleasing, sir, to find Irish- 
 men here, paying that honour to the bard of 
 Coila which we have ever paid to the bard of 
 Erin? (Cheers.) We are all met here to-night 
 to join heart and hand with the thousands upon 
 thousands of our fellow-countrymen and others 
 throughout the world, who are now proclaim- 
 ing with a loud voice, which rends the air as it 
 is wafted from shore to shore, their respect for 
 the memory of Robert Burns. It has been my 
 privilege to visit lately that corner of the land 
 for ever haUowed by its association with the 
 name of Burns. I have sauntered vrith delight 
 along the " Banks o' Doon." I have stood in 
 rapture on that spot where " Ayr gurgling 
 kissed its pebbled shore." I have climbed the 
 " Braes o' Ballochmyle ;" and I have wandered 
 through the woods that " skirt the castle of 
 Montgomery." I have looked with emotion on 
 that humble cottage wherein he first drew breath. 
 I have gazed in sorrow on that lowly chamber 
 whence that breath for ever fled. I have fol- 
 lowed him in his chequered career from infancy 
 to manhood — ^from his cradle to his grave — and 
 time will never efface the impressions made 
 upon me while in the midst of those scenes. 
 Were it possible that I could carry you there 
 now in imagination, would we not conjure up 
 the manly form of the Heaven-inspired poet — 
 truth and honesty engraven on his heart, inde- 
 pendence and nobility stamped upon his brow ■ 
 
LONDOX. 
 
 425 
 
 throwing off once more his uncongenial husk, 
 would he not stand forth erect in all the pride 
 of manhood, the image of his Maker, one of 
 God's own aristocracy? (Cheers.) In fancy 
 would we not behold him on that classic s^jot 
 wliere " the poetic gemius of his country found 
 him, as the prophetic bard Elijah did Elisha, at 
 the plough," when " she threw her inspiring 
 mantle o'er him, and bade him sing the loves, 
 the joys, the rural scenes, and rural pleasures 
 of his native soil, and in his native tongue?" 
 AVould we not look with reverence on the poet 
 who sang his native " wood-notes wild" with a 
 power and a pathos never surpassed, probably 
 never equalled? Would we not call to our re- 
 membrance much that he has said and sung ? 
 Gathering inspiration, would we not think of 
 the poet who, in glowing but truthful language, 
 portrayed so faitlifully that touching picture of 
 a humble Scottish flreside,»where sat the old 
 man with " lyart hatFets, wearing thin and 
 bare,'' in the midst Of his family, offiring up 
 thanks for daily mercies and for daily bread ? 
 (Cheers.) Think of the poet who, with one 
 stroke of his magic pen, stripped off the gem 
 its superfluous dross, and revealed it in all its 
 simple purity, when he said : — 
 
 " The Power incensed the pageant will desert, 
 The pompous strain and sacerdotal stole, 
 But haply, in some cottage far apart. 
 Will hear, well pleased, the language of the heart, 
 And in his Book of Life the inmates there enroll." 
 
 Think of the man who, teeming with fervid 
 nationality, said that " the story of William 
 Wallace poured a Scottish prejudice into my 
 veins, which shall boil along there until the 
 flood-gates of life shut in eternal rest." (Cheers.) 
 Or when, as a humble reaper, toiling for a 
 scanty pittance under the heat of the noonday 
 .sun, he suddenly saw before him the hardy em- 
 blem of our country, with the same veneration 
 M'ith which Mungo Park gazed on the little 
 gowan in the desert, so did he upon the 
 
 " Bough-burred thistle spreading wide 
 
 Amang the bearded here, 
 He turned his weeder clips aside 
 
 And spared the symbol dear." 
 
 (Cheers.) Think of his exquisite sensibility 
 and deep-rooted affection when, in thrilling 
 words that burn, he depicts his taking his last 
 I'arewell of his " ain dear Highland Mary," on 
 tliat spot where — 
 
 " Too, too soon the glowing West 
 Proclaimed the speed of parting day;" 
 
 on that spot where he gave her as a parting 
 gift that sacred relic, the little Bible, which 
 now contains a lock of her auburn hair, mur- 
 muring in bitter anguish, while thinking of his 
 early love in Heaven — 
 
 " Still o'ei' those scenes fond memory dwells 
 And ibndly broods with miser care, 
 Time but the impression stronger makes, 
 As streams the deeper channel wear." 
 
 Think of the innate nobility and glorious inde- 
 pendence of the man who wrote the memorable 
 words — 
 
 " A king can make a belted knight, 
 
 A marquis, duke, and a' that. 
 But an honest man's aboon his might, 
 
 Gude faith ! he canna fa' that. 
 For a' that and a' that. 
 
 Their dignities and a' that ; 
 The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 (Cheers.) Think of the ardent patriotism of the 
 man who wrote that spirit-stirring address — 
 
 " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." 
 
 But I fear I tire you with quotations. The 
 patriotic spirit which Burns breathed was as 
 pure as his own mountain air; that spirit, tha 
 spirit of his fathers, he had by inheritance. 
 Well did he preserve it, and hand it down as 
 a rich legacy to posterity. I am certain that, 
 before we bid farewell to the shade of the 
 mighty genius we have ventured to call forth, 
 every Scottish heart will join with the patriotic 
 poet in his prayer for the weal of auld Scot- 
 land — 
 
 " Thou that poured the patriotic tide 
 That streamed through Wallace's undaunted 
 heart," &c. 
 
 Many a time, and oft we have met to celebrate 
 the natal day of Caledonia's favourite minstrel 
 — once, and only once, can we meet to com- 
 memorate the centenary of his birth — shortly, 
 very shortly will the unerring hand of tim« 
 proclaim that 100 years have passed since he 
 was ushered into existence. Brief though that 
 existence was, he has left behind him an im- 
 perishable name. Another 100 years wiU float 
 rapidly down the stream of time, century will 
 succeed century, generation after generation 
 will pass away, all the monuments that have 
 been erected to his memory will crumble into 
 dust, and be scattered to the four winds of 
 Heaven, but his name shall live to remotest 
 ages, it wiU live long after the language he has 
 written in shall have ceased to be spoken, it 
 shall live so long as pure loyalty, honest worth, 
 manly independence, and Heaven-born genius 
 hold any sway among the nations of the earth. 
 Drink to his memory, then, not in sorrow, or 
 in sadness, but in all the plenitude of joy. Let 
 there not be a wail of the coronach, but a song 
 of triumph. Eejoice that such a man was ever 
 born, and still further rejoice that Scotland gave 
 him birth. Surrounded as we are by much that 
 is emblematic of our native land, — cheered by 
 much that reminds us of " Auld Lang iSyno," 
 
426 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 with Scottisli feelings awakened, and with 
 hearts atuned to do honour to the memory of 
 one who, " Take him all in all, we ne'er shall 
 look upon his like again," let us drink with 
 acclamation the undying memory of Eobert 
 Burns ! (Great cheering.) 
 
 A variety of toasts followed. 
 
 The Chairman proposed " The Guests," coup- 
 ling with it the name of Mr. Charles Knight. 
 
 Mr. Charles Knight, in replying, said that 
 about ten years before Eobert Burns was born, 
 Gray wrote his celebrated Elegy on a Country 
 Churchyard, in which he said — 
 
 " Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest." 
 That was no doubt true as regarded the Engli.sh 
 peasantry, who, at the time he wrote, were not 
 in a very satisfactory state in the matter of 
 education ; but Burns had received the inestim- 
 able advantages of that parochial system of 
 education which had long prevailed in Scotland, 
 and which did so much for him in the position 
 to which he was called. (Cheers.) He did 
 not say that a poet was made and not born, but 
 he meant that if Burns had been born in Eng- 
 land in the humble circumstances in which he 
 was born in Scotland, the chances were, that 
 he would not have attained the eminence of 
 being the greatest original mind of the 18th 
 century. (Cheers.) 
 
 " The health of Professor Masson of London," 
 was proposed by the deputy-chairman, and Suit- 
 ably acknowledged. 
 
 " The health of Mr. Wilham Chambers of 
 Edinburgh," was next proposed, and received 
 with great cheering. 
 
 Mr. William Chambers, who appeared as a 
 deputation from the Edinburgh Festival Com- 
 mittee, thanked the company for the cordial 
 reception his name had met with. He referred 
 to the many similar demonstrations which were 
 now taking place all over the world ; and said 
 that this singular unanimity of feeling must un- 
 doubtedly be traced to a heart-felt admiration, 
 not only of Burns's high qualities as a poet, but 
 of certain noble and manly sentiments which he 
 entertained, and which were at length beginning 
 to be properly recognised in the general economy 
 of society, as for example, the universal brother- 
 hood of man, irrespective of race, rank, or station. 
 Yet such was the fine tone of feeling in Burns, 
 that with these great notions of the dignity of 
 man, he associated a due respect for those social 
 distinctions, without which human life would 
 be a very dreary affair. Nor, in estimating 
 Burns's character, can we, continued Mr. Cliam- 
 bers, pass over the marvellous modrfsty and un- 
 selfishness, nay, his generosity and kind-hearted- 
 ness, in all which respects he bore a strong con- 
 trast to what is so plentifully exhibited where, 
 from pretensions, it ought least to be expected. 
 
 The manner in which Burns helped the seveial 
 members jf his father's family, the extraordi- 
 nary manner in which he absolutely gave away, 
 from sheer kindness, his poetical productions — 
 literary property, as they would now be called, 
 ought to shelter his- name from a thousand 
 malignities. No sooner had he realised a few 
 hundred pounds by the sale of the second edi- 
 tion of his poems, than, as was well known, he 
 lent a large portion of the money to his brother 
 Gilbert, and the rest was lost in that hard but 
 manful struggle with a farm, which made him 
 glad to seektbr subsistence as an Officer of Excise. 
 Then, look at the hundreds of beautiful lyrics 
 he contributed, without a thought of remunera- 
 tion, to Johnson's Musical Museum, and Thom- 
 son's Collection of Scottish Songs. Who would 
 do this among all the late or living poets of 
 England — who among them do not haggle for 
 the money- value of every line they write ? But 
 we know that mercenary feelings had no part 
 in the noble character of our great Scottish 
 bard. Detesting meanness, he sought only the 
 glorious privilege of being independent — that 
 is, the ability to toil for his own bread, and to 
 be beholden to no man. Speak of the degrada- 
 tion of becoming an exciseman ! I can see no 
 degradation in a man doing the best he can in 
 an honest way for himself and family. At all 
 events, a hundred times more honourable was 
 Robert Burns, in filling this humble and some- 
 what unpleasant office, than he would have been 
 in retiring, as many less deserving men have 
 done, on a state pension, procured by personal 
 or political subserviency. (Cheers.) We have 
 heard not a little of Burns's unfortunate irre- 
 gularities, most of which were clearly traceable 
 to the general bad habits of the period; and if 
 any greater extenuation was required, we had 
 only to remember what immense service he 
 has done to song, by substituting tender and 
 beautiful lyrics, which would hve through all 
 time, for pieces of a coarse nature, that were 
 now properly consigned to oblivion. We need 
 only look over his correspondence with Thom- 
 son, to see how much he had thus done in the 
 cause of purity ; and I hold that for this good 
 work alone, his name ever deserves to be men- 
 tioned with respect — his poor personal faults 
 covered with the mantle of charity, and lost in 
 the blaze of his immortal genius. (Cheers.) 
 Mr. Chambers said he would not extend his 
 observations, but do that which was perhaps 
 more agreeable to his auditors. He proposed 
 to relate an anecdote illustrative of the sus- 
 ceptible feelings of the poet. Euriis, it will be 
 recollected, came first to Edinburgh in Novem- 
 ber 1786, and remained till May 1787, during 
 which interval he saw the second edition of his 
 poems through the press, and was in the full 
 
LONDON. 
 
 427 
 
 lilaze of his fame. He became acquainted with 
 Dr. Blair, Dugald Stewart, Henry Mackenzie, 
 Black, Hutton, John Home, Dr. Adam Fergu- 
 son, Lord Monboddo, and other distinguished 
 men of the time. It was now that he wrote 
 that beautiful address to Edinburgh — 
 " Edina, Scotia's darling seat. 
 
 All hail thy palaces and towers, 
 Where once beneath a monarch's feet, 
 
 Sat legislation's sovereign powers." 
 
 It was also at this time that his portrait was 
 executed by Nasmyth, and engraved by Beugo. 
 So humble was he in his means and aspirations, 
 that he was contented with getting a share of 
 the room and bod of his friend John Eichmond, 
 in Baxter's-close, Lawnmarket. Frequently 
 he was invited or taken to the houses of his 
 literary friends, and among others that of Dr. 
 Adam Ferguson, the historian of the Roman 
 Eepublic. One evening, about April 1787, he 
 was conducted by Professor "Stewart to a con- 
 versazione in Dr. Ferguson's house in the 
 Sciennes. On this memorable occasion there 
 was present young Walter Scott, a lad of fifteen 
 or sixteen years of age. Scott had heard much 
 of Burns, he had read with delight his newly- 
 published poems, and was anxious to be in his 
 company. But this, as he tells us, could not 
 well be managed. A fellow-clerk in his father's 
 office made a kind of promise to get him intro- 
 duced through a friend; yet this plan failed, 
 and Scott would probably never have seen 
 Burns, but for the circumstance of having for 
 his acquaintance the son of Dr. Ferguson, 
 who latterly became Sir Adam Ferguson. 
 Hearing about the conversazione, and the pro- 
 bability of Burns being present, young Adam 
 gets hold of Walter, and takes him to his 
 father's house on the occasion. In the " Life 
 of Scott" we have an account of this remarkable 
 interview ; but Sir Adam, who died only two or 
 three years ago, favoured my brother with some 
 additional particulars. It seems that Burns did 
 not at first feel inclined to mingle easily in the 
 company. He went about the room looking at 
 the pictures on the walls. At length one pic- 
 ture arrests his attention ; it is a common-look- 
 ing print, in a black frame. The painter of the 
 picture is Bunbury, and the scene is that of a 
 dead soldier lying on the snow, with his dog 
 watching over him, and near him is his shiver- 
 ing wife, who suckles a baby in her bosom — 
 altogether a subject of a most dismal kind. 
 Beneath are some touching verses : — 
 
 " Cold on Canadian hills, or Minden's plain, 
 Perhaps that parent wept her soldier slain — 
 Bent o'er her babe, her eye dissolved in dew. 
 The big drops mingled -with the milk he drew. 
 Sad, mournful presage of his future years, 
 The child of misery baptised in tears." 
 
 Burns was much afiected, by the print; he read 
 
 the lines, but before getting to the end of tliem 
 his voice faltered, and his big black eye fiUed 
 with tears. A little after, he turned with much 
 interest to the company, pointed to the picture, 
 and asked if any one could tell him who had 
 written those affecting lines. All were silent ; 
 no one knew except the unnoticed lame boy, 
 Walter Scott, who modestly whispered they were 
 written by Langhorne, in a poem called the Jus- 
 tice of Peace. Scott was rewarded with a look 
 which he never forgot, and also with the words, 
 " You'll be a man yet. Sir." Now there, gen- 
 tlemen (said Mr. Chambers, pointing to a 
 framed print behind him), hangs the identical 
 picture. It was presented to my brother by Sir 
 Adam Ferguson, and as a curiosity I have 
 brought it with me from Edinburgh to show on 
 the present occasion. Intrinsically, the picture 
 is not worth five shillings ; but how priceless its 
 value as associated with that deeply-interesting 
 and only interview which took place between 
 Walter Scott and Eobert Burns, undoubtedly 
 the two greatest men whom Scotland has ever 
 produced. Mr. Chambers concluded amidst 
 great cheering. 
 
 Dinner at the Guildhall Coffee-House. 
 — Last evening upwards of one hundred gentle- 
 men, chiefly from the land of the poet, whose 
 birth-day centenary they had met to celebrate, 
 dined together at the Guildhall Coffee-house, 
 King Street, Cheapside; Mr Hannay in the 
 chair. The customary loyal toasts havuig been 
 given, enlivened with appropriate songs, the 
 Chairman proposed, in a very able speech, the 
 " Memory of Eobert Burns." He said he did 
 not rise without some hesitation and appre- 
 hension to bring before them the toast of the 
 evening. It was quite impossible that any 
 man with the ordinary sympathies of Scotch- 
 men and of men of letters should not feel 
 anxious, when calling attention to one who 
 had not only assembled them together, but had 
 brought, at that moment thousands upon thou- 
 sands of men of their race in every known 
 quarter of the globe. (Cheers.) They all met 
 together, inspired by a great memory, to per- 
 form a solemn and affecting duty. (Cheers.) 
 He could not but feel the great difficulty of 
 doing justice to the memory of that poet who, 
 perhaps alone, of all the poets in the world, 
 was honoured by such a celebration.. (Cheers.) 
 He would speak of him not only as a poet, but 
 as one of the greatest men that the race of 
 which they were all proud had ever produced. 
 He would not simply look upon him as a man 
 of letters, but as a great Scotchman, and as 
 part of the history of that great Scotch land 
 which was the mother of them alL (Cheers.) 
 They would do Burns a great injustice if they 
 set him up against great poets, and compared 
 
428 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 his casual writings and poems with the writings 
 of literary celebrities. By doing that they 
 would not only do an injustice to Burns, but 
 also do an injustice to the country from which 
 he came. He preferred to look at him as the 
 product of the nation to which he belonged, 
 and as part of it— a man whose writings and 
 life became as much a part of Scotch nationality 
 as the Castle of Edinburgh, or the Palace of 
 Holyrood. (Cheers.) They were not merely 
 met to celebrate the memory of a great man. 
 They might have centenaries in honour of many 
 great men amongst their countrymen. (Cheers.) 
 If they held a centenary for every Scotchman 
 of importance in Europe they would never be 
 sober. (Cheers and laughter.) There was some 
 reason why one particular man should be se- 
 lected for honour all over the world. It was 
 not merely in consequence of the force of his 
 understanding and intellect. No man would 
 doubt that David Hume was a man as remark- 
 able in natural gifts, and they might just as 
 well expect another Hume as another Burns ; 
 but they did not attend there to drink old 
 David's health. He was a much greater man 
 than Burns in some respects, and yet they met 
 to celebrate the memory of Burns, and not of 
 David, because there was about Burns a hu- 
 manity and manhood beyond all intellectual 
 traits. They could not but see that Scotland 
 was the oiily nation in the world that had pro- 
 duced a modern popular poet, for, although 
 England had produced great writers, it was 
 absurd to say that those men were popular 
 poets in the sense in which Eobert Burns was 
 popular. (Cheers.) He proposed to look upon 
 Burns as a creation of the history of Scotland, 
 and as himself a part of it. He might also 
 look upon him as a kind of martyr sent out by 
 Providence for the benefit of modern Scotland. 
 That was the historical view to take of the 
 man, and that was the way to get over all the 
 phenomena of his life and memory. What 
 Nature did, when she furnished them with 
 Burns, was to send forth a man at the time of 
 the eighteenth century who embodied in him- 
 
 self knowledge of the late times of Scotland 
 with all the intellect that was necessary for a 
 new period. He began by being a Jacobite 
 and ended by being a Jacobin — a totally dif- 
 ferent animal. It had been suggested by some 
 writers on the subject of the centenary meeting 
 that nothing should be said about Bums's life 
 and character ; but he (the chairman) contended 
 that there was nothing in the whole course of 
 Bums's biography of which they should be 
 ashamed. Burns's heart was good; his head 
 was good; his principles were good; he dis- 
 played fidelity to his friends, and both kind- 
 ness and aifection towards his equals. Very 
 few men that ever had been known could be 
 compared with him. (Cheers.) Whose friend- 
 ship did he betray ? Whose wife did he seduce 1 
 Whose honour did he calumniate? Whose ge- 
 nerosity did he neglect? The worst that could 
 be said of him was that he was too indulgent 
 of his animal capacity. He was not the man 
 to say that these things were defensible; and 
 if they thought him a very bad man, the mere 
 fact that he had written clever poems would 
 not justify them in honouring his memory. 
 He felt convinced, however, that, taking into 
 consideration the notions that prevailed in the 
 days when Burns lived, and all the circum- 
 stances that surrounded him, an expression of 
 kindness and affection was due to his memory 
 on personal as well as on literary grounds. 
 (Cheers.) 
 
 Many other toasts followed, including " The 
 Memory of Wallace, Bruce, and the Patriots of 
 Scotland," "The Memory of Knox and the 
 Scottish Covenanters," "The Literature of Scot- 
 land and of England," " The Peasantiy of Scot- 
 land," " The Lasses," and " The Press," aU of 
 which were duly responded to, and a very 
 harmonious evening was concluded with the 
 national finale of " Auld Langsyne," at the 
 " wee short hour." We must not omit to men- 
 tion that the veteran Templeton kindly came 
 from the London Tavern to sing one song of his 
 countryman Burns. He gave "My Nannie 0," 
 most sweetly, and was rapturously applauded. 
 
 ALNWICK. — Tlie Centenary of Burns was 
 celebrated in Alnwick by supper, held in diffe- 
 rent inns in the town. One large party, under 
 the presidency of Mr. W. Ferguson, assembled 
 at the house of Mr. Golding, Three Tuns Inn. 
 Another large party, at the house of Mrs. 
 Popkiss, Grey Inn, Mr. James Archbold in the 
 chair ; and another large party at the house of 
 Mr. Marshall, Crown Inn. The evening was 
 
 spent in pronouncing eulogiums on the poet, 
 in recitations from his works, and in singing 
 his most popular songs. The whole of the 
 parties were characterized by the utmost cor- 
 diality, conviviality, and harmony; and the 
 number of his admirers which attended on the 
 occasion, mark the strong hold which the 
 works of the poet have on tlie public mind in 
 this locality. 
 
BARNARDCASTLE— BERWICK. 
 
 429 
 
 BAE^TARDCASTLE.— At the Bums Cen- 
 tenary, on Tuesday, the Rev. Canon Dugard, 
 M.A., delivered a short but able and eloquent 
 critique on the Life and Genius of the Scottish 
 Bard, and recited the Crystal Palace Prize 
 Poem in a very impressive manner. The pro- 
 gramme included many of Burns's finest songs 
 and poems. The harmonized songs were given 
 by a trained choir of upwards of forty voices ; 
 and much credit is due to Mr. Eaper, their 
 talented conductor, for the very efficient and 
 tasteful maimer in which the part songs were 
 got up. Mr. Robert Gait read " Tam O'Shan- 
 ter" and the "Cottar's Saturday Night," with 
 g]'eat effect, and elicited much applause. Al- 
 though the weather was very stormy, a high 
 wind and rain prevailing, the room was crowded 
 to the door by an enthusiastic audience. 
 
 BERWICK. — The event was observed in 
 this town with as much enthusiasm as in any 
 of the other towns in which it was celebrated ; 
 and the various entertainments got np for the 
 occasion came off with great eclat, and in such 
 a manner as to afford general satisfaction. 
 
 At two o'clock in the afternoon the shops 
 were closed, and a general holiday commenced. 
 The weather was gloomy and uninviting; still 
 crowds of persons were attracted to the streets. 
 The Tradesmen's Band and the Band of Hope 
 paraded the town,' and general hilarity pre- 
 vailed. As five o'clock approached, the com- 
 panies for the various entertainments were to 
 be seen wending their way to their respective 
 places of meeting. 
 
 Dinner at the Red Lion Inn. — In the 
 Assembly- Room of this inn there was assem- 
 bled a company of forty gentlemen, comprising 
 the Mayor, in the chair, having on his left 
 hand Captain Smith, E.N., P. Clay, Esq., R. 
 Home, 'Esq., and Mr Joseph Wilson ; on his 
 right, R Ramsey, Esq., Rev. W. Gray, W. H. 
 Logan, Esq., J. R. Dunlop, Esq., and Dr. Ca- 
 hill. The Sheriff occupied the vice-chair. The 
 grace and the thanksgiving were said by the 
 Rev. Wm. Gray. An apology was read for 
 the absence of the. Vicar, who had promised to 
 be present, but was prevented by a domestic 
 affliction. In the course of the evening a 
 handsome punch-bowl, handed down from the 
 period of Robert Burns, was placed before 
 the company, filled with punch. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 the Mayor called upon the Rev. W. Gray to 
 give the toast of the evening. 
 
 In proposing the toast of the evening, " The 
 Immortal Memory of Robert Burns," the Rev. 
 William Gray spoke to the following effect : 
 — The aspect of the weather was singularly 
 appropriate to the Centenary of the poet's 
 
 birth. As happened on the 25th January 
 1759, the sky was cloudy and lowering, and 
 the wind blew in loud and fitful gusts. Such, 
 indeed, was the fury of the blast on the poet's 
 birthday, that the mother and her infant were 
 removed from the falling cottage to a neigh- 
 bour's house for security and shelter. The 
 reverend gentleman then recited the four open- 
 ing verses of the well-known song, " There was 
 a lad was born in Kyle," as, perhaps, the 
 most fitting introduction that could be found 
 to a sketch of the life and writings of Burns, 
 as preliminary, necessarily, to the toast of his 
 memory. He then proceeded to say that, 
 although few enlightened men held that man 
 was merely the creature of circumstances, few 
 would deny, on the other hand, that circum- 
 stances have much to do with a man's educa- 
 tion and the formation of his character. What, 
 then, were the circumstances that went to in- 
 fluence the character of Bums 1 In the first 
 place, the scenery of his birth-place must have 
 had a great share in the development of early 
 sentiment in the poet's breast. Indeed, fine 
 scenery is almost indispenisable for poetic cul- 
 ture. Why did excellent divinity and cheese 
 come from HoUand, but never a great poet ? 
 Why, because swamps produce frogs, — not 
 nightingales; and because, also, frogs have 
 always croaked, but never sung. It was, there- 
 fore, very fortunate for Burns that his birth- 
 place was surrounded by sweet rural land- 
 scapes. It was next observed that the historic 
 traditions of Ayrshire would naturally occupy 
 the attention of so thoughtful a youth as Burns. 
 Now, it is remarkable that two of the greatest 
 names in Scottish history, those of Sir William 
 Wallace and King Robert the Bruce, are inti- 
 mately blended with the local history of Ayr. 
 The influence of the romantic career of both 
 patriots is easUy discernible in the poetry of 
 Bums, and finds very grand expression in 
 " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled. ' ' A hundred 
 years ago, it was further remarked, our fore- 
 fathers were not so clever and clear-sighted as 
 we : for they believed sincerely in the exist- 
 ence of witches and fairies. When a fisher- 
 man perished in a gale, his widow and sorrow- 
 ing relatives made it their first care to select 
 some reputed witch in the country side, who 
 was suspected to be at the root of the mis- 
 chance. Old ladies, too, faithfully narrated 
 their adventures with the fairies ; and Burns 
 has accordingly made witches in " Tam o' 
 Shanter," and fairies in " Hallow E'en," play 
 a conspicuous part. The influences of the 
 peasant life were then adverted to as, perhaps, 
 the most potent in forming the character of the 
 poet. Through hardship, and toO, and self- 
 denial, Burns at length emerged from obscur- 
 
430 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 ity, and became the most famous of Scottish 
 poets. Having married Jean Armour, he set- 
 tled on the farm of Ellisland, near Dumfries. 
 The farm was a failure, and want was staring 
 him in the face, when a paternal government 
 appointed him to be a ganger at Dumfries, with 
 a salary of some £70 a-year. Here he spent 
 the rest of his life, contributing most of his 
 fine lyrics to the Musical Magazine of George 
 Thomson in Edinburgh. When he lay down 
 at length to die, while yet a young man, then 
 came the pity and remorse of his countrymen ; 
 but too late to compensate the neglected and 
 dying poet. Alas ! poor Burns, his sun went 
 down while it was yet day, "and the pale 
 shadow of death eclipsed it at noon." What 
 he might have been, what he might have done, 
 in prolonged days, who can calculate ? It is 
 enough to know that he now lies in an hon- 
 oured grave, kept ever fresh by the tears and 
 regrets of his passionately attached country. 
 Having thus sketched the story of the poet's 
 life, Mr. Gray next proceeded to the criticism 
 of his works. After answering, in a humor- 
 ous strain, the sneering question often put, — 
 "What is the use of poetry?" he divided the 
 writings of Burns into four classes : — the Did- 
 actic, the Humorous, the Lyrical, and the 
 ]!)escriptive. In all these, he observed, that 
 Burns was a follower of no master, a pupil of 
 no teacher, but was thoroughly individual and 
 unique. His didactic poetry did not exhibit 
 the worldly wisdom of Pope, nor the cynicism 
 of Byron, but was rather the expression of a 
 brotherly regard for our welfare. Hence Bums 
 secured our love, which is higher than admira- 
 tion. Mr. Gray next declared that Burns was 
 the only poet who had written great poems of 
 humour, as distinguished from wit. He could 
 make one laugh heartily, which is more than 
 Milton could do. The lyric poetry resembles 
 a patch of some beautiful landscape of nature, 
 so wildly various and beautiful is it. His 
 descriptive poetry is a series of photographs, 
 sun-pictures, or, rather, of stereoscopic views 
 of nature restored to her pristine beauty. With 
 the exception of Wordsworth, nature never 
 found such an interpreter of her loveliness as 
 Eobert Burns; for he brought to the study of 
 her beauty a hand that could portray her most 
 exquisite forms, — a heart that could sympa- 
 thize with all her various moods, and an ear 
 that could hear, through all her bounds, the 
 echo of an eternal melody! The reverend 
 gentleman concluded by calling on the com- 
 pany to drink, in silence, to the " Immortal 
 Memory of Eoborfc Burns." The toast was 
 drunk accordingly. 
 
 Eobert Eamsey, Esq., favoured the com- 
 pany with a masonic song having a reference 
 
 to Burns. W. H. Logan, Esq., in an excellent 
 speech, proposed the toast of the other poets 
 of Scotland. Mr. Eamsey proposed the toast 
 of both sides of the Tweed. Mr. George Bogue, 
 in a long address, gave the toast of the poets 
 of England. A variety of other toasts were 
 given, and many songs were sung appropriate 
 to the occasion. The hilarity of the evening 
 was kept up with ^eat spirit, and the company 
 were kept together till half-past ten o'clock, 
 when they broke up. 
 
 DiNNEB IN THE King's Arms Hotel. — ^About 
 eighty gentlemen sat down to dinner in the 
 King's Arms Assembly Eoom, James T. Wilson, 
 Esq., Spittal, in the chair. Messrs. John Fish, 
 John Morton, and Eichard Atkinson, acted as 
 vice-chairmen. After the usual loyal and pa- 
 triotic toasts, the Chairman said that the next 
 toast he had to submit for the acceptance of 
 the meeting was the toast of the evening, — 
 "The Immortal Memory of Eobert Burns," for 
 which he craved a full bumper. He said — 
 That day was witnessing an event the like of 
 which had never occurred in the history of the 
 world before. That an entire people — a whole 
 nation — with unanimous voice, should cele- 
 brate the birth of one of its sons, was some- 
 thing hitherto unheard of. Doubtless we have 
 had our Bums clubs, our Fox clubs, and our 
 Pitt clubs, which have met at a specially ap- 
 pointed place, and on a limited scale, to cele- 
 brate the anniversary of their respective heroes; 
 but these meetings have been attended by com- 
 paratively few individuals, the interest they 
 excited was never shared in by the many, and 
 received only a momentary thought from the 
 public in general. There is something inex- 
 pressibly grand, however, in the idea of a whole 
 nation meeting together for special festivities 
 in honour of a man. And not only throughout 
 Scotland and the principal towns in England, 
 but in America, in Australia, and, indeed, in 
 every land where the language is spoken, and 
 where our country's literature is read, will 
 special celebrations be observed in honour of 
 the day which gave to the world this great 
 poet and noble-hearted man. (Cheers.) The 
 question very naturally arises — How comes it 
 that Eobert Burns only of all the poets and 
 patriots of Scotland — and no people, perhaps, 
 has more reason to be proud of, or admire 
 their great men more, than the Scotch — how 
 comes it that neither Wallace nor Bruce has 
 received that share of attention which the pea- 
 sant-bard Burns has called forth? It has not 
 been for the number of his poems — for many 
 other writers have far outstripped him in that 
 resjject; nor has it been for the grandeur of 
 their subjects— for others have written poems 
 of more imj)osing character than Burns; it is; 
 
BEEWICK. 
 
 431 
 
 not even for thoir general poetical excellence — 
 lor many of the poema of Bums are not first 
 class. But the secret seems to le, that Burns 
 has written, on the inspiration of his transcen- 
 dent genius, that which touches the very in- 
 most soul of man, which comes home to every 
 heart, and which every one can understand; 
 the bard, while we read, seems to be thoroughly 
 identified with us, and we are involuntarily 
 compelled to acknowledge the presence of a 
 genius whose power it is in vain for us to re- 
 sist ; we feel, in short, Burns to be no^ -dead, 
 but a living companion, who delights while he 
 instructs us. (Applause.) This seems in great 
 part to account for the singular fact of Burns 
 having towered so loftily over all the other 
 heroes and bards to whom Scotland has given 
 birth. It had been suggested to him that the 
 company should drink to the memory of Burns 
 in solemn silence, which is the rule in corre- 
 sponding cases, but on the present, occasion he 
 thought this rule should be departed from. 
 They were not there to mourn for the dead, 
 they were rather met to rejoice that Burns had 
 ever lived, and as the immortal bard who still 
 lives in the hearts of his countrymen; and 
 whose honoured name will go down more 
 honoured than before from generation to gene- 
 ration even to the latest ages. (Immense cheer- 
 ing.) He would now, therefore, claim a special 
 bumper to " the Immortal Memory of Burns." 
 [Tlie toast was drunk with the utmost enthu- 
 siasm.] 
 
 Mr. R. Boig here sang a " Lament for Burns," 
 which was received with great applause. Many 
 speeches, songs, and toasts followed, and after 
 " Auld Langsyne" had been sung by Mr. Boig, 
 and chorussed by the company, the dinner 
 party broke up; and immediately thereafter 
 the doors were thrown open for the admission 
 of the wives and sweethearts of those present 
 at the dinner, and others, for whose amusement 
 a theatrical entertainment had been arranged. 
 It passed off well, and the evening was happily 
 spent. 
 
 Soiree in the Corn Exchange Saloon. — 
 A soiree in celebration of the Centenary of 
 Burns, was also given in the Corn Exchange 
 Saloon. It was under the management of gen- 
 tlemen connected with the Golden Square 
 Musical Association, assisted of course by the 
 indispensable advice and co-operation of the 
 ladies also connected therewith. The party, 
 which consisted of about one hundred and forty, 
 assembled at five o'clock. Mr. John M. D. 
 Patterson was unanimously called to the chair, 
 and, after tea, stated the object of the meeting 
 in a few appropriate remai'ks. The remainder 
 of the evening was pleasantly filled up by songs, 
 speeches, and recitations. The songs, which 
 
 were all ably rendered, were confined to selec- 
 tions from Burns, and the singers were accom- 
 panied by the harmonium. Services of fruit, 
 &c., were made during the evening. The 
 meeting broke up about ten o'clock, evidently 
 well pleased with the manner in which they 
 had been regaled. The surplus arising from 
 the soiree is to be devoted to charitable pur- 
 poses, and has been placed in the hands of Mr. 
 Leech, town missionary, whose visitations are 
 invoke,d by the poor of all denominations. A 
 moiety of the company adjourned to the hall 
 of the Exchange to dance, and everything, we 
 understand, proceeded very orderly and agree- 
 ably until a few gentlemen (who ought jfrom 
 their position in society to have known better,) 
 from the Red Lion Hotel dinner, intruded 
 themselves without invitation. The party broke 
 up about one am. on the 26th. 
 
 The TotnhaTjL. — A party of teetotallers and 
 others assembled in the Townhall, where tea 
 and cakes were served. At five o'clock a com- 
 pany, which completely filled the outer hall, 
 and numbered about five hundred children 
 and adults, were comfortably seated. The Rev. 
 A. Cant of Tweedmouth was in the chair. The 
 Band of Hope musicians were present, and in 
 the course of the evening played a variety of 
 airs. The chairman gave a biographical sketch 
 of the life of the poet Burns, and a number of 
 songs of his composing were sung by different 
 members of the company. Messrs. John Beve- 
 ridge, A. Paton, and others, gave exhortations 
 on temperance. Towards the close of the meet- 
 ing the magic lantern was introduced, and its 
 operations afforded much amusement to the 
 juvenile portion of the company. Altogether 
 the evening was spent very pleasantly, and at 
 half-past eight o'clock the party broke up. 
 
 Soiree. — There was a soiree in connection 
 with the second Baptist congregation, held in 
 their place of meeting. The company, which 
 amounted to about two hundred persons, was 
 presided over by the Rev. W. Lees, and, in 
 addition to that gentleman, was addressed by 
 the Rev. Messrs. Pearson, Nicholson, and 
 Thompson; and by Mr. John Cockburn. An 
 excellent entertainment was provided, and at 
 the close a vote of thanks was passed to the 
 several parties who had contributed thereto. 
 
 Dinner at the Pack Horse Inn. — On 
 Tuesday evening a meeting was held in the 
 Pack Horse Inn, Church Street, to commemo- 
 rate the Centenary of Scotland's illustrious 
 bard, when thirty gentlemen sat down to a 
 most sumptuous dinner, prepared in Mr. Gray's 
 usual first-rate style, to which great justice was 
 done. Mr. James M'Laren occupied the chair, 
 and Mr. Gibson, a well-known admirer of the 
 poet, was croupier; on the right of the Chair- 
 
432 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 man sat Mr H. Calder, a gentleman 98 years 
 of age, who sang one of the poet'is favourite 
 songs, which was very heartily responded to 
 by the company, there were some very impres- 
 sive speeches delivered by a few of the gentle- 
 men present, and some fine songs sung in first- 
 rate style, and the hilarity of the meeting was 
 kept up till an advanced hour, when all de- 
 parted highly delighted with the manner in 
 which the evening's proceedings had been con- 
 ducted. 
 
 Supper at the White Swan Inn. — A party 
 of thirty-eight assembled at this inn, where an 
 excellent supper was provided, under the aus- 
 pices of the Yearly Benefit Society. A variety 
 of speeches were made, and a number of appro- 
 priate songs were sung by Messrs. A. Yeoman, 
 Swinney, Farmer, Turnbull, and Nicolson ; and 
 a pleasant meeting was much enjoyed by aU 
 present. 
 
 BIRMINGHAM.— Birmingham lent its lit- 
 tle rill to the great river of homage to the 
 genius of Bums, which flowed through the 
 length and hreadth of the civilised world on 
 Tuesday evening. 
 
 Aston Hall. — Fifty gentlemen sat down to 
 an excellent supper in the fine old room in 
 Aston Hall, in which the Queen lunched last 
 year. The Chairman was Mr. Samuel Timmins, 
 and the Vice-Chairman was Mr. Ross. Burns' 
 well-known " grace before meat" prefaced the 
 supper : 
 
 " Some hae meat and canna eat, 
 And some would eat that want it ; 
 
 But we hae meat and we can eat, 
 Sae let the Lord be thankit." 
 
 Supper over, and the usual preliminary toasts 
 having been given, Mr. Timmins, after a few 
 introductory remarks, said the occasion was so 
 remarkable a one that it was worth while at- 
 tempting to see why they had met there, and 
 why, afte? the lapse of a hundred years, Burns 
 was so much reverenced and loved. It was 
 one of the peculiarities of the meeting that it 
 was not an assembly of Scotclimen, to whom 
 the works of their national poet had been fami- 
 liar from boyhood. It was a meeting of Eng- 
 lishmen, who had had to master much of his 
 meaning by the aid of clumsy glossaries or 
 marginal notes. And the fact that a humble 
 Ayrshire peasant, writing in a dialect much of 
 which was not known even in some parts of 
 Scotland, should have achieved not merely a local 
 fame, but a fame which had crossed the Tweed, 
 and gone through the whole world, was one of 
 the most marvellous things of modern times. 
 It would be worth inquiring how it was that 
 Burns had retained his popularity. His great 
 glory was that he was a thorough son of the 
 
 soil. (Hear.) Like the giant of old, he derived 
 all his greatness from contact with his mother 
 earth. His life showed that it was possible for 
 a man to have the highest natural sensibility, 
 and yet follow the humblest employment, and 
 tread the lowliest walks of life. (Hear.) Too 
 many of our poets have lived too much in the 
 clouds ; and with the exception of Shakspeare, 
 there were few in regard to whom we did not 
 separate the poet from the maiL Take, for in- 
 stance, "Wordsworth, the high-priest of nature, 
 the man who taught EngUshihen to love nature 
 in its highest aspects. They might be proud 
 of him, but he was a strange cold man, and 
 there was a lack of warmth in his works. So 
 it was with Coleridge ; he had said some excel- 
 lent things, and was an admirable man, but still 
 they did not feel any great personal fondness 
 for him. In the case of Bums, however, they 
 never separated the poet from his works; in 
 spite of his faults and sins, they not only ad- 
 mired his genius but revered the man. It 
 seemed to him (the Chairman) that the intense 
 humanity running through all his works was 
 the first claim Burns had upon their affection 
 and regard. (Hear.) Another point was that 
 he was always thoroughly natural. He wrote 
 simply of what passed under his own eyes, and 
 did not ransack old romance for his themes. 
 After aU, popularity with the people was the 
 best test of true poetic powers. Unless a poet 
 could make himself understood by the people, 
 he certainly did not stand in the very highest 
 and noblest rank. This was one of the great 
 characteristics of Burns. In spite of his local- 
 isms, in spite of his wanting the only glory he 
 lacked, that of being an English poet — for it was 
 to be regretted he did not write more in Eng- 
 lish, and thereby secure his works a much 
 larger diffusion — notwithstanding these things, 
 he was the poet more than any other who ran 
 Shakspeare hard in the matter of popularity. 
 We send out scores of Englishmen who know 
 little if anything of Shakspeare, but wherever 
 a Scotchman plants his foot, he erects . some 
 little memorial of Burns, carrying the fame of 
 his national poet throughout the wide world. 
 (Cheers.) Regarding the " Cottar's Saturday 
 Night" as soMng the problem of how the moral 
 tone of Burns' works was acquired, Mr. Tim- 
 mins next glanced at the characteristics of some 
 of his poems. As to his personal character, he 
 did not stand there with any absolute defence 
 of Burns. But when they remembered the re- 
 markable sensibility of his genius, and the 
 troubles and temptations to which it exposed 
 him, they must look with a very lenient eye 
 upon his failings and his sins. Let them remem- 
 ber they had the testimony of his much-loved 
 wife, that he was a good and model husband, 
 
BIRMINGHAM— BLACKBUEN. 
 
 433 
 
 and that aa to tlie reiterated charges of drunk- 
 e'liiiese, she never knew him come home in an 
 evening in a state which prevented him taking 
 care of himself (Hear.) As one of his friends 
 told some calumniators, there co-uld be little 
 doubt that if half his virtues and all his sins 
 were distributed amongst a dozen of them they 
 would have been a vast deal better men than 
 they were. (Applause.) "While mixing among 
 those higher in rank than himself, he was never 
 servile or creeping, always maintained his own 
 opinions, and was yet held in high honour by 
 all who knew him. (Hear.) Burns was essen- 
 tially a " man of men." He (the Chairman) 
 would now ask them to drink " The Immortal 
 Memory of Eobert Burns," and he would not 
 ask them to do so in solemn silence, for Burns 
 himself would have been one of the first to 
 protest against any such sombre nonsense. The 
 toast was drunk most enthu^stically. 
 
 " Shakspeare and the Poetry of England," 
 proposed by the Vioe-Chairman, was responded 
 to by Mr. Charles Matthews in a clever speech. 
 A special toast, referring to the educational pur- 
 poses to which Aston Hall is to be devoted, 
 having been proposed by Mr. Morrison, " The 
 Ladies" followed, (proposed by Mr. O'Neill, and 
 acknowledged by Mr. Cornish); and towards 
 what Burns calls " the wee short hour ayont 
 the twal," " Auld Langsyne," sung as it never 
 was before in Aston Hall, brought the meeting 
 to a close. 
 
 CoMMEKCiAL Inn. — On Tuesday evening up- 
 wards of eighty gentlemen sat down to a sump- 
 tuous dinner at the house of Mr. James Varie, 
 the Commercial Inn, Great Hampton Street. 
 The chair was taken by Mr. G. H. St. Clair, 
 the vice-chair being ably filled by Mr. Eeuben 
 Eoe. The usual loyal toasts having been pro- 
 posed, the Chairman, in an eloquent speech, 
 gave the toast of the " The Immortal Memory 
 of Eobert Burns." The next toast was that of 
 the " Men of the North," proposed by Mr. 
 Eoe, the vice-chairman, who made an eloquent 
 and eifective speech. The Chairman then pro- 
 posed the " Men of the South," which was re- 
 sponded to by Mr. Ashcroft, who read some 
 very excellent lines, written for the occasion by 
 the Eev. Hugh Hutton. A number of other 
 toasts followed, includiag the "Vice-Chairman," 
 the " Ladies," the " Host and Hostess," whose 
 catering was a subject of high commendation. 
 A most agreeable evening was spent. 
 
 Nelson Tavern. — A dinner also took place 
 at Mr. Taylor's, the Nelson Tavern, Nelson 
 Street, Sandpits, and was attended by about 
 sixty persons. After the withdrawal of the 
 cloth, . Mr. "William Smith was called upon to 
 take the chair, and he fulfilled the duties of his 
 office in a very able manner. Mr. J. Doak 
 
 occupied the vice chair. The Chairman having 
 given the usual preliminary toasts, called upon 
 the company to fill a bumper " To the Immortal 
 Memory of Bums," a proposition which it is 
 needless to say was enthusiastically received by 
 a party composed almost exclusively of Scotch- 
 men. Several other toasts followed, and the 
 intervals between them were agreeably filled by 
 members of the company, who sang and recited 
 some favourite compositions of the great na- 
 tional poet. A most pleasant and enjoyable 
 evening was spent. 
 
 Another party was held at the Fountain 
 Tavern, Camden Street, the chair being occu- 
 pied by Mr. Hughes. A very pleasant evening 
 was spent. 
 
 BLACKBUEN, (Lancashire.)— The ban- 
 quet took place at the Old Bull Hotel, where 
 the large dining-room was completely filled by 
 a highly respectable company. The chair was 
 occupied by Alderman James Cunningham, 
 who was supported right and left by Sir "Wil- 
 liam Henry Feilden, Bart, of Feniscowles (who 
 appeared in full Highland costume); James 
 Pilkington, Esq., M.P. for Blackburn; John 
 Baynes, Esq. (mayor of Blackburn); Eev. A. 
 Fraser, M.A. (Congregational minister). The 
 vice-chair was occupied by Mr. John Murray, 
 supported on the right by the Eev. H. Cock 
 (Congregational minister), and on the left by 
 Mr. WUliam Gourlay (editor of the Blackburn 
 Standard). Besides Blackburnians, and Black- 
 burnian Scatchmen, there were present many 
 friends from a distance. Ample justice having 
 been done to the good things provided, and 
 the tables having been cleared. 
 
 The Chairman gave in succession " The 
 Queen," and "The Prince Consort and the 
 Eoyal Family." 
 
 The Chairman then called on the Eev. A. 
 Fraser to give the toast of the evening, " The 
 Immortal Memory of Bums." The rev*, gen- 
 tleman was received with loud applause. He 
 said that he took , part in their meeting with 
 very great pleasure, and he very willingly un- 
 dertook the task which had been assigned to 
 him. The subject was a large one, but he 
 would not attempt on an occasion like the pre- 
 sent to give them either a lecture, a critical 
 disquisition, or a laboured historical discourse. 
 He would be content with something less than 
 either. "When he spoke of Scotland, although 
 a Scotchman, he did not speak of "home." 
 The place where he now resided was home. 
 His native land had been, not abandoned, but 
 left. His early associations, literary, religious, 
 and otherwise, had been given up, and others 
 had been formed in this locality, which had 
 thereby become his home. But still he had 
 
434 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 not lost the nationality, whicli was a peculiar 
 characteristic of mountaineers; and therefore 
 he had great pleasure in trying to bring before 
 them some historical, religious, and political 
 points regarding the great poet whose centen- 
 ary had brought them together. A century 
 had passed away since Robert Burns was born, 
 and these centenary celebrations carried one's 
 thoughts back to almost the time of the last 
 civil war, the rebellion of 1745-6. A century 
 ago— "jWaverley" refers to a period slightly 
 anterior, and every person has read Waverley, 
 the production of another immortal genius, and 
 he too a Scot — a century ago was a cold, un- 
 genial age. There was a spice of tyranny in 
 political matters. The gospel in the church 
 was a little diluted, or, in some cases, <!ven 
 tainted with error; and where the holy Evan- 
 gel was clearly taught and faithfully, much of 
 narrow prejudice and bigotry mingled with it. 
 At this period was our poet born, of poor but 
 honest and industrious parents — to receive a 
 very slender education, but to have and to hold 
 strong sentiments and passions, and to wield 
 the powers of a splendid genius, and wake the 
 responses of natiire, 
 
 " While wood shall grow, 
 And water flow." 
 
 But how came Burns to he the man ho was? 
 He was of wonderful genius, and his genius 
 was of a peculiar character. It was that which 
 expresses itself in the language of feeling : his 
 poetry is the poetry of the affections. A genius, 
 and other great gifts, God bestows with much 
 more impartiality then many imagine. In this 
 matter there is no respect of class or persons. 
 God gave genius to the ploughboy! His com- 
 peers acknowledged it, and admired him and 
 feasted him for a little while, and then aban- 
 doned him to poverty and distress. His dis- 
 tresses were not useless. Who has ever learned 
 much without sufleriug? Who that has suf- 
 fered in a noble cause may not adopt the lan- 
 guage of Virgil: "Not ignorant of misfortune 
 myself, I have learned to succour the wretched?" 
 Pathetic depths and glowing feelings result 
 from blessed pain, and hence the allurements 
 of dangerous enterprise and the interest of tra- 
 gedy. From amidst the lights and shadows of 
 Scottish humble life, Burns distinguished him- 
 self. Like Horace, he reared for himself a mo- 
 nument more lasting than brass. Like Horace, 
 and even far more widely than this favourite of 
 Augustus, his satire and his song were heard. 
 He raised the fallen spirit of his country from 
 the dust, and throwing targets and claymores 
 aside, in a peaceful, ethereal, immortal strain, 
 uttered his voice. He did not choose as his 
 themes scenes and events which occurred one 
 or two hundred years ago, but he laid hold of 
 
 the present and the passing. He sung of the 
 great mountain, the flowing stream, the fertile 
 valley, the foaming cataract, the scenes of active 
 life — scenes between soul and soul. He sung 
 of man, and all man's hopes and aspirations. 
 He sung of love — pure, upright, virtuous love. 
 He sung of prayer, and piety, and heaven — 
 " The land o' the leal." He spoke to nature, 
 and nature's echoes keep replying. He wrote 
 for men, and the masses own his sway. You 
 are witnesses, and the many tens of thousands 
 who have met this week in all parts of the world. 
 With each returning season the themes of Bums' 
 songs are ever fresh and ever new; and thug it 
 is that we speak of " The Immortal Memory of 
 Burns." It is because his themes are immortal 
 that he is immortal And Burns brought to 
 bear upon his themes the power of a feelmg 
 mind, which caused him always to be in the 
 extreme of ecstacy or misery. But it is the 
 feeling with which he spoke and wrote that 
 wiU make his works remain while the world 
 remaineth. Scotchmen have a right to be 
 proud of Burns. He is peculiarly their own — a 
 countryman— a kindred mind, clear-headed, 
 warm-hearted, of boiling spirit and indomitable 
 courage, romantic and enterprising. There is 
 another thing which this great man has done : 
 he has embalmed a language, he has rendered 
 classic his native dialect — " the gude braid low- 
 lands" of his age and locality. And why should 
 not our mother tongue, like the ancient Greek, 
 have its dialects 1 Attic, Ionic, Doric, Hellen- 
 istic, all of them have their own excellences 
 and then- own writers in prose and verse? Had 
 circumstances varied — and the court been trans- 
 ferred from London to Edinburgh, instead of 
 from Edinburgh to London, the classic English 
 must have been Scotcli. At all events, why 
 should not our mother tongue — I mean what is 
 now English, with all its appurtenances — ^be 
 the language of humanity — the language of the 
 world. I think it may be ; and the scholars 
 on future forms — on timber yet to be grown — 
 will be studying together, as illustrations of the 
 force and pathos of the old Saxon speech — 
 " Thomas and Mary," " Thomas of Shanter," 
 and " Souter John!" Eor Barns lived for the 
 future. His poems are a complete essay on 
 man. He sighed for the good time coming, 
 and prayed for it likewise, in the faith which 
 Isaiah and Micah had inspired — that happy 
 fiiture time, when they shall " hang the trum- 
 pet in the hall, and study war no more." All 
 honour to warriors while they are needed. But 
 in that fair future time the rank and file of men 
 will be men — and good men — and true men — ■ 
 and golden men, as the poet has predicted ; and 
 of sufficient calibre to receive a charge of such 
 poetry, and sound if forth again until the wel- 
 
BLACKBUEN— BRADFORD. 
 
 433 
 
 kin ring ! Tlio contributions of Burns to the 
 pleasure and profit of the human race — like 
 land bequeathed in ancient time to religious 
 and charitable purposes— will ever rise in value 
 as time rolls on. The well of truth can never 
 be emptied, and genius is a perennial stream; 
 and the human heart, with all its earthliness, 
 has gold in it, and the gold of that land is good ; 
 and the more diggers the more finders, and the 
 supply is inexhaustible. And when we have 
 done working, and learning, and enjoying, and 
 suiTering on earth, let us cherish the faith that, 
 we shall meet, 
 
 " No wanderer lost, 
 A family in Heaven ! " 
 
 Mr. James Jardinb then addressed the meet- 
 ing, on " The genius of Burns," as follows : — I 
 cannot but think how cheering it would be to 
 such a noble and generous heart as Burns's to 
 have lived to see the day da^^n upon tliis our 
 world, when men of all nations and of all ranks 
 in society, forgetting their past grievances, lay- 
 ing aside their little prejudices, should meet as 
 J3n the present occasion, and pay that debt of 
 humble gratitude which is due to departed 
 genius and sterling worth. He touched the 
 dearest chord in our nature when he sung in 
 the following strains : — 
 
 " Then let us pi'ay, that come it may, 
 
 As come it will for a' that, 
 That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth. 
 May bear the gree, and a' that. 
 For a* that, and a' that; 
 It's coming yet. for a' that, 
 That man to man, the world o'er. 
 Shall brothers be, for a' that." 
 
 Then, like Burns, we care not from what nation 
 you come, or what land you claim to be that of 
 your birth, " we shall brothers be, for a' that. ' ' If 
 we cannot literally love our neighbours as our- 
 selves, we ought to try to imitate that heaven- 
 born precept — " Whatsoever ye would that 
 men should do to you, do ye even so to thorn." 
 That was the " Union Jack" which our hero 
 fought under as he crossed life's stormy ocean ; 
 that was the standard he wished to plant upon 
 every towering mountain top, as he climbed life's 
 slippery steep; that was the flag he. wished 
 to see riding upon every wave and floating in 
 every breeze. I expect that the day is not far 
 distant when men wiU all be like our rural bard, 
 and will plead the principles of our common 
 humanity and universal brotherhood. That was 
 the fairy crown the finger of nature had wrought 
 for him ; these were the gems the lily-white hand 
 of genius planted in his crown ; these were the 
 jewels tliat adorned his brow : and although this 
 crown sat upon the head and these jewels nestled 
 on the brow of a neglected son of rustic toil, they 
 shine now with more brilliant lustre and daz- 
 
 zling splendour than even the crown and the 
 diamonds that bedeck a monarch's state. Then 
 let his faults be what they may (and there is 
 not one that deplores them more than I do), 
 charity, like some heavenly visitant, whispers 
 in my ear, " tread upon these spots but lightly," 
 for his faults and his follies were those of err- 
 ing humanity. But, thank God, his_ laurels 
 were not stained with blood, nor bedewed with 
 the tears of our widows or of our fatherless 
 children. They were those of humanity, equity, 
 sincerity, peace, and true liberty. These are 
 the laurels that fear no decay. They will live 
 when this world, with its sects and parties, na- 
 tions and nationalities, its pools of blood and 
 fields of mangled slain, is no more. They wiU, 
 bloom as fresh as the rose, and as fair as the 
 lily, in the second Eden's lovely bowers. They 
 are like the source from whence they sprung — ■ 
 eternal. Mr. Jardine concluded by reciting a 
 poem composed by himself for the occasion. 
 Other eloquent speeches followed, songs were 
 sung, and the evening was one of rare enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 BRADFORD. — A great dinner party met in 
 St. George's Ball. Five tables stretched from 
 end to end of the spacious area, and at the top, 
 just from be]ow the orchestra, an elevated table 
 was placed transversely for the principal guests. 
 The front of the orchestra was tastefully deco- 
 rated with three large mirrors, surrounded by 
 crimson and white drapery, and on the orches- 
 tra was placed a collection of evergreens. The 
 band of the Enniskillen Militia occupied the 
 front of the west gallery, and in the early part 
 of the evening, played with effect many national 
 and popular airs. The guests at the dinner 
 table numbered three hundred and forty, and 
 after dinner about three hundred ladies in 
 evening dress occupied -the stalls. Sir Peter 
 Fairbairn, mayor of Leeds, presided. He was 
 supported on his right by the mayor of -Brad- 
 ford (H. Brown, Esq.), R. Milligan, Esq., 
 (Acacia), H. W. Ripley, Esq. (Lightcliflfe), Rev. 
 Dr. Willis, incumbeBt of St. John's, James 
 Wheelhouse, Esq., of Leeds, Mr. Alderman 
 Mitchell, Mr. James Law, and Mr. Wm. Byles ; 
 and on his left by J. BotteriU, Esq., ex-mayor 
 of Leeds, Rev. D- Sim, Rev. Dr. Eraser, Walter 
 ililligan,- Ikq. (Low Royd), Dr. Carrington, of 
 Yeadon, &c. Dr. Macturk occupied the vice- 
 chair, and the other tables were presided over 
 by members of the committee. 
 
 The following gentlemen officiated as stew- 
 ards: — Dr. Macturk, Dr. Wright (Halifax), 
 Messrs. D. Salmond, A. NeiU, John Glover, 
 A. M'Kean, D. Abercombie, J. G. Wilson, 
 John Wilson, Adam Brown, A. Falker (Leeds), 
 W. Duckitt, S. Smith, W. Douglas, W. Bil- 
 
436 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 lington, A. S. M'Laurin, Thomas Smith, W. 
 Milligan, Peter Law, John Beattie, E. Milligan, 
 jun., Eichard Hamilton, Thomas Tindal, D. 
 Thomson, and E. Douglas. 
 
 After the usual loyal toasts, the Chairman 
 gave " The Army and Navy," when " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled," was sung by Mr. 
 Joseph Jowett. It was no sooner concluded, 
 than the Chairman, conveying the evident feel- 
 ing of the company, requested its repetition. 
 The large assembly, whose enthusiasm had 
 been thoroughly aroused by the song, rose to 
 their feet, and on the repetition of the song, 
 joined in chorus in the alternate verses. The 
 scene is one which wiU long live in. the memory 
 of those present. 
 
 The Eev. T>. Sim said — Mr. Chairman, 
 ladies and gentlemen, in undertaking the 
 duty of introducing the toast of the evening 
 to your notice, I have obeyed, too rashly, 
 perhaps, the call of the gentlemen with 
 whom this banquet originated, deeply sensible 
 of the honour conferred on me, yet no less 
 conscious of my unfitness to do justice to such 
 a theme, and of the large measure of indulgence 
 which I must hope to receive at your hands. 
 It is without affectation — it is but the honest 
 sentiment of my heart, when I say that I have 
 no title whatever to the place that has been 
 assigned me in these proceedings, unless it be in 
 sharing with you — my fellow-countrymen and 
 women — in ardent attachment to our native 
 land ; in admiration, fervent as your own, for 
 our great national poet, deepened in my own 
 case, it may be, by a residence of years in what 
 has been truly called the land of Burns, amidst 
 those scenes, beautiful by nature, yet invested 
 with new charms, by the grateful and adoring 
 child, whose latent genius they evoked and nur- 
 tured. But, sir, whatever apprehensions may be 
 felt by me, I dismiss them on a moment's reflec- 
 tion, that it is the memory of Burns to which 
 you are now invited to pay your meed of homage. 
 The fame of him, who left us only too soon, for 
 himself and us, rests on a foundation too deep 
 and enduring to suffer any damage from my 
 imperfect advocacy. The name of Eobert Burns 
 will speak, and is speaking for itself. At this 
 very hour, what a potent spell is it proving 
 over the whole face of the civilised world. 
 "Were it possible that the bard could rise from 
 his lonely sleep, and see the world-wide repu- 
 tation he has created for himself, how gloriously 
 would he find the vision of his early youth ful- 
 filled, in which the Muse of his native country 
 bound the green holly round his head, and bade 
 him wear it — realised in a manner and to an 
 extent, even he, probably, in his most sanguine 
 moments, never ventured to anticipate. (Ap- 
 plause.) As the lapse of years has borne, us 
 
 further and further away at once from the 
 cradle and grave of (he man, his surpassing 
 gifts, instead of dwindling on the view, have 
 been only growing larger and more luminous. 
 A hundred years complete their course to-night, 
 since he opened his eyes in the little cottage — 
 the " auld clay biggin" by the banks and braes 
 o' bonny Doon. Many changes has that cen- 
 tury carried in its bosom — many things once 
 interesting has it buried in darkness and 
 silence, but the name of Burns stands higher 
 at this moment than it has ever done, and pro- 
 mises to live for many centuries to come. 
 What do we witness, sii-, when we look around 
 us this night? Throughout the length and 
 breadth of that land from which the poet's 
 name can never be dissevered till it ceases to 
 exist — in its cities, its towns, its remotest ham- 
 lets — in forms the most manifold — we see all 
 classes of the people hastening, with an enthu- 
 siasm hitherto unparalleled, to celebrate the 
 hundreth birthday of their greatest country- 
 man. The swell of their acclamation has crossed 
 the bolder, and England warmly takes it up ; 
 our American brethren shout across the At- 
 lantic that they shall not be wanting — and 
 even at the Antipodes, under the Australian 
 cross, the season shall not pass without be- 
 fitting oojnmemoration. And, coining to our- 
 selves, permit me to say, sir, that it is with 'no 
 ordinary pleasure I see this krge and influen- 
 tial company convened in this hall under your 
 presidency, prepared, as I believe you all are, 
 nay, eager, may I not say, to give the name 
 of our poet your very heartiest reception. 
 Scotchmen we have here, who may naturally 
 feel proud this night of their country's gifted 
 son, and be the foremost to wreath their chap- 
 let round his bust. Englishmen are here who, 
 though they glory, as we also do, in their peer- 
 less Shakspeare — join us not the less cordially 
 in this tribute, to one who has been happily 
 described as the brightest of the planetary train 
 that circles round the mighty sun of the Bard 
 of Avon. Irishmen, with their warm hearts, 
 are here, who, in honouring Burns, will pay 
 the most graceful compliment to the lyrical 
 genius of their own sprightly and charming 
 Moore. Gentlemen, who may he collectively 
 taken as the representatives of the industry and 
 commerce of this great West Eiding, who, by 
 your presence here, hear a practical protest 
 against the alleged materialism of the age, who 
 thus testify that you can appreciate other than 
 material interests ; who hail as the benefactors 
 of their species, those from whose lays dew^isT 
 tils to refresh our hearts when dry as summer 
 dust, and who, more than any others perhaps, 
 impress all ranks with a sense of their common 
 brotherhood, by touching those chords of feel- 
 
BEADFORD. 
 
 437 
 
 ing to which the uuiveraal heai-t of humanity 
 vibrates. Last, but far from least, we have 
 here the ladies, casting the radiance of their 
 smiles over this scene, and proving that the 
 very memory of the bard still retains something 
 of that fascinating power which ever drew them 
 around his living presence. "Who could be 
 expected to remember Bums, if he were aban- 
 doned by those whom he esteemed as the latest 
 and most finished product of divine workman- 
 ship — the bonnie lasses, whom he loved and 
 sung 1 (Applause.) It were impossible for 
 me, even if I were competent to the task, and 
 this the proper tima for it, to attempt anything 
 like a critical estimate of the genius of our great 
 countryman. Those who wish to see this done 
 in a manner creditable alike to the writers and 
 their subject must betake themselves to the 
 pages of Carlyle or Wilson. But even before 
 these had taken up the pen, the hearts of man- 
 kind, whose instincts are often truer than 
 canons of criticism, had already and decidedly 
 pronounced their verdict. I will not venture 
 to criticise the genius of Burns. And with 
 respect to his failings as a man, which un- 
 doubtedly he had, as in some form we all have, 
 as Shakspeare, Byron, Moore, and a host of 
 • others had, with respect to these I shall only 
 say, that we regret them as sincerely as he 
 himself did. (Hear, hear, and applause.) We 
 are here, not as morbid anatomists of ^ moral 
 infirmities, but as the admirers of genius — of 
 all that was true, and beautiful, and good in 
 the man; and well entitled to our deep and 
 glowing homage is our Ayrshire bard, the poet 
 of nature. If ever there was one who could be 
 regarded as a poet born and not made, surely 
 that man was he ; a man as original in his sub- 
 jects as in his manner of handling them; a 
 man — 
 
 " Whose songs gushed from his heart 
 
 As showers from the clouds of summer, 
 Or tears from the eyelids start; 
 
 Who, through long days of labour, 
 And nights deroid ol ease. 
 
 Still heard in his soul the music ' 
 Of wonderful melodies." 
 
 A man whose productions are his veritable self 
 — ^Nature's own work; every page and almost 
 every line bearing the impress of that large- 
 hearted, open-hearted, unhypocritical, manly 
 being. (Applause.) When the poetic genius 
 of his country found him, as the prophet bard 
 Elijah did Elisha at the plough, and threw 
 her inspiring mantle over him, she bade him 
 sing in his native tongue, the loves, the joys, 
 the rural scenes, and rural pleasures of his 
 native soil He accepted the mission, and how 
 very nobly did he fulfil it. 
 
 " No idly feigned poetic pains, 
 Arcadian raptures quaint and tame," 
 
 are those which breathe in his impassioned 
 strains. The fountains of his inspiration were 
 in the common air, and earth, and sky about 
 him — in the incidents of his own life — the 
 emotions of his own heart, the simple cottagers 
 with whom he mixed, the every-day doings in 
 which he bore his part, and over all that world 
 of hard reality he poured the wealth of his 
 genius till it became full of beauty and pathos. 
 (Applause.) " That," said Coleridge once, when 
 in some lonely cottage he fell in with a well- 
 thumbed copy of Thomson's " Seasons," " that 
 is true fame." And what is it that constitutes 
 the highest fame of Burns 1 It is not, like some 
 great masters of the art, to be praised much 
 and little read. It is not the monuments that 
 have been reared to him. It is not even such 
 gatherings as these to celebrate his natal day. 
 His chiefest honour, and what would have been 
 deemed by him his richest reward, is, that his 
 " native wood-notes wild" are still mingling 
 with the mirth and melancholy of thousands 
 at home and far away — in the moorland cot- 
 tage, in the city workshop, on the harvest jfield 
 and the field of battle. And why is it sbf It 
 is because the throbbings of their own manly 
 hearts, in all their manifold moods, which other- 
 wise would have continued mute, have found 
 utterance through the in.spired lips of the poet. 
 The hills and woods arid streams grow brighter 
 under the hght of his song. Sacred memories 
 steal softly on the spirit when, in the finest 
 offering that genius ever laid on the shrine of 
 domestic affection and devotion, when, in the 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night," the priest-like sire 
 is seen opening " the big ha'-Bible, ance his 
 father's pride." (Applause.) The spirit of 
 patriotism burns with a keener glow in the 
 bosom, and the pulse beats quicker, while 
 " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled" rolls like 
 the thunder and flashes forth its condensed 
 energy like the lightnings on the moor where 
 it was composed. (Applause.) The honest 
 labourer, battling manfully with the toils and 
 cares of life, feels the natural glow of honour 
 and independence quickened, and lifts his 
 brow, unabashed, before the highest-born as 
 he sings — 
 
 " A man's a man for a' that." 
 
 The lover pours softly into the ear of some 
 other Mary or Jean, the verses in which the 
 immortal minstrel first woed his own ; and 
 well he may, for he knows that no poet, either 
 of ancient or modern time, ever sung to noble 
 lady strains of more fervent tenderness, couched 
 in sweeter words. Nor is the poet less exquisite 
 in his sympathies with all other living and 
 lifeless things; there is nothing too lowly for 
 his loving heart, and in his hands the meanest 
 
438 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 object can " unseal the source of sympathetic 
 tears." The daisy, "wee, modest, crimson- 
 tipped flower," catches his eye as the plough- 
 share unheaves its bed, and, with the grace 
 which he has made for it, it glints for ever on 
 the reader of his page, as it did from the 
 " histie-stibblefield," the emblem of despoiled 
 innocence or suffering worth. (Applause.) When 
 the storm is up on a winter night, with " flaky 
 showers and whirling drift," what pathos is 
 there, as he thinks of " Ourie cattle or silly 
 sheep wha bide this brattle o' winter war;" 
 and still more of 
 
 " Ilk happing bird, wee, helpless thing, 
 That in the merry months o' spring, 
 Delighted me to hear thee sing, 
 
 What comes o' thee? 
 Whar wilt thou cower thy chittering wing, 
 
 An' close thine e'e ? " 
 
 Eut I must not enlarge. Only a genius akin 
 to his own can worthily descant on the excel- 
 lences of Burns. I call on you then to join 
 me, and let it be with all your heart in devoting 
 an overflowing bumper to the immortal memory 
 of Eobert Burns. (Applause). 
 
 The Eev. Dr. Feasee, in introducing the 
 " Memory of Sir Walter Scott," remarked that 
 it was matter of no small pleasure to 1dm to look 
 upon an assembly such as that, gathered to- 
 gether to do honour to departed genius, and 
 the pleasure which he felt was enhanced by 
 the thought that the tribute of respect which 
 was being rendered that day to the memory of 
 Burns was confined neither to the land of his 
 birth nor to the niimbers of his countrymen. 
 He (Dr. F.) believed, and was not alone in be- 
 lieving, that a true poet, like a true patriot, 
 belonged to all lands, and to all time. (Ap- 
 plause.) He was the world's property^a gift 
 sent down from heaven to man on earth. The 
 narrow boundaries of his father-land could not 
 limit the sphere of his influence who, inspired 
 by genius, came forth the interpreter of nature's 
 beauties, and added to truth and duty a fresh- 
 ness and a charm unfelt before. (Applause.) 
 ITie glorious visioiLs which burst upon the poet's 
 eye when he soared aloft upon imagination's 
 pinions were free to all ; the only spell that was 
 needed to unlock their splendours to human 
 view was the possession of an intellect that 
 could comprehend them. The brotherhood of 
 intellect was a universal brotherhood. Wher- 
 ever there was found that taste which the poet 
 so beautifully described when he said it was 
 
 — " like the silent dial's power. 
 Which, when supernal light is given 
 
 Can measure inspiration's hour, 
 And tell its height in heaven." 
 
 Wherever there was that intellect — that taste, 
 the triumphs of genius would ever find a re- 
 
 sponse and a welcome. All honour, then, he 
 said, as a Scotchman, to those men who, though 
 not of Scottish birth, united with them that 
 evening in paying their tribute of respect to 
 the memory of Bums; men who showed by 
 their presence amongst them that they had that 
 taste which could appreciate the beauty of his 
 imagery, the striking creations of his fancy, his 
 simple heart-winning pathos, and his kindling, 
 soul-stirring thoughts of honest worth and 
 manly independence. (Applause.) He liked 
 to hear an EngUshman join in singing " Scots 
 who hae." (Applause.) It told him this, that 
 that Englishman looked beyond national dif- 
 ferences and party feuds; that that Englishman 
 looked upon his once Northern foes with the 
 same generous feelings with which Eoderick 
 Dhu regarded Fitz James in the Highland 
 pass — 
 
 — " in his eyes 
 Respect was mingled with surprise 
 And the stern joy which warriors feel 
 In foemen worthy of their steel." 
 
 and just as Englishmen and Scotchmen found 
 in each other no unworthy opponents in times 
 that were past, so they found now noble and 
 glorious assistants in the great work of ad- 
 vancing the civilization and freedom of the- 
 world. (Applause.) 
 
 Many other excellen't speeches, toasts, and 
 songs were given. " Auld Langsyne" was sung 
 by Mr. Councillor J. Jowett, the whole com- 
 pany up-standing and joining therein. The 
 National Anthem was then sung, and the com- 
 pany began to separate about eleven o'clock. 
 
 EEISTOL.— The Centenary of the birth of 
 Eobert Burns was commemorated in this city by 
 a couple of pubUc dinners, one of them being 
 held in the large lecture hall at the Athenaeum, 
 and the other at the Angel Inn, High Street. 
 About one himdred and twenty gentlemen sat 
 down to dinner at the Athenseum, under the 
 presidency of P. F. Aiken, Esq., grandson of 
 Eobert Aiken, writer, Ayr, the early friend 
 and patron of the poet; and amongst those 
 present we observed Dr. Symonds, Captain 
 Hardy (of the 1st Bombay Lancers), and 
 
 Messrs. May, M. Dunlop, J. M'Arthur, 
 
 E. S. Eobinson, J. Bush, J. Sadler, Vas- 
 
 sell, G. S. Bryant, Warren, W. Hathway, 
 
 W. Little, (Chippenham), Mack, E. Wil- 
 son, W. H. Williams, &c. &c. The wall at 
 the lower end of the room, behind the Chair- 
 man's seat, was hung with festoons of ever- 
 greens, suspended from the centre of which 
 was a transparency, representing the thistle — 
 the emblem of Scotland — with the motto un- 
 derneath of "Nemo me impune laoesset." At 
 the opposite end of the room, underneath the 
 
BRISTOL. 
 
 439 
 
 tribunes, was a scroll, bearing the inscription, 
 "Should Auld Acquaintance be Forgot." 
 
 On the removal of the cloth, and previous to 
 "Non nobis Domine" being sung, a number of 
 ladies, in evening dress, entered the tribune, 
 and their appearance was greeted with loud 
 applause on the part of the gentlemen in the 
 body of the hall. 
 
 After the usual preliminary toasts, the 
 Chairman rose and said — Ladies and gentle- 
 men, all nations have celebrated the pub- 
 lic services of eminent men by triumphs, 
 festivals, statues, monuments. Our poets, 
 whose characters are various, and their works 
 of unequal merit, have their monuments in our 
 churches and cathedrals. At Westminster 
 Abbey, they cluster like stars in the milky 
 way, and their dust mingles with that of 
 heroes, statesmen, and kings. It is a sad 
 thought that posthumous Jionours come too 
 often after a life of comparative neglect and 
 adversity. Milton complained that his lot fell 
 on evil days; but little disappointed, not at 
 all dejected, he looked fonvard with confident 
 hope to the verdict of posterity. And so those 
 best thoughts and words, that bear the stamp 
 of immortality, come down to us in books, 
 which Bacon finely calls " the ships of Time." 
 As your cargoes, merchants of Bristol, increase 
 in value when they come from afar, so the rich 
 freights of genius that have safely crossed the 
 waves of time are all the more precious. Burns 
 and Scott have made Englishmen and foreigners 
 acquainted with their country. Eveii in Dr. 
 Johnson's time, Scotland was imagined to be a 
 hilly region Avithout trees, bleak and barren, 
 inhabited by a race half barbarous and half 
 clad, fed on oats, like English dogs and horses, 
 the clansmen and followers of lawless chief- 
 tains. Edinburgh was named " Auld Eeekie," 
 smoky like London, to which Dr. Johnson 
 could not object ; but there were no police, and 
 the houses were very high, and lazy cooks and 
 housemaids in the eighth or tenth story, dis- 
 charged the office of board of health by sum- 
 mary methods of domestic purification, peril- 
 ous to passengers, which made the Doctor 
 complain toBoswoU of the Canongate and High 
 Street after nightfall — (laughter). Now Eng- 
 lishmen are aware that romantic Edinburgh, 
 the modem Athens, has few equals among 
 cities ; the commercial Glasgow is the Liver- 
 pool of the north ; and that the waters of the 
 estuary of the Clyde are, at least, as clear as 
 those of the Severn — (hear, hear). Highland 
 chieftains and their clans are respected among 
 their native hills, and for many a welMought 
 field, and their merits are acknowledged south 
 of the Tweed, with the exception, perhaps, of 
 one chieftain, under whose plain, uninviting 
 
 exterior, there is warmth of heart — a solid sub- 
 stantial worth, which recommends him to his 
 countrymen — I mean that gi-eat chieftain of 
 the pudding race — haggis — (cheers and laugh- 
 ter). What Burns and Scott together have 
 done for Scotland, Burns did for Ayr — 
 
 " Wham ne'er a town suipasses, 
 Fctt honest men and bonnie lasses " — 
 
 a town situated between the rivers Ayr and 
 Doon, and on the shore of the broad blue sea 
 of the Forth of Clyde. Those two beautiful 
 rivers, and neighbouring scenery of Dumfries- 
 .shire. Burns has made classic ground. And 
 here you will pardon me for adverting to some 
 facts incidentally relating to the family of him 
 who has the honour to address you, as they 
 are his apology for occupying this place, but 
 especially as they are connected with the lite- 
 rary history of Burns, and therefore I am sure 
 you will not regard them as egotistical. Wil- 
 liam Burns, the father of the poet, was the 
 gardener and bailiff of Mr. Fergusson of Dun- 
 holm. The daughter of Mr. Fergiisson mar- 
 ried Mr. Hunter, of Bonnyton, also in Ayr- 
 shire, who became proprietor of Dunholm, for 
 which the river Doon is the boundary. A 
 brother of Mr. Hunter was proprietor of Bar- 
 jarg, on the Nith, a few miles from Burns's 
 farm of Ellisland, and their sister was the wife 
 of Eobert Aiken, to whom Burns dedicated 
 the poem ("The Cottar's Saturday Night"), 
 the original copy of which, in his hand-wi-iting, 
 is here — (Cheers). When Bums was about to 
 embark for the West Indies in despair, his 
 warm friends, Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Aiken, 
 encouraged the publication and sale of his 
 poems; and Gilbert Burns wrote to Dr. Cume 
 that "'The Cottar's Saturday Night' is in- 
 scribed to Mr Aiken, a man of worth and 
 taste, of warm affections, and connected with 
 a most respectable circle of friends aud rela- 
 tions. The poems of my brother no sooner 
 came into his hands than they were quickly 
 known and well received in the extensive 
 circle of Mr Aiken's friends, which gave them 
 a sort of currency necessary in this wise world, 
 even for the good reception of things valuable 
 in themselves." But Mr. Aiken not only ad- 
 mired the poet as soon as he became acquainted 
 with him, but he shewed the warmest regard 
 for the man, and did everything in his power 
 to forward his interest and respectability. 
 The "Epistle to a Young Friend" was ad- 
 dressed to this gentleman's son, Mr. Andrew 
 Hunter Aiken, of Liverpool. Having been 
 taken, when a boy, from an English home to 
 my grandfather's, to attend a celebrated school 
 at Ayr, I remember that holiday when I first 
 saw a cottage, over which was a sign, better 
 
440 
 
 THE BUENS CENTEFAEY. 
 
 understood than expressed : — "Stop,' passenger, 
 and read ! This is the humble cottage which 
 gave hirth to the celebrated poet, Eobert 
 Burns." With relations at Ayr and at Doon- 
 hohn, with other friends also on the banks of 
 the Ayr, were spent the happy days of boy- 
 hood ; and at a later period, while visiting at 
 Barjarg, near Ellisland, I became familiar also 
 with the banks of the Nith, and saw and con- 
 versed with Mrs. Burns, the widow of the 
 poet, in her own house at Dumfries, his last 
 residence and place of burial. I will now men- 
 tion a piece of history not generally known. 
 My aunt, Miss Aiken, when a child, used to- 
 delight Burns by singing charmingly his own 
 songs. She met him at Dumfries a short time 
 before his death. He said, " the fire in me is 
 almost extinguished ; I am the shadow of my 
 -former sel£" She invited him to dine with 
 her relation, and in their agreeable society he 
 -still displayed those wonderful powers of con- 
 versation which, by her report, by the testi- 
 mony of Dugald Stewart, and other learned 
 men, impressed them more with an opinion of 
 his pre-eminent abUity than even his poems. 
 When Dr. Currie was about to publish the life 
 and poems of Burns, Miss Aiken went to Liver- 
 pool, and was in that society of which Currie 
 and Eoscoe were the ornaments. At Dr. Cur- 
 rie's request, she wrote to Scotland for the 
 poems which Burns had sent to her father, and 
 -,tho letters that accompanied them, to be pub- 
 lished. Many of these letters were written, to 
 use the words of Burns, "when his heart 
 glowed with honest warm simplicity, unac- 
 quainted and uncorrupted with the ways of a 
 wicked world." In them he addressed his 
 loved and honoured friend, led him to the 
 Muses' fountain, and showed him the purest 
 sources of his inspiration. What admirer of 
 the "Cottar's Saturday Night," and "Tarn 
 0* Shanter," and the " T'wa Brigs of Ayr," and 
 the " Twa Dogs," and the " Mouse," and the 
 " Mountain Daisy," and many more, would not 
 wish to read the letters that accompanied them, 
 containing the poet's own commentaries, fresh 
 from the heart t The poems were in a cabinet 
 or secretary, in one parcel j the letters from 
 Eobert Burns to Eobert Aiken, in another. 
 The poems were found and forwarded to Dr. 
 Currie for publication. The letters had been 
 removed by some one, who probably thought 
 he had possessed himself of the literary trea- 
 sure. Advertisements offering a reward for 
 their restoration were unavailing ; for to this 
 hour they have never been recovered. If they 
 stiU exist, I can only entreat, in the name of 
 Burns and of literature, that they may be sent 
 to the grandson of him to whom they were ad- 
 dressed. I have just one short unpublished 
 
 letter, which owes its preservation to its having 
 been written on the fly-leaf of a copy of the 
 "Elegy of Sir James Hunter Blair:"— "To 
 Egbert Aiken, Esq. — My Honoured Friend, — 
 The melancholy occasion of the foregoing poem 
 affects not only individuals, but a country. 
 That I have lost a friend, is but repeating 
 after Caledonia. This copy, rather an incor- 
 rect one, I beg you wiU accept, till I have an 
 opportunity in person, which I expect to have 
 on Thursday first, of assuring you how sin- 
 cerely I ever am, — Honoured and Dear Sir, — 
 Your oft obliged, — Eobebt B0BNS." 
 
 Of the many most interesting letters sent by 
 Burns to Eobert Aiken, only one appears in Dr. 
 Currie's edition, whence another editor has 
 drawn an erroneous inference; The absence of 
 that correspondence I have now explained — 
 (hear, hear.) It is characteristic of great 
 painters and poets, that they are never at a loss 
 for a subject, and whatever they touch they 
 adorn. Nature is their teacher and their sub- 
 ject ; and Nature is everywhere. The mas- 
 ter's hand is seen in the truthful delineation 
 of home scenes and wayside beauties. To de- 
 pict Nature correctly is a high achievement, 
 and still higher to paint her with imaginative 
 truth, with feeling, and passion. In all this 
 Burns excels. Trivial incidents suggest to Mm 
 genuine poetry. Guiding the plough, he 
 overturns a mouse's nest. His sympathetic 
 soul presses forth its strain of pity at the ruin 
 he has made, and then rises to a loftier senti- 
 ment. Having given quotations from that 
 well-known poem, from the " Winter Night," 
 and the "Mountain Daisy," Mr. Aiken pro- 
 ceeded. But Burns can descend to things 
 most insignificant, most unpoetical, and yet 
 charm you. 
 
 Burns went to hear a sermon, and saw a 
 lady who wore a bonnet very large and very 
 lofty, fashionable then, but not now — (laugh- 
 ter). By some untoward accident, there had 
 strayed upon that towering structure of miUin- 
 ery something that has not a local habitation 
 nor a name in civilized society — (renewed 
 laughter). Burns, with comic humour, traced 
 its impudently ambitious career; and then, 
 finding good in everything, he exclaims — 
 
 " wad some Power the giftie gie ns, 
 To see oursels as others see us ! 
 It wad frae mo^y a blunder free us, 
 
 And foolish notion. 
 What airs in dress and gait wad lea'e us, 
 
 And ev'n Devotion ! " 
 
 Burns describes the natural according to 
 nature. When he attempts the supernatural, 
 it is, at least, in an original way. The witches 
 in "Tarn o' Shanter" are unlike the awful 
 weird sisters of Macbeth. They are a jovial 
 
BRISTOL. 
 
 441 
 
 crew of dancers, who, notwithstanding their 
 horrible accompaniments, inspire more of mirth 
 than of dread. And so, in the " Dialogue of 
 Death and Dr. Hornbook," and in the " Ad- 
 dress to the Devil," solemnity of feeling yields 
 to a jocund familiarity. Burns did not attempt 
 to foUow Milton in the great sublime ; but in 
 his "Address to Satan," after expostulating 
 with the author of evil for the mischief he 
 had wrought, he takes the reader by surprise 
 with a touch of compassion, not only for the 
 victims, but for the tempter : — 
 
 " I'm wae to think upon yon den, 
 Ev'n for your sake." 
 
 After quotations from several other poems, 
 concluding with some stanzas from " The Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night," Mr. Aiken proceeded: 
 — Three characteristics of Bunis's poetry are 
 — strong sense, simple mai^y vigour, intense 
 feeling. Like the ancient prophets and bards, 
 he was a seer. His sensitive mind received 
 distinct images of what he saw, and he trans- 
 mitted them in sun-pictures of nature in her 
 beauty and grandeur, her brightness and gloom ; 
 in portraits of men and manners coloured ac- 
 cording to the moods of his mind, — mirthful, 
 melancholy, humorous, rejoicing, overflowing 
 with tenderness and pity, vehement with pas- 
 sion, or glowing with rapture — (applause). 
 The soul of a sincere and great poet speaks to 
 your soul in tones that thrill and vibrate 
 through your whole being. This is true 
 poetry, true eloquence. Possessing these 
 qualities, his flowing verse, animated songs, 
 and lyrical compositions, are unsurpassed. His 
 best works, composed in the intervals of 
 labour during a short life, indicate a power 
 which, with more of learned leisure, might 
 have achieved those higher results of continued 
 industry on which the fame of the greatest 
 masters in the art depends. But he had great 
 industry, great energy, and, notwithstanding 
 his occupations, trials, difficulties, ajad tempta- 
 tions, the vision of his youth was realized ; for 
 Scotland has bound the holly round his head, 
 and crowned him her national bard. In every 
 libraTy,f in every house, — ay, in every cottage 
 whose inmates can read, is the favourite vol- 
 ume ; and in their Bibles and standard books 
 of divinity, that well-instructed peasantry have 
 the best corrective of what is evil both in life 
 and in literature ; the best preparation to ap- 
 preciate what is pure and excellent in both — 
 (hear, hear). Not only are the poeins and 
 songs of Bums read and sung by the fireside 
 and in the field, the expatriated Scotchman 
 takes them as the companions of his exile to 
 Canadian wilds or to a tropical climate. There 
 the glowing lines of the rustic bard recall fair 
 
 visions of the purple mountains, the woody 
 valos, the banks and the braes where his boy- 
 hood wandered, till he seems to feel the breeze 
 from his native hills fan and revive his languid 
 frame ; to see the well-known river, — to hear 
 the dash of its waterfalls, and listen to the 
 murmuring flow of its crystal streams, at the 
 magic touch of genius. And if among heathen 
 temples, and shapeless idols, and polluted rites, 
 the sacred day has been unhallowed, haply the 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night" may remind him of 
 the coming morn and the simple worship of his 
 father's home. This is what we commemorate 
 when we approach the poet's tomb to hang 
 our grateful garland there. And if every epi- 
 taph were as candid as that which his own 
 hand inscribed upon it, how much posthumous 
 flattery would disappear ! 
 
 " Is there a man whose judgment clear 
 Can others teach the course to steer, 
 Yet runs himself life's mad career 
 
 Wild as the wave ? 
 Here pause, and through the starting tear, 
 
 Survey the grave." 
 
 Who can survey it without mingled admira- 
 tion and sorrow ? Who will survey it in any 
 other spirit than that of the lowly publican 1 ' 
 Had I been born in a clay-built cottage, 
 cradled in adversity, with a loving, ardent, 
 lofty, impetuous soul, raised suddenly from the 
 depths of despair to the perilous heights of 
 fame ; from frugal poverty to scenes which 
 realized the voluptuous den of Comus and his 
 crew, how should I have broken the spell, and 
 escaped the snare ? Down, censorious pride ! 
 be humble, be contented, be grateful. It is 
 thus we would pay the tribute due to genius, 
 yet render that higher homage we owe to truth 
 and virtue. (The Chairman resumed his seat 
 amidst long-continued and enthusiastic cheer- 
 ing). 
 
 Duet. — " Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon." 
 
 The memory of the " Immortal Burns " was 
 then drunk in solemn silence. 
 
 The Chairman then called on Dr. Sjrmonds, 
 who in an eloquent speech proposed " The 
 English Poets." 
 
 Song. — " Bonnie English Kose." 
 Song. — " Highland Mary.'' 
 
 Mr J. Brown then delivered a brief address 
 on Bums's " Bonnie Jean." 
 
 Mr. J. M'Abthdr, in a brief but humorous 
 address, proposed the toast of " The Ladies," 
 characterizing it as the most important one of 
 the evening, and remarking that Burns was 
 evidently fully aware of the superiority of the 
 fair sex. In speaking of Nature, he had 
 said — 
 
442 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 " Her 'prentice hand she tried on man, 
 And then she made the lasses, 0." 
 
 The toast was drunk amidst enthusiastic 
 applause. 
 
 Mr. E. S. EoBiNSON proposed the toast of 
 " The Peasantry of Scotland." He concluded 
 an eloquent speech as follows: — It has been 
 said, that " there are those among the English 
 aristocracy who would be noble, though coro- 
 nets and privilege had no existence." In ixvc- 
 ther illustration of the same sentiment, that 
 true nobility is confined to no class or section 
 of society, I would say that there is one,, at 
 least, among the " Peasantry of Scotland," who, 
 wearing no coronet, and being endowed with 
 no privilege, is yet worthy to rank with the 
 nobility of that land he has done so much to 
 adorn and immortalize by his verse — (loud 
 cheers). 
 
 Song. — " A man's a man for a' that." 
 
 Mr. Little acknowledged the toast on behalf 
 of the peasantry of Scotland. 
 
 Mr. J. M'Aethue proposed the Chairman's 
 health, which was enthusiastically received 
 and warmly responded to. " Should Auld 
 Acquaintance be Forgot" was then sung, and 
 the proceedings shortly afterwards terminated. 
 
 Dinner at the Angel Inn. — A second din- 
 ner, to which between sixty and seventy gentle- 
 men sat down, was held in the large room of 
 the Angel Imi, High Street, at which the an- 
 niversaries of the bard have been hitherto cele- 
 brated. Mr. John Chishohn presided; Mr. 
 Collmgs and Mr. Lockie occupying the vice- 
 chairs ; and among the company were Messrs. 
 Tovey and Ayre (of the Town Council), James 
 Tilley, Martyn, Muire, G. Tovey, J. A. Hill, 
 &c. The room was elegantly decorated, and 
 the dinner, which comprised some cockie-leekie, 
 and a profuse supply of game, was of an ele- 
 gant description. After the ciistomary toasts 
 had been drunk, the Chairman gave the " Im- 
 mortal memory of Burns ;" and in so doing 
 observed, that although a hundred years had 
 passed since his birth, his memory was that 
 day being celebrated throughout the globe. 
 "Wherever the children of England and Scot- 
 land had gathered together, his songs would 
 be sung with feelings of pride and satisfaction. 
 Few could be ignorant of his writings, or in- 
 sensible to the spirit he breathed into them. 
 Who was there who had not read the words of 
 tenderness and love with which his rich muse 
 sung of the virtues of woman, or the scornful 
 yet truthful language in which he rebuked the 
 vices and follies of men? This was the muse 
 of nature ; and where nature was loved, it 
 would ever be admired. Mr. Cozens delivered 
 
 an oration on the life of Burns. The Crystal 
 Palace Prize Ode was read, as was also the 
 bard's famous poem of "Tam o' Shanter." 
 Various appropriate toasts were drunk, and 
 many of Burns's songs sung, and the evening 
 was spent in a spirit of the truest conviviality. 
 
 BXJEY. — The Bury demonstration was held 
 at the Theatre Eoyal, when Mr. Wardaugh, 
 the proprietor, delivered a very eloquent ad- 
 dress on the life and character of the poet, 
 which was listened to with marked attention 
 by a crowded house, and much applauded. 
 " Auld Langsyne" was then sung by the whole 
 strength of the company, the audience joining 
 in the chorus. 
 
 CAELISLE.— The Centenary of the birth 
 of the poet Burns was celebrated in this city 
 with much enthusiasm. The principal meet- 
 ings were at the Coffee-House Assembly Eoom 
 and at the Lion and Lamb Hotel, the former 
 presided over by John Clarke Ferguson, Esq., 
 himself a poet of ability, supported by his 
 brother, Eobert Ferguson, Esq., the Mayor of 
 CarUsle, a scholar and poet also, whose literary 
 acquirements and working have placed him for 
 the second time in the position of chief magis- 
 trate of the city in anticipation of the visit of 
 the Archaeological Association to Carlisle, and 
 William Nicholson Hodgson, Esq., the popular 
 member for the city; the latter by Philip 
 Henry Howard, Esq. of Corby Castle, than 
 whom no man, from his refined taste and liter- 
 ary research, is more capable of appreciating 
 the lives and works of great men. In both 
 cases the demonstration was quite successful, 
 and worthy of the occasion. That at the Coifee- 
 house was more numerously attended, and the 
 arrangements as to time were such as to allow 
 many of the gentlemen who were present at 
 the more select assembly, to attend and take 
 part in the proceedings of the greater demon- 
 stratioiL, There were other minor festivities, 
 which are noticed elsewhere. Altogether the 
 Border city has no reason to be ashamed of the 
 effort made to commemorate the birth of the 
 greatest genius the sister country has ever pro- 
 duced. 
 
 The Dinner at the Lion and Lamb. — Be- 
 tween fitty and sixty gentlemen sat down to 
 dinner. The room was decorated for the occa- 
 sion. A portrait and relics forming part of the 
 decoration. The chair was occupied by P. H. 
 Howard, Esq., who was supported by Mr. Eobert 
 Dixon, Mr. George Dixon, of the Knells, Mr. 
 Nicholson, Mr. Aiken, Mr. Thomas Donald of 
 
CAELISLE. 
 
 443 
 
 Linstock, Mr. G. Mouiisey,anil others. Amongst 
 the general company were Mr, M'Alpin, who 
 ably discharged the duties of the vice-chair, 
 Mr. Irving, Mr. M'Gibbon, Mr. F. Gibbons, Mr. 
 Alcock, Mr. E. Bowman, Mr. Daly, 'Mr. Scott, 
 painter, Mr. Ferguson, Scotch Street, Mr. James 
 Clarke, Mr. Wills, Mr. T. James, Mr. Bertram, 
 Mr. Nanson, painter, Mr. Binning, Mr. Lowes, 
 dentist, Mr. E. Creighton, Mr. T. B. Crowther, 
 Mr. W. J. Fairlie, Mr. W. Bell, Mr. W. Jackson, 
 Mr. W. Wilson, Mr. J. Wills, Mr. R Barton, 
 Mr. G. Brown, Mr. E. Gartner, Mr. T. Eayson, 
 Mr. H. Tweddle, Mr. G. Tomperly, Mr. H. Bar- 
 nell, Mr. Thompson, Mr. W. Glendinning, Mr. 
 D. Blackburn, Mr. C. Armstrong, Mr. E. Potter, 
 Mr. W. Nanson, Mr. H. Gilkerson, Mr. W. 
 Bailey, Mr. Saul, Mr. R Nanson, Mr. R Foster, 
 Mr. J. Sowerby, Mr. Monteith, Mr. Bell, &c. 
 After the usual preliminary toasts, the Chair- 
 man introduced the toast of the evening in an 
 eloquent review of the ancestors, life, character, 
 and poetry of Burns, which he concluded as 
 follows : — There are many of his martial poems 
 whose inspiriting effect no one can be insen- 
 sible to, and there are others of a different 
 description, samples of which, I believe, you 
 will this evening have an opportunity of hear- 
 ing to advantage. There are many tender odes 
 and songs which will awaken a response in the 
 hearts of all present. Other poets have sung 
 of the early raptures, the early glow of alfeetion 
 of young love, biit it remained to Burns, in 
 bis " John Anderson, my jo," to describe the 
 evening of affection, and show the two lovers 
 descending the hill of life together, increasing 
 in affection as they go. (Cheers.) That poem, 
 I believe, is unique of its kind, for so far as I 
 know, gentlemen, no other poet has taken 
 exactly that view of the case. (Heaf, hear.) 
 One great peculiarity of Burns's writings is 
 their intense nationality ; and no wonder — for 
 Scotland can boast almost solely of being the 
 only country that did not bow the neck to 
 foreign invasion. When the southern portion 
 of the country was overrun successively by 
 Eomans, DaneSj Saxons, and others, all that 
 even the conquering Eomans could attempt 
 was to bar them out by that gigantic wall 
 which has been contemplated with wonder by 
 both countries for centuries, and which in July 
 will no doubt be the occasion of great interest 
 both to us and many strangers from a distance. 
 (Cheers.) Now, gentlemen, I may safely leave 
 the toast in your hands, to honour it as it 
 deserves, but before resuming my seat I may 
 mention that I have received from Mr. Walter 
 Buchanan, of Ayr, a recommendation tliat you 
 will not forget the neices of the po'et — the 
 daughters of Mrs. Begg, who paid the debt of 
 nature only in December last, I hope that 
 
 some time, at an hour better adapted to busi- 
 ness than just now, your names will be put 
 down for contributions that will show that you 
 wish to render a living and lasting tribute to 
 the memory of the great poet. (Hear, hear.) 
 In whatever light you regard him — whether 
 in his martial strains, in the tender or the 
 comic, I am sure you must have been filled 
 with admiration for his genius. Even in his 
 more comic pieces there are touches of senti- 
 ment and feeling of the most beautiful kind. 
 For instance, where he says, just after the 
 lines — 
 
 " King's may be blest, but Tam was glorious, 
 O'er a' the ills o' life victorious." 
 " But pleasures are like poppies spread, 
 You seize the flower, its bloom is shed ; 
 Or like the snow-fall in the river, 
 A moment white — then melts for ever ; 
 Or like the borealis race. 
 That flit ere you can point their place ; 
 Or like the rainbow's lovely form, 
 Evanishing amid the storm." 
 
 (Cheers.) That beautiful blending of pathos 
 and humour is a remarkable feature in the 
 writings of Burns. (Hear, hear.) A poet he 
 may and would have been in whatever station 
 of life he might have been placed, but had he 
 been born in a higher position we should not 
 have seen him studying nature so near to its 
 source — (cheers); — and, above all, we should 
 probably not have seen him indite his lays in 
 the beautiful, feeling, and pithy language of his 
 native land. (Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, I 
 now call upon you to drink to the Memory of 
 Burns, and I feel sure that at another time you 
 wiU not forget the necessities of his neices who 
 survive him. 
 
 The toast having been duly honoured, Mr. 
 Aiken recited, in a very humorous manner, 
 " Death and Dr. Hornbook." Mr. Daly then 
 sang with great spirit — " A man's a man for a' 
 that." 
 
 The Vicb-Chairman proposed "The Me- 
 mory of the Poet's wife" (Jean Armour.) He 
 said they were met to celebrate the memory of 
 a great poet and a man of genius. They had 
 just done honour to his well-earned fame, and 
 they were now called upon to consider him in 
 his private and domestic life — as a man, a hus- 
 band, and a father. (Cheers.) How fervently 
 and truly he loved the partner of all his joys 
 and sorrows was well-known to all of us who 
 had read his poems, some of which were ad- 
 dressed to her, and formed no small part of 
 that world-wide celebrity which he had earned 
 for himself Though Ms life was a troubled 
 one, and was unfortunately extinguished amid 
 the clouds of adversity, to her were vouchsafed 
 blessings of which he had been deprived. She 
 lived to realise the dearest wish of a wife's and 
 
444 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 a parent's heart — she lived to see and partici- 
 pate in the rising prosperity of her family — 
 she lived to realise the happiest vision in the 
 poet's dream — to find her husband's name ac- 
 knowledged by his countrjonen. (Loud cheers.) 
 She lived to know that his memory was che- 
 rished and enshrined in their grateful hearts, 
 and to feel that those errors which would never 
 have been noticed but for the splendour of the 
 shield — that, though they might tarnish its 
 brilliancy for a moment, were lost and obliter- 
 ated in the brightness, and glory which illu- 
 mined the memory of the poet. (Loud cheers.) 
 Tiie Vioe-Chairman then gave " The Memory 
 of the Poet's wife," which, hke that of the 
 poet, was drunk in solemn silence. 
 
 Mr. Scott sang — "Of a' the airts," which 
 was received with great applause. 
 
 Various toasts and songs followed, after 
 which Mr. Bertram, in very appropriate terms, 
 proposed the health of the Chairman. He re- 
 marked upon the significance of the fact that a 
 gentleman in the high position of Mr. Howard, 
 a gentleman who was himself a man of culti- 
 vated taste and poetic feeling, inheriting as he 
 did " the blood of all the Howards," should be 
 there to do honour to the memory of the 
 humble Burns. 
 
 The toast was then received with enthu- 
 siastic applause and with musical honours. 
 
 The Chairman acknowledged the compli- 
 ment, and expressed his satisfaction at having 
 been allowed to take part in this celebration. 
 
 The evening was spent most delightfully, 
 and even after " Our next merry meeting" had 
 been drunk, and " Auld Langsyne" sung by 
 the company standing, those present seemed 
 loath to depart, and more toasts were proposed 
 and more songs sung. 
 
 Meeting at the Coefee-House. — This meet- 
 ing was got up, and conducted by working-men, 
 and was in all respects successful. The whole 
 length of the large Assembly Eoom was laid 
 out with three rows of tables and a cross-table 
 at the head. At the upper end was a bust of 
 the poet, graced with the laurel crown, and at 
 the other extremity there was a medallion- 
 likeness of the bard in plaster, likewise orna- 
 mented. The number of persons present was 
 about three hundred and fifty. The dinner 
 was plain, but good, and served hot. John 
 Clark Ferguson, Esq., who presided, took his 
 seat at the head of the table soon after seven 
 o'clock, and was supported by E. Ferguson, 
 Esq., the mayor, "W. N. Hodgson, Esq., M.P. 
 for the city, Mr. Jameson of Penrith, Mr. Per- 
 ring, Mr. CartmeU, Mr. Lnring, Mr. John Fer- 
 guson, Lowther Street, Mr. Davidson, Mr. 
 Armstrong, &c., &c. Mr. T. W. Arthur occu- 
 pied the vice-chair. Mr. Howitt presided at 
 
 the pianoforte, which was conveniently placed 
 in the recess of one of the windows. The 
 grace was appropriately said by the Chairman, 
 in Burns's own words : — 
 
 " Oh 'tsov who kindly dost provide 
 For every creature's want! 
 We bless thee God of Nature wide, 
 
 For all Thy goodness lent: / 
 
 And, if it please Thee, Heavenly Guide, 
 
 May never worse be sent ; 
 But whether granted or denied, 
 Lord, bless us with content. 
 
 " Amek." 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, the 
 Chaibman said, he now came to the toast of 
 the day — "The Memory of Burns." (Ap- 
 plause.) You are all doubtless aware of the 
 interesting circumstances under which we are 
 met together this evening, as on the date of 
 to-day, Janiiary 25th, 1859, exactly one hun- 
 dred years have elapsed since the birth of the 
 illustrious individual in honour of whom we 
 are assembled, and in consequence of the fact 
 I have just mentioned, while I yet speak, fes- 
 tivals are being held in nearly every town of 
 Scotland, and in some of the most important 
 of England, while at the Sydenham Crystal 
 Palace, a demonstration on an unusually large 
 scale is now taking place, a demonstration 
 attended by the wealth, beauty, title, and talent 
 of the Great Metropolis of the world. (Cheers.) 
 Here I cannot fail to express the pleasure 
 afforded me, when I consider the fact, that this 
 important Border town, this town, perhaps the 
 largest in immediate contiguity with the sister- 
 country, this " merrie old city of Carlisle," so 
 celebrated in history, has not been behind her 
 neighbours in her zeal to promote the praise, 
 and celebrate the honour, of the great national 
 poet of Scotland, and here. Burns is especially 
 the bard' of virtue, intelligence, and independ- 
 ence, those moral paraphernalia which bestow 
 on the lowest individual a greater dignity than 
 the shining diadem that adorns the brow of the 
 greatest earthly potentate ! Burns, though of 
 lowly extraction and peasant-born, did especial 
 homage to the greatness of that aristocracy, 
 which is, when compared with all external 
 titles, to use the language of the poet himself, 
 as the gold to the guinea-stamp, and which, 
 while the latter are transient, and but empty 
 glitter, sits enthroned in the heart of the indi- 
 vidual, consecrates his character, and gives it 
 the lustre of a more than kingly splendour. 
 After a masterly exposition of the varied cha- 
 racteristics of Burns's poetry, the Chairman 
 concluded as follows : — ^And now, gentlemen, 
 having briefly referred to the works of Burns, 
 let me remark that the spirit which inspired 
 him, when he wrote " The Cottar's Saturday 
 Night," and " A man's a man for a' that," 
 
CAELISLE— CHELTENHiiM". 
 
 445 
 
 glows at preseut in the breasts of the Scottish 
 peasantry, for it is a well-ascertained fact that 
 in nearly every cottage of Scotland, however 
 poor that cottage may be, are to be found not 
 only a Bible, but also books which show that 
 the inmate has formed some acquaintance with 
 literature, and is alive to his dignity as a man 
 and a rational being. But, perhaps, the cha- 
 racteristic which most distinguishes the Scotch 
 is the reflection of the patriotic ardour that 
 animated Burns when he wrote " Scots wha 
 hae," the spirit of determined and invincible 
 heroism, and in proof of this I need only, gen- 
 tlemen, refer you to the conduct of the gallant 
 Highlanders at the ever-memorable field of 
 Waterloo ! — while they have put the seal upon 
 their courage and valour, within the recollec- 
 tion of all present, at Alma, Balaclava, and 
 Inkormann. And since the sympathies of the 
 two countries have become iaterwoven and 
 consolidated, the Scotchman is now one of the 
 main supporters of the majesty of that flag, the 
 glorious symbol of our national pride and' inde- 
 pendence, — 
 
 " The flag that braved a thousand years, the battle 
 and the breeze, — " 
 
 that flag which is ever the precursor of victory, 
 of destruction to the tyrant, and of mercy to 
 the captive ! (Cheers.) Allow me, then, gen- 
 tlemen, briefly to propose "The Memory of 
 Burns," Burns ! who though born a peasant, 
 has shed over his name a lustre which shall 
 remain so long as virtue, intelligence, and in- 
 dependence can dignify the character- of man ! 
 
 After several other toasts had been given, 
 and songs sung, the Vice-Chairman proposed 
 "The Mayor and Corporation of Carlisle." 
 They had arduous and important duties to per- 
 form, and the public ought to be much obliged 
 to them for their services. They had the honour 
 of the Mayor's presence, and his name alone 
 would ensure for the toast an agreeable recep- 
 tion. (Three times three.) 
 
 The Mayoe, in returning thanks, said, that 
 never, perhaps, in the history of this country 
 has a more signal homage been paid to genius 
 than is tliis day paid to the genius of Eobert 
 Burns.- Some three thousand years ago, when 
 a blind minstrel might have been seen wander- 
 ing about the Greek islands, singing his verses, 
 getting a dinner here and a lodging there — 
 treated always with consideration and respect 
 (for the Greeks of all people had an instinct 
 for beauty) yet still only a poor, blind, wan- 
 dering minstrel I say who could have thought 
 that a day would come when in aU the great 
 schools of the world it should be a necessary 
 paxt of education to understand the verses of 
 that poor blind man — that a great scholar and 
 
 a great statesman of a country then unknown, 
 should be proud to add to his laurels of scholar- 
 ship and statesmanship one more garland from 
 having thrown some light upon the verses of 
 that poor blind man ? (Applause.) And so, 
 when some eighty years ago an Ayrshire plough- 
 man might be seen following his team, singing 
 to himself with a light heart some song of 
 which he had composed the words, I say who 
 could have judged that the words of that song 
 should become known wherever the mighty 
 tide of the English language rolled, and in those 
 lands where the English language had yet to 
 make itself a home — that it should be a spell 
 to cheer the lonely shepherd upon Australian 
 hills— a charm to lighten the gloom of the 
 American wilderness ? I am reminded by the 
 unusually fashionable hour at which this ga- 
 thering is held, that there are many present of 
 the class to which Burns belonged, and I think 
 that those who have arranged this festival have 
 done well to make the gathering in this ancient 
 city a thoroughly popular one. The class to 
 which he belonged may well be proud of him, 
 and they do right to cherish his memory — 
 because he-has left them words of beauty which 
 shall be a joy for ever, to soothe, to cheer, to 
 animate, and to delight; — because he has given 
 them priceless words, which amid their strug- 
 gles and their troubles, and it may be their 
 temptations, they may wrap as a talisman round 
 their hearts; — because he is their own chosen 
 representative in the halls of immortality, wear- 
 ing the laurels which he won upon the world's 
 universal field. (Applause.) There is no royal 
 road to immortaUty for the great, and there is 
 no backway for the small. It is the one path, 
 steep and difficult, which must be climbed by 
 all. And manfully Burns, girding his shep- 
 herd's coat around him, strode up the foremost 
 among them all. And there he sits — the re- 
 presentative of his class, among the few of all 
 ages and of all lands whose names shall never 
 be let die. 
 
 Song, toast, and sentiment followed, until 
 the " wee short hour ayont the twal" had . 
 arrived, when the Chairman vacated the chair, 
 and the meeting concluded as it had begun — 
 in perfect harmony. 
 
 CHELTENHAM.— The anniversary of the 
 hundredth birthday of Eobert Burns was cele- 
 brated at Cheltenham (where the two sons 
 of the bard reside) on Tuesday 25th Jan. by a 
 public dinner, got up by a committee of Scotch 
 gentlemen resident in the town, and which 
 took place at the Queen's Hotel. Sir Alex- 
 ander Eamsay, M.P. presided. The poem for 
 which the £50 prize had been awarded was 
 read, after which the Eev. G. W. Smythe 
 
4i6 
 
 THE BURIS'S CENTENAEY. 
 
 addressed the assemloly upon the subject of 
 Scotch literature. Several appropriate toasts 
 followed. 
 
 CHESTER-LE-STREET. — One of the 
 ablest lectures that have been delivered in 
 Chester-le-Street, marked the centenary of 
 Burns on Tuesday 25th Jan. To hear a glowing 
 account of the great bard was no ordinary 
 pleasure, but to hear it from the lips of one of 
 Scotia's sons, who,- as ho poured forth his praise 
 and admiration of his illustrious countryman, 
 rose to the highest elocjuence, was a treat that 
 will not soon bo forgotten by the overwhelming 
 audience that listened to it. The lecturer was 
 Mr. Birnie, of Chester-le-Street. He showed 
 how ill-founded was the calumny heaped upon 
 Burns by the " unco gude," particularly that 
 cast upon him by a reverend detractor, who, 
 after finding his slander unavailing, was trying 
 his hand at political agitation; and then went 
 on to show the patriotic spirit, the sympathising 
 nature, the kindly heart, the noble mind, the 
 cheerful humour, that marked the beloved poet 
 of Scotland. " The Cottar's Saturday Night," 
 and " Tam o' Shanter," were among the gems 
 of the night, and being recited with all the fer- 
 vour of one who loved and revelled in his 
 native tongue, brought repeated rounds of 
 hearty applause. 
 
 CLEATOE MOOR— The centenary of Scot- 
 land's national poet was celebrated by a supper 
 at Mr. Armstrong's, Railway Hotel, Cleator 
 Moor, near this town, when from forty to fifty 
 ardent admirers of the ploughman bard assem- 
 bled, several of them being natives of Ayrshire. 
 The chair was ably filled by Dr. Syme, of 
 Egremont, and the vice-chair by Mr. John 
 Clark, land steward to Thomas Ainsworth, 
 Esq. The supper was excellent, and served 
 up in a style creditable to the worthy landlord 
 and landlady. A band of music, under the 
 management of Mr. W. D. M'Donald, attended, 
 and considerably enlivened the evening. After 
 the cloth had been drawn, and the usual pre- 
 liminary toasts were given, 
 
 The Chaibman said — They were assembled 
 together upon that occasion to commemorate 
 the centenary of the birth of Robert Burns, the 
 peasant bard of Scotland, and, he might say, 
 the most remarkable man the last century had 
 produced. Well might his fellow-countrymen 
 be proud of such a man. He made Scotland 
 vocal with his songs. His countrymen felt a 
 sense of remorse and regret that he should be 
 an illustration of the fall of genius. He was 
 condemned to an uncongenial occupation ; hence 
 it was difficult to dispel the idea, that had his 
 fate been a kindlier one he had not been cut 
 
 down in his prime, nor had his genius been 
 curtailed, crushed down by the political tyranny 
 that infoi-med him his business was to act, not 
 to think. Liberty — a life of literary leisure, 
 with a decent competency — was the summit of 
 his wishes. Ho would propose " The memory 
 of Robert Burns." Drunk with the greatest 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 A number of toasts and songs followed, and 
 the company separated about four a.m., highly 
 pleased with the pleasant evening they had 
 spent. 
 
 COVENTRY.— A public dinner, to celebrate 
 the hundredth year of the birth of Robert Burns, 
 took place at the Castle Hotel, Coventry. Mr. 
 A. M'Millan occupied the chair, and Mr. A. 
 Bell the vice-chair. On the right of the chair- 
 man sat C. Dresser, Esq., and on the left J. S. 
 Whittem, Esq. Several members of the town 
 council were also present. About one hundred 
 sat down to dinner. After the loyal toasts, the 
 chairman proposed the " Immortal Memory of 
 Robert Burns." He gave a brief history of the 
 principal events in the life of Burns. He 
 then gave quotations from the poems of Burns, 
 showing his insight into nature, and men and 
 things, his love of patriotism, and civil and reli- 
 gious liberty, his independence and manliness, 
 and concluded a long, interesting, and eloquent 
 address by stating what he considered due to 
 the memory of Burns. 
 
 The next toast was " Shakspeare and the 
 other Enghsh poets." Mr. W. H. Bray re- 
 sponded. " The next toast was " Sir Walter 
 Scott and the Scotch poets." This was re- 
 sponded to by Mr. Whittem. The " Living 
 Scotch poets," was responded to by Mr. 
 M'Dowell, from Glasgow. Mr. C. Dresser 
 proposed the " Health of the Chairman," and 
 in doing so, he compUmented him. for the 
 eminent ability he had displayed on the occa- 
 sion, and spoke in the warmest terms -of the 
 able and eloquent manner in which he had 
 brought ' Burns and his poems before them. 
 He then proposed the toast which had been 
 put into his hand, " The Town and Trade of 
 Coventry." "The Land of Burns" was re- 
 sponded to by Mr. James Browett. " The 
 Land we Live in" was responded to by Mr. 
 Robert M'Millan. Various songs were sung 
 by Messrs. Austey, Pratt, MchoUs, Small, and 
 Lockey. 
 
 CROOK. — Among the many meetings in cele- 
 bration of this event, the one in the National 
 School-room at Crook, under the auspices of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lawton, of the Temperance Hotel, 
 Hope-street, may fairly claim a notice. Mr. J. 
 M. Bro^vn opened the proceedings by giviii" an 
 
DAELINGTON— DERBY. 
 
 447 
 
 outline of Burns's time and cliavacter, and Jlr. 
 M'Laughlan, a native of Ayrshire, gave some 
 pleasing reminiscences of tte scenes amongst 
 which Burns lived and moved. 
 
 DARLINGTON.— This event was cele- 
 brated in this town on Tuesday 25th January, 
 at the house of Mr. Charge, the Dun Cow 
 Inn, where an excellent dinner was provided 
 for the occasion. Mr. Horner, solicitor, oc- 
 cupied the chair, and after the removal of 
 the cloth, several toasts were proposed and 
 responded to. Mr. M'Pherson gave several 
 selections from Some of Burns's poems, accom- 
 panied by appropriate and eloquent remarks. 
 Songs followed, and the evening was spent in 
 convivial harmony. The attendance was not 
 large, but all were highly delighted with the 
 entertainment. 
 
 DERBY.— On Tuesday 25th Januaiy, at 
 least, it was the privilege of one hundred 
 years to be a Scotchman. Heads higher than 
 mere Saxons stood the Caledonians that day, 
 on either side the Tweed. Surely, for once, the 
 Scottish lion had no grievance, and smoothed 
 his mane. Never did England honour any of 
 her own sons as she that day honoured Burns. 
 But it was not England alone, the world kept 
 festival on Tuesday. When all the world was 
 thus raising voice in honour of the great Scotch 
 bard, it would have been a shame had the Mid- 
 land counties, in which it is understood there 
 is a sprinkling of Scotchmen by no means 
 sparse, remained silent. They did not. It 
 was arranged that a joint festival, representing 
 the sister counties of Nottingham, Derby, and 
 Leicester, should take place. The arrange- 
 ments took the shape of a banquet, and of the 
 one hundred and fifty gentlemen who sat down 
 at the King's Head, Derby, at five o'clock in 
 the afternoon, more than a third were from 
 Nottingham. Mr. Hugh Bruce Campbell, soli- 
 citor, Nottingham, occupied the chair, while 
 the post of vice-chair was ably filled by Dr. 
 Legge, of Leicester; and Derby was most fit- 
 tingly represented by the presence of the mayor. 
 A few minutes past five o'clock, the company 
 mai'ched into the dining-room, headed by Mr. 
 Campbell, the chairman, preceded by Mr. 
 Macgregor Simpson, of Sheffield, in fall dress, 
 as a Highland Piper, playing upon the bag- 
 pipes the very appropriate air, " The Campbells 
 are coming." The decorations of the room, 
 including a portrait of Burns, suspended at the 
 buck of the chair, and the arrangements of the 
 tables, reflected the greatest credit on Mr- and 
 
 Mrs. Huggins, the worthy host and hostess. 
 As might have been expected, the majority of 
 the visitors were from the other side of the 
 border, and in reference to their tastes, as well 
 as the peculiar occasion, several characteristic 
 dishes were included in the bill of fare. 
 "Scotch soup," "Scotch haggis," "Scotch 
 cake," &c. After true Caledonian justice had 
 been done to the feast, and the usual toasts had 
 been given — 
 
 The Chairman rose and said — Dr. Legge 
 and gentlemen — "We are assembled to com- 
 memorate the centenary anniversary of the birth 
 of one of the most remarkable men, not only of 
 his age, but of his country. (Hear, hear.) One 
 hundred years have this day rolled away since 
 the birth of that extraordinary man, and more 
 than sixty years since his death. Yet I think 
 we may say that his fame is but in his infancy 
 (applause) ; for every year it spreads more widely 
 around the earth, and I think we may safely 
 say, that as long as the Scottish dialect lasts, 
 the name and the fame of Robert Burns will be 
 coeval therewith. The universal admiration 
 and high esteem in which he is held, is per- 
 fectly marvellous ; it extends over the civilised 
 world ; at all events, it extends to every part of 
 the world where Scotchmen are to be found, 
 and where, gentlemen, are they not to be found? 
 (Applause.) They are to be found either im- 
 pelled at honour's call, or engaged in cjmmer- 
 cial enterprise, or pursuing the discoveries of 
 science all over the world; and have been so 
 from the time of Bruce the Abyssinian traveller 
 in the last century, to the pressnt time, when 
 our Dr. Livingstone is engaged, as was his great 
 predecessor, James Bruce. (Applause.) As 
 the former traced and explored the sources and 
 progress of the Nile, so Dr. Livmgstone is now 
 tracing those hitherto vast, unknown, and im- 
 penetrable regions of central Africa. But pro- 
 bably the most extraordinary demonstration 
 that will take place to-night will be in America. 
 (Hear, hear.) In the United States, in almost 
 all the principal cities, there are what are called 
 " Burns' Clubs," the members of which assem- 
 ble every year; but this night, probably at the 
 very moment I am now addressing you, they 
 are specially assembled to express, in far 
 stronger language than I am adequate to use, 
 their high admiration of the great minstrel. 
 They are to meet this night at Cincinnatti, in 
 the State of Ohio, and not only are they meet- 
 ing there, but the members of these clubs are 
 to assemble in the same way from Nova Scotia, 
 the Canadas, and indeed all other British pos- 
 sessions this day. Carry your thoughts, then, 
 gentlemen, over the wide Atlantic, and judge 
 what a marvellous thing it is, that at the veiy 
 moment while we are indulging in these ex- 
 
448 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 pressions of admiration, tliey are doing the 
 same everywhere, all over the world. You are 
 all so familiar with the language, with the 
 poetry and songs of Bums, that it would seem 
 presumptuous in me to recite or to refer to any 
 of them; but still I think, in my present posi- 
 tion, I should not be doing right if I did not 
 do so. Because looking at them, it is no won- 
 der that he has so completely overcome all the 
 prejudices which existed against him at one 
 time ; no wonder that he has so successfully en- 
 twined himself in the hearts of mankind over 
 every part of civilised Europe ; no wonder that 
 his works have passed through so many edi- 
 tions, and have been translated into so many 
 foreign languages. Joy and care, sorrow and 
 mirth, appear to have been successfully the 
 emotions under which he wrote, sometimes 
 humorous, sometimes pathetic; excellent in 
 all, but surpassed by none in the delicacy, the 
 beauty, the chasteness with which he depicted 
 the feelings of pure and genuine love. In so 
 much so, that I almost dare venture to say, 
 that in tenderness, in sublimity, and iu humour, 
 on that subject, he can be compared to none 
 but Shakspeare. His works appear to be 
 almost the mirror of his mind ; and you may 
 clearly see the character of the man from his 
 writings. Burns was essentially a man of the 
 most religious sensibility. He was a man, des- 
 pite all that has been ever said, who had reli- 
 gion iu his heart. Then he was the poet of 
 the poor man, and his greatest comforter. After 
 many apt quotations from the poems of Burns, 
 the chairman concluded as follows : — Gentle- 
 men, I feel that I ought to apologise for indulg- 
 ing so much in the pathetic part of the great 
 poet's writings, but it really is a spirit so much 
 in congeniality with my own taste, that I could 
 talk the whole night through in the language 
 of Burns. But I am aware, to continue further 
 would be to give way to vanity in listening to 
 my ovm voice (no, no) ; for there are abler per- 
 sons to follow me, more competent to speak 
 upon the great subject than I am. I, there- 
 fore, conclude in the language of a poet, I 
 believe an Ayrshire poet, James Montgomery, 
 
 He pass'd thro' life's tempestuous night, 
 A brilliant trembling shining light ; 
 Thro' years to come he'll shine from far, 
 A bright unsetting polar star. 
 
 I give you as a toast, " llie Immortal Memory 
 of Eobert Burns." (Loud and prolonged ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 The toast was drunk standing in solemn 
 silence: 
 
 Many other toasts interspersed with songs 
 were given, and at the suggestion of the Chair- 
 man, a punch bowl was sent round the room, 
 for a subscription on behalf of Burns's two 
 
 nieces, and the result was that between £5 and 
 £6 were realised. 
 
 This closed the proceedings, and a few mi- 
 nutes " ayont the twal," the Nottingham visi- 
 tors, accompanied by Mr. Macgregor Simpson, 
 again playing on the pipes " The Campbells are 
 coming," marched to the railway station, where 
 a special train was in waiting. Thus happily 
 concluded the celebration of an event which, as 
 it can only happen once in a hundred years, is 
 not likely to occur again in the Hfetime of any 
 who was present ! 
 
 The Soieee in the Temperance Hall. — 
 The Temperance Hall was well filled with an 
 enthusiastic party, who had assembled to cele- 
 brate by a soiree this " red letter day" of north 
 countrymen. JeflErey Etches, Esq., ooci^pied 
 the chair, and delivered an appropriate address 
 when the tea apparatus was removed. The even- 
 ing was occupied in music and singing of poems, 
 principally selected from Burns's compositions. 
 A band, consisting of six instruments, played 
 alternately with solo singing. Miss Poyzer 
 sang several Scotch airs, with great applause. 
 Mr. Carnal sung several pieces, among which- 
 " Ye Banks and Braes," and " Nanny," were 
 very pathetically given. Mr. Mosley sung 
 " For a' that an' a' that" most gallantly, and 
 was encored. Mr. Horsley played the accom- 
 paniments on the piano. Dr. Hutton read the 
 prize poem on the poet Burns, and afterwards 
 recited three poems from the works of the great 
 Scottish bard, the last of which he gave with 
 considerable effect, and was greatly applauded. 
 Mr. Stokes played several popular airs on the 
 accordion with much taste and skill, and received 
 the applause he deserved. Mr. Adair recited 
 " Tarn o' Shanter," the chef Sceuvre 6i Burns's 
 poetical genius ; and altogether this was a 
 cheerful and temperate celebration. 
 
 DOUGLAS, (Isle op Man.)— While the 
 fame of Eobert Burns has been sounded wher- 
 ever the sweet strains of his muse are under- 
 stood and appreciated, this little island has not 
 withheld its expression of esteem for the memory 
 of the peasant bard. The manner in which his 
 natal centenary was celebrated here was by a 
 public dinner and soiree, which took place at 
 the York Hotel on the evening of that auspi- 
 cious day. At six o'clock, upwards of forty 
 persons, the greater portion of whom were the 
 bard's countrymen, sat down to dinner in the 
 spacious coffee-room of that establishment, which 
 was fitted up on the occasion with appropriate 
 decorations. The walls all round were adorned 
 with mementoes of the poet and his associations, 
 such as portraits of Burns and his friends, views 
 of his native place, and of scenes forming the 
 subjects of some of his poems, and a number of 
 
DOUGLAS (Isle of Man).— DUDLEY, 
 
 4i<J 
 
 printed verses selected from hie works. After 
 the company had done justice to the various 
 dishes set before them, which would have gra- 
 tified the gusto of the most delicate epicurean, 
 the cloth was removed. The proceedings were 
 ably presided over by General Gillespie, who 
 was assisted by G. H. Anderson and D. Lyell, 
 Esqrs., as vice-chaimien. The usual patriotic 
 toasts having been drunk with all loyalty, and 
 followed by appropriate airs, the gallant chair- 
 man next proposed " the health of the Lieute- 
 nant-Governor, and pi'osperity to the Isle of 
 Man." The Manx melody of " Mylechrane" 
 was sung after this toast. 
 
 " The Church of Scotland and Clergy" was 
 then given by the Chairman, and responded to 
 by the Rev. James Cleland, who, in returning 
 thanks for the honour done the Church of Scot- 
 land, observed that Earl Grey once said on a 
 public occasion, " I love my order;" he, too, 
 loved his order, and was glad to see the defe- 
 rence paid to it. In no other land was educa- 
 tion more highly appreciated by all classes, or 
 obtained upon more easy terms. Scotland's 
 position among the nations in regard to the in- 
 telligence of her sons, their general morality, 
 sense of independence and bravery in war, was 
 to a very considerable extent owing to her 
 churches and schools. He cited several illus- 
 trious names which Scotland had produced, in 
 the ptilpit, the senate, the law, and the world 
 of letters. It had been said that Bums was no 
 friend of the clergy, but if he was the enemy of 
 any, it was chieily of those who, by their con- 
 duct, were first enemies to themselves. 
 
 The toast of the evening — " the Memory of 
 Robert Burns" — was then given by the Chair- 
 man, who said, one hundred years this day our 
 great poet was born, and which for ever will 
 place the 25th January amongst the brightest 
 galaxy of the calendar; it would appear as if 
 then nature had, by a prodigious effort, pro- 
 duced a genius, which, as time rolled on, became 
 more and more duly appreciated, till it had at 
 length burst out into the enthusiasm of this 
 day, which is as unexampled as it is unequalled. 
 It is now about sixty- three years since his death, 
 and though his mortal remains lie mouldering 
 in dust, still his name is and will for ever re- 
 main immortal. In the extraordinary and 
 world-wide enthusiasm of this day, I may be 
 excused for again reverting to it. There is not 
 a town in Scotland, certainly no large town, 
 where it is not celebrated by large and nume- 
 rous different meetings, and in some it is kept 
 as a half-holiday; we all know here the pre- 
 parations that have been making close to us, at 
 Liverpool, and indeed in every quarter of the 
 globe. There is an old saying, " Let us join 
 heart and hand;" but if this was taken in a lite- 
 
 ral sense, it would require a very long arm in 
 this instance, for it would have to reach to Peru 
 on one side and China on the other, besides 
 touching every state of the Union of America, 
 and indeed every part of the known world ; but 
 this we can do, we can lend the sympathy of 
 our hearts to the many thousands now assem- 
 bled for a like purpose, many of whom may be 
 now drinking the very toast I am about to pro- 
 pose, and that is, " To the undying Memory of 
 the Great National Poet of Scotland, Robert 
 Burns." The toast was drank with all due so- 
 lemnity, and was followed by the song of " Auld 
 Langsyne," in the chorus of which the com- 
 pany joined with great heartiness. 
 
 Among other toasts, that of " The Lasses," 
 was given by Mr. Lyell of Balaguinnea, who 
 concluded an eloquent speech as follows : — 
 Weak, indeed, must be the patriotism which can 
 look on the field of Bannockburn with indif- 
 ference, or hear Bruce's address without a swell 
 of rapturous emotion. The beauty, the inno- 
 cence, and the modesty of the Scottish fair, are, 
 by the muse of Burns, celebrated in immortal 
 strains. The affection of the patriot is warmed 
 and roused into action, and the intrepid heart 
 that stands forward " in- the day and hour of 
 danger, his country's stay," the supporter of 
 her rights and the avenger of her wrongs, hears 
 in every bugle swell the voice of his ancestors 
 and the calls of posterity. Let the man, whose 
 bosom love and friendship never warmed, whose 
 heart never beat at the sound of freedom, nor 
 bled at the voice of woe — withhold that tribute 
 of gratitude and praise, which our bard so 
 richly deserves. But I trust it shall never be 
 said of the free, generous, and undaunted sons 
 of Scotia, that genius raised his august form 
 amongst them, and passed away neglected and 
 unknown. No ! Let the peal of joy in com- 
 memoration of the birth of Burns resound from 
 shore to shore ! Let Scotland own that she 
 feels an honest pride in her immortal son ; and 
 let us, my countrymen, on this auspicious, this 
 glorious day, unite with one soul and one voice 
 to the greatness of Scotia and the memory of 
 Burns. 
 
 Votes of thanks were passed to the Chair- 
 man, vice-chairmen, and committee, for their 
 exertions in getting up the festival ; to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Duxbury, for the satisfaction which their 
 culinary skill had given; and to Mr. Cluoas 
 and the vocalists — Messrs. C. Morrison, J. 
 Kelly, and J. Brown — for the enjoyment their 
 musical talent had added to the evening's en- 
 tertainment. 
 
 DUDLEY.— The Centenary of Robert Burns 
 was celebrated here in a manner which reflected 
 great credit on the hearts and heads, not only 
 2p 
 
450 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 of the Scottish residents of the place, but also 
 on many who were born far south of the Tweed. 
 Upwardsi)f a hundred sat down to a sumptuous 
 repast in the Assembly Eooms, Bush Hotel. 
 The Eev. George Lewis, Presbyterian minister, 
 occupied the chair; and John Gibson, Esq., 
 Bristol, discharged the duties of the -vice-chair. 
 Among those present were the Eev. Alex. Gor- 
 don, LL.D., Walsall; Eev. A. Davison, Ph.D.; 
 Eev. D. Evans; E. HoUis, Esq., Mayor of Dud- 
 ley; Chief Superintendent Burton; besides a 
 goodly number of English gentlemen, and the 
 majority of the leading Scotchmen of the town 
 and district. A letter was read from H. B. 
 Sheridan, Esq., M.P., expressing his sympathy 
 with the proceedings, and regretting his inabi- 
 lity to be present, but offering to give twenty 
 free tickets to those admirers of Burns who 
 were not able otherwise to be present. The 
 Chairman gave the toast of the evening, " the 
 Immortal Memory of Burns," in an able and 
 eloquent address. " The other Poets of Scot- 
 land" was given by Mr. John Yoimg. The 
 Vice-chairman gave " Scotland — ^the Land of 
 Burns." Mr. Bryce gave the "Peasantry of 
 Scotland." The Eev. Dr. Gordon of Walsall 
 proposed the "General Literature of Scotland." 
 Among the other toasts proposed were — the 
 "Lish Poets," by Mr. Wm. Gilbert; "the 
 Plough," by Mr. E. M'Intyre; the " English 
 Poets," by Dr. Davison. Excellent songs were 
 sung by Mr. D. M'Gill, senior, Mr. Mainwar- 
 ing, Mr. Edgar, senior, &c. &c. 
 
 DUEHAM. — There was a most enthusiastic 
 and successful centenary meeting, presided over 
 by G. J. Banks, Esq. The programme set forth 
 was thoroughly Scottish — "Tam o' Shanter," 
 "Last May a braw wooer," "Duncan Gray," 
 "A man's a man," &c., being the great attrac- 
 tions. An original poem on the occasion, by 
 J. B. Eogerson, Esq. of Manchester, was read; 
 and a magnificent oration was spoken by the 
 Chairman, from which the following is an ex- 
 tract. He said — " We read in Eoman annals 
 of the civic crown which was reserved for her 
 famous poets and philosophers; and in modeiTi 
 times it is no uncommon thing to see thousands 
 of foot- worn pilgrims wending their way to the 
 old house at Stratford, and the soil made sacred 
 by the dust of Shakespere. But when has the 
 world witnessed a spectacle at all comparable 
 to this centenary keeping of the Ayrshire plough- 
 man? (Cheers.) To-night, one wondrous name 
 alone hangs on all lips, and one bright train of 
 kindling associations crowds upon all minds. 
 To-night King Eobert holds his court in dust 
 and darkness. (Cheers.) Millions of his and 
 our countrymen, the high-born and the low- 
 born, in lands near and remote, forget to-night 
 
 their ordinary enjoyments and avocations, and 
 wander in thought where the peasant-born 
 ploughed his way to universal empire. (Loud 
 cheers.) The 'auld clay biggin,' around which 
 the storm beat one day a century ago, is prouder 
 to-night than ever were Assyrian halls or Egyp- 
 tian palaces. (Cheers.) The Scotch emigrant 
 pictures it to himself in the silent solitude of 
 his forest home, and listens in his soul to the 
 thrilling melodies which sprang from it. Li 
 imagination he has crossed the seas, and is once 
 again making his way towards the ' Brigs of 
 Ayr' and the 'Banks and Braes o' bonnie Doon.' 
 (Cheers.) Every spot consecrated by the pen 
 or the footstep of the poet is to him a living 
 reality. He sees ' Kirk Alloway' wrapped in 
 a blaze of supernatural light, and the ' Birks 
 of Aberfeldy' looming grandly in the distance. 
 He sees the clear waters of ' the Lugar' gliding 
 merrily in the sun, and the mountain heather 
 sporting with the sturdy breeze. He hears the 
 shepherd at the fold tuning his simple stave, 
 and the blast of the bagpipes cleaving the morn- 
 ing air — that blast which, as we are told, is so 
 uncouth to an English ear, but wliich to the 
 Highlander, in a remote land, comes like the 
 wild voices of home — like the wind shrieking 
 round his father's threshold — like the old bal- 
 lads which of a winter's evening made him go 
 early to bed when a boy — like the sound of the 
 burns which he knows are dancing in the glens 
 of Lochiel and Breadalbane," (Loud applause.) 
 
 EXETER — On Tuesday, the centenary of 
 the birth of this celebrated bard, a number 
 of his countrymen resident in this locality, as 
 well as several of hisEngHsh admirers, prompted 
 by the same feeling that animated those who 
 engaged in the larger celebrations in various 
 parts of the kingdom, dined together at the 
 White Lion Hotel. Mr. Templeton occupied 
 the chair, and Mr. Weir (Plymouth) officiated 
 as vice-chairman. Among the company were 
 Messrs. Murray, Henderson, Carmichael, G. 
 Down, J. Burrington, Davy, Brown, Inglis, 
 Clark, Catford, Spence, Hare, Mitchell, Miller, 
 Blight, M'Nab, Clifford, M'Lean, Mortimer, 
 BeUerby, Plunkett, Taylor, and M'Leod. The 
 catering of Mr. Moxon was excellent. On the 
 removal of the cloth, the usual toasts were 
 given, after which the Chaieman introduced 
 the toast of the evening : — Mr. Vice-president 
 and other brother Scotchmen, English friends, 
 admirers of Burns, we are this night met to 
 celebrate the memory of one of nature's true 
 poets. Throughout the length and breadth of 
 our own dear native land, " frae Maiden Kirk 
 
EXETEIf. 
 
 4.51 
 
 to John o' Groat's;" in England from Land's 
 End to the utmost boundary of Jforthumbria, 
 now no longer 'debateable' ground; in evei-y 
 the most distant of our colonics and dependen- 
 cies, wherever Scotchmen who are " baith leal 
 and true" are to be found, the same festive 
 occasion calls them together. In presiding for 
 the first time in my life over a public meeting 
 of this kind, I have to crave the indulgence of 
 all who hear me. To my fellow-coimtrymen I 
 trust I shall not appeal in vain. Sickness, or 
 urgent engagements, having prevented the at- 
 tendance of older and better men who ought to 
 have presided over you, 1 could not at last 
 resist the unanimous request made to me to 
 occupy this chair, as I was informed if I did 
 not take it, the lOvers of Burns would be driven 
 from our "everfaithful" city to join their ardent 
 brethren in a locality far removed from this 
 lovely county. Let me al^o beg the forbear- 
 ance of our friends sprung from this side the 
 Tweed, a country which Scotland, some two 
 and a-half centuries ago, united to its "ancient 
 realm," by sending them a king to reign over 
 them — a poor sample of kingcraft, I own — one 
 who, from the seeds sown in his day, raised a 
 crop of woes to all his hapless race. English- 
 men this night favouring us with their com- 
 pany, will excuse us if we be intensely national 
 — if our tongues, which, should we ever desire 
 it, can seldom hide our origin, are to-night to be 
 more than usual the witnesses of our birth-land. 
 "Well-nigh one hundred years ago, when Burns 
 was but a stripling, when George the Third 
 was king, and showed perhaps uiidue partiality 
 to his minister Lord Bute, the very Scottish 
 name earned in this country an evil report; 
 but when Burns sprang up a poet from the 
 plough's tail, when in due course Walter Scott 
 succeeded him, and both of them made so many 
 scenes of Scotland classic ground, then the 
 countrymen and interpreters of Burns and 
 Scott, who could read, or, still better, sing the 
 effusions of those gifted men, were no longer 
 looked upon with jealousy or dislike, but the 
 aspirations of the bard were realised between 
 Briton and Briton at least, if not in their more 
 universal sense — 
 
 " That man to man, the world o'er, 
 Shall brothers be for a' that." 
 
 So this night let every one say to his neigh- 
 bour, be he English or Scotch — 
 
 " Then gie's a hand, my trusty friend, 
 And here's a hand o' mine." 
 
 By what right, apart from your indulging con- 
 fidence, have I this evening a claim to preside 
 over you? Though not born in Ayrshire, I am 
 sjirung from a long race of humble yet honest 
 
 Ayrshire men, many of them sturdy followers 
 of the plough, as Burns and his father were ; 
 I was born in a city within sight of Kincar- 
 dineshire, the county from which Burns's father 
 migrated to the west. I remember but as yes- 
 terday some forty years ago, when first I swam 
 from Aberdeenshire to Kincardine across the 
 silvery Dee — a river which the Queen delighted 
 to honour by placing her Highland home upon 
 it. So bear with me if I trespass at some length 
 upon your patience in striving feebly to do all 
 the justice I can to the memory of Burns. 
 The Chairman gave a graphic sketch of the 
 poet's Ufe, and a dissertation on his poetry; 
 concluding an eloquent speech tis follows : — 
 If an eminent author could say, " Give me 
 the writing of the ballads of my country, and 
 I care not who makes its laws," truly Burns is 
 a greater man than Scotland's greatest states- 
 men. His finished poems are the admiration 
 of the learned; hissongsare "household words," 
 from the stately mansion to the. cottar's shed.' 
 I compare him not with the immortal Shakes- 
 pere, nor with the lofty Milton. Things or 
 persons to be compared must have something 
 comparable between them : the former of these 
 penetrated every depth of passion in the human 
 breast, the latter sang the sublimest and heaven- 
 liest strains. Ireland has its 'Tom Moore' — 
 writer and singer of her plaintive lays; wc 
 would not rob him of a leaf of his laurels. 
 England has its Tennyson and other poets, who 
 have written some charming lyrics ; but Burns 
 has composed more lovely short poems than 
 them all put together. He is in a special man- 
 ner Scotia's darling poet. His beautiful com- 
 positions depend not merely on skilful arrange- 
 ment of words, which, when dissected, convey 
 but little sense, but contain condensed thought 
 and matter which would set up a hundred 
 minor poets. The genius of his country has 
 consecrated him as her own peculiar prophet 
 and poet, and removing the wreath from her 
 brow, has placed it on liis lofty temples, ad- 
 dressing him — 
 
 " 'And wear thou this,' she solemn said, 
 And bound the holly round my head." 
 
 I am sure all devoutly wish, may its verdure 
 be for ever green. And wherever a son of 
 Scotia's soil is found, who has a heart to feci 
 the "lays" that sprung from his too often sad- 
 dened heart, the name of our bard will, as year 
 and centenary come round, be ever more and 
 more revered — 
 
 "Peace to the dead of Scotia's choir 
 Of minstrels, great and small : 
 He sprang from his spontaneous fire, 
 The Phoenix of them all." 
 
 I call you with heart and soul to fill a bumper 
 
452 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 and drink to the memory of Robert Burns, 
 Poet." 
 
 Several other toasts, including the health of 
 the "Members for the City," the "Mayor, Ma- 
 gistrates, and other Civic Authorities," the 
 healths of the Chairman, Vice-chairman, Com- 
 mittee of Management, &o., were enthusiasti- 
 cally received, and it was not without a feeling 
 of regret that the happy party was reminded 
 that the "sma' hours ayont the twal" were fast 
 approaching. 
 
 EYEMOUTH.— We have much gratification 
 in noticing that the ancient Lodge of St. Ebbs 
 asssmbled at Eyemouth, on the centenary of 
 Eobert Burns. The brethren came out in great 
 force, decorated with the valuable insignia pre- 
 sented by Sir James Stuart, to pay respectful 
 homage to the memory of Scotland's greatest 
 poet. With the exception of Bums's mother 
 lodge (the St. James's at Tarbolton), we believe 
 there is no other in the country has a better right 
 to hold high festivals in his honour. It is now 
 seventy-two years since Burns, accompanied by 
 his fiiend, Eobert Ainslie, W.S., made a tour 
 through Berwickshire, and it was while visit- 
 ing Mr. Eobert Grieve, at Eyemouth, that the 
 St. Ebbs Lodge was so highly honoured by 
 having the privilege of exalting the poet to the 
 sublime degree of a Eoyal Arch Mason within 
 its walls, a special encampment having been 
 held for that purpose. After opening the lodge, 
 initiating several new members, and discussing 
 some indispensable business, the members 
 walked by torch-light through Eyemouth as in 
 olden time, preceded by the Coldingham band, 
 and returned to the lodge-room for the purpose 
 of celebrating the festival of Eobert Burns's 
 birth-day. The right worshipful master, David 
 Hope Somerville, presided, supported by Past 
 Master Wilson, Senior Warden Poole, and 
 Junior Warden Colville. The evening was 
 afterwards spent in that harmony and festivity 
 known only to the brethren of the " Mystic 
 tie." 
 
 FLEETWOOD.— The centenary of the birth 
 of Burns was commemorated at Fleetwood in a 
 manner worthy of the usual spirit of the place, 
 hy a dinner at the Crown Hotel, at which J. 
 Kemp, Esq. presided, and the vice- chairs were 
 iilled by Mr. Drummond and Mr. Gibson. 
 Nearly fifty gentlemen sat down, and the repast 
 was of that sumptuous and generous character 
 for which mine host of the Crown has become 
 so famous. The room was hung round with 
 
 pictures and other suitable decorations, and over 
 the chair was suspended a very excellent por- 
 trait of the poet. 
 
 After the cloth was removed, the Chairman 
 gave in succession the usual loyal national toasts. 
 The toast of the evening, to " The Lnmortal 
 Memory of Eobert Burns," was then given by 
 Mr. Porter, who in the course of a vigorous 
 speech, gave several specimens of the genius 
 and dignity of the poet's writings. 
 
 Mr. Stott then sung, " Ye Banks and Braes;" 
 and the Crystal Palace Prize Poem was read 
 with much pathos by Mr. Munro. 
 
 Various other toasts followed, many of Bums's 
 favourite songs were sung, and the recitation of 
 " Tarn o' Shanter," and several other of Burns's 
 best compositions by Mr. Macdougal, kept the 
 company in roars of laughter. A more agree- 
 able and pleasant evening could not have been 
 spent 
 
 HALIFAX. — Upwards of thirty Scotchmen 
 sat down to dinner at the Old Cock Hotel on 
 Tuesday last. The Chairman (whose name 
 does not appear from the report) gave " The 
 Immortal Memory of Burns." The evening's 
 proceedings were agreeably diversified by music 
 and singing. Mr. Crichton, of Bradford, in full 
 Highland costume, executed several airs on the 
 bagpipes. Songs were sung by Mr. Scott, Mr. 
 Martin, of Bradford, Mr. E. Paton, and Mr. E. 
 Henderson. The speakers were Mr. W. Kerr, 
 Mr. Hogg, Mr. E. M'Burnie, Mr. Paton, Mr. 
 M'Vine, Mr. Martin, and Mr. M'Kenzie. The 
 proceedings were brought to a close by the 
 company singing " Auld Lang Syne." 
 
 HAETLEPOOL.— In Hartlepool and West 
 Hartlepool, this commemoration was held with 
 great gusto. At West Hartlepool a company 
 of singers from Edinburgh had been expressly 
 engaged for the occasion, and sang with great 
 applause, in the Athenaeum, a number of Burns's 
 favourite songs. At Hartlepool the temperance 
 committee took advantage of their usual fort- 
 nightly meeting to join in the universE^l cele- 
 bration of the bardie's natal day. Addresses 
 descriptive of the life and genius of Burns were 
 given by the Eev. A. Howson and the Eev. J. 
 Douglas (the latter of whom read the " Cottar's 
 Saturday Night"); and several songs and reci- 
 tations were given by amateurs, whose very 
 creditable imitation of the rich old Doric in 
 which Burns wrote, gave a great zest to the 
 proceedings. The proceeds of the evening will 
 be devoted to the funds for the erection of the 
 temperance hall. At West Hartlepool the pro- 
 
HEXHA M— H UDDEKSFIELD. 
 
 453 
 
 fils are to bo given to tlie Ladies' Indigent Siuk 
 Society. 
 
 HEXHAM. — The Mutual Improvement So- 
 ciety, composed principally of working men, 
 determined to take this occasion to pay fitting 
 tribute to the genius of " the poor mall's poet," 
 Robert Burns. The proceedings of the meeting 
 were commenced by the Chairman reading, as 
 an introduction, De Eossiterre's admirable ad- 
 dress on Burns, supplemented by Mr. Temper- 
 ley Grey with a laudatory poem. Then came, 
 thick and fast, speeches, readings, and recita- 
 tions — the sweet strains of the Band of Hope 
 breaking in at regular intervals, making glad 
 music in the hearts of alL Very pleasant, too, 
 were the songs from Burns, sung with evident 
 feeling by the musicians extemporized for the 
 evening. During the whole evening, the au- 
 dience, composed of the pii^ils of the society's 
 night school, and friends of the members, gave 
 manifest attention, and frequently displayed 
 their appreciation by hearty and prolonged ap- 
 plause. 
 
 HUDDERSFIELD.— The Centenary of the 
 birth of Burns, Scotland's greatest poet, was 
 celebrated by a public dinner at the Zetland 
 Hotel. About one hundred and twenty gentle- 
 men sat down to dinner. Alexander Hathorn, 
 Esq., occupied the chair, and Mr. G. W. 
 lihodes occupied the vice-chair. 
 
 After the usual loyal toasts, the Chairman 
 rose and said — Mr. Vice-Cbairman and gentle- 
 men, we have assembled to do honour to the 
 memory of Scotland's greatest poet, and to pay 
 our heartfelt tribute of admiration of his trans- 
 cendent genius, by commemorating the hund- 
 redth anniversary of his birth-day, — a day mem- 
 orable indeed in the annals of Scotland, and, I 
 may add, of the nation at large, in ushering 
 into the world one of her greatest, and cer- 
 tainly her most truly born poet. — (Applause.) 
 In proof of this, if proof indeed were wanting, 
 I need only point you to the numberless gather- 
 ings of men of all ranks and pursuits through- 
 out the length and breadth of our land on this 
 most eventful and auspicious day, to celebrate 
 as we are now doing, Burns's Centenary. The 
 very contemplation of this day's proceedings 
 gives rise to many most interesting associations, 
 to many conflicting emotions. One hundred 
 long years have rolled away since Burns first 
 saw the light of heaven ; upwards of sixty 
 years have elapsed since he was removed from 
 this chequered scene of time — for chequered 
 it was to him, though, let us hope and believe, 
 for wise and gracious purposes. I need hardly 
 say that none of us now present had appeared 
 on this scene of time, even at the death of the 
 
 poet, and none of us have haJ the privilege of 
 looking upon that nobly expressive and manly 
 face, or of meeting tlie glance of those large 
 and lustrous eyes, glowing with poetic fire, or 
 in listening to the witching music of his tongue. 
 What greater or more convincing proof, I 
 would ask then, of the undying fame of Burns 
 as a poet, than is our assembling here to-night, 
 the assembling of so many of our countrymen 
 and of our brethren of America, more especi- 
 ally, as well as of other parts of the world. 
 "We have all had the privilege of reading his 
 effusions in poetry and song ; and sure I am 
 that none of us can have done so without a 
 thrill of admiration, and a glow of patriotism, 
 or without being inspired with the love of all 
 that is true-hearted, gentle, and loving, and, 
 at the same time, manly, generous, and inde- 
 pendent. We cannot but reflect upon the im- 
 portant and heart-stirring national events that 
 have occurred in the history of our country 
 during this period of a hundred years. Em- 
 pires have been lost and won ; many battles, 
 both by sea and land, have been fought ; men 
 most distinguished in every walk of life have 
 lived and died; science, literature, art, and 
 mechanics, have made the most rapid strides 
 the world has ever before witnessed ; the most 
 important reforms, whether religious or politi- 
 cal, social or domestic, have taken place ; and, 
 indeed, in everything that can minister to the 
 happiness, prosperity, comfort, and onward pro- 
 gress of the civilized world, — the most wonder • 
 till and rapid strides have taken place. Yet, 
 amidst all these great and engrossing events, 
 the fame of Burns has remained undimmed in 
 its lustre, and lies enshrined, bright and pure 
 as ever, in the hearts of every lover of true 
 poetic genius ; and every succeeding age and 
 generation has been, and we cannot doubt will 
 be, inspired with the same ardent feelings of 
 admiration and enthusiasm. — (Applause.) 
 Burns was emphatically a national poet ; al- 
 most all his musings are racy of the soil, if I 
 may so speak, and his early and simple life, 
 that of a ploughman, was assuredly more favour- 
 able for the full development of his true poetic 
 genius, than if he had been placed in more 
 prosperous circumstances and in a more ex- 
 alted position. — (Hear, hear.) The period in 
 which Burns lived furnished ample poetical 
 materials, and his own solid learning, which a 
 moderately liberal and careful education had 
 imparted, aided by his own strong and deep feel- 
 ing, enabled him to "unlock his heart" in 
 song, and in " thoughts that breathe and words 
 that burn;" in a word (to use the words of my 
 friend, Mr. Law Walker), to "let his poetry 
 escape," and thus to portray, ia every line of 
 his own matchless verse, the heart and feelings 
 
454 
 
 THE BUIiis'S CENTEJs'ARY. 
 
 of his country. From the almost countless 
 effusions of Burns' s genius, I would sel6ct his 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night." This inimitable 
 poem has a -world-wide fame and homage. I 
 am sure that no one can read it without emo- 
 tion, or without a full and cordial appreciation 
 of its many excellences; and these all the 
 more beautiful and attractive because of their 
 perfect truthfulness and reality. It is, indeed, 
 an immortal model of the cottage life, and pre- 
 sents a vivid picture of the daily life of the 
 right-hearted Scottish peasantry in its most 
 humble, attractive, and sacred aspect, while, at 
 the same time, it breathes forth such a pure 
 and Christian feeling; portrays sucli a scene of 
 domestic peace, of true and pure love, and, 
 withal, such a noble and generous love of 
 country, as is unsurpassed by any, even of our 
 most admired poets. It is indeed a " gem of 
 purest ray serene;" and if Burns had written 
 nothing else, he would have been entitled to 
 the warmest admiration of his countrymen.— 
 (Cheers.) But I am detaining you too long, 
 more especially when I tell you that one now 
 present, and a most ardent and genial admirer 
 of the great poet will foUow me, and will dil- 
 ate much more appropriately and eloquently 
 than I can possibly do, upon this rapturous 
 theme. I would just add, however, in conclu- 
 sion, that I am well assured that there is no 
 one in this assembly so dull, so passive or un- 
 impassioned, who can witness this event, or 
 think of all that is passing this day, without 
 deep emotion. To all whose heart's strings 
 have thrilled responsive to the chords of the 
 poet's lyre, — whose bosoms have swelled, like 
 his, with love and gratitude, with tenderness 
 and sympathy, — have glowed with patriotism, 
 or panted for glory, — this day must be a day 
 of exultation. In one word, the poet of the 
 heart is the poet of mankind. I would ask you 
 to join me in drinking, with the deepest feel- 
 ing and the utmost earnestness and sincerity, 
 " The Memory of Burns." 
 
 The toast was drunk in silence. 
 
 Mr. J. WooDHBAD, Huddersfield Examiner, 
 rose and said — Mr. Chairman, Mr. Vice-Chair- 
 man, and gentlemen, "The Immortal Memory 
 of Eobert Burns" having been proposed by our 
 esteemed Chairman, a gentleman who, if I 
 mistake not, was born in the same county as 
 the great bard, I think it is not inappropriate 
 that the sentiment should be responded to by 
 one born south of the Tweed, as both Scotch- 
 men and Englishmen will then bo represented ; 
 and I cannot but feel that I have some claim 
 to call Burns a countryman, without exciting 
 the jealousy of my Scotch brethren. — (Hear, 
 and laughter.) Scotland and England are so 
 thoroughly united, — their people living under 
 
 the same government, speaking the same lan- 
 guage, believing essentially in the same religi- 
 ous faith, rejoicing in the same freedom, and 
 aiming at the same great destiny, that, not- 
 withstanding the Tweed runs between the two 
 lands, they can say in sober truth, " We are 
 brithers a' for a' that." . This remarkable cele- 
 bration of the day on which a true poet was 
 born into the world, is of deep significance. It 
 proves that poetry is yet considered a divine 
 thing in this prosaic, mammon-worshipping 
 world of ours, — a something that can exalt 
 and beautify everyday life, and can wreath with 
 flowers the very chains that bind us to our 
 didlest task. It shows that poetry is deeply 
 rooted in human nature, and that the true 
 singer, who comes to us in the fulness of poetic 
 gift and blessing, is to be received as the 
 highest and kindliest of them, having a divine 
 mission to his brethren " to charm, to 
 strengthen, and to teach." — (Cheers.) Burns 
 came as one of these singers; and having ut- 
 tered some of the sweetest, most touching 
 strains that ever saluted human ears, he passed 
 away from among men, leaving a fame which 
 has grown brighter with the lapse of time. No 
 poet was ever so honoured before, and we know 
 of no human being whose birth-day was ever 
 commemorated with such a spontaneous and 
 wide-spread enthusiasm. He was but lowly- 
 born, and he did nothing to increase the material 
 wealth of the world. He invented no new 
 machine to lighten human toil, and made no 
 scientific discovery ; but he gave his country 
 and the world poems which will afford in- 
 tensest pleasure, and add largely to the sum of 
 human enjoyment, long as men have heads to 
 think and hearts to feel. Burns's naturalness 
 and exquisite simplicity are appreciated by all, 
 but especially by the humble poor, who, for 
 his strong sjrmpathy with them in their labours, 
 their difficulties, their amusements, and theii 
 aspirations, " Lo'e him as a vera brither." — 
 — (Hear, and applause.) The pearls of rarest 
 beauty which he scattered around him with 
 such a profuse hand, were not cast before a 
 heedless people, but were caught up and trea- 
 sured as the richest, most splendid ornament 
 of which dear old Caledonia could boast. An 
 intense love of nature, and wonderful powers 
 of description, are prominent in all Burns's 
 pastoral poems ; and " Tarn o' Shanter" and 
 " Hallowe'en" will live for ever, testimonies to 
 his genial humour; while his "Cottar's Satur- 
 day Night" reveals his genuine religiousness, 
 his tenderness of feeling, and his strong sym- 
 pathy with his class — that of the Scotch pea- 
 santry. His picluies of Scotch manners and 
 customs glow with lii'e, and are faithlul, as if 
 photographed. It is fitting, then, that we 
 
JEItSEY. 
 
 4.55 
 
 should thus celebratfi the Centenary of Bums's 
 birth-day, and cast our wreath upon his glori- 
 ous tomb — 
 
 " A tomb for which e'en kings might wish to die." 
 
 Again, then, I say, green for ever shall be the 
 memory of Kobert Burns. — (Cheers.) Long as 
 the rivers he has rendered sacred by his song 
 shall roll their waters to the mighty ocean ; 
 long as the heather shall bloom, and the 
 waters leap, and the fresh air blow among 
 the hills of bonnie Scotland ; long as the 
 gowan, the "wee, modest, crimson-tipped 
 flower," shall gem Caledonia's soil ; long as the 
 laverock shall sing its morning song, " up in 
 the blue lift sae hie," to cheer the early labourer 
 at his toil ; long as friend shall meet with 
 friend to have a crack about " Auld Langsyne ;" 
 long as stalwart youths and bonnie lassies shall 
 "wander by the rivers and 'jpang the braes of 
 Scotland, to "breathe the tender tale;" long 
 as wedded love shall be a sacred thing, and 
 home shall be the abode of all holy affections; 
 long as patriotism can inspire, and the beauti- 
 ful in the outer world can charm ; long as de- 
 lineations of the joys and sorrows of human 
 life shall have power to touch the heart ; in 
 short, long as poetry shall be able to border 
 with flowers the pathway of humanity, and 
 cause fountains to spring up by the way-side 
 for the refreshment and solace of the weary 
 life-pilgrim ; long as it shall fringe with gold 
 the light cloudlets that flit across the skies of 
 man's happier hours, or give a silver lining to 
 the dark clouds which lour over the heads and 
 depress the hearts of the children of men, so 
 long shall Eobert Burns be reverenced and ad- 
 mired universally as a true poet, and he loved 
 and honoured by his countrjrmen as Scotland's 
 great national bard. 
 
 The toast and song went merrily round, and 
 it was not until " the witching hour ayont the 
 twal" that the meeting separated. 
 
 JERSEY. — ^A literary and musical festival, 
 at which five hundred persons were present, 
 was held in the Queen's Assembly Rooms, 
 which were splendidly decorated for the occa- 
 sion. Beneath the central of the three elegant 
 Gothic arches was seen a fine transparent por- 
 trait of the cherished poet, the tastefully exe- 
 cuted work of Mr. Collie, a Scottish artist, who 
 has resided many years in Jersey. The com- 
 pany chiefly consisted of the elite of the island, 
 among whom were the Very Rev. the Dean of 
 Jersey, Sir George Maclean, Joshua Le Bailly, 
 Esq., one of the jurats of the Royal Court, and 
 
 Mr. Advocate Horman. Several of the gentle- 
 men were more or less Scottish in their cos- 
 tumes — a national homage paid to the poet's 
 memory, and many of the fair sex assembled to 
 honour the memory of Bums. E. Kirkpatrick 
 Howat, Esq. (yr. of Mabie), took the chair. 
 The chairman and members of committee each 
 wore a sprig of heather decorated with blue 
 ribbon. The chairman delivered a brief but 
 appropriate opening address, in which he gave 
 a compendious sketch of the poet's life, and then 
 went on to observe : — Many have said, and 
 with great show of reason, that Bums, during 
 his lifetime, was not appreciated; but when 
 you come to take into consideration the state of 
 Scotland at that period, and the then condition 
 of authorship, you will, I think, agree with me, 
 that during his brief career, after emerging 
 from his provincial obscurity, he achieved no 
 small amount of success. Some of his songs 
 were no doubt rather too radical in their ten- 
 dencies to please the upholders of the Divine 
 right of kings, particularly his song of " A 
 man's a man for a' that," in which he says : — 
 
 " A prince can mak a belted knight, 
 A marquis, duke, an' a' that ; 
 But an honest man's aboon his might, — 
 Quid faith he manna fa' that." 
 
 He was one of our greatest reformers, and with 
 the keen edge of his satire, he not only lashed 
 the abuses of Government, but also attacked 
 the great social evil — the vice of hypocrisy. In 
 his treatment of the latter subject, he reminds 
 me of one of the most powerful satirists the 
 world ever produced, the great dramatist Mo- 
 liere. Whatever Burns's failing may have been 
 as a man and a poet, is there any man of Scot- 
 tish blood among us who will say that the good 
 did not immensely preponderate over the evil ! 
 (Applause.) But the days have gone past for 
 entering into a criticism on the works of Burns, 
 he has now taken his place among our British 
 authors, and nothing we can say will add to or 
 detract from his reputation, so I think also that 
 the time has come when the man ought to be 
 merged with the poet. Let us falsify Shak- 
 speare when he says : " The evil a man does 
 lives after him, the good is often interred with 
 his bones." His poems have now become 
 household words among us, and as the tide of 
 civilisation flows through the wilds of the far 
 West, and through that great empire of Austra- 
 lasia, Burns' reputation will still increase. Our 
 countrymen will carry his poems with them, 
 and will read them by their hearths and by their 
 campfires, to their children and their children's 
 children, and they serve to instil into their 
 hearts that love of honesty and independence 
 for which he, as a hard, was so remarkable, and 
 for which we, as a nation, above all other 
 
456 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 nations, have been hitherto, and, I hope always 
 shall be pre-eminently distinguished. The 
 Chairman's admirable address was warmly ap- 
 plauded. Among the leading features of this 
 interesting festival, was the recitation of Mr. 
 Davis, printer, of an original prologue on Burns, 
 the singing of Burns's best songs by eminent 
 vocalists, including "La fille aux cheveux de 
 lin," a French version, by Leconte de Lisle, of 
 Burns's " Lassie wi' the lint-white locks," sung 
 by Monsieur Charles Benezit. This novelty 
 could be better appreciated in Jersey than in 
 any other part of the United Kingdom, a large 
 number of the audience understanding the 
 language , in which the singer sang, and it 
 elicited the enthusiastic applause of the au- 
 dience. 
 
 LIVERPOOL.— The local celebrations of the 
 hundredth anniversary of the birth-day of the 
 Scottish poet, Robert Burns, iiicluded a dinner 
 at the Adelphi Hotel, and another at the 
 Brunswick Hotel, Hanover Street, a musical 
 soirde and ball at St. George's Hall, and an- 
 other soiree at the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson 
 Street. The dinners were held at half-past five 
 and six o'clock, in order to allow gentlemen to 
 attend the soiree at St. George's Hall. 
 
 The Adelphi Hotel. — About a hundred 
 gentlemen (exclusively sons of Scotland) sat 
 down to dinner, and Mr. J. C. Ewart, M.P., 
 presided. 
 
 Dinner at the Brunswick Hotel. — A din- 
 ner took place at the Brunswick Hotel, Hano- 
 ver Street, where Mr. Ming served up a most 
 excellent as well as substantial repast in a style 
 which won for him the warmest encomiums of 
 all present. Mr. David Ross, editor of the 
 Liverpool Chronicle, presided ; and, though 
 the invitations were by no means restricted to 
 Scotchmen, it is needless to add that the ma- 
 jority of those present were natives of Scotland. 
 After the tables had been cleared, the Chair- 
 man proposed the usual loyal and patriotic 
 toasts, which were all duly honoured. 
 
 The Chairman then rose and said — Gentle- 
 men, I have now to propose to you what is 
 emphatically the toast of the evening, namely, 
 " The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns." 
 (Loud cheers.) It is no easy task to assign to 
 Robert Burns the precise rank which he should 
 occupy in the Temple of Fame. In comparing 
 liis works with others I shall say nothing of 
 the poetry of the Bible, the grandest collection 
 of sublime ideas and high and holy thoughts 
 
 that ever were comprised in a single volume 
 
 partly because these are the productions not of 
 
 one but of many authors, and partly because, 
 if we believe in the doctrine of divine inspira- 
 tion, they come pot within the category of 
 human performances. Classical scholars will 
 tell you that Homer was the first and greatest 
 of all poets, and that all his successors have 
 only in one form or another reproduced his 
 ideas. I do not myself subscribe to this dic- 
 tum, and we should certainly search in vain in 
 the exquisite lyrics of Burns for the remotest 
 imitation of the Homeric sage. Without re- 
 ferring, however, to the other illustrious names 
 whose works enrich and illuminate human 
 literature, I would say that there is none of 
 them with whom Burns can be fairly compared. 
 Shakspeare and others have indeed bequeathed 
 to us greater literary treasures than even the 
 Ayrshire bard. And Jeffrey, the greatest critic 
 of his day, has placed Walter Scott next in 
 rank to Shakspeare ; while Allan Cunningham, 
 who cannot be accused of any undue prejudice 
 against Burns, confesses that he stands sur- 
 passed by the author of Waverley. I saw a 
 paragraph in the papers the other day in which 
 Burns is spoken of as the Scottish Shakspeare. 
 Tills, however, is no new idea. So far back as 
 the year 1787, when his early poems were first 
 published in Edinburgh, " the literary men of 
 the south," we are told, " seemed even to fly 
 a flight beyond those of the north" in their 
 praise of the author, and, it is added, " some 
 hesitated not to call him the northern Shak- 
 speare." In another place we are told that 
 Lord Sidmouth " saw in the verses of the rustic 
 bard a spontaneous vigour of expression and a 
 glowing richness of language all but rivalling 
 Shakspeare." And a greater than Sidmouth, 
 namely, Walter Scott, speaking of " Tarn o' 
 Shanter," says, "No poet, with the exception 
 of Shakspeare, ever possessed the power of 
 exciting the most varied and discordant emo- 
 tions with such rapid transitions." As I have 
 already hinted, however, it would be highly 
 unjust to the memory of Burns to weigh his 
 productions in the same scale with those of the 
 great writers I have named, and for this simple 
 reason, that he did not possess anything like 
 the advantages enjoyed by the others. Allan 
 Cunningham, indeed, says that " in true know- 
 ledge the poet was at nineteen a better scholar 
 than nine-tenths of our young gentlemen when 
 they leave school for the college ;" and Jeffrey 
 conjectures that he " had about as much scholar- 
 ship as Shakspeare, and far better models to 
 form his ear to harmony, and to train his 
 fancy to graceful invention;" while Scott, as 
 we know, had both the scholarship and the 
 models. But here, in the words of another 
 poet, " Here all likeness ends between the 
 pair." Both Scott and Shakspeare survived to 
 
LIVERPOOL. 
 
 457 
 
 an age wlien their genius was ripened and 
 matured, while Burns was cut oft) if not in 
 early youth, at least in the very prime of his 
 manhood. Had those great authors died, like 
 Burns, at the age of thirty-seven, they could 
 only have bequeathed to us a mere fraction of 
 their entire productions, and their greatest and 
 noblest conceptions would never have sprung 
 into existence at all. Had Scott, for instance, 
 died at the age of thirty-seven, Marmion would 
 have been his latest work. Waverley, the first 
 of that glorious series which has placed the 
 nams of Scott at the very head of Scottish 
 literature, never saw the light till its author 
 was forty-three. Had Bums, on the other 
 hand, been blessed by Providence with equal 
 longevity, what might we not have expected 
 from his pen '? We may form, indeed, some 
 vague conjectures of what we have lost from 
 what we have obtained. B^^t who can predi- 
 cate with anything like certainty as to the 
 wealth of that mine of which we have only 
 been suflfered to gather some -scattered " nug- 
 gets" — nuggets rich, indeed, in virgin gold, 
 but adulterated with the dross inseparable from 
 the first diggings of even the most auriferous 
 soil. (Loud cheers.) The space of a hundred 
 years has this day elapsed since the birth of 
 Burns. It has been ascertained that one per- 
 son in every thousand reaches the age of a 
 hundred. It is, therefore, quite within the 
 course of nature that he might have lived to 
 witness the celebration of his own centenary — 
 that he might this evening have been here or 
 in some other assembly of his votaries who are 
 at this momont met to pay to his memory the 
 tribute of their jjraise. (Loud cheers.) Had 
 this been the case, with what an acclaim of 
 welcome would he have been hailed ! Had he 
 in person filled this chair, or been at this mo- 
 ment seated by my side, how strange, how 
 overwhelming must our sensations have been ! 
 (Hear, hear.) This is a picture which we may 
 indeed imagine, but can scarcely realise. But 
 though he fiaUed to reach that extreme verge 
 of human existence which other less gifted 
 men have done, yet had he reached the span 
 meted out by the inspired penman of three- 
 score years and ten, or even, like Scott, three- 
 score years, is there any one here who can 
 venture to say that he might not have rivalled 
 both Shakspeare and Scott ? "We cannot tell. 
 But we do know this : that had he lived to an 
 age when his intellect would have been mai/ured 
 and his judgment ripened, and his experience 
 of life and of nature proportionally expanded — 
 when his mind had purified itself, as such a 
 mind could not fail to do, of those youthful 
 errors and follies which unhappily cloud though 
 they cannot obscure his genius — when his 
 
 moral nature had been purged of its impurities, 
 and his aspirations become more high and holy 
 as he ueared the confines of a brighter sphere — 
 high as he stands in our estimation now, and 
 in that of all our countrymen throughout the 
 circuit of the globe, he would then have stood 
 upon a far loftier pinnacle, and realized a still 
 more enduring fame. (Great cheering.) As it 
 is, he may boast, with a poet of kindred genius, 
 whose memory has been mellowed but not 
 effiiced by the lapse of nearly twenty cen- 
 turies — 
 
 " Exep monumentum sere perennius, 
 Regalique situ pyramidum altius." 
 
 " I have raised a monument more durable than 
 brass, and more sublime than the regal eleva- 
 tion of the pyramids." But had the dream we 
 have fancied proved true he might have achieved 
 a triumph even nobler still, and shone with a 
 lustre bright and clear, " above all Greek, 
 above all Eoman fame." Leaving those fan- 
 cies, however, for more modest realities, let us 
 rejoice with pride in our national bard as he 
 is, and cherish with love and with reverence 
 in our heart of hearts the honoured name of 
 Burns. (Loud cheers.) The classical quota- 
 tion in which I have just indulged suggests, 
 by the way, another idea. The three greatest 
 lyric poets, I suppose, that ever existed — 
 always excepting, as before, those of the Bible 
 — were Pindar among the Greeks, Horace 
 among the Eomans, and Burns among our- 
 selves. Of the first I can say little, having, 
 unfortunately, a very slight acquaintance with 
 the language in which he wrote. But the odes 
 of Horace and the songs of Burns have been 
 my study and my delight from my earliest 
 years, and I must say that they divide between 
 them the admiration which I o^vn for this de- 
 scription of verse. Of Horace, Byron says — 
 
 " It is a curse 
 To understand, not feel, thy lyric flow. 
 To comprehend, but never love thy verse." 
 
 And the same remark may be applied without 
 qualification to our own national bard. In- 
 stead of likening Burns, therefore, to Shak- 
 speare, Scott, or others — to whom his works 
 bear no sort of afiinity — I would rather say 
 that the sweet singer of the Augustan age might 
 aptly be termed the Burns of Italy, while Burns 
 might be christened the Horace of the North. 
 The men, indeed, were in some respects as 
 different from each other as any two men could 
 be. The one was a fawning parasite, who 
 ascribed to a blood-stained tyrant all the vir- 
 tues of a god ; while the other was a patriot as 
 well as a poet, and valued human worth, irre- 
 spective of the concomitants of rank, or wealth, 
 or power : in his estimation 
 
4o8 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 " The rank was but the guinea's stamp, 
 The man's the go a d for a' that." 
 
 (Cheers.) But for the exquisite beauty and 
 indefinable charm of their verse it would be 
 difficult between them to award the palm. 
 (Hear, hear.) It may now, perhaps, be ex- 
 pected that I should say a few words respecting 
 the character of Burns, not as a poet, but as a 
 man. And here the first thing that strikes is 
 his manly independence. (Cheers.) This noble 
 principle cbaracterises all his thoughts, all his 
 writings, and all his actions. It has been re- 
 garded by some as " approaching to arrogance," 
 by others as " the cant of independence," and 
 by others still as "rudeness and vulgarity." 
 But no one, I think, can attentively peruse his 
 biography, and compare it with the noble 
 utterances of the man himself, without being 
 convinced that this was a salient feature of his 
 mind. Surely no one was ever more entitled 
 to exclaim^ 
 
 " Thy spirit, Independence, let me share. 
 Lord of the lion heart and eagle eye ; 
 Thy steps I'll follow with my forehead bare, 
 Nor heed the storm that howls along the sky." 
 
 (Cheers.) The next thing that strikes us is 
 his natural good sense. In all the fluctuations 
 of his fortune, this never deserted him. When 
 suddenly raised from the position of a peasant 
 to be the pet of rank, and fashion, and beauty, 
 and to be placed on a footing of familiariiy 
 with the most distinguished men of his day, it 
 was the wonder of all the philosophers with 
 whom he came into contact that his head was 
 not turned ; and the prudence of his demeanour 
 in these trying circumstances excited scarcely 
 less surprise and admiration than his genius 
 itself. In the reverses of his fortune, when he 
 had to submit to neglect, and calumny, and 
 insult, he-bore them, not, indeed, without re- 
 sentment — not, indeed, without fierce retalia- 
 tion, but still with unshaken firmness. In his 
 domestic relations he was a dutiful son, an 
 affectionate husband, and a tender parent ; and 
 his dying hours were soothed with the conso- 
 lations of that religion which he is said to have 
 blasphemed. On the whole, I regard the cha- 
 racter of Burns with feelings of mingled admi- 
 ration and love. He was far, indeed, from 
 being a pure and perfect model of humanity, 
 but his many noble and manly virtues far out- 
 balanced his defects. But dear to every Scots- 
 man as the fame of Burns must be, whatever 
 the clime or the country in which we may be 
 located, there are gentlemen now present in 
 this company to whom it must possess a still 
 more peculiar charm. We can all, I hope, 
 appreciate the genius of the poet, but to those 
 who were born and brought up in " the land 
 of Burns," as it has been happily called — a 
 
 district remarkable for the birth of distin- 
 guished men — who have been familiar from 
 their infancy with the scenes and associations 
 which originally inspired his muse — those 
 lyrics, which touch every human heart, must 
 stir in theirs inexpressible emotions. This is 
 a privilege, indeed, of which I cannot boast, 
 but I see aroimd me more than one individual 
 whose infant feet have trod the ground that 
 has been hallowed by the genius of Robert 
 Burns, and in whose breasts the associations 
 thus excited must now come back with tenfold 
 tenderness. In every man who is deserving of 
 the name, the place of his birth and the scenes 
 of his infancy, and, still more, the distant re- 
 collection of these from a distance, from which 
 he is now severed by a double bar, by the dis- 
 tance of time and the distance of space, must 
 excite a species of local patriotism, more power- 
 ful because more special than even the love of 
 our country itself May not each of you, then, 
 who is thu.s fortunate, repeat in the words of 
 your own bard — 
 
 " Strong memory on my heart will write 
 These happy scenes when far awa'." 
 
 And for us who have been less favoured in the 
 locality of our birth, let us join with you, with 
 all, in pledging, as befits us, amid solemn 
 silence, "The Immortal Memory of Robert 
 Burns." 
 
 " One round, I ask it with a tear, 
 To him, the bard that's far awa'." 
 
 The toasts of " England," " Ireland," " Scot- 
 land," and "America," as nationalities, were 
 afterwards proposed and suitably acknowledged. 
 These were followed by " The Press," " The 
 Town and Trade of Liverpool," " The Chair- 
 man," and " The Ladies ;" and altogether the 
 proceedings were of the most agreeable charac- 
 ter, the memory of the "Ploughman Bard" 
 being, it is needless to add, duly honoured at 
 every stage. 
 
 During the evening, Mr Brown sang "A 
 man's a man for a' that;" Mr. Dalziel, "Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled," and a number of 
 other Scottish songs selected from the writings 
 of the Ayrshire poet. Mr. Lee, Mr. Smith, 
 and Mr. Harris also contributed by their efforts 
 much to the harmony of the proceedings. Mr. 
 Dalziel likewise read the Crystal Palace Prize 
 Poem on the Centenary of Burns, and sang an 
 original song composed for the occasion, en- 
 titled, " Robin's Awa'." 
 
 St. George's Hall.— For the musical soii-ee 
 and ball every part of the building was brought 
 into requisition and suitably decorated. Im- 
 mediately on alighting on the north entrance, 
 the visitors stepped on scarlet baize, which was 
 laid in every passage and corridor, even to the 
 
LIVERPODL. 
 
 4i'i0 
 
 grand jury room at the extreme north, and cover- 
 ed the stairs of the small concert room as well 
 as of the gallery of the large hall. The pit of the 
 large hall was covered with wooden flooring. 
 The organ loft was converted into a capacious 
 orchestra, hy the addition of wings on each side, 
 which were also covered with scarlet cloth. 
 The steps in the north entrance hall were lined 
 on each side with plants from the puhlic gar- 
 dens, and some large and rare plants of South 
 America stood at the top. In the large hall, 
 plants lined the steps leading, at the north and 
 south, into the criminal and civil courts, now 
 converted into refreshment rooms ; and smaller 
 plants ornamented the niches and the corners 
 of the column pedestals. This celebration ori- 
 ginated with a meeting of a few gentlemen at the 
 Clarendon Rooms, who afterwards formed them- 
 selves into a large committee, and met in the 
 library of St. George's Hal^ Having deter- 
 mined the form the celebration should take, they 
 divided themselves into sub-committees to pro- 
 vide for the three departments of music, danc- 
 ing, and promenading; and they have worked 
 earnestly ever since the scheme was set on foot. 
 It was hoped to have made one of the principal 
 features of the celebration the delivery of an 
 address by Mr. W. M. Thackeray, or some 
 other gentleman of equal eminence ; but being 
 unable to secure the services of any person of 
 sufficient distinction for this purpose, the pro- 
 ject was abandoned and the cantata of " The 
 Jolly Beggars" added to the programme of the 
 concert. Up to midnight, there were simulta- 
 neous attractions in the concert room, the great 
 hall, and the library (apart from supper and 
 refreshments). 
 
 Scottish music was performed in the small 
 concert hall from eight to twelve o'clock — 
 during the first two hours with orchestral ac- 
 companiment, and afterwards without it, the 
 band being withdrawn at ten o'clock, when the 
 ball commenced in the large hall, where at half- 
 past eight and half-past nine o'clock fantasias 
 were performed on the organ by Mr. Best ; whilst, 
 in the library, relics, &c., of the poet were ex- 
 liibited. The company began to arrive about 
 seven o'clock, soon after which hour the line of 
 carriages waiting to set down reached from the 
 north entrance of the hall to St. Luke's Church, 
 at the top of Bold-street. During the first 
 hour, in the north entrance hall, music was 
 performed by the band of the pensioners, who 
 were afterwards removed to the large hall, and 
 played between the organ performances. 
 
 The Concert Boom. — Soon after the open- 
 ing of the doors, this room gradually tilled, and 
 presented a brilliant appearance. The earliest 
 comers were those most anxious to hear the 
 performance of Scottish music; a few, however, 
 
 prefeiring to promenade the large hall and in- 
 spect the objects of interest in the library. The 
 only special adornment which the concert room 
 presented was a tribute to the poet placed in 
 front of the orchestra. It was a niche of scar- 
 let baize, which formed an effective background 
 to a group of sculpture, consisting of four 
 pieces. A small bust of Bums was in the cen- 
 tral front, and Poetry held the laurel over his 
 head. On one side of the poet was "Wallace, 
 and on the other Bruce. Beneath was the fol- 
 lowing inscription : — 
 
 The poetic genius of his country found him at the 
 
 plough, 
 Threw over him her inspiring mantle, 
 Now offers at his shrine the poet's crown of 
 Imperishable fame, the wide world's award. 
 January 25, 1859. 
 
 Thus, a century from the poet's birth, posterity 
 bestowed upon the poet that which he despaired 
 of in life when he said — 
 
 " Then farewell hope's o' laurel boughs 
 To garland my poetic brows!" 
 
 The band consisted of forty performers, of 
 whom eleven selected violinists had been brought 
 from Scotland especially, by Mr. E. B. Stewart. 
 For the vocal music the committee were under 
 obligation to Mr. Armstrong and the Vocal 
 Union, who made the necessary arrangements 
 on the shortest notice, so soon as it was known 
 that an address could not be obtained. The 
 principal vocalists were Miss Clari Eraser, Mrs. 
 Stedman, Mr. Keimedy, and Mr. Armstrong. 
 The programme was as follows, — " The Jolly 
 Beggars," Overture on Scottish airs, " There 
 was a Lad was bom in Kyle," " John Ander- 
 son, my jo, John;" Scottish airs, arranged for 
 the orchestra, "Coming through the Eye," "0' 
 a' the Airts the Wind can Blaw," " Oh, Wert 
 thou in the Cauld Blast," " Duncan Gray cam' 
 here to Woo ;" Quadrille, composed for the oc- 
 casion, " Here Awa, There Awa, Wandering 
 Willie," « Oh, Willie Brew'd a Peck o' Maut," 
 " Oh, Whistle and I'U come to ye, my Lad," 
 " Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon," " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled," " Last May a braw 
 Wooer cam' down the Lang Glen," " Green 
 Grow the Hashes, 0," " My Love is like a red, 
 red Rose," " Gather in, Gather in, Ane an' A'." 
 
 The fantasia went merrilj'. Mr. Kennedy 
 read the recitatives with good effect, being 
 thorough master of the Scotch brogue. Mr. 
 Armstrong, one of the craft, who were pre- 
 vileged to wear their aprons on this occasion, 
 left the conductors' stand to sing the ditty of 
 the maimed soldier, which was warmly ap- 
 plauded. Mrs. Stedman bewailed the loss of 
 her " Braw John Highlandman." The cantata, 
 as a whole, was the most interesting musical 
 performance of the evening. The chorus and 
 
460 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 the orchestra preserved throughout most effec- 
 tive concord and harmony. In the second part 
 of the concert, Miss Clari Eraser pleased very 
 much in her rendering of " John Anderson my 
 jo," and the audience accorded a hearty ap- 
 plause ; hut, apprehensive of an encore to de- 
 lay the dancing, the rest objected to a repeti- 
 tion, which otherwise would perhaps have been, 
 demanded. The overtures on Scottish airs, 
 arranged by Mr. Stewart, were highly appre- 
 ciated. After the commencement of the ball 
 the concert room was nearly deserted. During 
 the second part of the concert Mr. M'Bride, 
 one of the secretaries, read the Sydenham prize 
 poem. 
 
 The Library. — The library contained a num- 
 ber of relics of the immortal bard, which had 
 Jbeen kindly lent by the owners for the occasion, 
 and was much frequented during the evening, 
 and its contents were closely inspected with 
 great curiosity and interest. 
 
 The Ballroom. — During the first two hours 
 of the concert, when the concert hall was filled, 
 the corridors were almost impassable, the gal- 
 leries of the great hall were filled, and the pro- 
 tected dancing floor was thickly surrounded, 
 and as many as possibly could do so were en- 
 joying Mr. Best's fantasias on the organ and 
 the music of the pensioners' band. Soon after 
 ten o'clock the room was thrown open, and 
 quickly filled by a gay and glittering crowd. 
 The opening quadrille was danced in lines across 
 the room, and not in sets, which was a con- 
 siderable relief, and so soon as the impatient 
 dancers had formed, the signal was given which 
 
 " Put life and metal in their heels." 
 
 The programme contained twenty-four dances, 
 which were the ordinary ones, except the Tul- 
 loch reel, all being danced to Scotch music. 
 The schottische had been omitted, but it was 
 substituted for a gallop. The scene which the 
 ballroom presented was brilliantbeyond descrip- 
 tion, whilst the crushing and rushing were 
 almost unparalleled. It was estimated that 
 about three thousand persons were present. 
 The Highland costume was not such a striking 
 feature as we might have expected, there being 
 more freemasons' aprons than Highland bon- 
 nets and jackets, whilst the ladies displayed the 
 most tartan in ribbons, scarfs, cloaks, and 
 dresses. As seen from the galleries, the ball- 
 room was a continuous dissolving view of com- 
 mingling colours, chiefly pinks and blacks. 
 Soon after midnight, according to programme, 
 the company was concentrated in the large hall, 
 and " Auld Langsyno" was sung under the 
 leadership of Mr. Kennedy. The whole audience 
 joined enthusiastically in the chorus; they 
 cheered loudly when the second verse was com- 
 
 pleted, and would have the third verse ; and 
 when it was given they clapped hands anA 
 cheered more lustily than ever. Then dancing 
 was resumed, and 
 
 " The mirth and fun grew fast and furious ; 
 The pipers loud and louder blew; 
 The dancers quick and quicker flew.'' 
 
 The great success attending this celebration 
 was in no small manner due to Mr. Newlands, 
 Borough Engineer, Mr. G. A. Mackenzie, trea- 
 surer, and Mr. W. M. Mackenzie of the George 
 Hall. 
 
 Soiree op the Working Classes. — Tho 
 demonstration of the working classes took place ' 
 in the Concert Hall, Lord Nelson-street, under 
 the auspices of the committee of the Saturday 
 Evening Concerts. Erom their first issue the 
 tickets were eagerly sought after, and for seve- 
 ral days before the time not one could be pro- 
 cured, although an advanced price would have 
 been given for almost any number. At the 
 back of the platform a medallion portrait (co- 
 lossal size) of Burns was placed, surrounded by 
 wreaths of evergreens. During the early part 
 of the evening Mr. Notman appeared in full 
 Highland costume, and on the Scottish pipes 
 played some popular national airs. After tea 
 the tables in the body were removed, and 
 room being thus obtained, a considerable addi- 
 tion was made to the company, which on the 
 whole numbered about two thousand. Mr. J. 
 Skeaf, jun., presided at the pianoforte. The 
 chair was occupied by Nathaniel Caine, Esq., 
 the Chairman of the Saturday Evening Con- 
 cert Committee. 
 
 Before tea, the whole audience joined in sing- 
 ing, to the tune of " Martyrdom," Burns's 
 grace before meat :—■ 
 
 " O Thou, who kindly dost provide 
 
 For every creature's %vant ! 
 We bless thee, God of Nature wide. 
 
 For all thy goodness lent: 
 And, if it please thee, Heavenly Guide, 
 
 May never worse be sent ; 
 But whether granted or denied. 
 
 Lord, bless us with content! 
 Amen." 
 
 The Chairman, who was loudly applauded, 
 said, in introducing the business of the evening, 
 — Wb meet to-night, as an assemblage of the 
 people, to do honour to the memory of the poet 
 of the people, the peasant bard of Scotland— 
 to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the 
 birth of Burns. We meet under the auspices 
 of the Committee of the Saturday Evening 
 Concerts— the people's concerts, an institution 
 which has rendered itself popular by directly 
 appealing to the tastes, the feehngs, and the 
 sympathies of the people. The committee felt 
 that they would be failing in their duty if on 
 
LIVERPOOL. 
 
 461 
 
 such an occasion they did hot afiford to the peo- 
 ple of this borough an opportunity of holding 
 their own demonstration. As the president of 
 the institution, it becomes my duty to conduct 
 your proceedings. Though it is not my for- 
 tune to be a Scotchman, I am no stranger to 
 the green hills of Caledonia, for some of the 
 pleasantest hours of my life have been passed 
 in Scotland. For twenty-six years I spent an 
 average of two months annually there, and 
 many old and highly-valued friends have I in 
 the " Land o' Cakes." Familiar with most of 
 the scene-s depicted by your poet, having known 
 some of his personal friends, a frequent visitor 
 to the place of his birth, almost at home in 
 Dumfries, where the closing years of his life 
 were spent, and in whose grand '• Auld Kirk- 
 yard" rest his remains, I may not be altogether 
 without some claim to participate in the festi- 
 vities of an occasion like this. It would ill 
 become me to enlarge upon a theme which will 
 be taken up by those far more gifted, whose 
 eloquent lips will descant upon Burns as a man 
 and as a poet. Others to-night will speak to 
 you of his soul-inspiring song, and the enthu- 
 siasm which it has created. The conductors of 
 this institution have had frequent opportunities 
 of witnessing its effects ; its electric influence, as 
 rendered by Wilson, Tenipleton, and others, 
 has often been felt within these walls. From 
 the programme before you you will see there 
 is a rich treat in store for us. It may perhaps 
 be as well to observe that some of those wlio 
 will take part in our proceedings are not accus- 
 tomed to appear in public ; and however fluently 
 a man may discourse with a friend, however 
 easily he may deliver an oration to himself, 
 when he comes to stand before a large audience, 
 when all at once he finds two thousand pair of 
 eyes flashing into his very soul, it makes a 
 mighty diffurence with liis nervous sensation. 
 Certain am I, however, that that Mndly feeling 
 which has ever prevailed among "brither Scots" 
 will lead us to accept their efforts to gratify and 
 amuse us, and to receive them with a_ hearty 
 and considerate welcome ; and if you will bear 
 in mind that for this " A'e night," we are all 
 " John Tamsou's bairns," my word for it it will 
 be found at the close that we have spent a 
 happy evening together. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Adam Gibson then sang some original 
 lines to the tune of " Auld Lang Syne," the 
 audience joining heartily iu the chorus. 
 
 Tlie chairman then called upon Mr. Eobert 
 P. Scott, teacher, of U Melville Place, 
 Oxford Street, the author, who delivered an 
 original poetical address. (Loud and long- 
 continued cheering followed the close of the 
 address.) 
 
 Several Scottish songs and duets were sung 
 
 by Mr. Skeaf, sen., the Misses "Wemyss, and Mr. 
 Wands. 
 
 The Chairman then introduced Mr. J. M'Dor- 
 maid, who delivered the following address on 
 " Burns as a Poet :" — 
 
 Friends and Neighbours, — This overflowing 
 assemblage is the truest tribute the working 
 men of Liverpool could offer to the memory of 
 the poet of the people ; to him whose muse so 
 often cheers the sons of honest toil, and makes 
 their hard labour at once dignified and respect- 
 ed in their own eyes and in those of their fel- 
 low-men. 
 
 I am glad to greet so many "Brither Scots/' 
 they were sure to be "to the fore" where hon- 
 our could be paid to one of whose name "auld 
 Scotland" is so proud; and the goodly array 
 of " honest lads and bonnie lassies" proclaims 
 that the memory of him who so sweetly tuned 
 the " rural pipe to love," will ever be cherished 
 in young hearts, to whom love's wondrous tale, 
 so ancient and so often told, is ever fresh and 
 ever new. 
 
 It is time I tell you why I am here ; not why 
 I am one of your meeting. Tliat I rejoice in ; 
 but why I stand on this platform to say what 
 had been better said by an abler man. The 
 Burns Centenary demonstration is so universal 
 throughout the country, that, I am told, the 
 supply of real orators has entirely failed to 
 meet the demand. The worthy Secretary of 
 this institution called on me, explained that 
 he had happily secured speakers for two themes, 
 but was in a state of destitution for a third, and 
 begged nie to come forward and aid him in his 
 need. I had just returned from my native 
 " Banks of Nith," — that stream made classic 
 by the genius of Burns, and beside whose clear 
 waters his ashes rest in peace. I was so in- 
 fected with the enthusiasm for this great anni- 
 versary, there universal, that I consented, I 
 fear rashly, to your Secretary's request. This 
 is why you have so thrilling a theme as that 
 of " Burns as a Poet," put into the mouth of a 
 plain man of business, instead of its being en- 
 trusted to some one who could throw the light 
 of poetry and of genius around it. I feel 
 that I owe you an apology. All I can say is, 
 that I could not brook the thought that my 
 Scottish tongue should be silent when called 
 to sound the praises of its country's bard, and 
 so I come to try. It is something entirely new 
 to me to address an audience such as this ; but 
 I am sure of your hearty sj'mpathy with the 
 subject, if not with the speaker, and I beg and 
 claim your kind indulgence for hini also. 
 
 I am no dealer in metaphysics, and will not 
 attempt to define poetry by its rules. Poetry 
 lifes hid within the inner core of man's thoughts 
 and feelings and affections. It pei-vades the 
 
462 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 glorious universe in which the Almighty has 
 placed him. It shines forth from the starry 
 heavens, and from the deep blue vault of the 
 summer sky. It lurks amid the grean leaves 
 of the groves, and gushes forth in the " wood 
 notes wild" of their sweet songsters. It 
 sparkles and plays in the flickering eddies of 
 the stream ; and, last and best, it loves the 
 mantling cheek and snowy breast, and beam- 
 ing eye of maidenhood, in all her purity and 
 beauty. — (Cheers. ) There is a chord of poetry, 
 I do believe, in all men ; petrified and frozen 
 up, it may be in too many, by the cold realities 
 of this worka-day world; yet, at times, that 
 " touch of nature which makes the whole world 
 kin," shoots like the electric spark through 
 their veins, and thaws and softens the hard and 
 care-worn heart. God has spread out the 
 beauties of creation before all his creatures ; 
 " but not alike to every mortal eye is this great 
 scene unveiled." The secrets of Nature's 
 beauty, as well as of her philosophy, must be 
 interpreted, and poets are God's interpreters to 
 make these secrets plain. 
 
 Genius finds many forms of expressing the 
 poetry which she breathes. In painting and 
 in sculpture, she teaches that " a thing of 
 beauty is a joy for ever." In the concord of 
 sweet sounds, she conveys to the heart an idea 
 of the music of the spheres ; but when she 
 would hold closest communion with the sons 
 of men, she takes her place in the breast of 
 the poet, and teaches them in their own speech 
 and language. Words are her most potent 
 spells, 
 
 " For words are things, and a small drop of ink. 
 Falling like dew upon a thought, produces 
 That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, 
 think." 
 
 The handiwork of man may fade away, but true 
 words once uttered endure for all time, and 
 " the poet being dead yet speaketh." — (Cheers.) 
 Poets, however great, bear always the im- 
 press of the country whence they sprung. His 
 country's history, its scenery, its spirit, and^its 
 manners, are mirrored in the mind and reflect- 
 ed in the verse of the national poet. Eichly 
 does he repay these gifts ; for he, in his turn, 
 makes his impress on his country ; he leaves 
 its former glories all the brighter for his 
 genius, whilst he adds, as a treasure for the 
 future, a page which is all his own. The wild 
 and rugged character of Scotland, combining 
 all that is grand and majestic in mountain and 
 in flood, and sweet in hiU, and stream, and 
 dale, with a soil which, somewhat sterile in its 
 nature, requires no slothful hand to till it, has 
 reared a people hardy, laborious, and prudent, 
 but, at the same time, deeply imbued with a 
 love of nature and a love of poetry. The early 
 
 and glorious struggles for independence, re- 
 sulting in liberty, often sorely tried but never 
 vanquished, stamped the name and the reality 
 of freedom of country on the national charac- 
 ter. It has received no less impress from 
 later struggles for freedom of a still higher 
 order, — freedom of conscience, freedom of wor- 
 ship, and free access to an open Bible. Let us 
 remember that the history of these struggles is 
 not that of the few, but of the many; not of 
 the hereditary leaders of the people, but of the 
 people themselves. "When the great nobles 
 of the land were divided by jealousy and strife, 
 and many of them ready to sacrifice the liber- 
 ties of their country to gain their own narrow 
 and selfish ends, the people of Scotland chose 
 a leader for themselves, and under Sir William 
 Wallace freely offered their lives on the altar 
 of their country's freedom. — (Loud ajsplause.) 
 When a Ubertine or a despot on the throne of 
 temporal power strove to usurp authority in a 
 church where Christ alone is King, many of 
 the great ones of the land bowed and bent be- 
 neath the yoke; the people and peasantry, 
 never. As freely as their fathers had of yore 
 laid down their lives for their country, so did 
 their sons lay down their lives for their reli- 
 gion. The tree of national liberty was watered 
 by the blood of patriots ; the tree of religious 
 liberty by the blood of martyrs. — (Loud cheers.) 
 Glorious traditions these! They have been 
 kept alive in the hearts of the people by song 
 and story, by the country pulpit and the coun- 
 try school; and they have formed a peasantry 
 hardy, rugged, and independent ; not free from 
 follies, or free from vices, but elevated by their 
 traditions, by education, and by self-culture, 
 to a higher position than the peasantry of other 
 lands. Such a people is ever fertile in great 
 men. One of them was Eobert Burns, who.se 
 memory we are this night met to honour. — 
 (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Nature gave to Burns the poet's soul; she 
 endued him, moreover, with the manliest and 
 most gpntle mind. " He had," it has been 
 most truly said, " the fire of a hero and the 
 tenderness of a woman.'' The scene of his 
 boyhood, the district of Kyle, in Ayrshire, was 
 full of natural beauty ; it was also rich in his- 
 toric association ; for it was the country of the 
 patriot Wallace. His mother sang the ballads 
 of the country; from an old crone he acquired 
 a rich store of tales of ghosts and witches, war- 
 locks and brownies, and such like ; while, in 
 addition to the plain but sound education of 
 the Scottish parish school, the youthful poet 
 obtained a knowledge of the French language 
 from a worthy dominie, Murdoch by name, 
 whose disinterested labours for the improve- 
 ment of a favourite but penniless pupil, deserve 
 
LIVERPOOL. 
 
 463 
 
 to be gratefully remembered by every admirer 
 of Burns. When we add that the boy had ac- 
 cess to several standard works and collections 
 of poetry, which he eagerly devoured, we may 
 close this s.ight summary of his early educa- 
 tion. The story of the patriot Wallace first 
 roused the youthful spirit, and, to quote his 
 own words, " poured a tide of Scottish preju- 
 dice into my veins, which will boil along them 
 till the flood-gates of Hfe shut in eternal rest." 
 Poets are susceptible creatures, — what true- 
 hearted man is not ? Burns had a heart of 
 tinder, often lighted by a spark from a bright 
 eye. Love and poetry began together, and 
 this at the age of fifteen, when he was coupled 
 at harvest work with a " bonnie, sweet, sonsie 
 lassie," and tried to string a rhyme to her 
 favourite reel tune. The boyish passion was 
 short-lived ; but when succeeded by the ardent 
 love of youthful manhood, a fiood of song 
 poured forth, to which we*bwe some of the 
 finest lyrics of this or any other language. 
 Burns was a true lover : many a bonnie face 
 pleased the poet's fancy, and called forth his 
 sweetly flowing verse in its praise ; but it was 
 to his " Highland Mary," his betrothed love, 
 whom " fell death's untimely frost nipt in the 
 flower," and afterwards to his cherished and 
 loving wife, his " Bonny Jean," that his heart 
 was alone truly given. 
 
 When Burns was leading a happy wedded 
 life at Ellisland, the anniversary of the death 
 of his first loved and lost Mary always cast a 
 sadness over him. On one of these occasions, 
 Mrs. Burns relates that he could not rest, and, 
 though suffering from cold, wandered about in 
 the chill night air, intently gazing on a planet, 
 then shining like another moon. He then 
 threw himself down on some loose sheaves, 
 where he long lay wrapped in thought. On 
 entering the house he sat down and wrote the 
 first part of his address to " Mary in Heaven." 
 As far as we can learn, Mrs. Burns was too 
 proud of her husband's genius, and too true a 
 sharer of his joys and sorrows, to shew feelings 
 of jealousy at such outpourings ; and she was 
 well rewarded by songs in her own praise that 
 will make the name of " Bonny Jean" live as 
 long as our language. 
 
 It is impossible for us to range over the 
 whole of Burns's varied and wondrous muse ; 
 if we did so, we would not part before the 
 "hour o' nicht's bla«k arch the keystane," or 
 maybe, the " wee short hour ayont the twal." 
 Of his rich powers of humour, in bold contrast 
 with the deepest pathos, and chequered with 
 vivid descriptions of the " horrible and awfu," 
 you will to-night have the choicest specimen 
 in the poem of " Tam o' Shanter." 
 
 I wish to spealc, in the short time that re- 
 
 mains to me, of two leading sections of his 
 poetry, and those which I think have produced 
 the most powerful results on his country and 
 on his " Brither Man." I wish to speak of 
 the dignity he has thrown over the honest toil 
 and over the daily life of the peasantry from 
 whom he sprang, and of the martial fire with 
 which his muse has stirred the soldier's heart. 
 The poet Gray did' not long precede our 
 Burns; he was a scholar and a gentleman. 
 He, too, wrote of the poor peasantry in the 
 sequestered village, in words of great beauty. 
 Gray died in 1771, when our poet was in Iris 
 twelfth year. A few years later, and, instead 
 of living a " mute, inglorious Milton," the ten- 
 ant of the lowly cot roused the hearts of his 
 brother peasantry, and startled the ears of 
 grandeur with a bold assertion of independ- 
 ence in strains as stirring as they are true. 
 Gray's elegy, beautiful and tuneful as it is, is 
 but an exterior view of the village life, where 
 much is fanciful and little real With Burns 
 all is reality — we learn to know each inmate 
 of the cot. We leave with the worthy cottar 
 " his weekly moil;" and when 
 
 " The lisping infant, prattling on his knee, 
 Does a' his weary carking care beguile, 
 And makes him quite forget his labour and his toil," 
 
 we feel that the lowly cottar's joys are great 
 and true. Our sympathy but deepens as wo 
 follow all the detaOs of this family picture. 
 The obscure peasant, whom had we seen at 
 work from the roadside, with " his spade, his 
 mattock, and his hoes," we might have passed 
 carelessly and unheeding by, is now, in his true 
 character of the " saint, the father, and the 
 husband," approached with respect and with 
 veneration. 
 
 Let us turn to the strains of patriotism, the 
 trumpet calls, which have often roused the 
 blood of his countrymen to battle with no un- 
 certain sound. In 1795, when the country 
 was roused by the danger of a French invasion, 
 Burns joined the corps of Dumfries Volunteers, 
 and stood shoulder to shoulder with some of 
 his most intimate friends in the ranks. His 
 muse was not behindhand in infusing spirit 
 into his brother soldiers, and the song of the 
 Dumfries Volunteers ran like wildfire through 
 the country. It had the best effect, not only 
 in lighting up the mUitary spirit, but in re- 
 storing that healthy tone of feeling towards our 
 country's institutions which had, in some mea- 
 sure, been lost by the infection of the French 
 revolutionary mania. The time may come, 
 though I do not apprehend it, when Britons 
 may need again to rally round their homes 
 and hearths. No fear for them whilst such 
 sentiments inspire their hearts ; and all hon- 
 
4G4 
 
 THE BURNS CENTEXAEY. 
 
 ouv to tlie bard who wedded these sentiments 
 to music. 
 
 Many spirit-stirring war-songs does onr 
 country owe to Robert Burns ; but poetry and 
 heroism reached a cKmax in " Brace's Address 
 to his Soldiers on the Field of Bannockbum." 
 " Scots wha hae wi' "Wallace bled," has a local 
 habitation and a name. It points to the most 
 glorious epoch in Scotland's struggle for inde- 
 pendence ; but its spirit and its fire endure for 
 all time. And if the English sailor has been 
 fired by the songs of Dibdin to fight for "Eng- 
 land, Home, and Beauty," and Irish courage 
 has been kept up in all its military glee by the 
 wild war-notes of Moore and of Wolfe, it is no 
 stretch of fancy to say that the resistless charge 
 and the stern endurance which alike distin- 
 guish the Scottish soldier, have been fed and 
 nourished by the songs of Robert Burns. 
 
 I am transgressing the limit of time ; but I 
 must give you one wreath of everlasting for 
 the tomb. They are the concluding lines 
 of that beautiful song beginning, "Farewell, 
 thou fair day, thou green earth, and ye skies." 
 They were inscribed on the funeral car which 
 bore the remains of the immortal Nelson to 
 their resting-place in St. Paul's Cathedral ; and 
 truly no more fitting inscription could have 
 been found for the bier of England's naval 
 hero than the lines of Scotland's rustic bard : — 
 
 " When victory shines on life's last ebbing sands, 
 Oh, who would not die with the brave?" 
 
 Next followed a selection of Scotch airs, the 
 song, " Green grow the Rashes, O " being 
 given by Mr. Adam Gibson, the whole audi- 
 ence joining heartily in the chorus. 
 
 The Chairman referred to the excellent ad- 
 dresses which had been already delivered, and 
 remarked that Mr. M'Diarmid, whom they had 
 last heard, was a native of Dumfries. He knew 
 his father well; he had spent many happy 
 hours with him, and been delighted with the 
 brilliancy of his conversation. He thought it 
 right to mention that there was an old lady 
 present who knew the poet Burns personally. 
 She was on the platform, and though upwards 
 of eighty years of age, was hearty and well, 
 and able to take part in their proceedings. He 
 thought the audience ought to see her ; for 
 there were not so many left who knew Burns. 
 
 The old lady referred to then stood up and 
 advanced to the front of the platform, where 
 she was introduced to the assembly, by the 
 Chairman amidst enthusiastic cheering. 
 
 The Chairman intimated that the name of 
 the old lady was Ellen Grayson. 
 
 After a further selection of music, the Chair- 
 man called upon Mr. Robeet Wands, who read 
 an address, " Burns as a Man," concluding as 
 
 follows : — As a man, Bums showed himself to 
 be a most affectionate husband, a kind parent, 
 and a true friend. Who can help admiring 
 the sympathetic tenderness of the man who 
 could express himself as he has done about a 
 little insignificant mouse, when he saw its 
 " Wee bit housie, noo in ruin;" and where can 
 we find an example of such an apparently 
 trifling circumstance exciting such a noble 
 and charitable thought as — 
 
 " I'm truly sorry man's dominion 
 Has broken nature's social union, 
 An' justifies that ill opinion 
 
 Which makes thee startle 
 At me, thy poor earth-born companion 
 
 An' fellow mortal." 
 
 Burns had a great and a most generous heart ; 
 his affections appeared to be unbounded ; they 
 extended alike to animate as to inanimate 
 beings. The human, as well as the brute crea- 
 tion, were alike the objects of his afiectionate 
 regards. Whatever his genius condescended 
 to touch became idealised and honoured. In 
 short, his whole life and writings evidence the 
 most kindly and benevolent disposition towards 
 all created beings. We must not omit to no- 
 tice another of Burns's manly characteristics, 
 one which,, perhaps, appears more prominent 
 than any other, — I mean his independence of 
 spirit. This independence seemed to be one 
 of the guiding principles of his life. Whether 
 as a ploughman, a farmer, an author, or an ex- 
 ciseman, it never forsook him. He had, how- 
 ever, the native delicacy to so subdue it, that 
 unless under severe provocation, it never exhi- 
 bited itself in a rude or offensive form ; on the 
 contrary, his conversation while in society was 
 considered most fascinating ; it mattered not 
 whether he was in the company of the noble, 
 the learned, or the illiterate, — liis conversation 
 was equally admired by all. Throughout his 
 whole Ufe he exhibited the most extreme sen- 
 sitiveness regarding his honour and reputation ; 
 ho was jealous to a fault of receiving patronage 
 as a mere favour, or as an act of charity ; he 
 contemptfuUy despised and rejected all patron- 
 age which did not spring from a thorough ap- 
 preciation of his own worth. In no part of 
 his life were this independence and self-reli- 
 ance more strikingly exhibited than during the 
 few months he resided in Edinburgh. In 
 Edinburgh he mingled in the society of the 
 nobles of the land ; with the greatest literary 
 spirits of the day, as well as with those who 
 were attracted towards him simply for the pur- 
 pose of gratifying an idle curiosity, spending 
 an evening in his society, and so having their 
 dull souls tickled and astonished by the flashes 
 of his genius and wit. Night after night was 
 he thus feasted and flattered, and yet, accord- 
 
L0:N'GT0WN— MANCHESTEi;. 
 
 465 
 
 ing to the authority above named, he withstood 
 the almost overwhehiiing temptations which 
 surrounded him. ]S''ay, more, we have many 
 of his letters preserved — written on the nights 
 after these carousals — expressed in the most 
 elegant language, in which he shows how pro- 
 perly he understood the worthlessness of those 
 merely convivial evenings. When intelligence 
 and learning prevailed, he was happy and at 
 liome, and retired pleased and contented; when 
 these were awanting, he often retired sad and 
 wretched. It is certainly most gratifying to 
 feel, in connexion with all this, that notwith- 
 standing the nominal difference of rank be- 
 tween himself and those whose society he was 
 permitted to enjoy, he never for one moment 
 forgot his position as a man. His noble inde- 
 pendence of soul sustained him to the last ; 
 and when he left Edinburgh, he did so carry- 
 ing with him the respect a^ admiration of all 
 who had made his acquaintance. " Bums as 
 a Man," despised not the lowly ; neither did 
 he court or flatter the great. He thought and 
 felt, what he had before so nobly sung, that in 
 all ranks of life " A Man's a Man for a' that." 
 
 Mr. Adam Gibson than sang with much 
 spirit " A Man's a Man for a' that," the audi- 
 ence joining enthusiastically in the chorus. 
 
 Mr. Skeaf, senior, sang "Of a' the Airts the 
 Wind can Blaw." 
 
 Mr. Adam Gibson read the celebrated poem 
 of " Tam o' Shanter." 
 
 Songs and duets followed until after eleven 
 o'clock, when the proceedings were brought to 
 a close by the singing of " Auld Langsyne," all 
 the company joining in the chorus, and the 
 gentlemen on the platform joining hands in 
 true Scottish style. 
 
 Windmill Tavern, London Egad. — The 
 admirers of Scotia's immortal bard, Eobert 
 Burns, mustered, according to previous agree- 
 ment, at the above well-known house to com- 
 memorate the hundredth anniversary of their 
 illustrious countryman. The Chair was ably 
 filled by Mr. J. B. Campbell, who in his open- 
 ing speech set forth, in an able manner, the 
 genius and beauties of the poet. He was ably 
 supported by Mr. Walker as Croupier ; and 
 the evening was spent in that social and con- 
 vivial style by all the guests which would have 
 greatly delighted the immortal bard, whose 
 motto wa.s, "A Man's a Man for a' that." 
 
 LONGTOWN.— Longtown had its Centen- 
 ary, a merry party assembling at Mr. Thomas 
 Graham's, Green Dragon Iim. An excellent 
 supper was provided by the worthy host and 
 hostess, and the proceedings were of a spirited 
 character. Mr. James Wright presided, and 
 
 Mr. John WUliamson filled the vice-chair, both 
 to admiration, and the company spent a very 
 pleasant " nicht wi' Burns." 
 
 MANCHESTER— Several celebrations of 
 the Centenary took place in Manchester, the 
 principal one being held at the Queen's Hotel. 
 The Mayor of Manchester (Ivie Mackie, Esq.) 
 occupied the chair, Mr. Malcolm Boss the vice- 
 chair, and among those present were Mr. T. 
 Bazley, M.P., Professor Scott, Mr. Charles 
 Swain, the Eev. W. Gaskell, Mr. H, M. Acton, 
 Mr. Joseph Heron (town-clerk), Mr. Enbert 
 Stewart, Mr. Balfour, Councillor Neill, Coun- 
 cillor M'Dougall, Mr. James M'Connell, Mr, 
 Murray, Mr. George Falkner, Mr. John Shaw, 
 &c. &c. 
 
 After the cloth had been withdrawn, the 
 Chairman proposed, in succession, "the Queen," 
 " The Prince Consort, and the members of the 
 royal family,'-' and " The Army and Navy," 
 which were all duly honoured. 
 
 Peofbssok Scott, Owen College, then rose to 
 propose the toast of the evening, amidst loud 
 applause. He said, Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, 
 it is now seventy or eighty years ago since first 
 the mind of Scotland was stirred, and then the 
 hearts of all Scotchmen, by an incident that 
 seemed, in its commencement, exceedingly 
 small. It was the publication of a volume — a 
 little volume — that somehow went home to 
 men's business and bosoms as volume had 
 hardly ever done before. Ploughmen and serv- 
 ing maids, who had been looking forward to 
 the time when their wages should come in that 
 they might supply themselves with some need- 
 ful articles of dress, preferred rather to buy a 
 copy of Burns's poems with the money. (Hear, 
 hear.) That which was so valued by those of 
 his own class was not confined to them. Tliis 
 young peasantof seven-and-twenty visited Edin- 
 burgh about that time, and Dugald Stewart 
 admired the force and directness of his intel- 
 lect; Erskine was charmed with his wit and 
 humour; the Duchess of Queensberry admired 
 the tact and delicacy of his conversation with 
 women, the mingling of humour alid tenderness 
 with which he always found his way to their 
 hearts ; and, above all, every one felt that this 
 man so praised, so courted, so raised out of his 
 original station, took the place in which he 
 found himself — the place that Ifature had pre- 
 pared for himself. (Applause.) Petty affecta- 
 tions, petty vaunts, caprices, and awkwardnesses, 
 were far from him. He had been called to this 
 place because of gifts which reached the heart 
 of high and low, rich and poor, and ho accepted 
 
466 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 the call with the firmness which belonged to 
 those endowments. (Hear.) These plough- 
 men and serving maids learned that some 
 twenty-seven years before that a little infant 
 had been carried ont of one of the poorest cot- 
 tages of Ayrshire, because the roof of the build- 
 ing threatened to fall in on the head of the 
 mother that had so recently borne him, and 
 that that infant was Eobert Bums. The time 
 passed over; — I pray you to remember, for 
 Bums deserves it, it is due to his memory; the 
 time passed over — a very short time, only ten 
 years more were given to this young poet in the 
 world ; and during that time he was biisying 
 himself in a small county town and neighbour- 
 hood with the songs of his native land — count- 
 ing it a privilege to be allowed to work at them 
 — refusing to make a matter of commerce of 
 them, and continuing to find that ready way to 
 all hearts which he had done from the first, 
 when he went to that village inn late in the 
 evening, and the landlord, waiters, guests, and 
 the neighbours got up to spend a night with 
 Burns. Ten years after that of which I have 
 first spoken, and another scene shadowed over 
 the town of his residence : Bums was ilJ, he 
 was dying. Men, and women, and children in 
 the streets asked how his illness was passing 
 on; what opinions the medical men had of his 
 complaint; what the issue was likely to be; 
 how he was looking; what he was saying; and, 
 at last, the tidings came that he was dead ! 
 And into that poor house the neighbourhood 
 reverently and quietly, but in multitudes, en- 
 tered, that they might contemplate the face of 
 the dead poet. Afterwards he was borne to his 
 grave, ten thousand or fourteen thousand people 
 following him with an interest which no rank 
 or wealth could have called forth, and no family 
 affection could have diffused through so vast a 
 midtitude. Why was this 1 What was the 
 specialty of this man 1 Other men have been 
 poets — we will not question whether or not 
 with greater, or, at least, with wider or more 
 cultivated gifts— but there was something spe- 
 cial about this man ; he was, of all poets, the 
 most thoroughly national. Other nations have 
 poets they feel that belong to them in a special 
 sense. Dante is the poet of the Italians. Shak- 
 speare and Milton are the poets of England, 
 and well may Italy and England bo proud of 
 these names; but no poet has yet spoken so 
 thoroughly out of the heart of a whole land, 
 and from the heart of a whole land met with 
 so continued and unbroken a response. (Ap- 
 plause.) There is no rank or condition, no 
 measure of education of Scotchmen that distin- 
 guishes those who know Bums and love him, 
 from those who know him not and do not care 
 for him. Ho belongs alike to all. Compare him 
 
 with other so-called self-taught poets, and this 
 difference will strike you. There have been 
 men of remarkable endowments, like Clare and 
 Bloomfield, or like John Bethune, a noble and 
 heroic specimen of a Scotcliman, but different 
 in many respects from Bums ; compare Bums 
 with any one of these, and you will find that 
 they are men whose endowments have lifted 
 them out of their original class, and have given 
 them something in common with another than 
 that ill which they were born. It is rather a 
 remarkable circumstance that a certain refine- 
 ment, and grace, and delicacy, seem to distin- 
 guish them and constitute their greatest claim 
 to the possession of specific genius. Bums is 
 altogether and utterly a man of his class as a 
 man. He had the powers and thews and the 
 delights of a Scotch peasant, and it is from the 
 heart and head of a Scotch peasant that those 
 utterances have come as the voice of a whole 
 country, and of thatportionespeciallyin which we 
 may most justly have pride. Burns was a man 
 who boasted — and he was not apt to boast — 
 that he feared few men, in being challenged to 
 a day's ploughing, or reaping, or shearing, or 
 any of the work that became his original posi- 
 tion, and we feel it as he writes; he has the 
 arm of a ploughman in his lines; he is not 
 ashamed of it, and we are not ashamed that he 
 makes us feel it. Surely something in this 
 most peculiar relation belongs to the character 
 of the people from which he sprang. Other 
 nations have boasts, perhaps, in which we do 
 not share. We are willing to allow that no 
 other land has produced a Shakspeare; we are 
 willing to allow that that width and depth, that 
 universal human culture is unpai-alleled in the 
 whole history of human intellect, and let Eng- 
 land glory in it ; but let it be allowed, also, 
 that a general diffusion of the sense of poetry 
 and of song has belonged, at least at one period, 
 and in a large measure does still belong, to the 
 peasantry of our native land, and is so pecuhar 
 to it that it is implied in the power which 
 Burns was found to possess over all their hearts. 
 (Applause.) Bums is intensely national; and 
 then again this influence being admitted to be 
 so powerful, and widely felt, is it an influence 
 for good, as some would ask, or, as some have 
 recently asked, is it an influence for evil t If 
 they knew what makes Scotchmen love Burns 
 they would not ask. (Applause.) We who have 
 come forth from the heart of it can have no 
 question about the matter. (Applause.) To 
 be made to feel the power of genius is good for 
 all, whoever makes us feel it. Any of you who 
 are susceptible of the full influence of Beethoven 
 or Mozart in song or symphony feel not only 
 stirred, but for the moment lifted up, and de- 
 sire lo keep some measure of that influence wth 
 
MANCHESTER 
 
 467 
 
 you in your future life, that you may be liigher 
 and better than you were before. (Hear.) If 
 it is good for a people to feel what genius is, 
 then surely a special glory belongs to the re- 
 membrance of that man who was capable of 
 making it felt by a whole people, penetrating 
 with a sense of it all its ranks. But can we 
 say nothing more specific in regard to the in- 
 fluence of Burns, and with regard to the ques- 
 tion whether that influence be beneficial or 
 hurtful 1 I have said we know what it is that 
 makes us love him. In " The Cottar's Satur- 
 day Night," how many thousands of Scotch- 
 men have honoured the memoiy of their own 
 fathers, and the purity of their own homes 1 
 Bums seized upon the music of Scotland, which 
 was intensely national, and as diffused as its 
 breezes, seeming to be no more created by any 
 man than the sounds of those breezes as they 
 were heard on the rushes of the heath — lae 
 seized on the music of Scofland, and wedded it 
 to verses which bring home to the hearts of 
 Scotchmen all over the world such feelings as 
 those of early companionship with worthy 
 friends, of long partings, of joyful, tender meet- 
 ings that are sung in " Auld Langsyne." Such 
 feelings as those elevating endearments of do- 
 mestic life that are sung in " John Anderson," 
 such feelings as the Scotchman finds quite as 
 appropriate now that he has to cultivate his 
 patriotism as a Briton, and not as a Scotch- 
 man exclusively, as those that are uttered in 
 " Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled." Excuse 
 two childisli recollections. Occasions like these 
 that soften us bring out the rocollections of 
 childhood. As a boy I remember the close of 
 the great war. I was with my parents at an 
 inn, and there suddenly sounded forth in a 
 neighbouring room a manly voice with the 
 words, " When wild wav's deadly blast was 
 blawn," and the remaining portion of the " Sol- 
 dier's return." The tune was telling on the 
 souls of all men; I stole from the room from 
 which I was listening to that from which the 
 voice proceeded, and there I saw a veritable 
 soldier in the uniform in which he had served 
 in war. Think how many soldiers brought 
 home to Scotland the appeal to the affections 
 and sympathies of their friends that spoke in 
 that noble song with the added power of that 
 noble air. But morality in the special sense, — 
 what has Burns done for that i I have already 
 appealed to some instances of this. Permit me 
 one other anecdote, one other early recollection. 
 1 was acquainted when a child with a Scotch 
 merchant, who had resided for a long time in 
 British America. Whilst a resident of Quebec, 
 he became the entertainer of the officers of the 
 ship in which Prince William Frederick, after- 
 wards' William IV., was serving as a midship- 
 
 man at the time. It was proposed that " John 
 Anderson, my jo," should be sung. The gen- 
 tleman at the head of the table trembled, as he 
 knew the song only from certain old associa- 
 tions of a questionable sort. He spoke after- 
 wards, however, of the melting feelings of ex- 
 quisite delight with which he had listened to 
 the song of Bums, then new to him. Instead 
 of feeling ashamed of his country and its music 
 and poetry, he was glad and proud that he had 
 such a specimen to display before his prince. 
 Gentlemen, I conceive that there is hardly any 
 subject on which a man can rise to spealc to 
 greater disadvantage in some respects than the 
 present. What can I teU you of Burns that 
 you do not know 1 What can I refer to in his 
 works with which you are not already familiar ? 
 Wliat can I try to make you feel that you do 
 not feel already » Have I not said he is our 
 national poet? That implies all this. And yet 
 the advantage is greater than the disadvantage. 
 You are better prepared than any words of 
 mine could make you; you are prepared by the 
 associations of a whole life-time to do honour 
 to the memory of Eobert Burns. I would that 
 our fellow-countrymen, as I rejoice- to call them, 
 that our countrymen of England,, should under- 
 stand us in tliis matter. We have representa- 
 tives of England here, we have here a represen- 
 tative of English poetry. (Loud applause.) 
 Wo value them and their opinions too much to 
 be willingly misapprehended by them. We 
 are sometimes accused of boastful nationalism. 
 I am not careful to answer in this matter. But it 
 is not boastfulness that brings iis together this 
 night. The feeling is too deep, too earnest, 
 too tender for boastfulness. This ploughman 
 was a brother that we loved. He had his faults, 
 the faults of those 
 
 " To whom is given 
 So much of earth, so much of heaven, 
 And such tumultuons blood." 
 
 He had his faults, but we feel, if w« desire to 
 learn mercy and forgiveness, it is wholesome 
 for us to be compelled to reverence and love, 
 in the very act of lamenting over weakness and 
 sin. (Applause.) You have sometimes felt, I 
 doubt not, perhaps in the presence of some 
 grand chorus of Handel — " When Israel went 
 out of Egypt,'' or some such subject — you have 
 felt, , whilst looking round the orchestra and 
 chorus, as if one soul were aotviating them all ; 
 as if the great dead man had put himself into 
 every voice and every instrument, and as if it 
 were but Handel, and Handel alone that was 
 speaking to you. Would it be an exaggeration 
 if I made the comparison — is it not a proof of 
 the truer presence of a mighty departed spirit, 
 to see a whole people converted into such an 
 
468 
 
 THE BUEXS CENTENAKY. 
 
 orcli'estra as this ? Bums breathes the heart- 
 music through us, scattered as we are over all 
 the world. The hoary soldier in India feels it, 
 and responds ; the anxious merchant, literally 
 in every quarter of the earth, feels it, and 
 answers ; the solitary student, labouring in the 
 vast quarry of national book and manuscript 
 learning, although he may shrink from any 
 public utterance such as this, feels it ; and the 
 tear in his eye shows that a tone has been 
 drawn from that heart also. This heart-music 
 gathers as it comes from the remote quarters of 
 the globe, and passes over the millions of souls 
 of cultivated Europe, -with louder and wider 
 accord ; for Germany has also loved to honour 
 him whom she has called " the peasant thun- 
 der-god !" (Loud applause.) It reaches highest 
 as it passes over our own land; a mightier 
 electric chord carries it across the Atlantic; it 
 passes the Blue Mountains, and mingles its 
 sounds at last with those of the Northern Pacific 
 Ocean. (Applause.) Gentlemen, I feel that 
 instead of its being possible for such language 
 to exaggerate the power of the presence of this 
 gi'cat spirit, that any language I can employ in 
 the matter falls so much below it that I prefer 
 leaving it to that preparation in your own minds 
 to which I have alluded. Gentlemen, I pro- 
 pose " the Memory of Eobert Burns." The 
 toast was drunk in solemn silence. " The Land 
 of Cakes" was then given in an excellent speech, 
 by Mr. G. Ealkner. 
 
 Mr. James Dunn next gave " The Land we 
 Live in." He observed that it was a common 
 reproach against the Scotch that they were too 
 " clanish," but he was sure that there were 
 many Scotchmen in Manchester — and he would 
 refer particularly to their worthy Chairman, 
 the Mayor — (cheers) — who were free altogether 
 from the imputation, if it were meant to convey 
 the impression that they were indifferent to the 
 prosperity and the glory of the noble country 
 in which they lived. 
 
 Mr. Cameron proposed " The Heroes of 
 Scotland, and the health of Lord Clyde." 
 
 Mr. H. M. Acton, in an eloquent speech, 
 proposed " The Admirers of Burns, all over the 
 world." 
 
 Mr. Alderman Clark gave, " The health of 
 the Chairman, the Mayor," who, he said, united 
 with the strongest patriotism, the most gene- 
 rous feelings, and the most catholic spirit. 
 
 The Mayor very briefly responded. 
 
 Mr. M. Eoss next proposed " The City of 
 Manchester, and its Eepresentatives in Parlia- 
 ment." He was sorry to say that one of the 
 members for Manchester was absent on account 
 of ill health, brought on by his labours in the 
 cause of the public; but the other was present, 
 and it was worthy of remark that he was the 
 
 first gentleman who had ever been returned by 
 the unanimous voice of the whole community 
 of Manchester ever since it had had the right of 
 returning members to parliament at all. 
 
 Mr. Bazlby, M.P., on rising to return thanks, 
 was received with loud cheers. He said he re- 
 gretted very much that Mr. Turner was not 
 present on this interesting occasion, but he was 
 sure he might say on his behalf, as well as 
 speaking on his own, that their united best ef- 
 forts would be ever devoted towards promoting 
 the best interests of tliisvast community. He 
 rejoiced in the opportunity which had been 
 given him of meeting them on this occasion, 
 and joining in this expression of their esteem 
 for mutual worth and intellectual power, rather 
 than for national wealth. If Bums had flourish- 
 ed in our day, he believed they would not have 
 turned the poet into a ganger ; he believed they 
 would have recognised his great genius more 
 clearly, andrewarded itmore worthily. (Cheers.) 
 
 The Eev. Mr. Gaskbll, in a few appropriate 
 observations, introduced the next toast, " Mr. 
 Charles Swain, and the English friends who 
 have honoured us with their company." He 
 quoted Mr. Southey's opinion of Mr. Swain, 
 " that he was a poet of whom Manchester 
 would yet be proud," and expressed his regret 
 that his health had not permitted him to de- 
 vote himseK to literary labours of late years. 
 
 Mr. Swain returned thanks. He said that 
 he had devoted a few hours of his leisure time, 
 after completing the ordinary duties of the daj', 
 to literary labours and literary accomphshments; 
 and he was heartily glad if he had done any- 
 thing which his fellow-townsmen considered 
 worthy of approbation and remembrance. 
 
 The health of the vice-president, and of the 
 honorary secretary, and the stewards, was after- 
 wards drunk; and the proceedings terminated 
 about eleven o'clock. 
 
 After the banquet a number of interesting 
 relics of the poet were exhibited in the room. 
 
 HuLME. — Another company of Burns's ad- 
 mirers, numbering between seventy and eighty, 
 dined together at the Stretford Eoad Inn, Stret- 
 ford Eoad, Hulme. Mr. John Bolton Eoger- 
 son presided, and, after the customary loyal 
 toasts had been duly honoured, he reminded 
 the assembly that the centenary of the bard of 
 Scotland was being celebrated, not only in our 
 own country, but in Spain, France, Italy, Ger- 
 many, America, and in our various colonies. 
 Bums was a man who embodied the nationality 
 of his country, and drew his inspu'ation from 
 the hills and valleys of his native Scotland. He 
 concluded his remarks by stating that he had 
 been requested to write a few lines upon the sub- 
 ject. Mr. Eogerson then read " A Hundred 
 Lines on the Centenary of Burns." Mr. Angus 
 
MERTHYR 
 
 4G9 
 
 Ross, tlie vice-chairman, proposed, in a perti- 
 nent speech, " The Memory of Robert Burns," 
 whom he characterised as Scotland incarnate — 
 Scotland in the flesh; Scotland portrayed in 
 every lineament. Mr. Chrystal responded, and 
 spoke not only of his talents, hut of his faults, 
 deeply confessed. Burns was not a man to rise 
 from Bacchanalian orgies to write a note on tee- 
 totalism. Had he lived in another country and 
 at another time, his faults would have been less 
 rigorously recorded. He sang of the bravery of 
 Scotland's sons, of the beauty of her lasses, and 
 of the potency of her whisky in undying strains. 
 
 Song, " The Land of the Leal." 
 
 Mr. Bryce Blair recited " Tarn o'Shanter," in 
 a vigorous style, amidst much enthusiasm. The 
 vice-chairman having proposed " The Lanca- 
 shire Authors," Mr. Benjamin Brierley respond- 
 ed, enumerating in the course of his remarks, 
 Mr. Samuel Bamford (who'sent a note of apo- 
 logy for absence), Mr. J. Bolton Rogerson, the 
 Chairman, Mr. Charles Swain, Mr. Edwin 
 Waugh, and Mr. Critchley Prince. He con- 
 eluded with reciting a poem by the last-named 
 author. " Our English visitors" was next given, 
 and met an able response in Mr. Page (Felix 
 Folio). Other toasts followed, and Englishmen 
 seemed to vie with Scotchmen in their appre- 
 ciation of the genius and manly independence 
 of their favourite poet. 
 
 MERTHYR— The great event of this week 
 in Merthyr, as in most other large towns, has 
 been the Burns' Centenary, the dinner in 
 honour of which came off at the Bush Hotel. 
 Henry Austin Bruce, Esq., M.P., had con- 
 sented to preside on the occasion; and on 
 taking his seat, the whole company, led by Mr. 
 D. C. Green, and accompanied on the piano 
 and flute by Mr. T. Carlyle and another gen- 
 tleman, sang " Scots wha hae." The Eev. J. 
 O. Hill asked a blessing, and the company 
 then proceeded to discuss the edibles laid before 
 them. Mrs. Overton had provided an excel- 
 lent dinner for the occasion; and the table 
 abounded with all the constituents of a good 
 dinner, delicate in flavour, admirably cooked, 
 and in pleasing as well as tempting variety. 
 Nor were there wanting special features appro- 
 priate to the time and circumstances ; and 
 several gentlemen who should be good judges, 
 in our hearing pronounced the haggis excellent, 
 even though cooked in the principality of "Wales. 
 
 After the usual loyal toasts, the Chairman 
 proposed the toast of the evening, namely, 
 "The Immortal Memory of Robert Burns;" 
 and in doing so dilated largely upon the cha- 
 racter of the man and his conversation, the 
 depth of his poetic inspiration, and the univer- 
 
 sality of his influence. He said he was happy 
 to meet on such occasions gentlemen assembled 
 to do homage to intellectual greatness. Too 
 often gatherings of this kind were of a less 
 jnstiflable character. Sometimes they were 
 held to flatter some rich man, and to eulogise 
 him for acquiring wealth without reference to 
 the use he made of it. At other times they 
 were held to celebrate personal merit; but in 
 no case was such a meeting more justifiable 
 than when gentlemen, engaged in commerce — 
 gentlemen too often charged with being eager 
 in the pursuit of wealth — laid aside their cares 
 and assembled to do honour to the memory of 
 one who had done so much for his country, 
 and so much for the world at large, as Robert 
 Burns. " Gentlemen," said he in conclusion, 
 " let us drink to the ' Immortal Memory of 
 Robert Bums. ' " (Hearty cheering.) 
 
 Mr. Milligan then sang, "There was a lad 
 was born in Kyle." 
 
 Mr. W. M'William, who occupied the vice- 
 chair, then proposed, in a short address, '' The 
 Poets of England;" and Mr. Hemmons favoured 
 the company with a song. 
 
 Mr. John Forrester afterwards proposed, 
 " The Bards of Cambria." 
 
 Mr. Thomas Stephens, in a speech descrip- 
 tive of the connection existing in ancient times 
 between the bards of Wales and North Britain, 
 acknowledged the compliment. He said he 
 felt a pleasure in fraternising with his North 
 British friends on that occasion, not only on 
 account of his admiration for the poetry of 
 Burns, but also on a ground analogous to that 
 suggested by the chairman, namely, that the 
 original inhabitants of the Lowlands were a 
 people of the same race as the Cymry of Wales, 
 and that probably some Cymric blood might have 
 flowed in the veins of the ploughman poet. 
 It was a fact, he said, easily demonstrable, that 
 many local names in Scotland could only be 
 satisfactorily explained by reference to the lan- 
 guage of the elder inhabitants, namely, that 
 now spoken in Wales, Penpont, Ecclefechan 
 (the birth-place of Thomas Carlyle,) Carngrish, 
 Craigton, Dumbarton, Inverness, formerly Aber- 
 ness, were all illustrations of this ; and Pen- 
 pont, for instance, could not possibly be ex- 
 plained in Gaelic, for that language had no p, 
 and can have neither the sound of Pen nor 
 jiont. The history of the older Welsh bards 
 also served to illustrate this ancient affinity; 
 for several of them had their birth among the 
 Cymric inhabitants of Strath Clyde and other 
 parts of the Lowlands. Merlin, too, as a poet, 
 to romance an enchanter, was a native of Lanark. 
 Llywarch Hen appears to have belonged to 
 Dumfries-shire; and Aneurin, the singer of the 
 Gododln, was one of the Novantians of Wig- 
 
470 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 tonshire ; and just as Burns's celebratod — " Ye 
 banks and braes o' bonny Doon," so the hills 
 of Doon figure in the verses of Aneurin, and 
 he says that he saw a battle in the plain while 
 he was " conducting sacrifice at the sacred fire" 
 on the hill top. These remarks, he said, would 
 serve to show that there was an old-standing 
 connection between Wales and Scotland (hear, 
 hear;) and that there was a good historical 
 ground for their fraternization that evening. 
 He than dwelt on the merits of the bards of 
 Wales, and concluded by acknowledging the 
 compliments paid to them by the proposer of 
 the toast. 
 
 The Eev. J. O. Hill then proposed as a toast 
 " The Bards of Ireland;" and " Erin go bragh" 
 was played upon the piano and the flute by 
 Mr. Wilkes and another gentleman. 
 
 "The Poets of Scotland" were the subjects 
 of a neat address from Mr. Menelaus ; Mr. 
 Gawn sang Hogg's lyric, " When the kye come 
 hame;" and a Scotch air on the piano and flute 
 succeeded it. 
 
 The Vice-Chairman then proposed the health 
 of the Chairman, which was given with musical 
 honours, in the shape of " A man's a man for 
 a' that," led by Mr. Gawn and sustained by 
 the company. Three cheers wer« given to him 
 as member for the borough, as also three cheers 
 for Mrs. Bruce. 
 
 Mr. Bruce, in returning thanks, said he had 
 all the more pleasure in presiding, from the 
 cordial reception given to him by the friends 
 he then saw around him in his canvass before 
 the last election. On that occasion he had 
 many assurances that the descendants of the 
 Scots who had with Wallace bled, were equally 
 ready to follow a Bruce to the field. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. J. W. Eussell proposed the health of 
 the Vice-Chairman, which also was w-araily 
 received and briefly acknowledged. 
 
 Thus terminated, about eleven p.m., the formal 
 proceedings in honour of Burns's Centenary; 
 and the meeting altogether was a very agree- 
 able one. A few enthusiastic spirits remained 
 behind, and prolonged the festivity t» a late 
 hour. 
 
 NEWCASTLE.— The Centenary of Eobert 
 Burns was celebrated in this town with extra- 
 ordinary enthusiasm. The three largest rooms 
 which the town can boast, namely, the New 
 Town Hall, St. Nicholas Square, and the Music 
 Hall and Lecture Eoom, in Nelson Street, were 
 all thronged at the same time with extremely 
 large and respectable audiences, who had as- 
 sembled for the purpose of paying a tribute of 
 
 respect to the memory of the great Scottish 
 bard on the recurrence of the Centenary of his 
 birth. The bells of St. Nicholas' Church rang 
 merry peals during the day, performing their 
 part in the general tribute of homage to the 
 genius of Scotland's great poet. 
 
 The Town Hai,l Festival. — At five o'clock 
 about four hundred gentlemen sat down to an 
 excellent dinner provided by Messrs. Brinton 
 and Son, of the Crown and "Thistle Inn. The 
 band of the Northumberland and Newcastle 
 Yeomanry Cavalry, in uniform, and under the 
 masterly leadership of Mr. Matthew Liddell 
 was stationed in the orchestra, and at dinner 
 and during th-e evening played the music of 
 several of Burns's songs. After dinner ladies 
 were admitted to the side elevations and gal- 
 lery, and their entrance was greeted with loud 
 applause. 
 
 Sir J. Fife occupied the chair, and Mr. Joseph 
 Cowen, sen., the vice-chair. On the right of 
 the chairman were George Eidley, Esq., M.P., 
 Messrs. M L. Jobling. T. M. Greenhow, M.D., 
 H. M. Greenhow from Lucknow, and Dr. Mac- 
 intosh; on the left Messrs. A. Nichol (ex- 
 Mayor), S. Donkin, Bywell, and Dr. Donkin. 
 In the room, amongst others were — Councillors 
 H. Parker, W. Weallens, E. B. Brown, B. 
 Plummer, and G. Hunter; Messrs. P. G. Elli- 
 son, J. T. Hoyle, B. Lawton, J. G. Grant, Sun- 
 derland, John Forster, Joseph Cowen, jun., J. 
 C. Murray, Gateshead, Charles Brough, E. D. 
 Davis, Alexander Wood, Charles Mitchell, Low 
 Walker, A. C. Houen, Eobert Liddell, H. A. 
 Bagnall, Winlaton, M. W. Lambert, M. Foster, 
 W. Meikle, Thomas Doubleday, J. B. Langley, 
 Henry Gilpin, F. Jackson, George Shield, J. 
 Johnstone, T. F. M'Nay, J. B. Manson, A. M. 
 Cuffe, John H. Burn, Tynemouth, George 
 Meikle, and Eobert Ward. 
 
 The cloth having been withdrawn, the usual 
 loyal and patriotic toasts were given, after 
 which the Chairman rose to give the toast of 
 the evening, and said — One hundred years ago 
 this very day an extraordinary man was given 
 to the world — one whose writings and whose 
 precepts had made a great impression upon 
 succeeding generations. To pass an unqua- 
 lified panegyric upon his memory would be an 
 ill compliment to a man characterised by so 
 rich a variety of various qualities, and it would 
 be equally unworthy of ourselves. Because I 
 conceive the page of Burns's history could well 
 afford to spare a broad margin for the annota- 
 tions of the most candid or for the severest 
 of critics. (Applause.) There were men who 
 would contend that the writings of Burns had 
 been productive of as much evil as of good ; 
 and there were others even who say his talents 
 were counterbalanced by his vices. I propose 
 
NEWCASTLE. 
 
 471 
 
 — and I think you'll approve of the course I 
 take — to meet fairly these objections to the 
 character and writings of Burns, and to give 
 them a fair answer. I don't conceive that it 
 would be becoming in your chairman to pass 
 over his failings and his weaknesses, but at the 
 same time we ought in common justice to look 
 to the extenuating circumstances under which 
 Burns lived. My argument is that this extra- 
 ordinary man only possessed the faults of the 
 society and of the age in which he lived, while 
 ho had virtues aud talents all his own. (Loud 
 applause.) His genius was the gift of God, 
 the patent of his nobility, and along with it 
 was bestowed a wizardlike spell of power. His 
 poetry was full of a life and power which 
 reached the human heart with a force and cer- 
 tainty never exceeded by any poetry in our 
 language. (Loud applause.) It would be un- 
 just to the memory of Burns to contemplate 
 his history without, at the* same time, looking 
 closely into the condition of society during the 
 day in which he lived. At that period the 
 Whigs and Puritans were diminishing in po- 
 pularity, while the jovial Jacobites were in the 
 ascendant, and carried with them into society 
 all that rollicking, reckless gaiety which cha- 
 racterised their party. The morality of the 
 Scottish peasantry was at that time, and is 
 perhaps still — to use a gentle phrase — rather 
 Arcadian, and it must be confessed that at that 
 period convivial excesses were common, and 
 dissipation was the fashion of the day. It is 
 not surprising, therefore, that one whose phi- 
 lanthropy of heait, and whose acuteness of 
 feeling was revolted by the morose and gloomy 
 character given to religion by the Puritans, 
 should rush in the thoughtlessness and impe- 
 tuosity of youth into an opposite extreme ; and 
 that i$ the whole history of what is termed the 
 profligacy of the life of Burns. Burns was not 
 a Highlander : he was of Saxon blood, and was 
 born in the Lowlands. He was not particularly 
 susceptible of the wild grandeur of Highland 
 scenery, and when he and his friends made 
 their little tours in various directions, they were 
 more fascinated with the smooth-polished beau- 
 ties of Eoxburghshire, Ayrshire, and Dumfries, 
 than with the rougher features of mountain 
 scenery. It is most important to observe that 
 in the Highland districts the poetry of Burns 
 has made less impression than it has in the 
 south of Scotland and in the north of Eng- 
 land ; and you will very soon understand the 
 reason. The Highlander speaks and writes 
 English as a translated language, and can easily 
 understand, and well understands, good Eng- 
 lish ; but that which we call broad Scotch is 
 exceedingly pusaUng to the Highlander — he is 
 altogether lost in it — and the consequence of 
 
 it is that we find the poetry of Burns less gene- 
 rally known in the remote Highland districts 
 than we find the solemn beauties of Ossian — 
 which are more congenial, perhaps, to the 
 Highland temperament. It is interesting to 
 observe, early in the Ufe of Burns, the curious 
 way in which his intellect developed itself, the 
 zeal and energy he exhibited in the acquisition 
 of learning, and the extraordinary way in which 
 his genius penetrated and overcame every dif- 
 ficulty and every discouragement. (Applause.) 
 In his magnanimous sympathy Bums little 
 calculated that his poems woiild ever attain 
 their world-wide fame; he little expected that 
 they would ever be so generally known and 
 exercise so powerful an influence over man- 
 kind, particularly in his own country. Least 
 of all did he anticipate that they would be 
 quoted to excuse excesses which he himself, in 
 his reflecting moments, never could have de- 
 sired to become general. I conceive it exceed- 
 ingly unfair to suppose that any man who sings 
 a convivial song at a convivial meeting, or who 
 may be guilty of an occasional excess, should 
 gravely and deliberately desire that those mot- 
 toes should be the guide of his neighbour's 
 life. (Loud applause.) If Bums could have 
 anticipated that his poems would have been so 
 abused, I have no doubt the philanthropy of 
 his heart and the clearness of his head would 
 have induced him to write very differently. 
 We know that when Schiller wrote the drama 
 of " The Eobbers," and the students of Heidle- 
 berg were carried away with enthusiasm, and 
 rushed to the forests for the glorious purpose 
 of imitating the dramatis personm, the author 
 could not be responsible for this conduct. In 
 early life Burns was not altogether without 
 education. He was tolerably advanced in ele- 
 mentary education at a very early age. Then 
 he found great friends on every side who lent 
 him books. He was quite yoimg when he was 
 familiar with the compositions of Eamsay and 
 Fergusson. He gi'adually cultivated his mind, 
 developed his genius, and at last he was in- 
 vited to Edinburgh. He was flattered and 
 caressed by Dugald Stewart, and he became 
 the familiar and intimate associate of all the 
 most distinguished and learned men of Scot- 
 land, who were at that time in Edinburgh. At 
 that time, and even in the memory of many of 
 you, excesses in conviviality were not unusual 
 even in high places — excesses which are now 
 totally unknown in good society. At that time 
 these excesses were mentioned with a sort of 
 humorous indulgence. Now they are never 
 alluded to but in terras of reprobation. At 
 that time Burns very naturally was captivated 
 with the pleasures of society ; he nished into 
 them headlong; he was the idol wherever lie 
 
473 
 
 THE BUENS CENTEls^AEY. 
 
 went ; and whetlipr it was at the convivial 
 meeting, or in the literary society, Burns was 
 the lion of the evening, and the hero of the 
 day. (Loud applause.) Some dark clouds pass 
 over the meridian of his life, hut with these 
 wo have little to do at present; and in the 
 latter part of his history we have much to meet 
 with which is humiliating and distressing. His 
 health was hroken, his circumstances were not 
 flourishing, and he was apprehensive of sinking 
 into a state of ahsolute want ; he died not un- 
 honoured, but with an anxious mind and amidst 
 comparative difficulties. But, ladies and gen- 
 tlemen, is not this the history of the majority 
 of the great poets and men of genius ? It has 
 heen remarked by a great writer, that there is 
 not in the Avhole page of the histor}' of man a 
 more painful and humiliating picture than the 
 biography of men of genius ; and Burns was not 
 in this respect a very extraordinary example. 
 I now leave the more gloomy picture of the 
 life of Burns, and proceed to a consideration of 
 his genius. (Hear, hear.) At a very early age, 
 indeed, he composed many of those poems 
 which raised him to eminence, and which 
 brought him to Edinburgh. He had a pecu- 
 liar power in moving the feelings and affections 
 of mankind, which he possessed, I believe, not 
 so much from a glowing imagination — not so 
 much from emphatic eloquence — as a large and 
 warm heart, and sympathies which were con- 
 tagious and irresistibly demanded the sympa- 
 thies of others. In whatever style Burns chose 
 to write he proved himself a master ; and 
 whether we look at the cool sarcasm on society, 
 the exquisite humour of the conversation of 
 " The Twa Dogs," or the fun to be found in 
 "Tarn o' Shanter;" or whether we turn to the 
 glorious aspirations we meet with in " Bruce's 
 Address to his Army;" or to the pathos and 
 exalted piety we find in " The Cottar's Satur- 
 day Night," we find Burns imequalled and 
 alone on the subject which he takes up. The 
 acute feeling of Burns made him both enemies 
 and friends. But there was one magnanimous 
 peculiarity in the character of Burns, and which 
 was the mystic charm he had for the ears of 
 the million, and which was, in fact, the cause 
 of the grand sympathy he awakened wherever 
 his poems became known. Burns measured 
 his fellow-countrymen, not by their titles, nor 
 by their acres, but by their largeness of mind 
 and of heart. Upon a great occasion in olden 
 times, a Eonian patrician exclaimed — 
 
 " Homo sum et nihil luimanum mihi alienum puto." 
 
 That _ sentiment ran through the world. It 
 exercised its influence wherever civilisation 
 existed, and greatly advanced the progress of 
 mankind; Burns, without knowing that motto, 
 
 said as much in five words, " A man's a man 
 for a' that." (Loud applause.) Ajid this glo- 
 rious principle, which is constantly breathing 
 through his works and through his character, 
 even in his least prosperous days, seems to 
 have exalted into a brotherhood all those who 
 are his admirers; and while I feel in my own 
 heart that brotherhood towards the admirers of 
 Burns, let me wish a happy evening to those 
 other societies under different roofs in this 
 town who are now with us celebrating his me- 
 mory, and let us, with your consent and that 
 of the ladies, send at this moment a telegraph 
 to Edinburgh, to Lord Ardmillan, who is the 
 chairman of the Burns's festival there, and let 
 us assure him, as we assure our townsmen 
 under different roofs, that we fraternise with 
 them most sincerely — that we join with them 
 most heartily in the large-hearted, liberal spirit 
 which Burns himself possessed, in celebrating 
 this great day. Burns was buried with mili- 
 tary honours. He was a volunteer, and his 
 funeral was attended both by the volunteers of 
 his district, and by a sort of coast-guard force. 
 These marks in these days were very generally 
 signs of popular favour and general affection, 
 and they are sufficient to show that Burns,' 
 even upon his death-bed, and at the latest 
 period of hi« Ufe, was still regarded with affec- 
 tion and with respect by those who knew him 
 best. The drum and fife play merrily away 
 from the soldier's funeral ; and so they did 
 from the funeral of Burns. I don't know, 
 therefore, whether it would be consistent on 
 the present occasion for us, instead of drinking 
 to his memory in silence, to give to his me- 
 mory, as the drum and fife did after his funeral, 
 three hearty cheers. (Loud applause.) I am 
 rather inclined for the cheers — (applause) — 
 and I think the ladies wOl join us. I give 
 you, ladies and gentlemen, " To the Immortal 
 Memory of the poet Burns." (Three cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Eidley, M.P., next — in an elaborate 
 speech — gave " The Mining and Manufactur- 
 ing Interests of the Tyne." 
 
 Mr. J. Baxter Langley, editor of the Daily 
 Chronicle, in an eloquent speech, gave " The 
 British poets." (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Samuel Donkin gave " Our country's 
 peasantry." 
 
 Mr. J. T. Hoyle, in a humorous speech, pro- 
 posed " The Corporation." 
 
 The Chairman responded. 
 
 Mr. Josejiff Cowen, jun., next gave "The 
 Brotherhood of Man." He concluded an elo- 
 quent speech on the progress of humanity, with 
 the lines — 
 
 " Then let ns pray that come it may. 
 As come it will for a' that ; 
 When man to man the world o'er, 
 Sliall brithers be for a' that." 
 
NEWCASTLE. 
 
 473 
 
 Ur. Greenhow next gave " Tlie Members for 
 Newcastle." He trusted that on many occor 
 sions these gentlemen would be elected for 
 their own merits, and for " Auld Langsyne." 
 (Loud applause.) 
 
 Mr. EiDLBY responded; and referring more 
 especially to the theme of the evening, said — 
 What little he knew of the poems of Burns, 
 he had been much struck with that deep and 
 sincere love he had for nature — animate or in- 
 animate. Whether it was the tender grass, or 
 the daisy ; a wounded hare, or an animal that 
 excited his sympathy, he had shown he had 
 that deep sympathy with all on earth, which 
 had rendered his poems not only jnstly popu- 
 lar, but deservedly retained in the memory of 
 all those who joined religion to their lives. In 
 one of his poems — " TJnoo Guid" — the same 
 feeling crept out with reference to his fellow- 
 creatures. 
 
 Mr. Henry Gilpin next gave " The Ladies," 
 to which Mr. Henry Shield responded. 
 
 Mr. Gilmore gave the "Press," and Mr. 
 Bradley responded. 
 
 " The Chair," by the Vice-Chairraan, « The 
 Vice-Cbair," by Mr. Councillor Nichol, and 
 " The Committee of Management," by Mr. 
 Councillor Brown, concluded the programme 
 of toasts, and the last piece of Burns' poetry — 
 which had been interspersed by amateurs in 
 songs and recitations in a very able manner 
 throughout the toasts — ^having been given, viz., 
 " Auld Langsyne," the proceedings terminated. 
 
 The "People's" Festival. — The second 
 demonstration took place in the Music Hall, 
 Nelson Street, Mr. William Newton presiding, 
 and Mr. Charles Larkin occupying the vice- 
 chair, whilst the platform was filled with 
 ladies. The audience was composed chiefly of 
 working men, presenting a most respectable 
 appearance. AJter dinner, the public were 
 admitted at reduced prices, and great numbers 
 availed themselves of the opportunity, as the 
 hall was quickly crowded to a rather uncom- 
 fortable degree. The platform and room were 
 tastefully decorated with evergreens on the 
 occasion, the names of the Scottish national 
 poets, "Scott," "Hogg," "Tannahill," and 
 " Eamsay," being placed in prominent places, 
 whilst that of "Burns" graced the centre. 
 After partaking of a substantial repast, the 
 cloth was withdrawn, and the business of the 
 evening was proceeded with. 
 
 The Chairman first gave in succession " the 
 health of Her Majesty, the Prince Consort, the 
 Prince of Wales, and the rest of the Eoyal 
 Family, and the Army and Navy." 
 
 The Chairman rose and said, — I beg to pro- 
 pose "The Immortal Memory of EobertBurns." 
 
 It is a hundred years ago to-day since, in a 
 mud-built hovel, erected by the rude hands of 
 William Burness, the gardener, that the gifted 
 bard first saw the light, and the infantile cry 
 of him who afterwards so finely sung " Man 
 was Made to Mourn," was drowned in a storm 
 which swept across the land, and drove in the 
 gable-end of the " clay biggen" in which the 
 humble matron, his mother, was then in tra- 
 vail, so that the infant had to be carried 
 through the drifting storm to another and 
 securer hovel ; and thus, in the first hour of 
 life, that head, which for thirty-seven years 
 felt little sunshine that was not intermingled 
 with the tempest, was exposed to the pelting 
 of the pitiless blast. That cottage has since 
 become a memorable place, more memorable 
 than the abode of the ancient votary of the 
 Doric muse which the Macedonian conqueror 
 affectionately spared. In this rude hut, this 
 simple shieling, the lowly yet imperial babe 
 was born, — though, certainly, not in the pur- 
 ple, not in painted chamber, nor beneath gilded 
 canopy, was this great ruler of the human heart 
 ushered into the world. I speak it in all 
 reverence for higher and holier things, but 
 here Genius truly had its Bethlehem. But on 
 that dark and stormy night no star had yet 
 risen to tell that the peasant-boy would in time 
 leave the plough only to wield a universal 
 sceptre over mankind. Burns has beautifully 
 said that the genius of poesy found him follow- 
 ing the plough, as Elijah did Elisha. He 
 might also have said, as it was said of the 
 sweet singer of Israel, " I took thee from the 
 sheepcote and from following the sheep," and 
 gave thee as a gift thy country's lyre, to be at- 
 tuned to the song of the mavis, the sighing of 
 the autumnal breeze, the rushing of waters, 
 or to the tumultuous throbbings of thy own 
 sympathetic heart in the valleys shaded by the 
 fragrant birch and the white hawthorn, and 
 in the distant fields decked by the unspun and 
 untoiled-for glories of the gowan wet with 
 morning dew." That lyre has made his coun- 
 try's scenes immortal, and the Doon, the Lugar, 
 and the Nith, are now as memorable as the 
 Thames, the Danube, or the Ehine, or as the 
 Alma, that young stream so recently baptized 
 with blood. He has bathed old Scotia in the 
 sunlight of his genius, and she is radiant for 
 ever in all lands. Burns increased in stature 
 and in fame, and was invited to Edinburgh. 
 There the ploughman found no superior. He 
 could discourse with philosophers and divines, 
 and captivate a beautiful and accomplished 
 Duchess by his manly and natural eloquence. 
 This is he who was called from the plough 
 and the sheepcote. " This is the sweet singer 
 of Scotland's lays, — of a beautiful countenance, 
 
474 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 and goodly to loolc to," of wliom all men said, 
 " Arise, anoint him; crown him with the crown 
 of poetry, for this is ho." And he wears with- 
 out dispute the diadem of lyric song. He has 
 more than realised the old poet's wish, who 
 preferred to make a people's songs rather than 
 make their laws, for he has composed the songs 
 of the Anglo-Siixon peoples. His voice is as 
 ■well known on the ocean-like shores of the 
 Mississippi as on " the banks and braes o' 
 bonnie l)oon." Burns's short life was one of 
 industry and unceasing toil, and it was only in 
 the bright or gloomy intervals that he was en- 
 abled to amass that golden treasury of poetry 
 and song which has made nations rich indeed. 
 Burns died at the early age of thirty-seven ; 
 and measure his life by the thoughts he has 
 given you, and the emotions he has brought 
 crowding into every breast — by what he has 
 achieved — and the term of his short life seems 
 to be infinite. Most distinguished men have 
 bequeathed their greatest legacies to posterity 
 after the age of thirty-seven. It was so with 
 Lord Bacon, with Shakespere, and with Mil- 
 ton. At that age the amiable author of the 
 " Ta.sk" had not written a poem, and at that 
 age the great author of Waverley had not laid 
 hands on his magician's rod, and became more 
 than the " Ariosto of the North." Burns was 
 certainly neither an idle nor a dissipated man, 
 and he was certainly no abstraction. He was 
 essentially human. Amongst his God-like 
 qualities, the dust of earth was mingled ; and 
 whilst he took the hue and colour of the times 
 in which he lived, and though his strong pas- 
 sions sometimes overpowered him, yet, strange 
 to say, he mirrored hack little of the impurities 
 of the world. It was the mere passing cloud- 
 stain on the surface of the lake, darkening it 
 for an instant, but not defiling its limpid and 
 unknown depths. From the meanest thing he 
 extracted beauty and purity. He eould strike 
 the hard rock of his condition, and open sweet 
 springs almost in all hearts and in all places. 
 He could also gather speech from the commu- 
 nion of days, and knowledge from the voices of 
 the night. All the good remains, and grows 
 brighter, and even is increasing in splendour 
 with increasing years, whilst the evU has long 
 since perished, or is picked only out of the" 
 charnel house by the chiffoniers, the dust and 
 ragmen that haunt, like bats and owls, the 
 tomb of genius. But I must not detain you 
 from the "feast of reason and flow of soul" 
 that awaits us. Burns has long sunk to rest. 
 I have seen the clay biggen in which, on that 
 stormy night, just a hundred years ago, he 
 came into the world ; and I have reverently 
 behold the stately tomb in which his ashes 
 rest. Though sorely boi'ne down by gathering 
 
 calamity, and with his eyes fixed passionatel}'^ 
 and intently on the cruel waters of his capti- 
 vity, he never hung his country's harp on the 
 willows ; he never uttered a slavish thought ; 
 ho never shed an unmanly tear ; his soul took 
 a quiet leave of all around it ; and there was 
 around it much that was very dear, and de- 
 parted from this vale of tears in thoughts of 
 duty, and resignation, and song, not unmixed 
 with apprehensions for the safety of his little 
 ones, and solicitude about " Bonnie Jean," 
 who, whilst the mourners were carrying the 
 corpse of her husband along the streets of 
 Dumfries to its resting-place, seemed thoroughly 
 to fiU, even to overflowing, that cup of sorrow 
 of which he could drink no more, by adding to 
 it the anguish of a desolate woman in travail. 
 But let us turn away from the sad scene, and, 
 in conclusion, contemplate the vision of his 
 fame. Burns is not a name — he is now an 
 almost universal presence. The temple of his 
 fame, in which we are humble and devout 
 worshippers to-day, is the wide world itself. 
 Europe, Asia, America, and even the great is- 
 lands, or rather continents in the Pacific Ocean, 
 severally constitute its long-drawn aisles. Its 
 pillars are sunk in our own and in other lands 
 and seas, and humanity itself is the officiating 
 high-priest ; and the incense that we offer in 
 this place is the offering of the heart, sanctioned 
 by reason, and purified by the lapse of a hun- 
 dred years. 
 
 (Mr. Newton was repeatedly applauded dur- 
 ing the delivery of his speech, and sat down 
 amidst protracted cheering.) 
 
 After a short interval, the Chairman an- 
 nounced, that as the programme was so exube- 
 rant, they would be unable to get through it 
 at a reasonable hour, it was their intention to 
 cull it, and give the best pieces first. In ac- 
 cordance with this arrangement, two or three 
 capital songs were sung by Mr. Seed, the 
 Misses Blake, and Mr. Alexandes. Eecita- 
 tions were also given by Mr. Sanderson, Mr. 
 Eea, and Mr. Cummings (the latter 'in charac- 
 ter.) Each song and recitation was loudly 
 applauded. In thus noticing the musical part 
 of the evening's entertainments, we must not 
 omit to mention as worthy of especial commen- 
 dation, the performances of the band, under 
 the leadership of Mr. T. S. Watson. In an- 
 swer to repeated calls, the Vice-Chairman pro- 
 posed "The Peasantry of the Thi-ee Kingdoms." 
 In an eloquent address, he argued that the 
 peasantry ought not to be exposed to con- 
 tumely and insult from the possessors of wealth 
 and acres, on account of their poverty, and 
 that no nation was really great in which the 
 peasantry were unhappy. The great test of 
 civilisation was the happiness or the misery of 
 
NEWCASTLE 
 
 475 
 
 the cottagu. Burns had given them an exqui- 
 site picture of what constituted the happiness 
 of the cottage in his " Cottar's Saturday Night ;" 
 and he considered that, inasmuch as in the hap- 
 piness, bravery, and courage of the peasantry 
 consisted the wealth, the power, and the safety 
 of the State, it was the duty of Governments 
 to legislate for their happiness. (Loud ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 A number of other songs followed, and the 
 proceedings concluded about twelve o'clock 
 
 The "Abstainers'" Festival. — A third 
 gathering took place in the Lecture Boom, 
 under the presidency of Mr. John Benson, and 
 came off most successfully, the krge room being 
 crowded in every available spot Although 
 different to the other two meetings in respect 
 to the gastronomic pait of the entertainment, 
 the company seemed thoroughly to enjoy them- 
 selves ; and the manner in which they sung the 
 National Anthem at the close, shewed that, as 
 well as being admirers of Burns, they were a 
 very loyal assembly. There would be upwards 
 of 1500 persons present. 
 
 The Chairman, in opening the meeting, 
 said, — They were called upon to celebrate the 
 centenary of one whose fame was well-nigh 
 universal. — (Applause.) In justification of 
 their gathering to do homage to Burns, he 
 deemed it right to say that they did not in- 
 tend any disrespect to the men whose greatness 
 and worth had been overlooked by the nation. 
 It had been too general for the people to be 
 slow to recognise and acknowledge greatness. 
 Only now was a statue being erected to the 
 ever-to-be-remembered Jenner ; and Harvey, 
 whose discovery of the circulation of the blood 
 was so invaluable, was long neglected. And 
 this night, in celebrating the great poet whose 
 genius raised him from the plough to be ad- 
 mired by all, it might be a just reflection upon 
 the nation for its neglect of the great in every 
 department of science and of art. Turning to 
 the history of Burns, he rebutted the charge 
 that the poet's education had been neglected in 
 youth, and said that, at an early age he was 
 sent to school, and it was recorded by one who 
 knew him well, that he became a good English 
 scholar ; but he had said that this had cost the 
 master a great deal of trouble and thrashing. 
 Before he had reached seventeen, the poet had 
 read a great number of profitable and religious 
 books. At the early age of sixteen, when on 
 his father's farm, he became the unconscious 
 victim of his first love, and, at the same time, 
 there was the first recognition of his poetic 
 genius, — love and poetry being born together. 
 His early life was marked by innocence and 
 accompanied with toil. So hard was his lot at 
 
 one time, that he was driven to contemplate 
 his extirpation from home and emigration to 
 America. In order to meet the expense of Ms 
 outfit, he first published his poems, and so suc- 
 cessful was the publication, that he realised no 
 less a sum than £700 as the produce of his 
 genius and his toU. He now found a new 
 field and a better enterprise for his genius and 
 labour, and the idea of emigration was given 
 up. He was then invited to the Scottish 
 metropolis, and this inducement, though kindly 
 intended, exposed him to temptatioas and 
 dangers with which his simple and untutored 
 mind was ill prepared to grappla It was at 
 this period in his history that he began that 
 course of life which has been so employed 
 against him by a severe posterity. Were he 
 (the Chairman) to tell them of the nature and 
 number of letters which he had received since 
 he agreed to become Chairman of that meeting, 
 they would not be surprised that Burns wrote 
 against the want of charity in Christian pro- 
 fessors ; and it was not to be wondered at that 
 he, in his untrammelled and ardent youth, 
 frequently poured out his denunciations of the 
 hypocrisy of that day, in terms, perhaps. Some- 
 what extravagant. They were not there to say 
 that Burns was in every respect an upright 
 man and a Christian ; but they were there that 
 evening to strive to remember that there were 
 many bright, sunny spots in his life, and he 
 claimed at their hands — a testimony posterity 
 would freely award him — the honour and re- 
 ward of a son of genius, whoso glory shone out 
 brighter than that of others. — (Applause.) 
 Even wheji, in the midst of the dissipation of 
 Edinburgh, his genius did not sleep, although 
 his subjects partook too much of the character 
 of his pursuits at the time. His pen most 
 eloquently pictured the realities of the scenes 
 through which he passed, as any one readJRg 
 " Tam o' Shanter" would see. He would re- 
 mark that all his pieces were fragmentary, 
 bearing on the face of them the stamp of 
 nature's voluntary working — of the overflowing 
 of the poetical art, like a river which could not 
 be contained within artificial limits. The 
 poet's brother left recorded, that when walking 
 out with him, one night, he repeated the 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night," and he said that it 
 thrilled with ecstacy his soul. And it was 
 well known that the measures of that beautiful 
 poem were derived from his own home ; and 
 he often spoke of the solemnity with which his 
 father devoutly said, " Let us worship God." 
 He was not going to read or criticise the poetry 
 of Robert Bums ; but there was one stanza 
 which he might venture to repeat, and it was 
 one which, however often repeated, was ever 
 new : — 
 
476 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAEY. 
 
 "Then homeward all take off their several way; 
 
 The youngling cottagers retire to rest ; 
 The parent pair their secret homage pay, 
 
 And proffer up to Heaven the warm request, 
 That He who stills the raven's clamorous nest, 
 
 And decks the lily fair in floweiy pride, 
 Would, in the way His wisdom sees the best, 
 
 For them and for their little ones provide ; 
 But chiefly in their hearts with grace divine preside." 
 
 Thus wrote Eobert Burns of family worsliip. 
 They might learn many lessons from the life of 
 the poet, and not look down upon him with 
 that severe and unforgiving criticism which, 
 like the horse-fly, seeks out the festered spot, 
 and passes by the symmetry and soundness of 
 the whole. There was one feature in Burns's 
 poems which should not be forgotten or over- 
 looked, and that was, the honesty of the man, 
 even to the revelation of his own failings. 
 And in judging of him, they must remember 
 the circumstances and the state of the age and 
 country, and the associations under which this 
 man of genius was born. He was the victim 
 of surrounding circumstances from which young 
 men of this generation are happily set free. 
 Eobert Burns died a young man, at thirty- 
 seven ; and he might only add, that in every 
 cottage and kitchen in Scotland, and in every 
 part of the civilised world, the name of Eobert 
 Burns was a "household word." Alongside 
 of the Bible lay some of the sentimental works 
 of Eobert Burns. — (Applause.) They should 
 strive to forget many of the faults of Burns, 
 and remember that they were met in " Canny 
 Newcastle" — which was half Scotch — to com- 
 memorate the birth of his genius. Burns 
 dreaded disgrace, he dreaded debt, he dreaded 
 ignominy, but he never feared the face of man. 
 Poor as he was, thoughtless and foolish as he 
 became, he never sought paltry dependence 
 upon his fellow-men; and though he died a 
 pobr man, there was a sum of i>200 due to him 
 from men whose poverty had been relieved out 
 of his scanty income. He (the speaker) had 
 to remind the young men of these days that 
 the fashions and drinking customs of society 
 were now changed, and whilst met to celebrate 
 the greatness of the poet, they had also to be 
 admonished that the dangers which beset tal- 
 ent were to become warnings to them. Burns 
 was very tender, and would not damage his 
 fellow or ipjure the poorest of God's creation, 
 and over him should be flung the mantle of 
 charity. He regretted, at that moment, that 
 he was not a Scotchman, and that he had not 
 an ear for poetry; but his heart would belie 
 itself if he did not find something more in the 
 poetry of Burns than he found in most of the 
 flashy rhymes of the present day. He would 
 pronounce no opinion on those who comme- 
 morated the event with carousing ; but they 
 
 would endeavour calmly and intellectually to 
 celebrate the centenary of one whose poetic 
 writings are unrivalled for manly and noble 
 sentiment, and whose genius in future genera- 
 tions would receive a just recompense and re- 
 ward. — (Applause.) 
 
 The Chairman then called upon the Choral 
 Class to give " Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie 
 Doon." Mr. M'Kelvin then read the "Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night," followed by the other 
 pieces in the programme; and the Chairman 
 closed the pleasant evening's entertainment 
 with some appropriate remarks, the audience 
 joining in the chorus of " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 NEWPOET (Monmouthshire).— The en- 
 thusiasm with which the anniversary of the 
 hundredth birth-day of Scotland's greatest poe- 
 tical son, Eobert Burns, has been observed 
 through England and Scotland, was fully shared 
 within the bounds of Old Cambria. A public 
 dinner was held in the King's Head, Newport. 
 Shortly after six o'clock, about seventy gen- 
 tlemen sat down to a most excellent dinner, 
 the getting-up of which did very great credit 
 to the worthy host, Mr. Lloyd. The chair was 
 occupied by Mr. J. C. Paterson, proprietor of 
 the Star of Choent, and the vice-chair by Mr. 
 Smythe, surgeon, of Abergavenny, Councillor 
 Hyndman, Newport, and Mr. John Grant, 
 timber-merchant, Cardiff. The chairman was 
 supported on the right and left by the Mayor 
 of Newport, Mr. James Brown, Mr. E. M. 
 Toogood, Mr. Titus Lewis, Mr James (Bristol), 
 Mr. Austen (Sheffield), Mr. L. Mackintosh 
 (Tredegar), Mr. Eichard Ion (Newport), Mr. C. 
 Clarke (Cardiff), and Mr. T. Wilson (Newport). 
 From Cardiff the gentlemen present were 
 Messrs. E. Alison, A. Adams, John Dalziel, 
 William Wallace, T. Abbott, David Eobertson, 
 James Allen, David Duncan, M'Donald (Can- 
 ton); and James Brown, Forest Farm, Gla- 
 morganshire, &c. From Pontypool : — Messrs. 
 Andrew Hair, Thomas M'Carnie, and W. 
 M'Gowan. From Newport :— Messrs. W. W. 
 Morgan, surgeon, J. Hardie, W. D. Evana 
 (Leon), J. Morgan, Wyndham Jones, J. An- 
 drews, W. B. Stocker, J. Norris, A. E. Gibson, 
 A. M'Donald, W. Macintosh, Beynon, E. H. 
 French, George Bateson, W. Pickford, M. 
 Horrigen, J. Bradgot, A. Barfoot, J. Hurd, 
 Thomas Holmes, H. P. Bolt, John Wallace, 
 W. Macbeth, Donald Eraser, W. Cuthbertson, 
 E. Sutherland, P, Eoss, W. M'Daniel (Main- 
 dee), &c. ; Mr. David Thompson, Llangattock, 
 Crickhowell : Mr. Johnson, Henllys ; Mr. 
 Wightman, Llantarnam; Mr. Gow, of the 2l3t 
 North British Fusiliers, &c., &c. 
 
 The dining-room was tastefully decorated, 
 and on the wall opposite the chairman, at the 
 
NEWPORT (Monmouthshire). 
 
 477 
 
 back of the vice-chairman, was a beautiful 
 transparency representing a statue of the bard 
 in honour of whose memory the company had 
 assembled. The painting, which was exceed- 
 ingly well executed, and greatly admired by 
 the guests, was the work of the chef de cuisine 
 at the King's Head Hotel. The figure of Burns 
 was appropriately crowned with holly, sprigs of 
 which were also arranged to form elegant fes- 
 toons surrounding the framework by which the 
 transparency was supported. At one end of 
 the room was stationed Mr. Pollock's band, 
 the members of which performed a selection of 
 appropriate pieces at intervals between the 
 speeches. 
 
 After the usual loyal toasts, the Chairman 
 gave "The Immortal Memory of Eobert Burns." 
 He said, I lament that the toast has fallen into 
 my hands, and that I am little qualified to do 
 it justice, great as is my admiration of the 
 bard ; but no one can ^ve the toast more 
 proudly than I do, or with a heart that glows 
 more warmly than mine does at the name of 
 Burns. I give it not merely as a countryman, 
 but as a county-man of the great bard — one 
 familiar with every foot of the ground he has 
 made classic — with the windings of bonnie 
 wimpling Doon, from its source to the sea; 
 with " Afton water," " weel-fed Irwin," " ro- 
 mantic Coil," and " auld hermit Ayr" stealing 
 softly through its splendid woods. I give it 
 as one whose infancy was soothed with the 
 songs of Burns, sung by the streams and in the 
 scenes they celebrate ; who grew up a wor- 
 shipper and humble imitator of the bard, visit- 
 ing like a pilgrim, and with all the devotion 
 of an enthusiast, every spot of Scotland that 
 he has made famous, from " Logan Water" to 
 sounding Foyers; and I give it as one who 
 now rejoices as for victory in the great recog- 
 nition which this day proclaims of the name 
 and fame of Ayrshire's ploughman bard — 
 Eobert Burns. The victory, gentlemen, is over 
 prejudice and bigotry : all that was earthly iu 
 the poet is forgotten ; all that detractors have 
 said we pass byj we hail him and claim him 
 as "the bard," crowned with the "holy wreath" 
 for ever ! Gentlemen, while we raise the wine- 
 cup to the toast, and know that in all lands 
 where the language of this country is spoken 
 eloquent lips are at this moment uttering the 
 praises of him in whose honour we are met, it 
 is pleasant to remember that this wide testi- 
 mony to the 'merits of the poet is made when 
 his immediate descendants, his sons and daugh- 
 ter, are stiU amongst us, and when a few stiU 
 survive who remember him as he was when 
 mortal. We have only to look back upon his 
 works — we have only to consider the energy 
 with which he laboured, accomplishing so much 
 
 in so short a life — we have only to read his 
 poems and his songs in the true spirit of the 
 language in which they are written, to under- 
 stand how it is that their fame-iias been com- 
 paratively so immediate. Two thoroughly na- 
 tional poets, Allan Eamsay and Fergusson, had 
 gone before him, and prepared a way to the 
 hearts of the people. Their songs were in the 
 affections of the peasantry of Scotland — their 
 poems were recited, as they still are, at village 
 festivals and country ploys. But Eamsay and 
 Fergusson were small in the presence of the 
 poet-giant on whom, a hundred years ago, 
 " hansel" was blown by an " orra blast o' 
 Januar wind." He laid the foundation of liis 
 fame by the strongest satires in any language, 
 on the hypocritical pretensions of some of " the 
 unco guid" of his own neighbourhood ; by 
 showing up to ridicule, in the strong, burning 
 light of his genius, local " kirk" dissensions, 
 and pretensions that were not calculated to 
 advance the cause of true religion. These sa- 
 tires were peculiarly well understood and ap- 
 preciated in the locality, for the characters 
 drawn stood living before the people! He 
 sang the superstitious and the social obser- 
 vances of the country in which he lived — and 
 these were understood and appreciated still 
 more widely. He sang his own loves — he 
 celebrated the beauties of the country — in 
 lyrics which far surpassed, with scarcely an 
 exception, all the songs that a song-loving, a 
 strong feeling, and a warm and passionate 
 hearted people had ever before known ! What 
 wonder that these extraordinary lyrics spread 
 widely over the land — what wonder that they 
 are now sung on every civihsed shore on which 
 the sun shines! Every Scotsman who leaves 
 the land of his fathers carries with him the 
 Bible, and poems and songs of Burns : the 
 poems are ever to him the dear link that holds 
 his memory faster to his native land; and deep 
 in the heart of every Lowland maid, whom 
 hard fate or blind fortune sends abroad, lie 
 those well remembered songs that express so 
 tenderly, so touchingly, the passion of love. 
 These are the missionaries who have carried to 
 all lands the fame of Burns — who have made 
 his name as dear in the log-hut of the Canar 
 dian woodman, and the bark-tent of the Aus- 
 tralian and the Columbian gold-digger, as it is 
 here and to us. Gentlemen, it is sometimes 
 said kind "auld Scotland" was niggardly in 
 her treatment of Burns; but I cannot joiu in 
 the cry against the land we love, ■ because a 
 careful review of all the circumstances, from 
 an impartial point of view, leads me to the 
 belief that no reproach can truly be said to lie 
 upon the country. Look for a moment at the 
 facts. Burns began rhyming — "rhyming for 
 
478 
 
 THE BUEIS'S CENTENARY. 
 
 fun" — when he was a youth of seventeen, 
 working hard on his father's fann »f Lochlea. 
 He rhymed still more after he and his widowed 
 mother settled at MossgieL He spread his 
 songs and poems in manuscript round the 
 neighhourhood, and when he published his 
 first volume in the autumn of 1786, his neigh- 
 bours and loeal patrons subscribed the money 
 that produced the work ! Six hundred copies 
 were sold, and Bums received a profit of £40 
 on the venture. Few bards, either in old or 
 modern times, have done better ! Burns was 
 then in his twenty-seventh year, and had been 
 so unsuccessful in his labours and his loves 
 that he was about to fly from the country to 
 the doubtfal haven of a West Indian island. 
 A chance letter of approval from a blind poet 
 of Edinburgh at once changed bis route. He 
 forfeited his passage in the outward-bound 
 Greenock bark — he rode to Edinburgh without 
 a single letter of introduction, and there a 
 chance meeting with an Ayrshire gentleman, 
 who knew the poet, re.sulted in an introduction 
 to the Earl of Glencairn, who introduced Burns 
 to the great bookseller of the day. The second 
 edition was at once taken in hand — all the 
 gentlemen of the Caledonian Hunt subscribed 
 for it — and in six or eight months from the 
 time of the publication of the first edition, the 
 second was issued, and in a year more Burns 
 retired from Edinburgh, famous, and possessed 
 of a clear £400. This, most authors will say, 
 was very good. But the warm heart of the 
 bard did things too generous for his pocket. 
 Nearly half of the money was given to redeem 
 family misfortunes. He obtained from a landed 
 friend a lease of Ellisland, on the Nith, on his 
 own terms: He was helped with his " stock- 
 ing." He married the woman of his heart, — 
 one able to be a helpmate in his farming. But 
 the poet and the man of business are seldom 
 united in one man. Burns was generous. In 
 three years, " a man who had had losses," as 
 the inimitable Dogberry says, he gave up the 
 farm of Ellisland, and retired to Dumfries on 
 that commission in the Excise, yielding some 
 £70 a-year, which he had prudently solicited 
 from his noble friend Glencairn three years 
 before. These last years, these four or five 
 years of hard work, humble fare, and narrow 
 means, — these brought the poet to that early 
 death which a feeble frame in youth, a glowmg 
 eye brightened by the seeds of latent disease, 
 a keen, exciteable, nervous system, and an oft- 
 recurring melancholy, had predicated for liim. 
 Most melancholy those years appear to us, 
 who look back and see the poet slowly dying, 
 with glorious song still flowing from his great 
 heart ! But we must remember that tlie 
 greater number of his songs were then unpub- 
 
 lished, or were only fresh before a select class 
 of readers, and that some of his most striking 
 poems were not printed for many years after 
 the poet slept the sleep, of death. But when 
 we wonder that no pubMc patron stepped forth 
 from the ranks of his admirers, we have to re- 
 member the independence of the man, and the 
 difficulty his friends had in saving him from 
 those political adversaries in high places whom 
 his political songs, his election ballads, and his 
 fre&ly-seattered witticisms offended. He lived 
 in troubled times ; he would be indebted to no 
 man ; he refused even that recompence for the 
 labours of his muse to which he was entitled ; 
 few men could have borne themselves so nobly. 
 That he should have passed those four short 
 years of hard toil in something approaching 
 penury, was a most grievous misfortune ; but 
 ean we blame " auld Sco'tlan'?'* I do not 
 think we can. After some other remarks on 
 Burns as a humorist, a satirist, a moralist, a 
 patriot, a lover, and a man, the Chairman con- 
 cluded as follows : — ^Within a year or two of 
 Burns' s death, h« wrote thus of himself : — "I 
 have some little fame at stake, — a fame that, I 
 trust, may live when the hate of those who 
 ' watch for my halting^' and the contumelious 
 seeer of those whom accident has made my 
 superiors, will with themselves be gone to the 
 regions of oblivion." So, traly, it has come ! 
 One hundred years ago the poet was born. 
 Now, cm one of the great landmarks of Time, 
 all his detractors forgotten, the world inscribes, 
 in a wreath of undying laurel, the name of 
 Scotland's bard. "With these imperfect re- 
 marks, Mr. Vice-Chairman and gentlemen, I 
 ask a bumper, with cheers, to " The Immortal 
 Memory of Eobert Burns." 
 
 The speaker was repeatedly interrupted by 
 the enthusiastic cheers of the assembly, and 
 the toast was drunk upstanding, with several 
 rounds of cheering. 
 
 Band — " Auld Langsyue." 
 
 After some other toasts, the Mayor of New- 
 port gave " The Land of Burns" in an able 
 speech, in the course of which he said, — It had 
 been his fortune to tread much of the hallowed 
 ground which Burns had rendered classic. 
 Near the town of Ayr, he recollected well the 
 enthusiasm and the deep feeling of respect 
 with which he entered the humble walls within 
 which the great bard was born. — (Hear, hear.) 
 He recollected the pleasure he felt when, with 
 the poems of Burns in his hand, he followed 
 him step by step on the banks of "Bonnie 
 Doon," to the places of which he had written. 
 — (Applause.) And never should he forget 
 his feelings of delight, when standing on the 
 ' Brig of Doon," and thinking of the inimit- 
 
OLDHAM— OXFOED. 
 
 479 
 
 alile "Tarn o' Slianter,'' he almost fancied that 
 he saw the redoubtable Maggie losing her tail, 
 or the pleasure he felt in viewing those world- 
 reputed old ruius of Alloway Kirk — ^which 
 were still in a perfect state of preservation — 
 and reading the beautiful epitaph which Burns 
 had had engraved upon his father's tomb — those 
 lines so full of feeling, and which shewed how 
 intense was the respect of the son for the 
 parent he loved. He recollected well with 
 what pleasure he viewed that graceful monu- 
 ment erected by the nation in high apprecia- 
 tion of the worth of the bard, and which con- 
 tained that sacred relic, Highland Mary's hair. 
 Who could but feel enthusiastic in treading 
 such classic ground 1 He trusted that those 
 among them present who had not done so 
 would, before they died, do as he had done, 
 and trace, step by step, those scenes so full of 
 beautiful scenery, and which Burns had doubly 
 ennobled by his verse. 
 
 The evening was spent in great happiness. 
 Eloquent speeches were made, the toast and 
 the song went round, and the meeting separ- 
 ated at a late hour. 
 
 OLDHAM.— About seventy gentlemen sat 
 down to a dinner, at the Eed Lion Inn, to 
 celebrate the Burns' Centenary. Mr. Council- 
 lor Boyd occupied the Chair, and Mr. Coun- 
 cillor Eye the Vice-Chair. During the even- 
 ing a number of Burns's songs were sung. Mr. 
 KeiTy produced an unpublished letter of Burns, 
 which was handed round the room for inspec- 
 tion. The proceedings terminated by all the 
 company singing " Auld Lang-syne." 
 
 OXFOED. — The Scotchmen resident in 
 this city and neighbourhood, having intimated 
 their earnest desire to celebrate the centenary 
 birthday of their national and beloved poet, 
 Robert Burns, their countryman, Mr. Maclaren, 
 proprietor of the University Gymnasium, kindly 
 undertook to make the necessary arrangements. 
 Invitations were issued to all the Scotchmen 
 that could be found within a reasonable dis- 
 tance of Oxford, and the Banquet Eoom at the 
 Masonic Hall was secured for the gathering. 
 The room was tastefully and appropriately de- 
 corated for the occasion by Mr. Maclaren, and 
 on ornamental scrolls were displayed the names 
 of those Scotchmen who, as warriors, statesmen, 
 poets, historians, philosophers, engineers, &c., 
 have won an immortality of fame. The cele- 
 bration took place on Tuesday, 25th. Jan., when 
 about forty sat down to an excellent entertain- 
 ment, provided by Jtlr. Holland, of the Cross 
 
 Hotel, in his accustomed spirited and excellent 
 style. A good dessert succeeded the dinner, 
 and wines of first-rate character left nothing to 
 be desired. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 Tlie Chairman, Mr. Maclaren, said — I now 
 rise to propose what I may emphatically call 
 the toast of the evening, the memory of the 
 most gifted man that our common country has 
 ever produced, though she has many sons whose 
 memory she loves to cherish. I rise to pro- 
 pose the same toast, that on this night is being 
 proposed in every town and village in Scot- 
 land; and wherever it is possible to collect a 
 small knot of our countrymen in England, in 
 America, and in the Colonies, there do they 
 meet together, and there do they toast, with a 
 strange sentiment of pride and humiliation, the 
 memory of our national poet ; of pride, because 
 of the present full and universal appreciation 
 of his genius; of humiliation, because of the 
 unworthy neglect which he experienced while 
 he sojourned amongst us. On this day, a hun- 
 dred years ago, Eobert Burns was born, on a 
 small rented farm, and in a house built by his 
 father's own hands. An unfavourable position 
 we are apt to think for a poetic mind, but when 
 examined, not altogether so; he had a strictly 
 virtuous and religious home-training; he had 
 a fair education, much beyond what many in 
 our own day, moving in higher walks of life, 
 enjoy; he had considerable leisure, which he 
 employed in reading, and in collecting all the 
 traditionary lore, ballad poetry, and floating 
 unappropriated waifs of song and music in his 
 own and the surrounding districts, and more 
 than all, he lived in a picturesque country, 
 
 " Where he could see fair Nature's face, 
 And every changing feature trace, 
 As round him passed the varied year." 
 
 I see nothing in his early position in life to dwarf 
 his intellectual powers— on the contrary, I con- 
 ceive that it was more favourable to original 
 thought and expression, than if he had, as is 
 now too much the custom, been set to dull and 
 irksome task-work from childhood to man's 
 estate, learning and thinking the thoughts of 
 others. Yes, I believe that nature placed her 
 darling poet in a situation favourable to the 
 accomplishment of his spirit's task ; but I 
 affirm that in after life, *hen his position 
 failed him, his country cruelly neglected him, 
 a neglect which she has since with bitter tears 
 confessed, and for which she has, we must 
 avow, nobly tried to atone. Burns has been 
 accused of irreligion and immorality. They 
 who so accuse him would wrongfully separate 
 him and his writings from his trials and temp- 
 tations. They must be judged together. A 
 
480 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 terrible ordeal was that practised by our ances- 
 tors, called the trial by fire, where the accused, 
 blindfold and barefoot, had to walk among red- 
 hot ploughshares strewn in his path. Burns 
 may be said to have passed through this ordeal, 
 and the poems of his which the world con- 
 demns, are the utterance of his soul in its agony 
 during its fiery trial. Those written in his 
 more peaceful hours, like — " The Cottar's Sa- 
 turday Night," "The Prayer on the Prospect of 
 Death," " The Address to a Young Friend," 
 "The Address to Mary in Heaven," contain 
 the purest religious sentiments, the highest 
 moral teaching, and have made the most pro- 
 found and ineffaceable impression for good on 
 the national mind. The narrow-minded pre- 
 judices, ignorance, back-bitings, and meddlings 
 which he had to encounter, were to him an- 
 noyances, not sorrows ; he had but to draw 
 against his ignorant assailants his invincible 
 weapon — his pen, which, like the spell- wrought 
 sword in the fairy tale, silenced for ever all 
 against whom it was lifted. Burns died at 
 the age of thirty-six ; he went down to his 
 grave sorrowing — he saw around him but his 
 widow and orphans ; he heard but their sobs 
 and falling tears. He did not know, he did 
 not hear, what was soon to arrive — the cry of 
 remorse from a weeping and repentant nation, 
 mourning for the untimely death of her most 
 gifted son. Yet, who shall say that it was not 
 revealed to liim, that thenceforth and for ever 
 his poems would be the delight of every fire- 
 side in Scotland — a solace to the weary, and to 
 the happy a higher joy ; a bond strong as 
 patriotism, binding the exile still closer to his 
 native land; a power to nerve the soldier's arm 
 in his hour of danger and trial ? Who shall say 
 that even now his beatified spirit may not be 
 permitted to look down on the whole people of 
 the land he loved so well, spontaneously rising 
 to do him honour, and that after his claims 
 have been tested by a hundred years 1 Let us, 
 therefore, as if in his presence, lovingly, rev- 
 erently, and religiously, drink this toast, utter- 
 ing his name, and his name only — " Burns." — 
 [The toast was drunk in solemn silence, and 
 had a very impressive effect.] 
 
 Mr. Maceay, librarian of the Taylor Insti- 
 tution, in proposing the toast, "The Living 
 Poets of Scotland," said the toast will doubt- 
 less recall to you the names of many who, like 
 Burns, have contributed to sweeten life, and 
 endear our native land to us by their beautiful 
 and touching strains. The names of Aytoun, 
 Alexander, Smith, Blackie, Aird, Mackay, Bal- 
 lantyne, Maodonald, Hedderwick, and Gilfillan, 
 are well known to us, and doubtless there are 
 many others of high merit with whose works 
 I am unacquainted, and which confer honour 
 
 upon English literature, as well as on the land 
 of their birth. Many of our living Scottish 
 poets no longer record their thoughts and fan- 
 cies in the inimitable Doric of their native 
 land, that early dialect, with which, I suppose, 
 we are all familiar, and which to us Scotch- 
 men has a charm which no other language, 
 however classical or polished, can convey. 
 (Cheers.) A few native poets, however, Bal- 
 lantyne, for example, wisely prefer speaking to 
 the hearts and affections of their countrymen 
 in the language of Burns — that idiom which he 
 has stamped with the seal of genius and conse- 
 crated for ever. (Cheers.) Never may that 
 day come when broad Scots shall be a dead 
 language, no longer heard among the glens and 
 mountains of Scotland, for then the life and 
 glory of nationality will have departed from us, 
 and the strong bond uniting us to " Auld lang 
 syne," will have been rent asunder. (Cheers.) 
 In England we learn its language, which is, in 
 fact, the court style, and which naturally comes 
 to be the standard medium of intercourse in 
 good society, and the language of hterature ; 
 but in Scotland, the halls of Holyrood and 
 Linlithgow are deserted, and the language 
 which might, three centuries ago, have become 
 the language of a refined and polished nation, 
 has now sunk down to be considered only fit 
 for artizans, peasants, and labourers. Such, 
 however, is the elevating might of genius, that 
 even this language, so low and imperfect, so 
 unfit to be uttered in the ears of the learned 
 and the polite, can be rendered pregnant with 
 " thoughts that breathe and words that burn." 
 Our national ballads and songs all speak this 
 language, and what nation can produce a richer 
 body of literature than Scotland in this her 
 own pecuUai department ? (Cheers.) This is 
 that feature in our national character which 
 promises to me to render the language of AUan 
 Eamsay, of Eoss, of Fergusson, of Burns, and of 
 Scott, immortal as the granite of our native 
 mountains. (Cheers.) Let native poets con- 
 sider this, and still may they address our coun- 
 trymen, high and low, rich and poor, in their 
 own unsophisticated dialect, singing their loves 
 and joys, their hopes and fears, the whole 
 hearts' feelings, in the language Hsped on their 
 mother's knees — familiar from infancy, coloured 
 with fancy, brightened with imagination, and 
 warmed with the glow and radiance of genius. 
 Shame on the Scotsman who has forgotten or 
 who disdains his native tongue, and I am quite 
 certain there is not one such person here. 
 (Cheers.) Oh ! let us cherish it as part and 
 parcel of ourselves, bound up with our earliest 
 recollections, and for ever embalmed in the 
 songs and ballads of our immortal poets. (Loud 
 cheers.) 
 
QUEEXSHEAD— EOCHDALE. 
 
 481 
 
 The Chairman tlien read the Crystal Palace 
 Prize Poem on Burns, which was hstened to 
 with marked interest and attention, and a round 
 of hearty cheers for its talented author, was 
 given on its conclusion. 
 
 The toasts which followed were — " The Cot- 
 tars of Scotland," which was given in exceed- 
 ingly good taste by the vice-chaii-man, Mr. 
 M'GufTy ; « The Land o' Cakes;" "The Chair- 
 man ;" "The Vice-Chairman ;" "The Visi- 
 tors," acknowledged to Mr. ConncUlor Higgins, 
 and Mr. Councillor Park ; " The Press, re- 
 sponded to by Mr. Joseph Plowman; "The 
 Lasses," acknowledged by Mr. Gait. 
 
 During the evening, some of Burns's choicest 
 and most popular songs were sung by Mr. Mac- 
 donald, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Macray, Mr. Six- 
 smith, Mr. Plowman, and others. The chief 
 contributor was Mr. Macdonald, in the employ 
 of the London and North-Western Eailway 
 Company, who gave, in most effective style, 
 "There was a lad was born in Kyle," "A 
 man's a man for a' that," "Green grow the 
 rashes, 0," "Ye banks and braes o' bonny 
 Doon," &c. Mr. Macdonald, in returning 
 thanks when his health was drunk, mentioned 
 an interesting fact, that he was born in the 
 same house in which Burns had erected his flax- 
 spinning machine. The spirited and touching 
 manner in which he sang the songs of Burns, 
 denoted that he had caught the spirit Of the 
 bard, and possessed both- taste and' feeling to do 
 justice to them. 
 
 The meeting, which broke up at midnight, 
 was remarkable for the evidence of deep and 
 sincere feeling in every one present, and while 
 there was no lack of hearty enjoyment, a sense 
 of the somewhat sacred character of the occa- 
 sion which had called them together, appeared 
 to pervade the gathering to its close. Every 
 toast was more or less associated with Burns ; 
 every song was by or of him, and Burns him- 
 self appeared to be uppermost in the hearts 
 and thoughts of all, as he was upon their lips. 
 We congratulate our Scottish friends in this 
 locality on their successful gathering, and it has 
 rarely fallen to- our lot to attend a meeting 
 which excelled this in its interest, in its deco- 
 rous character, or in the warmth of feeling 
 which pervaded all who were present. 
 
 ,^^^\/^/V'^/\/WW\/V\/WVW 
 
 QUEENSHEAD.— The hundredth anniver- 
 sary of the birth-day of Eobert Burns, was 
 celebrated at Queenshead, in a spirited manner. 
 An intellectual and very interesting entertain- 
 ment was given on the occasion. A public 
 mijcting wa.s held in the National School-room, 
 
 under the auspices of the Black Dike Mills 
 Literary and Scientific Institution, when a lec- 
 ture on the great Scotch bard Wiis given by Mr. 
 ITiomas Kenworthy; and selections from the 
 productions of the poet were recited or sung, 
 the latter by an efficient band of vocalists resi- 
 dent in the village. The room was well filled, 
 although the night was most unfavourable. 
 
 EAMSEY (Isle of Man). — A public din- 
 ner took place in the Albert Hotel, in com- 
 memoration of the centenary of the nativity of 
 Burns, and, as might have been expected, a 
 goodly number of Scotia's stalwart scions were 
 present on the occasion, to celebrate the che- 
 rished memory of the revered and immortal 
 bard; and though liis name was undoubtedly 
 eloquently and pathetically commemorated in 
 hundreds of other parts the same evening, we 
 are satisfied in no place Was it dwelt upon with 
 more tenderness, admiration, and enthusiasm, 
 than in the Albert Hotel, on Tuesday evening; 
 Mr. J. J. Corkill, occupied the chair, and E. 
 H. Heywood, Esq., the vice-chair. A most 
 sumptuous and profuse repast was served 
 in excellent style. After the cloth was re- 
 moved^ the chairman introduced the leading 
 toasts of the evening in appropriate and feli- 
 citous terms. " The Queen" was the first toast, 
 and was drank with enthusiasm, the band, 
 which was in an adjoining apartment, taking up 
 the response, and playing the National Anthem. 
 "The Prince Consort and the Eoyal Family" 
 were then given, and responded to with three 
 cheers. Then " The Army and Navy." The 
 next was the great toast of the evening — " The 
 Memory of the Poet Burns," drank in solemn 
 silence. The Eev. Mr. M. Owen responded to 
 this toast in glowing and eloquent language, 
 and referred to the poet's "Address to a Moun- 
 tain Daisy," and "TheCottar's Saturday Night," 
 as mementoes of his tenderness of feeling, good- 
 ness of heart, and poetic genius. The evening 
 was spent in harmony and conviviality, and 
 after enjoying themselves in a liberal manner, 
 the company retired, gratified and jileased with 
 the entertainment. 
 
 EOCHDALE. — Two parties celebrated the 
 centenary of the poet at Eoohdale. One party 
 consisted of forty or fifty Scotchmen, and was 
 held at the Bricklayers' Arms, Cheetham-street, 
 where the mayor (Andrew Stewart, Esq.), pre- 
 sicltid. The room was very neatly decorated. 
 The evening was spent in recitations of poem.s 
 by Burns, songs from the saiiie source, and one 
 or two .short .speeches were made. At the 
 2 H 
 
482 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 Keed Hotel there was an assemblage of about 
 thirty English gentlemen. 
 
 SHIELDS.— The admirers of Burns cele- 
 brated his Centenary here in hearty style. There 
 were three parties in North Shields; one at Mr. 
 Aylesbury's, another at Mrs. Shotton's, and the 
 third at Mr. Elliott's. There was also another 
 party at Mr. Parker's, at South Shields. 
 
 SOUTHAMPTON. —About one hundred 
 and fifty persons dined together at the Victoria 
 Assembly Eooms, in commemoration of the 
 centenary of the Ayrshire poet's birth. Mr. 
 Stewart M'Naghten, of Bitterne Manor House, 
 presided; and the vice-chair was occupied by 
 Mr. James Dtincan, M.A., Principal of the 
 Southampton College. The company consisted 
 mainly of Scotchmen. After the usual loyal 
 toasts, the Chairman proposed the toast of 
 the evening in the following terms : — " The 
 Glorious and Imperishable Memory of Burns ! 
 May the splendour of his genius, the indepen- 
 dence of his character, and the boundless love 
 of his native land which pervades all liis writ- 
 ings, ever animate the hearts of his country- 
 men, and stimulate them to the practice of those 
 deeds of virtue and patriotism which are so 
 beautifully illustrated in the undying verse of 
 their favourite bard, and which have made the 
 name and character of Scotland respected wher- 
 ever the English language is spoken." The 
 toast was drunk in silence. The festivities were 
 prolonged to a late hour. Several of Bums's 
 choicest songs were admirably sung during the 
 
 STAMFORD.— A rather numerous company, 
 composed chiefly of natives of Scotland, resident 
 in Stamford and the neighbourhood, anxious as 
 their compatriots in other parts of the kingdom 
 to do honour to the Centenary of the birth of 
 their illustrious countryman and poet, Robert 
 Burns, met at the Boat Inn to commemorate 
 the event. Mr. J. C. Young presided, and Mr. 
 Norris occupied the vice-chair. A tribute of 
 deep respect was paid to the memory of Burns 
 from the Chair. It was responded to by the 
 company in a true old Scottish bumper. Toasts 
 appropriate to the occasion were proposed and 
 cordially received, and many of the favourite 
 songs of the immortal bard were given with 
 excellent taste and genuine feeling. The fol- 
 lowing are a few of the many toasts proposed, 
 — " The Land o' Cakes," by Mr. Norris, vice- 
 chair; " The Memory of Bonnie Jean," by Mr. 
 
 Gracie, in a very neat speech; " The English 
 Present," by Mr. Rodan, — Mr. Manton replied: 
 Mr. Pollock's health was then drunk with mu- 
 sical honours, for the active part he had taken 
 in the concern ; Mr. Pollock repHed. Among 
 the gentlemen who sung were, — the Chairman, 
 Mr. Caven, Mr. Ross, Mr. Gracie, Mr. Urquhart, 
 and others. The room was tastefully decorated 
 for the occasion ; over the Chairman was a de- 
 sign containing the last two lines from one of 
 Bums's early poems, " A Winter's Night : — 
 
 " The heart benevolent and kind 
 The most resembles God." 
 
 STANWIX.— The celebration at this place 
 was intended at first to be a gathering of a few 
 friends, but no sooner was the announcement 
 made than the application for tickets became so 
 numerous that the originators were compelled 
 to limit the sale to the capacity of the supper 
 room. About forty persons assembled at the 
 time appointed under the roof of Mr. Faiibairn, 
 " Drove" Inn. The supper provided by the 
 worthy hostess was excellent; and before the 
 repast commenced Bums's grace was said. 
 Supper over, and the tables having been cleared, 
 Mr. John Keating took the chair, and the vice, 
 was filled by Mr. Carr. The usual loyal and 
 patriotic toasts met with a . hearty response. 
 The Chairman then gave the toast of the even- 
 ing— "Thelmmortal Memory of RobertBurns." 
 In a brief but feeling speech, he touched upon 
 the discouraging circumstances under which 
 the poet penned his immortal lays, the charac- 
 teristics of his genius, the love of nature, ani- 
 mate or inanimate, which pervaded his poems, 
 his sympathy for his kind, and the strong feel- 
 ing of independence with which he was imbued, 
 and of which many of his poems afforded strik- 
 ing examples. He concluded by giving the 
 toast, which was drunk in solemn silence. 
 Shortly afterwards the vice-chairman proposed 
 " The Poet's Wife — Bonnie Jean." It was 
 appropriately responded to. At intervals be- 
 tween the toasts, the Chairman sang, " A man's 
 a man for a' that;" the vice-chairman, " John 
 Anderson my jo." Mr. Robson, fruiterer, gave, 
 " Willie brew'd a peck o' maut," with much 
 humour; Mr. M'Gragh, although a native of 
 " the jim of the say," shewed his appreciation 
 of the Scottish bard by singing, " 0' a' the 
 airts." " Duncan Gray" was sung by Mr. J. 
 Robinson, " Three Crowns," in good taste. 
 Several other of Bums's songs were sung, but 
 the most pleasing part of this portion of the 
 night's proceedings, and one which the roar 
 and bluster of the storm without rendered very 
 effective, was the recitation by the Chairman of 
 " Tam o' Shanter," in which he was quite at 
 home, giving the whole with much taste and a 
 
sundp:iilaxd. 
 
 485 
 
 keen perception of the humour of the piece. 
 About twelve o'clock the Chairman vacated his 
 post, and the proceedings terminated, all de- 
 claring themselves highly gratified at the man- 
 ner in which the festivity had been carried 
 out. 
 
 STOCKTON.— A large and influential num- 
 ber of gentlemen sat down to dinner in the 
 Vane Arms Hotel. J. H. Wren, Esq., Mayor, 
 presided ; and the vice-chair was occupied by 
 the Eev. A. Stewart, U.P. minister, Stockton. 
 The evening was spent very pleasantly, with 
 eloquent speeches and songs. The two impor- 
 tant toasts of the evening were well given : — 
 " The Memory of Bums," by J. Farquharson, 
 Esq., and the " Surviving Members of the 
 Burns Family," by E. Burgess, Esq. of Stokes- 
 ley. John Hogg, Esq., barrister, Norton, gave 
 " The British Poets," yith thanks to Mr. 
 Heaviside for the verses which he had com- 
 posed for the occasion. The Eev. A. Stewart, 
 when proposing the health of the Chairman in 
 a pithy speech, at the same time presented the 
 mayor with a silver medal from the Burns 
 Centenary Committee, as a memento of the 
 occasion, and a token of their gratitude for his 
 kindness in presiding. When the health of 
 the ladies was proposed by T. H. Head, Esq., 
 the names of Mrs. Moffat and Mrs. Ditchfield 
 were especially taken notice of, for their kind- 
 ness in making and decorating a large Scotch 
 haggis for the entertainment. The celebration 
 of the Burns Centenary at Stockton could 
 hardly be surpassed anywhere. Indeed, Charles 
 Trotter, Esq., in his speech, said that he had 
 never been at a more intellectual meeting in 
 Stockton. By the kindness of W. C. Newby, 
 Esq., a letter written' by Burns's own hand to 
 the Eev. Mr. Skinner, in which he pronounced 
 " Tullochgorum" the best Scotch song, was 
 read by Mr. Burgess before singing that song. 
 The Scottish songs sung by Mr. Blair were 
 given with a taste and execution that delighted 
 all present. What with Mr. Hunter's excel- 
 lent dinner and wines, and the famous " Cor- 
 poration Punch," presented by the mayor for 
 the occasion, the company were in f\ill enjoy- 
 ment and good humour the whole evening. 
 
 SUNDEELAND.— The interest excited 
 everywhere upon the centenary of the birth 
 of the poet Burns affected Sunderland, and 
 manifested itself in various forms. The vota- 
 ries of the theatre celebrated the event upon 
 the stage. Other parties commemorated the 
 event at their inns. At the Crown and Sceptre, 
 Mr. Bewick provided a grand Burns's supper. 
 But the largest and most generally attractive 
 entertainment took place in the great hall of 
 
 the A thenaium. There about 500 of the elite 
 of the borough assembled to do honour to 
 the memory of genius, poetry, wit, and hum- 
 our. The chief promoter of this soiree was 
 Mr. George Hardcastle, who, along with Mr. 
 St. John Crookes, devoted every possible at- 
 tention to it, to make it a memorable celebra- 
 tion. The assembly consisted of ladies and 
 gentlemen, representing the wealth, literature, 
 taste, and fashion of the borough. 
 
 The Chairman was the Eev. Eichard Skip- 
 sey, incumbent of St. Thomas's Church, and 
 who by marriage is related to the family of the 
 bard. He opened the proceedings with an 
 elaborate and interesting historical speech. 
 He said that Eobert Burns was the greatest 
 poet of the people of his nation, not excepting 
 George Crabbe, who has always been so desig- 
 nated. He gave a graphic sketch of the poet's 
 life, and said there was one thread that was 
 most conspicuous, — that of great industry and 
 undoubted honesty. He had been told that 
 the poet's excise reports had been examined 
 by one who was formerly in Sunderland, and 
 that not one mark of disapprobation was at- 
 tached to them, and that this fact was borne 
 out by the evidence of Mr. Findlater, who 
 knew him from the time of his appointment 
 to his death. He always fulfilled the duties of 
 his office till disabled by disease, which ren- 
 dered him unable to discharge them. To the 
 kindness of his disposition ample testimony 
 had been borne. He took the most anxious 
 care of the education of his family, devoting 
 himself personally to it, as one of his most 
 pleasing engagements. He instructed his 
 eldest son in English poets, — from Shakspere 
 to Gray. He was seldom intoxicated, and it 
 was impossible that a man could be a drunk- 
 ard who devoted himself to home duties and 
 to the education of his children. 
 
 Afterwards the Chairman gave a brief 
 critique upon the poetry of Burns, and made 
 many valuable remarks in reference to each of 
 the pieces and songs in the programme. After 
 describing the difference between epic, drama- 
 tic, and lyrical poetry in general, and giving 
 examples from the works of the great masters 
 of the art of poetry, he then shewed that in 
 the poems of Burns there was the embodiment 
 of the truly sublime, the beautiful, the pathe- 
 tic, the deeply affectionate, the finely descrip- 
 tive, and the touchingly grand ; while, in the 
 humorous, Bums had never been surpassed. 
 He was amusing, exhilarative, and nobly inde- 
 pendent. He sang of every gradation of joy 
 and sorrow in every station of life. The "Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night" was a fine specimen of 
 his religious sentiments; on all hands his 
 "enius was admitted to be unrivalled. Anion" 
 
484 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEF. 
 
 all the poets of our land, tliere is not one to 
 ■whose memory such honour has been paid as 
 to him whose centenary is to-day. His songs 
 are the best of the kind in the land. He im- 
 pressed life upon the literature of Scotland. 
 The heart, not of a mere hot-blooded popular 
 verse-monger or poetical restaurateur, but of a 
 true poet and singer, worthy of the old religi- 
 ous, heroic times, had been given him ; and he 
 fell on an age, not of heroism and religion, but 
 of scepticism, selfishness, and triviality, when 
 true nobleness was little underatood, and its 
 place supplied by a hollow, dissocial, altoge- 
 ther barren and unfruitful principle of pride. 
 The secret has now come out that he was a 
 truthful, sincere depicter of Scottish life, and 
 it is on this account that the expressions found 
 in his writings come home to the hearts^ not 
 only of his countrymen at home, but they come 
 to the deepest affections in distant countries ; 
 and from this truthfulness force the scenes of 
 their fatherland upon their recollections. This 
 remark was not confined to the Scotch people 
 alone, but was applicable to all who could read 
 the English language ; and wherever the lan- 
 guage was known, and as long ae it lives, there 
 will live Eobert Burns, and there will be: read 
 his heart-stirring poetry. 
 
 The programme of the proceedings consisted 
 of selections from the works of Burns, 
 
 The artistes were Mr. T. W. Lee, piano- 
 forte ; Mr. R. Aldridge, double bass ; Mr. 
 Harrison, first violin ; Mr. Jno. Hastie, second 
 violin ; Mr. G. Tate, violincello ; Mr. S. Hall, 
 comet-k-piston, with Mrs. Marshall, of New- 
 castle, and Messrs. R Ferry, Smith, and 
 Whindham, vocalists. Of their merits it is 
 only necessary to refer to the applause they 
 elicited in proof of the high estimation with 
 which their parts were regarded. 
 
 A family bust, portraits, and the chairs oi 
 Mrs. Burns, adorned the platform. The audi- 
 ence was greatly delighted with the entertain- 
 ment, and with the arrangements; mfide to 
 secure the comfort of aU, The wjiole audience 
 sung " Auld Langsyne" together with grand 
 effect. 
 
 SWANSEA.^ The hundredth anniversary 
 of the birth of the Scottish poet was celebrated 
 by a diimer at the Mackworth Arms Hotel, 
 concurrently with similar demonstrations which 
 took place in various parts of the British em- 
 pire. Upwards of a hundred were present, 
 and a first-class spread was provided for the 
 occasion at the hands of host Viner. The 
 Chair was occupied by Mr. L. L. Dill-jvyn, M.P. 
 for the borough of Swansea, and the duties ot 
 the Vice- Chair were admiralsly fulfilled by Mr. 
 David jSTicol, M.D., of Swansea, and Mr. 
 
 M'Farlane, of Glasgow. Among those present 
 were the following :— Mr. James Richardson, 
 Chairman of the Mercantile Marine Service 
 Association; Mr. Alderman Glover; Mr. J. 
 Morice, of the Swansea Coal Company; Mr. 
 Young, of the Glamorganshire Bank; Mr. 
 Robert Bryden, of Llanelly, &c., &c. 
 
 During. the dinner, a selection of Scottish 
 melodies was performed in the vicinity of the 
 dining haU, which was decorated with ever- 
 greens ; and the cloth having been withdrawn, 
 the Chairman, after the usual preliminary 
 toast, said the next toast was the great toast of 
 the eveningj. the. Memory of the Immortal 
 Poet whose birth-day they had that day met 
 to celebrate.- — (Applause.) They were, of course, 
 aU fellow-countrymen in the bonds of univer- 
 sal brotherhood; but he thought the Chair, 
 on the present occasion, onght to have been 
 taken by a Scotchman. However, although he 
 was a Welshman, he would not yield to any 
 one in his admiration of the great Scottish 
 poet. Burns. He was a great man. He intro- 
 duced a tone of manliness and vigour into the 
 literature of the day, and more particularly the 
 poetic literature, in place of the pseudo-senti- 
 mpntalism that had: crept in, and made the 
 bold and healthy introduction at a time when 
 the current literature of the age most required 
 to be so strengthened, and renovated and re- 
 formed. He would call upon Mr. Lockhart to 
 propose the toast of the evening, " The Immor- 
 tal Memory of Robert Burns." — (Applause.) 
 
 Mr. Jambs Lockhaet, of Bryngwyn, then 
 rose and said,; — Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, 
 the hill-sides have gathered green in the light 
 of a hundred summers since a peasant's son 
 was born in. the west of Scotland,, whose mem- 
 ory will live for ever in the liearts of the 
 people, and whose very name is a household 
 word in the homes of; this island kingdom. 
 Though essentially different from the untu- 
 tored villagers around him, who , would ha,ve 
 ever dreamed that strangers, from the rnost re- 
 mote nooks of Britain and from beyond the 
 seas, would journey to the mean cottage of his 
 birth with the devotion of pilgrims to a saintly 
 shrine, and boagt in their, far-off homes, that 
 once in their life-time they had seen the clear 
 waters of the classic. Doon, and walked over 
 the land of Burns ? Condemned by the acci- 
 dent of his birth to the toilsome drudgery of a 
 sterile farm, and all the disadvantage's of friendr 
 less poverty, with an earnestness of purpose — 
 the certain characteristic of a master-spirit — - 
 he applied every leisure moment to the acqui- 
 sition of hunjan, knowledge, and his unquench- 
 able love of the beautiful, consoled him in the 
 bitter anguish of many a weai'y hour. In the 
 unfurnished garret of a lonely farm house. 
 
SWINDON. 
 
 Asr, 
 
 those ininiitaMe lyrics were first written, which 
 will descend in undimmed beauty to future 
 ages, though first warbled by the fair-haired 
 daughters of Scotland in the grass-green glades 
 of Ayrshire. In the gilded saloons of fashion, 
 surrounded by the nobles of the land, the in- 
 spired ploughman supported the dignity of his 
 character, undismayed by the importance of 
 wealth or the arrogance of titled insipidity. 
 
 That Bums was a great and original genius 
 is universally admitted, and he is appreciated 
 and understood equally by the learned and the 
 illiterate. Perhaps his extreme success may be 
 attributed to his great natural force of thought, 
 and the absence of all false glitter and obscure 
 imagery. His singularly felicitous descriptions 
 of nature and the ways of men, continue still 
 to be the wonder of the scholar in every gener- 
 ation, whether he. provoked to laughter in 
 " Death and Doctor Houabook," or melts his 
 reader to tears with the tender pathos of High- 
 land Mary. He has invested obscure labour 
 and religion with a dignity that defies ridicule 
 in the " Cottar's Saturday Night," and most 
 nobly asserted the natural equality of men in 
 the well-known song, "A Man's a Man for a' 
 that." In grotesque humour and terrible hor- 
 ror, he is equally successful in " Tam o' Shan- 
 ter," which is surpassed only by the Macbeth 
 of Shakspere. His love and sympathy knew 
 no bounds ; it ranged from the lowly daisy to 
 the invisible enemy of mankind^ A stanch 
 patriot, but an ardent worshipper of independ- 
 ent liberty, his writings have done more to 
 elevate the masses in their own esteem than all 
 the learned homilies that were ever spoken. 
 This day, this memorable 25th of January, 
 will not easily fede from men's remembrance, 
 when all the cities of this mighty nation have 
 united to do him reverence. Time walks in 
 triumph over prostrate thrones, the soldier 
 wins a bloody grave to be soon forgotten, and 
 the counsellors of kings are not remembered, 
 but the words of genius are imperishable as 
 the stars, and its memory is ever green. 
 Gentlemen, I drink to " The Immortal Memory 
 of EobertBums." — (LoUd and prolonged cheers 
 followed the speech of Mr. Lockhart, after 
 which the toast was drank in solemn silence.) 
 
 After several more toasts and songs, one of 
 the most convivial and agreeable meetings 
 that has been held at Swansea for some time, 
 was brought to a termination. 
 
 SWINDON, (New).— A meeting was held 
 here to celebrate the Centenary of Bums, and 
 the Club-room at the Union Eailway Inn was 
 completely crowded by eight o'clock, the hour 
 appointed for the commencement of the pro- 
 ceedings. Mr. David Watson having taken 
 
 the Chair, and Mr. John Gray the Vicp-ohair, 
 supported by the membei-s of the committer, 
 the G. W. E. Quadrille Band, under the leader- 
 ship of Mr. A. Sykes, opened the proceedings 
 of the evening by playing with much taste the 
 overture of Guy Mannering. 
 
 The Chairman made an eloquent speech, in 
 the course of which he said, if we take a retro- 
 spective view of the history of past ages, and 
 examine the moth-eaten volumes of antiquity, 
 we cannot find in any country's records, either 
 in the past or in the present, a poet more de- 
 servedly esteemed, or more generally known 
 amongst the working classes, than Burns, the 
 bard of Scotland ! (Cheers.) And this is the 
 more remarkable, when we consider liis hum- 
 ble station in life, and the circumstances from 
 which he raised himself by the force of his 
 mind to the highest summit of individual great- 
 ness. The intellectual grandeur of his genius 
 — the originality of his conception — the com- 
 pass and energy of his language — and the rich 
 harvfest of his imagination, merited the grateful 
 feelings of mankind, as well as the admiration 
 of his countrymen. He was like the blue hills 
 of his native land, subjected to every storm, 
 and exposed to every blast. No genial sun 
 supported him; no fertile showers refreshed 
 him; no charity poured consolation into his 
 bosom ; he was like a shi|) at sea round which 
 the storm clung and gathered; a rock con- 
 demned by Nature, as it were, to endure the 
 buffetings of the surge ; yet his splendour re- 
 mained uninjured and unimpaired. Amidst 
 the bitter waters of want and sorrow, of drud- 
 gery and neglect, he produced those beautiful 
 poems which will ever exist for the delight of 
 the world, and which will never be read with- 
 out an expansion of the hearts and understand- 
 ings of men. He was indeed Nature's adopted 
 son, rejoicing for a little while on the fair face 
 of his mother earth, and sustained by the emo- 
 tions of his own mind, his firm adherence 
 to tiruth led him at times to look with indif- 
 ference upon the neglect or praise of his fellow- 
 men, when he saw his highest efforts to please 
 prove abortive, and his great knowledge fail to 
 soften human feelings in his favour. With be- 
 coming fortitude ho resigned himself to his fate, 
 and sought consolation in the inherent resources 
 of his own intellect. Bums was the chief of 
 the working-class, and he made their labour 
 honourable; he was liberal in his political 
 opinions, and charitable to the distressed in 
 life; his independent thoughts were directed 
 against abuses both in Church and State — 
 against serfdom and slavery in all its forms. 
 His great aim and object was to raise man from 
 his low condition, and impress him with more 
 importance, more self-respect; and to rely more 
 
486 
 
 THE BUEXS CENTENAEY. 
 
 upon liis own efforts for his future advancement 
 in knowledge and happiness. Burns is also 
 acknowledged to he the chief of Scottish poets, 
 and there is no poet of the present age more 
 popular. He unfolds the heauties of Nature, 
 and the peculiarities of human character, with 
 great strength and perspicuity; and whoever 
 would do justice to hismemory,mustread his sen- 
 timents, and study them in their own language. 
 The love of country spreads its genial influence 
 over all his works, and under its safe covering 
 he speaks his admiration of all that's good and 
 great, stems the tide of disappointment, and 
 struggles with the bursts of passion to control, 
 ennobling all the feelings of his soul. 
 
 " Illustrious Burns! how many different ways 
 Thy muse appears to gladden all our days. 
 In truth Divine, go wander where we will, 
 Thy truths of Nature are rememher'd still ; 
 And all thy thoughts upon a brighter day. 
 Shall tend to guide us through life's weary way." 
 
 In conclusion, then, gentlemen, I hope and 
 trust that each and all will do their best to make 
 this night's entertainment worthy of such a man; 
 and it may be a gratification to some of us in 
 after years, that we, in our humble way, did 
 something to make ourselves happy upon the 
 Centenary birth-night of the poet Eobert 
 Burns. 
 
 The tremendous applause with which this 
 address of a brother working-man was received 
 by the Company having subsided, the band per- 
 formed a selection from the Caledonian Quad- 
 rilles. . Mr. Eobert Brown sung " A Lad was 
 born in Kyle." This song ha'ving been followed 
 by the performance of some Scotch airs by the 
 band, and Mr. JeffryEobson having sang " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled," and Mr. Whitton 
 " Burns' s Masonic Song," the Chairman called 
 upon Mr. Whitton to propose the toast of the 
 evening. 
 
 Mr. Whitton then rose, and in a few brief 
 terms expressed what he felt must be the feel- 
 ing of every Scotchman at that time assembled 
 in various parts of the world — pride at belong- 
 ing to the land that, had given birth to such a 
 man as Burns, and concluded by proposing the 
 sentiment, " To the Memory of Burns." The 
 toast having been duly honoured, the Chair- 
 man called upon Mr. William Burton to respond 
 to it. 
 
 Mr. Burton responded, and the proceedings 
 of the ev ening were afterwards further enlivened 
 by drinking the health of the sons of the poet, 
 and the singing of various songs, by Mr. War- 
 burton, Mr. Playdon, Mr. Brimncr, and others. 
 Although the meeting was kept up till a late 
 hour, there was not a single instance of excess 
 on the part of any person present. Each and 
 all appeared bent upon doing honour to Scot- 
 
 land's bard in a reasonable and rational man- 
 ner, and they succeeded admirably. We ought 
 not to omit saying the proceedings were ren- 
 dered additionally attractive by the admirable 
 performance of the band. 
 
 TOW LAW.— The Centenary of Burns, 
 Scotland's national poet, was celebrated at Tow 
 Law, in the house of Mr. Budd, Golden Lion 
 Inn. At eight o'clock a numerous and most 
 respectable company sat down to a very excel- 
 lent supper, " dished-up" in superb style, and 
 served in a room tastefully decorated with de- 
 vices, and mottoes proclaiming, " Honour to 
 Burns." After the removal of the cloth, the 
 business of the evening was commenced by the 
 worthy Chairman, Mr. D. Scott, who, in an 
 excellent address, reviewed the life of poor 
 " Eobie," — dwelt upon his virtues and his fol- 
 lies, the former far outweighing the latter, — 
 touched upon the salient points of his character, 
 as illustrated in his life and writings, and con- 
 cluded a most interesting address by an eloquent 
 peroration in honour of Burns, and with the 
 fervent wish that the hardy sons of toil may 
 long appreciate and live up to the generous 
 principles inculcated by the Immortal Bums. 
 After songs by Mr. Cheeseman, Mr. Hall, and 
 Miss Budd, the Chairman called upon Mr. W. 
 Campbell to address the meeting. Mr. Camp- 
 bell spoke at considerable length, and in elo- 
 quent terms, on " The Influence of Bums's 
 Poetry on Society." After songs by Messrs. 
 Eeeves, Golightly, Stephenson, Bond, Potts, 
 and others. Dr. Henderson, vice-chairman, gave 
 a short address on " Bums — his reward." Mr. 
 Cheeseman, of Tow Law, and Mr. Vasey, of 
 Hehne Park, also spoke in glowing terms of 
 the great bard. Several songs were now sung, 
 and after the health of the worthy Chairman 
 and vice-chairman (Mr. Eeed), the committee, 
 coupled with the name of Mr. Shaw, jun., and 
 the hostess and host, had been drunk and re- 
 sponded to, the Chairman declared the purpose 
 for which they met fulfilled, and the meeting 
 at an end. 
 
 TWEEDMOUTH.— At the Eailway Hotel 
 there was a party of twenty-two, presided over 
 by Mr. John Moor of Berwick. An excellent 
 dinner was provided, and the company pro- 
 longed a social and pleasant meeting till a late 
 hour. At Mr. Logan's inn there was a party 
 of forty assembled, who were sumptuously en- 
 tertained, and passed a convivial and pleasant 
 evening. 
 
A^^HITEHA^'EX. 
 
 487 
 
 WHITEHAVEN. — Aboutone luindred gen- 
 tlemen dined together at the Globe Hotel, 
 AVhitehaven, in celebration of the centenary 
 birthday of the poet Burns. A considerably 
 larger number would no doujjt have been pre- 
 sent, had the price of the tickets not been so 
 high. 
 
 The chair was occupied by Mr. Smith, of the 
 Whitehaven Herald, who was supported on the 
 right by Captain Powe, John Musgrave, Esq., 
 and Mr. R Fletcher; and on the loft by Mr. 
 Gibson, of the Post-office, Dr. Dixon, and Mr. 
 Eobertson of Moukwray. The vice-chair was 
 filled by Mr. Jefi'erson of Preston Hows. Be- 
 sides our own townsfolk, there were gentlemen 
 present from Workington, St. Bees, &c. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 the Chairman introduced the toast of the even- 
 ing in an eloquent speech, in the course of which 
 he said — Let us consider who and what the 
 man was, whose centenary we are met to think 
 and speak of with such celebrant and com- 
 memorative honours. As far as worldly wealth 
 was concerned, Eobert Burns was one of the 
 lowliest of the low. At his birth, and at his 
 death, and for the most part through his short 
 life (he was but thirty-seven when he died), a 
 laborious tiller of the soil, he was but one de- 
 gree removed from beggary. His exemplary 
 father was a nurseryman, leasing about seven 
 acres of land near the Bridge of l3oon; and the 
 clay cottage in which the poet was born, this 
 day one hundred years ago, was built by his 
 own hands. Afterwards William Burness re- 
 moved to a small farm; and his son's recollec- 
 tions of this time included many bitter memo- 
 ries of " a scoundrel factor's insolent threaten- 
 ing letters, wliich used to set the family all in 
 tears." For several years, as Gilbert, the poet's 
 brother, has told us, they lived so sparingly, 
 that butcher meat was a stranger in their house; 
 and at fifteen years of age. Burns himself was 
 the principal labourer on the farm. The sad 
 close of his life at Dumfries was not without 
 its counterpart to the " factor's insolent threat- 
 ening letters" at its beginning, at Ayr. "A 
 rascal of a haberdasher," he wrote to his cousin 
 at Montrose, " to whom I owe a considerable 
 bill" — about ^£7— "taking it into his head 
 that I am dying, has commenced a process 
 against me" — he had got a lawyer to send 
 him a letter — " and will infallibly put my ema- 
 ciated body into jaiL" And his last words, it 
 is said, were a muttered execration against the 
 legal agent whose letter had so ruffled his jaded 
 and struggling spirit. Thus, from first to last, 
 Burns was a poor man. And yet, despite all 
 the disadvantages and deprivations he laboured 
 under — the iron pressure of poverty, or, as he 
 expressed it, " the unceasing moil of a galley 
 
 slave" — the waywardness of his genius — the 
 errors of his life — in spite, moreover, of the 
 too ample fulfilment of that sorrowful anticipa- 
 tion of his, that, after he should be dead and 
 gone, malice and envy would pour forth all 
 their venom to blast his name — this man, by 
 force of native genius alone, breaking a way 
 through all barriers, scaling every obstacle, and 
 with no artificial stepping-stones to aid him, 
 has upraised and enthroned himself on an alti- 
 tude of moral influence and renown occupied 
 but by one or two more besides, and such as 
 few, even with wealth and opportunity super- 
 added to genius, may, to the end of time, hope 
 to attain. (Applause.) And to what, let me 
 ask, is owing this interest that we take in Burns 
 — this power and ascendancy of his over the 
 common hmnan heart — and especially the Scotch 
 heart 1 Certainly it is not due to his letters, 
 in which, affecting often enough to address men 
 of scholarly reputation and philosophical pre- 
 tension from their own level, he, as often almost, 
 gets upon stilts. Nor is it owing to his other 
 prose compositions, few in number; but to his 
 poems and songs — the most natural, the most 
 genial, and (which is their prime commenda- 
 tory quality) the most unaffected and sincere 
 which ever flowed from human pen — (cheers); 
 poems and songs the living spirit and literal 
 expression of which are so human, that, wher- 
 ever read or heard, they at once sing them- 
 selves into the heart of reader or listener, and 
 become incorporated with their moral life — an 
 indestructible part of their very being — " a 
 thing of beauty and a joy for ever." (Cheers.) 
 They take place among those acquisitions ot 
 which the mind, when once it gets hold ot 
 them, never quits the grasp; and whether it be 
 joy or sadness — despondency or buoyant hope; 
 whether it be arch and playful humour, or up- 
 roarious jollity and fun; whether it be hot, 
 scathing indignation, or melting pity, tender- 
 ness, and love; whether it be the glow of social 
 friendship, or of that patriotic ardour which 
 constitutes beyond doubtthe cheapest and best 
 defence of nations; whether it be manly inde- 
 pendence, hatred of oppression, a detestation of 
 everjrthing like hypocrisy, or affectation, and 
 cant; whether it be admiration of nature, the 
 purest religious sentiment even, and a philan- 
 thropic looking forward to that millennial time 
 when not wealth or rank, but "sense and worth, 
 o'er a' the earth," shall be acknowledged a 
 man's best and only claim to consideration — the 
 reader of Burns, moved to utterance by any ot 
 these passions or sentiments, by instinct, as it 
 were, turns to him for assistance, and readily ob- 
 tains fit vehicles of expression, in no stinted or 
 limited measure. Indeed, so gloriously fecund 
 is our poet, that they come 
 
488 
 
 THE BUENS CENTEISTAKY. 
 
 " SkelpLn' rank and file, 
 Amaist before we ken," 
 
 and rhythmed and set, too, to a most naturf^l 
 and sweet persuasive music of their own. 
 (Great applause.) The magnitude of the pro- 
 digy -which Burns achieved for us becomes 
 more apparent when we consider what was the 
 style of literature when he sang. The Delia 
 Cruscan school had culminated, but its icy in- 
 fluence still reigned; and though on this side 
 the border, but farther south, the gentle Bard 
 of Olney had surprised the world of letters 
 with his " Task," bringing men back to home- 
 lier themes, and a purer and more natural style, 
 yet Burns, knowing not Cowper, was all un- 
 persuaded by his example; and from hife own 
 mere motion dared to be truthful— dared to 
 stand forth from the common herd, not a sham, 
 but a man, and so to look nature right man- 
 fully in the face; and, brushing away the rouged 
 and hooped crowd of Paridels and Phyllises, 
 Damons and Chloes, he sung of real, warm- 
 blooded men and women — partakers of our 
 own flesh and blood — Tarn o' Shanter, and 
 Souter Jolmny, Highland Mary, Bonnie Jean, 
 and a troop of buxom, substantial Nannies and 
 Peggies, Elizas and Annies, whosp very coun- 
 terparts breathe and move about us, and gladden 
 and endear our homes, every day that we live. 
 (Hearty cheering.) Such, then, are the sub- 
 jects, and such is the character of Burns's 
 poetry; and it is precisely because they are so 
 — because they are to us such a beneficent 
 boon, giving ready voice to many and many a 
 heart-feeling — that we have met to celebrate 
 the centenary of his birth, and to thank God 
 for having given us such a man ! (Loud cheer- 
 ing.) In eastern lands they tell of ghouls who 
 sate their depraved appetites on the rotting, 
 material part of humanity, that given as a prey 
 to the tomb and to the worm. To such only 
 can I liken those who never speak of Burns 
 but to fasten and gloat, in self-righteous spirit, 
 on the worse part of his moral nature. Let 
 them do so, and be the ghouls of the moral 
 universe, if they wUl. With us it shall be 
 otherwise. Our minds shall rise to the better, 
 the purer, the more loveahle, the more imma- 
 terial and imperishable products of the poet's 
 genius; we shall cherish them, enjoy them, and 
 profit by them, all we can; we shall honour as 
 a precious and sacred heirloom his immortal 
 memory; we shall range ourselves, at however 
 remote a distance, and in however lowly a 
 sphere, on the side of such gallant men as 
 
 "Currie— Chambers— Lockhart— Wilson — 
 Carlyle — ^who, his bones to save 
 From the selfish fiend. Detraction, 
 Couched like lions round his gravel" 
 
 (loud applause); and we shall teach our chil- 
 dren to do the saijie, so that perchance, on the 
 second centenary of his birth, the places we 
 occupy to-night shall not be unfilled. In this 
 spirit, then, and with this deliberate choice and 
 resolution, I call" upon you, Scotchmen and 
 Englishmen together, to pledge ivith me a 
 bumper to " The Immortal Memory of Eobert 
 Burns!" 
 
 Tlie toast was drunk with »!! the honours, 
 and the greatest enthusiasm. 
 
 Song : " There was a lad was born in Kyle," 
 by Mr. Thomas Bell of Woodend and the vice- 
 chairman. 
 
 Toasts were given, and songs were sung, in 
 which Mr. Bell of Woodend, Mr. Power of 
 Workington, Mr. Hill, and other singers, took 
 part. The choice of songs, we are bound to 
 say, was appropriate to the occasion, while the 
 singing was excellent beyond the average, and 
 gave prolonged life to the spirit of the meeting. 
 
 " Auld Langsyne" and " God save the Queen" 
 were sung by the company, and the party brolce 
 up about two o'clock. 
 
 CoNCEET AT THE THEATRE. — The Centenary 
 was celebrated by a concert in the theatre in 
 this town, under the auspices and for the bene: 
 fit of the Mechanics' Institution. The chair 
 was taken at eight o'clock by the President,- 
 Mr. Henry Cook. The attendance was nume^ 
 rous and respectable, the house, with the ex- 
 ception of the boxes, being well filled. 
 
 Mr. Meikle delivered an address on the 
 Life, Character, and Poetry of Burns. 
 
 The amateur glee singers, under the leader- 
 ship of Mr. Scott, at the conclusion of Mr. 
 Meikle' s address, sang with much taste and 
 spirit a number of songs, including, amongst 
 others, "A Man's a Man for a' that," and 
 "Auld Langsyne," the audience joining in the 
 chorus of the latter. The first part of the 
 programme having been gone through, the 
 Chairman read the " Crystal Palace Prize 
 Poem." 
 
 The entertainments terminated with singing 
 the "National Anthem," and every one left, 
 highly pleased with the evening's entertain- 
 ment. 
 
 WIGAN. — A dinner was given by Mrs. 
 M'Lachlan, at her house, the Three Tuns, 
 Wiend, to the customers with whose support 
 she has been favoured for the last thirty years, 
 and a goodly number assembled to partake of 
 the hospitality. The chair was occupied by 
 the Eev. D. Blyth, and the vice-chair by Mr. 
 John M'Muldrow. "The Immortal Memory 
 of Eobert Burns" was given in a very able 
 speech, by the Chairman, and duly honoured. 
 
WOLSINGH AM— WOOLAVIC H. 
 
 489 
 
 WOLSINGHAM, Weardale, South Dur- 
 ham. — A mmierous and most respectable party 
 of ladies aud gentlemen met in Market Place, 
 and held a soiree in honour of the bard of Coila 
 — Mr. Lamb, formerly of Ayr, in the chair; 
 Mr. John Davidson, jun., surgeon, master of 
 ceremonies ; and with music, songs, and read- 
 ings from the works of the bard, a most happy 
 night was spent, till " the wee short hour ayont 
 the twal." 
 
 The Chairman, in proposing the toast of the 
 evening, said. It is twelve months to-night 
 since most of us here present met to celebrate 
 tlie marriage of Britain's eldest daughter, the 
 Princess Eoyal, the flower of England — the 
 first-fruits of our inestimable Queen, the beet 
 Sovereign that ever ruled over this or any other 
 country ; and to-night we are met to celebrate 
 the Centenary of Scotland's son, the peasant 
 poet, the prince of ploughmen. The pictures 
 of Nature delineated by the ploughman bard in 
 the simple and beautiful language of Scotland, 
 and with a faithfulness unequalled in any age, 
 has endeared him to the hearts of the people, 
 by whom his memory is worshipped as no other 
 mortal was ever worshipped before. I shall 
 now very briefly endeavour to show you what 
 raised the mighty ire of one class against Scot- 
 land's greatest son. At the reformation of the 
 Scotch Church Calvanism rode rough-shod over 
 Scotland, and although the very antipodes of 
 Romanism, the Calvinist doctrines and dogmas 
 were as overbearing as the Church of Eome. 
 The Presbytery of Ayr condemned and burned 
 Maggie Osborne at the Cross of Ayr for being 
 a witch ; but in the days of Burns a new light 
 was beginning to spread, education was begin- 
 ning to show front, students of a later school 
 with more liberal ideas were beginning to fill 
 the pulpits and to diffuse more modern doc- 
 trines, to the great horror of the old light party; 
 and a great commotion amongst the congrega- 
 tions was the consequence. Burns, who was 
 a hundred years in advance of the age, took up 
 the cudgels, and with his satirical pen laid the 
 old light party i^rostrate in the dust ; but the 
 sting adhered to the cloth, and its venom pro- 
 duced gangrene that has cankered ever since, 
 and these very respectable gentlemen, with too 
 few exceptions, have been unwearied in their 
 slanders, whether in the pulpit or on the plat- 
 form, descanting most uncharitably upon the 
 moral character of the poet, but forgetting the 
 immorality of the age in which he lived, or, 
 perhaps, with worse taste, forgetting the sublime 
 saying of their great Master to the accusers of 
 the woman taken in adultery. But honour to 
 whom honour is due. I heard the Eev. Mr. 
 Cuthill of Ayr, an eminent divine, a number of 
 whose works have been published, and form 
 
 two volumes of standard sermons, say to tlie 
 late Mrs. Begg, the poet's sister : — " Your bro- 
 ther did more to reform the Church of Scotland 
 than all the books that were ever published, or 
 than all the sermons that were ever preached;" 
 and let us hope that this night wiir produce 
 many Mr. Cuthills amongst the Scotch clergy. 
 I said his fame is this night creating an echo 
 throughout the whole world, and I believe if 
 we had a tube through this floor to the anti- 
 podes, at this hour of the night we might hear 
 with deafening applause the memory of Bums. 
 
 WOOLER.— The Centenary of RobertBurns, 
 the immortal Scottish bard, was celebrated here 
 in the Sun Inn Assembly Room, the house be- 
 ing filled on the occasion. Several of the songs 
 of Burns were sung during the evening. The 
 meeting separated, each to go home and dream 
 of the beautiful and ever-enchanting scenes 
 drawn by the immortal bard with his poetic 
 pen. 
 
 WOOLWICH.— The Hundredth Anniver- 
 sary of the birth of Burns, was celebrated in 
 Woolwich, with a dinner at the Ship Hotel, 
 when about a hundred and fifty persons sat 
 down to table, the Chair being occupied by 
 Mr. Dingwall, head master of Presbyterian 
 Schools, supported right and left by Thomas 
 Collier Walker, Esq., house governor, St. Luke's, 
 London, Walter Shaw, Esq., parliamentary so- 
 licitor, Mr. Kirkwood, Quartermaster Arm- 
 strong, Eoyal Artillery, Mr. Vinicombe, Mr. 
 Ferguson, Mr. Logan, Mr. Smith, Mr. Morgan, 
 &c. The Vice Chairs were occupied by Mr. 
 Campbell and Quartermaster Black, Royal Ar- 
 tillery, supported by Mr. Eindlay, Mr. Adams, 
 Mr. Muir, Mr. Jack, Mr. Wallace, Mr. Kelly, 
 &c. 
 
 The dinner was served up in profusion and 
 first-rate style by Mr. W. Sloman, proprietor 
 of the hotel, and the large room in which it 
 took place was tastefully decorated with flags 
 and other devices. The exterior of the build- 
 ing was likewise embellished by designs in gas, 
 including the name of " Burns," and numerous 
 flags were suspended from each available posi- 
 tion. The guests assembled by the call of the 
 " Pibroch," in the master hand of Serjeant 
 Wright, Royal Artillery, and during dinner, 
 Messrs. Harrop, Browning, Buckland, Brown, 
 and Jackson, of the Royal Artillery Band, 
 played a variety of favourite airs, principally 
 Scotch, and well-suited to the occasion. EuU 
 justice having been done to the repast, the cloth 
 was removed, and the usual loyal toasts given, 
 after which the Chairman said, we meet to do 
 honour to the memory of one who was gifted 
 with genius, instinct with power; of one whoee 
 
490 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 services to literature were rare and manifold ; 
 whose melodious strains are associated with 
 thoughts that perish not, and who gave "a local 
 habitation and a name" to observances and tra- 
 ditions identified with customs and habits that 
 to a certain extent will ever remain. Peasant 
 as he was, he had the true nobility of soul. 
 Sprung from the ranks, he ever identified him- 
 self with his fellows, and became emphatically 
 the bard of his order; and " walking in glory 
 and in joy behind his plough upon the moun- 
 tain side," he embodied the watchwords of in- 
 dependence in deathless verse. He inculcated 
 in a careless and hollow age the great lesson of 
 true sympathy — " Rejoice with them that do 
 rejoice, and weep with them that weep." To 
 the rich he gave a key to the hearts of the poor; 
 to the poor he did yeoman service as a cham- 
 pion with the high and the mighty of the earth. 
 And who can tell how much of that honourable 
 and honest pride, that sturdy, quiet self-reliance 
 which is said to mark our national character, 
 may have been strengthened by the influence of 
 the better part of his writings? Tried by quan- 
 tity, our poet's works bulk little; but just as 
 we know that there are single sentences far 
 out- valuing many authors all entire, so tried by 
 quality, we find that he condensed the thoughts 
 of volumes into a few expressions, and that 
 from his verse there rises a strain of music, 
 sweet, tender and joyous. To him Nature 
 opened wide her rich stores, and many a lesson 
 from her book did he learn. And if we remem- 
 ber, as who that ever heard his name can for- 
 get it, that his sun went down while it was yet 
 noon, that clouds of blighted hopes and vain 
 regrets darkened it, as it set in sorrow and in 
 sadness; or, to use his own pathetic words — 
 
 " The sun is setting beyond the white waves. 
 And time is setting \vi' me" — 
 
 and this while he was only in his thirty-eighth 
 year, what might he not have done, had 
 health of body and mind been his, with the ten 
 talents which had been given him? But the 
 valley of the shadow of death stretched out be- 
 fore him, and his work was done. Our country 
 and our literature owe a debt of gratitude to 
 his memory. His love-songs equal, if they do 
 not surpass, any songs in any language; nor are 
 they confined to youthful affection or to feel- 
 ings cherished in the spring-time of life, but 
 they refer to the ever-constant, never wearied 
 love of parents to their children, to the love of 
 husband and wife, to steadfast enduring love, 
 one day of which is worth a whole half-century 
 of blind adoration. (Cheers.) Then how warm 
 are our poet's sympathies for whatever has hfe, 
 and how beautifully does his intense apprecia- 
 tion and admiration of natural scenery mingle 
 
 Avith these sympathies. But when he speaks 
 directly to man, and of man, how manly is the 
 sentiment, and how arousing, elevating and 
 hopeful are the well-known words, in which he 
 vindicates the dignity, ay, the majesty of man- 
 hood. The words form part of the proverbs of 
 our common English tongue — 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea's stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 Would it be believed that this song, perhaps 
 the best Icnown of our poet's writings, was not 
 permitted at the time it was written to be sung 
 in the streets of our Scottish towns. His age 
 knew it not — it was left to ours to see ; nay, 
 should we not be grateful that we feel it al- 
 ready;— 
 
 " It's coming yet, for a' that, 
 That man to man the warl o'er 
 Shall brothers be for a' that." 
 
 (Cheers.) Then the inimitable humour, embo- 
 died in the happiest expressions — 
 
 " Last May a braw wooer cam' down the lang glen, 
 And sair wi' his love he did deave me." 
 
 And you all know how his scenes of life amongst 
 the lowly are adorned with the same broad- 
 telhng humour sliding into the most exquisite 
 pathos. But in addition to this rare humour, 
 we have in the " Cottar's Saturday Night" a 
 far higher element; we see the hallowed in- 
 fluences of piety cheering and sanctifying toil ; 
 we see the priest-like father, we hear the bible- 
 taught peasant, giving lessons of guidance to his . 
 family, far out- vying all other knowledge. Wo 
 hear the counsel given that in days gone by 
 tended to make our nation prosperous among 
 the prosperous ; that made our countrymen re- 
 nowned for enterprise; that made our fore- 
 fathers firm in endurance, and ardent for the 
 right, and fearing God feared nought besides. 
 May counsel such as William Burns, the good 
 honest man, gave to his family, long be given 
 at the firesides of the homes of Scotland and 
 England, for by such counsels alone wUl our 
 country be respected abroad, and happiness in- 
 creased at home. (Cheei-s.) I must not close 
 without adverting to one other most marked 
 feature in our poet's character and writings, his 
 love of country. Hear how touchingly he gives 
 utterance to his early feelings, and theyremained 
 with him to the last. He had 
 
 " A wish, that to my latest hour 
 Will strongly heave my breast ; 
 That I, for poor auld Scotland's sake, 
 Some useful plan or book could make, 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 How he sang that song of patriotism, " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled," we all feel in our 
 hearts, for words fail to express it. Truly, men 
 
WREXHAM. 
 
 491 
 
 will not willingly let it die. We think we are 
 doing our duty in meeting to commemorate the 
 hundredth anniversary of the birth of Eobert 
 Burns. He was one of the men without whom 
 a country has no history, or at least no history 
 worth reading. Alas, that he was neglected in 
 life. He asked for bread and they gave him a 
 stone. But such lot is not confined to Bums 
 or Scotland. He has a brotherhood in his 
 genius, and a brotherhood in his misfortunes. 
 May the present age be enabled to foster genius 
 in a spirit otherwise than those gone before. 
 His strains are heard amongst the Isles of the 
 Southern Seas, in the gold diggings of Austra- 
 lia, and in the rising townlands of New Zea- 
 land — on the continent of South Africa, as in 
 the continent of North America, his name is a 
 household word. The soldier who has gone 
 out from amongst us to restore " gentle peace" 
 on the burning plains jDf India, over which 
 " wild war's deadly blast was blawn," will think 
 on the " banks and braes o' bonny Doon," 
 while he stands by the Ganges or its tributaries. 
 The "lea-riggs" and " corn-riggs" of his native 
 country will, in his mind, contrast most favour- 
 ably with the rice fields of the East, and he 
 will think of him who sixty-two years ago was 
 laid in the churchyard of St. Michael's, in Dum- 
 fries. Gehtlemen, we drink " To his Deathless 
 Memory." 
 
 The toastwas drunk amidst breathless silence, 
 the pathetic eloquence of the Chairman having 
 evidently produced a deep sensation. The com- 
 pany having spent an evening of much enjoy- 
 ment, separated at an early hour in the morning. 
 
 WEEXHAM. — A banquet took place in the 
 Town-Hall, which was magnificently decorated 
 for the occasion. The dinner. was at six o'clock. 
 H. Eobertson, Esq., Shrewsbury, President; 
 Messrs. W. Low, John Lewis, A. Mackintosh, 
 J. Bury, John Jonnes, solicitor, and R. W. 
 Johnston, Vice-Presidents. Grace was said by 
 the Rev. W. Davies, senior curate. 
 
 When dinner was over and the cloth removed, 
 the President, after giving the usual loyal and 
 patriotic toasts, gave " The Bishop and Clergy 
 of the Diocese," coupling with it the name of 
 the Rev. W. Davies. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Davies returned thanks, and said, I am 
 greatly pleased with the reception given to 
 this toast. I am gratified to find that the 
 Lord Bishop and the Clergy of the Diocese 
 are worthy of consideration in this social gather- 
 ing, and that their work is recognised by such 
 an influential company. The members of my 
 profession have better opportunities than most 
 men to form a correct judgment upon the 
 withering influence of poverty. Often have we 
 to mourn over intellects it d,warfs, and souls it 
 
 crushes; we, therefore, who so often witness 
 the depressing influence of poverty, must look 
 with admiration upon this noble gathering in 
 honour of the birthday of the ploughboy poet, 
 (cheers), who, while struggling with difficulties 
 and contending with bitter disappointment, 
 could present the world with poetry that will 
 ever touch the great chords that vibrate in the 
 human breast. (Loud cheers.) The members 
 of my profession often feel the unpleasantness 
 of exposing error and false professions ; it is 
 natural, therefore, that we should join heartily 
 in a celebration in honour of the unequalled 
 song writer, who, lashing meanness, hypocrisy, 
 and pretensions, could become the idol of his 
 native land, and as an author, a honour and an 
 ornament to his country. (Cheers.) I read in 
 the newspapers of church dignitaries being con- 
 nected with this movement, and I am exceed- 
 ingly proud of it, as it shows openly to the 
 world that they know how to think kindly of 
 the man, and how to judge admiringly of the 
 author. The term of his life was only thirty- 
 seven years, and during this short span he raised 
 such a pyramid to his fame as the rude hand 
 of time will never destroy. (Cheers.) 
 
 The Chairman then proposed the toast of 
 the evening — " The Memory of Burns," and 
 concluded an elegant and appropriate address 
 as follows : — He was proud to find that in this 
 district there were so many to be found who 
 could appreciate the Poet of his Land. (Cheers.) 
 He was proud, too, to know that no less than 
 six hundred and twenty-one bards competed for 
 the honour of this day at the Crystal Palace. 
 (Cheers.) Now, why was it after all that Burns 
 was so much admired? We have had greater 
 poets, and greater generals who have received 
 popular applause; but no ploughman was ever 
 so honoured as he was that day in every country 
 where the Anglo-Saxon tongue was spoken. 
 How was it, then 1 Because Burns spoke from 
 the heart — and spoke his owa experience which 
 is the experience of aU everywhere who are 
 called upon to work. His soul was full of pa- 
 triotism and love of independence, and he 
 touched nothing with his pen that he did not 
 adorn. The President then concluded by re- 
 peating Burns's Prayer at the end of " The 
 Cottar's Saturday Night," for his country, and 
 its peace and prosperity. The toast was drunk 
 in solemn silence. Song, " Auld Langsyne," 
 by Mr. T. Jones, the company joining chorus. 
 
 After many other speeches and songs, the pro- 
 ceedings were brought to a close by Mr. Jonnes 
 proposing " The Poem." 
 
 Upon the conclusion of the proceedings, it 
 was confessed on evei-y hand that a more suc- 
 cessful dinner had never been held in Wrexham. 
 It was well got up and well sustained to the last 
 
IRELAND. 
 
 AKMAGH. — This interesting event was 
 celebrated in tliis city on Tuesday evening 
 with considerable eclat. A numerous and higli- 
 ly respectable company, principally the poet's 
 countrymen, joined by several respectable Irish- 
 men, supped together in the Charlemont Arms 
 Hotel, the worthy proprietor of which estab- 
 lishment catered for them in a superior and 
 liberal manner. There were nearly one hun- 
 dred present. 
 
 Mr. Cloe occupied the chair, and Mr. E. 
 Gardner the vice-chair. Among the other gen- 
 tlemen present were : Wm. Boyd, jun., H. Hil- 
 lock, R. M'Kean, AVm. Barnes, E. Christie, P. 
 M'Lorinan, James Wilson, A. P. Sheppard, D. 
 D. Leitch, R. Moore, Joseph Matthews, W. H. 
 Leathern, Charles Wilson, W. Kennedy, A. 
 Gibb, W. K. i'erris, E. Temple, J. Lyle, M. 
 Bell (seedsman), A. Bell, Esq., solicitor, A. E. 
 Henderson, George M'Kay, Joseph Pureell, 
 Thomas Forde, Eobert Stevens, George Valen- 
 tine, William Smith, Thomas Stevens, David 
 Ferguson, N. Greer, E. G. Warren, Joseph 
 Gibb, John Barr, James M'Kersie, James Simp- 
 son, John Eeid, W. White, James Little, John 
 Eobinson, jun., John Eobinson, sen., Eobert 
 Marshall, W. Marshall, jun., John Alexander, 
 A. M'Kindlay, John Wilson, S. Beverley, John 
 Eattery, W. Allan. 
 
 Tlie cloth having been removed, and thanks 
 returned, and after the usual preliminary toasts, 
 the Chairman said — Gentlemen, the next toast 
 is the one which has brought us all together 
 to-night. I will not attempt to place before 
 you the claims of the immortal Burns. The 
 fact of this meeting this evening, assembled 
 while every town and village in England and 
 Scotland is likewise engaged in commemorating 
 the centenary of his birth, is ample evidence 
 that his merit is not local, and that his genius 
 is appreciated by the world. (Hear.) I will 
 be followed by gentlemen better qualified to 
 do justice to Scotland and Burns, and, there- 
 fore I shall give you " The Memory of the Im- 
 mortal Burns." (Drank in solemn silence.) 
 
 Ml'. Edward Gardner rose and said — Mr. 
 
 Chairman, I rise with great reluctance to reply 
 to the toast of the night. I do this, believe 
 me, with great reluctance ; but having origi- 
 nated this festival here, and finding the warm 
 feeling with which you and my many friends 
 present co-operated, I could not, while all oth- 
 ers declined the task, refuse to assume an of- 
 fice which I know I am utterly incompetent to 
 fill. To do full justice to the toast which you, 
 gentlemen, have so solemnly and so becoming- 
 ly received, would require powers equal to 
 those the Bard himself possessed ; and I will 
 venture to assert at all the similar festivals now 
 being celebrated in the old world, and to be 
 celebrated in a few hours more in the new, 
 there will not be an address which will do full 
 justice to the memory of this incomparable poet 
 and man. What an evidence of the mighty 
 influence and worth of genius, to know that all 
 over the globe where Christianity prevails, this 
 25th day of January is devoted to the memory 
 of one man. Never was there such an event — 
 so universal — so sublime — so indicative of tht 
 progress of right feelings — so demonstrative of 
 the mighty advance of humane and ennobling 
 thought. You, Mr. Chairman, and you gen- 
 tlemen, his fellow-countrymen here present, 
 have reason to be proud of your being natives 
 of that portion of these glorious Islands which 
 gave birth to Burns; and while I honour you 
 for your national feelings, and give your coun- 
 try full credit for the many, for the very many 
 great and good, wise and enlightened men it 
 has produced ; while I can trace through her 
 history those many circumstances in her posi- 
 tion — her institutions and her laws, which have 
 fashioned and formed her people, and made 
 them what they are ; while I can see that her 
 rugged surface — her lofty mountains — her love- 
 ly lakes and rivers, and her magnificent friths, 
 have not only created a self-reliant and ener- 
 getic people, but developed from the earliest 
 periods a high poetic temperament, yet I too 
 claim my share in the fame of Burns upon even 
 higher and holier grounds. I claim Burns on 
 the ground of our common humanity. Though 
 
ARMAGH. 
 
 41)3 
 
 born in Scotkiul, Burns belongs to the human 
 race, and with all our imperfections, with all 
 our ignorances and weaknesses, is not man 
 when endeavouring to discharge the duties of 
 his position — wlien influenced by the nobler 
 attributes of his nature — when giving full scope 
 to the mighty powers of his intellect, ajid to 
 the active benevolence of his aspirations — and 
 above all, to what is due to Him who has call^ 
 ed us into being, and to all his creatures,, is not 
 man himself in action and 
 
 " In apprehension like a God?" 
 
 Burns had the good fortune to be blessed witli 
 a truly pious and enlightened father, who was 
 neither a hypocrite nor a pretender — whose 
 sole object was the education of his sons, in 
 order that they might be able to take an inde- 
 pendent and respectable: position in life. His 
 mother — and I believe no man has ever distin- 
 guished himself in life who had not a wise and 
 virtuous mother — his mother was rich in the 
 current literary lore of her country ; and with 
 the aid of a credulous and, superstitious ser- 
 vant, whose stories of supernatural beings were 
 exhaustless,, she no doubt laid the stores of 
 fancy in his soul which, matured by education, 
 judgment, and keen observation, burst forth 
 upon the world in those sweet strains and di- 
 vine poesy which touch and ennoble the heart 
 and feelings of all mankind. I think it right 
 we should inform ourselves on the origin of the 
 mental development of our great men, who 
 have been our lights and guides, and who have 
 added so much to the pleasures and happiness 
 of mankind. Let us not be deceived, or de- 
 ceive by idle surmises, and look upon what is 
 called genius as something magical or miracu- 
 lous, and thus overlook the sole foundation on 
 which real excellence can be built — namely, 
 labour, perseverance, knowledge, and untiring 
 ?i,nd unceasing industry. I will not attempt to 
 trace the life of Burns — nor am I aware of any 
 biography which treats of what is alone worthy 
 of being known. I mean the inner life — the 
 life of the soul. And what are all, the lives 
 wliich have been written of this incompajiable 
 man — simple details which are only so far true 
 of him, as they would be true of hundreds — 
 but which give no insight into the workings of 
 the soul, which in Burns must indeed have been 
 glorious and striking. To enter into this I 
 would not have the folly to presume — but I 
 will now speak of him as he presents himself to 
 my view, or, to speak more correctly, as I view 
 him. I love Burns as a man. I love him for 
 the genial feelings he possessed, which invited 
 as it were the " children to come unto liim." 
 I love him for his sympathies with the poor and 
 the lowly, and for the ardour with which he 
 
 entered into and contributed to thefr sports 
 and pastimes, alas, too " few and far between ! " 
 I love him for that devotion which he felt and 
 immortalized for the last, best, and happiest 
 gift to man, without whose solace and whose 
 support life itself would indeed be a miserable 
 waste. I honour him for his superiority to the 
 tinsel and frivolities of mere fashion and absurd 
 pretence, and for that glorious self-reliant and 
 high-minded' independence which characterized 
 his every thought and every action, and made 
 him pursue the promptings of the nobility of 
 his soul " uncaring consequences." I reverence 
 him for that moral firmness which protected 
 him from everything that was mean, and would 
 not suflfer the kindness of even friendship to 
 interpose her aid tliough steeped in the depths 
 of poverty. I esteem him for that conscious- 
 ness of his own worth which made him the liv- 
 ing and unfaltering guardian of tlie honour 
 and fame of Robert Burns. Though courted 
 and feted by the nobles — with whom he bore 
 himself with conscious dignity, but without 
 sycophancy or presumption — his life was a liv- 
 ing illustration that 
 
 "Tile rank is bat tliu guinea stamp, 
 Tile man's tlie gowd for a' that." 
 
 I love Burns for his freedom from all sectarian 
 prejudices,, which enabled him to look, in spite 
 of sect or parties, or country, upon all mankind 
 as brothers ; and I love him for that true and 
 holy feeling which told him that the Creator 
 was our bountiful and considerate and merciful 
 Father " who delighteth to foi'give." I love 
 Burns for the pleasures he conferred upon my 
 early years, when with all the generous and 
 noble emotions of youth, I dwelt with rapture 
 upon his poetry, and drunk in those feelings 
 and views which would make life not altogether 
 useless, and which would lead us to yearn for 
 the rights, the' enlightenment, the privileges 
 and the happiness of all mankind. I will say 
 nothing of the weaknesses of Burns, for these 
 ought to be and will be mercifully considered 
 by all who calmly and impartially view their 
 own past lives, and who know how far short 
 the best are from perfection. " What's done, 
 we partly may compute, but know not what's' 
 resisted." I will not further occupy your time 
 or delay you from hearing those who have 
 undertaken the task of entering into a review 
 of the literary labours of this great man ; and 
 with this poor eloge upon the memory of him 
 whose birth after the interval of a century we 
 have honoured ourselves in celebrating, — I 
 thank you with all my heart for the considerate 
 kindness with which I have been heard. 
 
 The Chairman gave — "Burns as a song 
 writer." 
 
49i 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Mr. Allen replied. 
 
 Song — " A man's a man for a' that." 
 
 The Chairman then gave — "Burns, on the 
 development of independence of character." 
 
 Mr. Leitch replied. 
 
 The Chairman gave " Burns as a painter." 
 
 Mr. Gibb acknowledged the sentiment, and 
 introduced several spirited passages to show the 
 pui'ity of Burns' descriptions of nature. 
 
 The Vice-Chairman then gave — " The manu- 
 facturing interest of Ireland." 
 
 Mr. John Wilson replied. 
 
 The Vice-Chairman gave — "The agricul- 
 tural interest of Ireland." 
 
 Mr. Robertson responded in suitable terms. 
 
 "Education," "The Press," "Civil and reli- 
 gious liberty," and several other sentiments of 
 a personal and complimentary character, fol- 
 lowed, and were acknowledged, when the as- 
 sembly dispersed, greatly pleased with the man- 
 ner in which the evening had been spent. 
 
 BELFAST.— The centenary of the birthday 
 of Robert Burns was celebrated, in the Music 
 Hall, by a festival, attended by a number of 
 tlie principal inhabitants — the ex-Mayor, S. G. 
 Getty, Esq., in the chair. Upwards of two 
 hundred, gentlemen and a hundred ladies were 
 present. The room was simply and appropri- 
 ately decorated. Immediately behind the chair 
 was placed a likeness of the poet, life-size, 
 painted by Mr. Dobie. The sides and end of 
 the hall were decorated with festoons of lau- 
 rels. In the centre, at the right hand side, 
 were the Royal Arms, richly emblazoned ; and, 
 on the left, a magnificent green silk banner, 
 with the Arms of Belfast. 
 
 Amongst the company present were the fol- 
 lowing gentlemen : — W. R. Anketell, Esq. ; 
 Rev. Dr. Montgomery, Alex. Mitchell, Esq. ; 
 T. Garrett, Esq.; Robert Boyd, Esq.; Rev. 
 T. Crozier, Major Hobbs, W. Dunville, Esq. ; 
 Professor Craik, Professor Macdouall, &c., &c. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 
 The Mayor said — I come now to the toast 
 of the evening. It is the memory of one of 
 the most remarkable men and brilliant geniuses 
 that any age or country has produced. (Cheers.) 
 This day being the centenarj' anniversary of 
 his birth, we and thousands in difl'erent parts of 
 tlie world have assembled at the festive board 
 to commemorate and to do honour to his name 
 and genius, and give expression to our unfad- 
 ing admiration of his gifted mind — a mind in 
 which the cares and troubles, neglect and cold- 
 ness, of the world could not repress the aspirii- 
 tions which were ever flowing forth in sublime 
 
 poetic thought or sweetest song, and which 
 iiave attained to a national importance, not 
 alone in the literature of his country, but wher- 
 ever the English language is read. They are 
 more and more appreciated as the intelligence 
 of the age advances, and will yet form a source 
 of delight and pleasure to future generations. 
 How few such men attain to high literary hon- 
 our, even in a century, achieving a world-wide 
 celebrity, while preserving all his characteristic 
 nationality. There is a freshness in all that he 
 has penned that makes his poetry seem ever 
 new, whilst his subjects are, for the most part, 
 calculated to excite our best sympathies. I feel 
 it would be unbecoming in me to occupy your 
 time, or trespass on the office of the learned 
 gentleman who is to respond to the toast. I, 
 therefore, call upon you to join with me in 
 drinking to the memory of Burns with all the 
 honours. (Applause.) 
 
 At the conclusion of the Chairman's speech, 
 the portrait of Burns, which was behind the 
 chair, was unveiled amid loud applause. 
 
 Song— "The Land of the Leal"— Mr. W. M'- 
 Leish. 
 
 Professor Cbaik then rose, and said — Mr. 
 Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen, it is surely 
 not in sadness that we should drink such a 
 toast as the memory of Burns. What we mean 
 is the immortal memory — the everlasting re- 
 membrance. We are assembled here to-night 
 not to mourn over the death of the great poet, 
 but to rejoice in his fame, which will live for 
 ever. In his fame, and what his genius has 
 left us. 
 
 " For deathless powers to verse belong, 
 And they as demigods are strong, 
 On whom the Muses smile." 
 
 In the days of the old French monarchy, a 
 change in the occupancy of the throne, which 
 was supposed never to be for a moment vacant, 
 used to be announced in the expressive for- 
 mula, " The King is dead ; the King lives," as 
 if it had been meant to ignore or deny altoge- 
 ther the fact of death in the case of the Kings 
 of France. In another, and a much truer and 
 higher sense, we may say that there is no death 
 for a great popular poet. His death is rather 
 a crowning or consecration of him, and the 
 commencement for him of a brighter life than 
 ever in the minds and the hearts of men. But 
 Burns, it may be said, belongs to Scotland, and 
 we are in Ireland. This is not Edinburgh or 
 Glasgow, but Belfast. It is true that Burns 
 belongs to Scotland, and not to Ireland ; but 
 besides that, many of us now present are also 
 Scotsmen by birth, and can only claim the 
 honour i)f being Irish by adoption, or by suf- 
 ferance ; it might also be made a matter of 
 
BELFAST. 
 
 495 
 
 quostion whotlier this Ulster of ours be not 
 really more a part of Scotland than a part of 
 Ireland. My Scotch fellow-eountrynien, in- 
 deed, have all along been in the habit of acting 
 in reference to Ireland almost as if they held 
 the whole island to be, in some sort, their own. 
 Have they not, in the first place, appropriated 
 the very name of the country ? For Ireland 
 was the original Scotland, or Scotia (unless, 
 indeed, we prefer the opposite theory of a cer- 
 tain school of Scotch antiquaries of the last 
 age, and choose to contend that Scotland was 
 the original Hibernia). Then, in modern 
 times, we have quietly assumed and seized upon 
 as Scotch, not only Ossian, and Fingal, and 
 CathuUin, and the other worthies of that 
 early heroic era, but also many of the most 
 distinguished of latter Irish celebrities — be- 
 ginning with the famous John Scot, of the 
 eighth century, the chief European light 
 of his day, and the most original mind of 
 the middle ages — the designation or epithet 
 attached to whose name, clearly pointing out 
 whence he sprung. Eri^ena (Erin-born) we 
 ingeniously interpret as meaning, not a native 
 of Ireland, but a native of Ayr. But we have 
 done a great deal more than all this. We have 
 taken possession not only of the saints and the 
 scholars, the poets and the warriors, the litera- 
 ture, the history, and the very name of the 
 country, but, to a considerable extent, of the 
 country itself. We have come over and set 
 up another Scotland here — an Irish or Little 
 Scotland, as it may be called. We have made 
 this Province of Ulster — this Black North — 
 — half Scotch, or more than half Scotch, in 
 almost everything — in blood, in language, in 
 religion ; even in mind and character. We 
 have covered it all over with Scotch proprietor- 
 ship and Scotch family ' names, with Scotch 
 Presbyterianism and Scotch agriculture, and 
 kindled everywhere throughout it, in country 
 and in town, the somewhat rugged it may be, 
 but resolute and indomitable, spirit of Scotch 
 enterprise, Scotch energy, and Scotch industry. 
 It happens, too, that, of all Scotland, the part 
 with which we are here more nearly connected, 
 more intimately linked, is the County of Ayr, 
 the Land of Burns. . Its coast is visible from 
 our own ; and manifestly the modern coloniza- 
 tion of Ulster has been chiefly from Ayrshire. 
 That would be attested, were there no other 
 record or evidence of it, by the leading family 
 names which, as I have just remarked, we find 
 common to the two countries, — such as the 
 Kennedys and the Crawfords, the Montgo- 
 nierys and the Cunninghams, and others. Nay, 
 more trivial circumstances, even, may be deem- 
 ed to give Belfast something of a special interest 
 in Burns. His thoughts, probably, sometimes in 
 
 his earlier years took wing across to this part 
 of Ireland, and dwelt upon our staple manufac- 
 ture here ; for his first attempt to establish 
 himself in life was as a flax-dresser; he worked 
 at that trade for six months in the town of 
 Irvine. One of the earliest editions of his 
 Poems, too, — the very first, indeed, that ap- 
 peared after the original Kilmarnock edition of 
 1786, and the Edinburgh subscription edition 
 of the following year — the first, therefore, that 
 was printed out of Scotland — unless we should 
 except a London one of the same date — was 
 brought out at Belfast. It was published here 
 in the same year, 1787, in which the subscrip- 
 tion edition appeared at Edinburgh, — probably 
 immediately upon the back of that. The bib- 
 liographers describe it as " an Irish pirated 
 edition." This was a kind of free trade which 
 was carried on with considerable spirit in Ire- 
 land in those days. We are met now, Scotch- 
 men and Irishmen together, with united lioarts 
 and united voices, to do such honour as we may 
 to the great peasant poet, on this night, wliich 
 completes the cycle of a hundred years from 
 his birth in that humble clay-built cottage on 
 the banks of the Doon, the work of his admir- 
 able father's own hands, still to be seen stand- 
 ing by the wayside, not far from the ruins of 
 his own "Kirk Alloway" — a hundred years 
 from the date of his birth, and nearly sixty- 
 three even from that of his death. His cele- 
 brity began about ten years before his death, so 
 that, at the present hour, it stretches over a little 
 more than the threescore years and ten assigned 
 by the Psalmist as the natural limit of healthy 
 and active human life. A man now of the age 
 of seventy-three has just lived through the 
 period of our literature which the poetry of 
 Burns lights up. Burns, therefore, might not 
 yet be allowed by such a chronological critic as 
 Horace sets before us, to have quite made good 
 his place among the immortals. "Est vetus 
 atque probus, centum qui perficit annos" — 
 " Who lasts a century," as Pope gives it, " can 
 have no flaw ; I hold that wit a classic good in 
 law." But, at any rate, if it be, indeed, the 
 case, that "authors, like coins, grow dear as 
 they grow old" — " Si meliora dies, et vina, poe- 
 mata reddit" — he is not, we see, very far from 
 the accredited point of perfection. 
 
 " The generous god, who wit and gold refines, 
 And ripens spirits as he ripens minds, 
 
 will very soon have branded him with the ne- 
 cessary mark. But, in truth, it was a fame — 
 that of this great poet of the people — which 
 struck firm root at once. His poetry took the 
 heart of his country by storm. Even within 
 some eight or ten years after his death, his 
 name was, I believe, already familiar to every 
 
406 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 man, woman, and child, in every dwelling, 
 alike of rich and poor throughout the lowlands 
 of Scotland. And not his name only, but more 
 or less of what he had written also. I doubt 
 if the history of the world's literature affords 
 such another instance of the summit of true 
 popularity gained at a bound ; a popularity, I 
 mean — rapid, almost instantaneous, as may 
 have been its growth — evidently destined never 
 to pass away — never to fade. It embraced all 
 classes and degrees of persons by whom his 
 native dialect was read or understood, from the 
 highest names in rank and in letters to the 
 simple servant girl at her spinning wheel. It 
 was, as we may suppose it to have been when 
 tlie song of old Homer first resounded over 
 Greece, as if the language itself had acquired a 
 new voice, a new music, as if a new soul had 
 been breathed into it. A distinguished literary 
 friend and countryman of mine was, some years 
 ago, found out in London by a half-crazy men- 
 dicant poetess from his native district, the South 
 of Scotland. Their talk naturally fell upon 
 poets and poetry. " Ou, ay," said the lady, 
 with the loftiest self-complacency, "there's 
 plenty o' your book poets^ — Pope, and Milton, 
 and Cammell, and sic like ; but Burns and me, 
 ye see, we're pure nature." (Cheers.) Well, 
 no doubt, tliere never was a truer, deeper voice 
 of nature in any poetry than there is in that of 
 Burns ; but, at the same time — and this makes 
 the miracle — there never was, I think, in any 
 other, a more living or more delicate spirit of 
 art. It is at once the truest nature and the 
 most perfect art. And wherever he has most 
 of the one he has most of the other iilso. If 
 we ought not, indeed, rather to say that the 
 one is only the other in a different form — in a 
 new mode of manifestation : — 
 
 " That art, 
 Which you say adds to nature, is an art 
 Which nature makes — 
 The art itself is nature." 
 
 (Applause.) Take Burns, where he has done 
 best, where he is most himself, in whatever 
 style, and I do not think that he has been sur- 
 passed even in the management of the instru- 
 ment with which the poet works — the instru- 
 ment of language— by any writer of verse that 
 ever lived. There is, for example, his tale, or 
 dialogue, of the " Twa Dogs" — (hear, hear) — 
 with which the original collection of his poems 
 opens. It is in that more level style in which 
 Horace excels. — Has Horace anywhere gone 
 beyond what we have here, in what is a chief 
 charnj of this sort of poetry — the perfect ap- 
 propriateness, the exquisite adaptation, of every 
 word and phrase, never either overshooting 
 the mark or falling short of it? In other 
 
 and higher styles, again, this young and com- 
 paratively uneducated Scottish peasant leaves 
 alike such a cultivated verse-writer as Ho- 
 race, and such another great people's poet and 
 master of expression as the modern French 
 B^ranger, far behind him — far below him. 
 (Cheers.) I will not quote any of his more im- 
 passioned passages, such as we have in abun- 
 dance in his songs more especially, where every 
 breathing thought finds its burning word; but 
 take even such a lighter piece of writing as the 
 inimitable commencement of his " Holy Fair." 
 How faithful here is the word to the thought 
 throughout ; how vividly — how brightly — with 
 what dramatic life and spirit, with what flashing 
 play of light and colour, as well as how musi- 
 cally, the whole description flows on. There is 
 not a word that is not perfection — not a sylla- 
 ble that one would alter, or that does not com- 
 pletely satisfy both the mind and the ear, both 
 soul and sense. And so it is with much more 
 of this wonderful poetry — it is all light and life, 
 all air and fire. And yet — with all his passion 
 — with all his fancy — with all his often reckless 
 enough wit and humour — one would say that 
 the foundation of Burns' intellectual nature 
 was sound, strong, Scotch sense. Upon that 
 all the rest was based as upon a rock. It is 
 this, perhaps, which, as much as anything else, 
 has made his popularity wear so well. We all 
 know his errors of conduct. He was not a 
 normal character — a character to be put forward 
 as a general example. By none was that more 
 keenly felt than by himself, by none more deeply 
 deplored ; yet how sagacious are always his ob- 
 servations on life— how wise, as well as how 
 earnest, his words of advice and warning to 
 others ! Above all, how admirably clear-sighted, 
 at all times, in all circumstances, is his appre- 
 ciation of himself. Nothing dazzles, nothing 
 misleads him as to that cardinal matter — that 
 first point of wisdom. Probably, no human 
 being was ever subjected to a heavier test of 
 what true strength of manhood, and real moral, 
 as well as intellectual stability, might be in him 
 than was Burns when he was first exposed- to 
 the public gaze — lifted up, as he was, from the 
 bare earth, from the depths, not only of poverty 
 and obscurity, but even of ignominy, to the 
 highest pinnacle of distinction by whaA was in 
 its suddenness as like enchantment as anything 
 to be found in the " Arabian Nights." Yester- 
 day, a hunted fugitive, hiding himself from the 
 ofliiccrs of justice till tlie ship should be ready 
 to sail in which he was to work out his passage, 
 serving before the mast, to the West Indies, 
 there to seek the means of a forgotten existence 
 as a clerk on a slave estate — all that was dearest 
 to his heart left, probably for ever, behind him 
 — now the most famous of living men in his 
 
BELFAST. 
 
 497 
 
 native land, with its gay and lettered metro- 
 polis, we may say, at his feet, its rank and 
 fashion, its learning and beauty, conspiring or 
 contending on all hands how most to do him 
 honour. He was at this time only in his twenty- 
 seventh year, yet he stood the trial as if he had 
 been exercised in the knowledge of himself and 
 of mankind by the experience of a long life. I 
 do not remember an expression that ever after- 
 wards dropped, in verse or in prose, from his 
 pen or from his lips, implying any other than 
 the soberest and most perfectly cool-headed 
 appreciation both of his powers and of his per- 
 formances, and also of what he might reason- 
 ably expect to be the results of the success he 
 had achieved upon his future fortunes and 
 worldly circumstances. He repeatedly inti- 
 mates, in his letters to his friends, in the most 
 unaffected way, how well aware he was of the 
 essentially temporary and evanescent character 
 of the blaze of universal observation which the 
 first appearance of his productions had drawn 
 upon him. He knew, of course, that his poems 
 had merit, but, apparently, his own estimate 
 of their worth was more moderate than that of 
 almost any one else, either then or since. It 
 may be doubted if, to the end of his days, he 
 really thought himself a greater poet than his 
 two immediate predecessors and juvenile fa- 
 vourites, honest, homely Allan Bamsay, and 
 rough, rattling Ferguson. He sees clearly, even 
 at the time, how much, in his own case, the 
 mere novelty and unexpectedness of the pheno- 
 menon had had to do with the sensation he had 
 made, and the uproar of wonder and enthusiasm 
 with which his poetry had been hailed. Ac- 
 cordingly, he seems never, all the while, to have 
 had a thought but of returning to impend the 
 rest of his days much in his original state of 
 life, in the condition and occupation in which 
 he had been brought up — ^that of a small far- 
 mer. When we think of the many smaller men 
 ■who have been completely thrown off their 
 balance by the hundredth part of what failed to 
 upset Burns, or even to make his sturdy, self- 
 reliant nature reel for a moment, we feel what 
 a noble, manly fellow he really was. Burns' 
 biographer. Dr. Currie, remarks of Burns, that, 
 as h« rose by the strength of his talents, so he 
 fell by the strength of his passions. But. the 
 strength of circumstances, too, should not be 
 forgotten. He had, in truth, everything against 
 him. There is one thing, however, which I do 
 not recollect to have seen noticed, and which 
 explains much. A great event, it is to be re- 
 membered — the French Eevolution — had shaken 
 tlie earth, and an immense change had come 
 over men's minds, both in France and in Eng- 
 land, between 1786 and 1796. Much that 
 would have been looked upon by, most people 
 
 as only sport at the former of these dates had 
 come to be held no laughing matter long before 
 the latter. We must judge Burns according 
 to the spirit of the time in which he lived and 
 wrote. We know that the most irreverent of 
 his early satires upon one party in the church 
 —his « Holy Fair," his " Holy Willie's Prayer," 
 his " Ordination," his " Twa Herds," and others, 
 were received at first with universal acclamation 
 by the opposite party — clergy as well as laity. 
 That would scarcely have been the case if they 
 had been produced some five or six years later. 
 Still less were men by that time in the humour 
 to enjoy anything of much audacity in the way 
 of political satire or invective, however spirited 
 the poetry. Burns, probably, gave more offence, 
 and did himself more mischief, by some of his 
 escapades in this line than by any moral irre- 
 gularities into which he may have fallen. 
 Yet the one of these political effusions that is 
 the boldest of them all — that entitled " The 
 Tree of Liberty " — would not be thought any- 
 thing very terrible in our day. The poet, like 
 many of his contemporaries, may have been 
 somewhat too enthusiastic in his anticipations 
 of the new day that had arisen upon France ; 
 but Burns' patriotism, notwithstanding, cer- 
 tainly remained to the last perfectly sound at 
 the core. He was, at heart, in fact, all his life, 
 much more of a Jacobite than of a Jacobin. 
 His real political creed was much nearer to di- 
 vine right and pure monarchy than to democracy 
 or republicanism.. — A passionate love for his 
 country and pride in everything belonging to 
 it, was with him, as it has been with most poets, 
 a part of his nature. And, as for any reform 
 of British institutions to be either imposed by, 
 or borrowed from, France, where, or by whom, 
 has foul scorn of that been expressed more en- 
 ergetically than it has been by him ? Perhaps 
 the Scotchmen, on the whole, of most world- 
 wide renown are — 0eorge Buchanan, John 
 Napier, Robert Burns, and Walter Scott; 
 Buchanan belonging to the sixteenth century, 
 Napier, we may say, to the seventeenth. Burns to 
 the eighteenth, Scott to the nineteenth. And 
 of the four, Burns is, perhaps, the most famous. 
 (Cheers.) He is, at least, the most thoroughly 
 and intensely Scotch, He has done the most 
 for Scotland—most for her language, most for 
 her people. It has been held by some that its 
 lays — its popular lays — are more to a country 
 than its laws. The songs of Burns are, un- 
 doubtedly, to his countrymen, a possession be- 
 yond all price. Such a chant as " Scots 
 wha hae wi' Wallace bled " is enough to rege- 
 nerate a nation. (Applause.) " My coun- 
 try I" the modern rhapsodist, in the well- 
 known ode, exclaims to Greece in her degra- 
 dation : — 
 
 2i 
 
41)8 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 " My country, on thy voiceless shore 
 The heroic lay is silent now." 
 
 And what follows? 
 
 " The heroic bosom Is no more." 
 
 Poetry like this of Burns keeps strong and ardent 
 in the breast of a people that martial virtue, which 
 is to the spirit of national independence the air 
 it breathes, — the very breath of life ; if it have 
 it not, it dies. Such a poem as the " Cottar's 
 Saturday Night," again, in its homely simplicity 
 and truthfulness so touching to the Scottish 
 heart, one wonders sometimes if it have not 
 done almost as much to sustain both the moral 
 tone and the religious sentiment of the popular 
 mind in the country in whose language it is 
 written, as all the sermons that have been 
 , preached since it first appeared. Every Scotch- 
 man carries liis head the higher for having had 
 Burns, the inspired peasant, for his country- 
 man, — 
 
 "Him who walked in glory and in joy, 
 Following his plough upon the mountain side." 
 
 And every poor man — every son of labour all 
 the world over — has something of honour re- 
 flected upon his humble lot from the splendour 
 that has gathered around the name of this 
 humbly-born lord of song. [The learned pro- 
 fessor concluded his address amidst prolonged 
 applause.] 
 
 The Chairman then said — ^^The next toast I 
 have to propose, gentlemen, is " The Descend- 
 ants of Robert Burns." 
 
 Mr. Robert Young, C.E., rose to respond, 
 and was greeted with applause. He said — Mr. 
 Chairman and Gentlemen, — I have been re- 
 quested by my friend, Mrs. Everett, to speak a 
 few words on her behalf (Hear.) When 
 Robert Burns died — now almost sixty-three 
 years ago — he left a widow and five sons be- 
 hind, a legacy to what was to him an ungrate- 
 ful country. Only two of this band now sur- 
 vive him. James and William Burns have both 
 served with distinction in the Indian army, but 
 have now retired, and are, I doubt not, at this 
 present moment, honoured guests at festivals 
 similar to this — the one in Glasgow, the other 
 in Dumfries. Robert Burns, who was the poet's 
 eldest and favourite son, and who alone of all 
 his brothers retained through after-life a vivid 
 recollection of his father, has, only within the 
 last two years, been laid beside him lie loved so 
 well, in Dumfries Churchyard. Of all the chil- 
 dren, he bore the strongest resemblance, in face 
 and form, to his father, and was, also, a poet of 
 no mean order himself The daughter and 
 granddaughter of this worthy man are now 
 honouring us with their presence this evening. 
 
 (Clieers.) I esteem it no small honour that I 
 have had the privilege of knowing these ladies 
 for some years, and have been often struck 
 with the strong resemblance of Mrs. Everett 
 to the poet, as well in her features as in her 
 independence of mind, and warmth and geni- 
 ality of disposition. I beg to assure you of 
 the great pleasure she has had in being pre- 
 sent when honour is being paid to the memory 
 of one she so much reveres ; and, on her behalf 
 and that of her daughter, I now thank you for 
 the honour you have just paid them. (Loud 
 cheers.) 
 
 Mr. F. D. Finlay then gave " The Poets of 
 England, and the Memory of William Shak- 
 speare." 
 
 Professor Macdouall proposed " The Min- 
 strelsy of Scotland, and the memory of Sir 
 Walter Scott." 
 
 The Chairman next proposed " The Town 
 and Trade of Belfast." He said — In such a 
 large company as this assembled here, the town 
 and trade of Belfast may appear a toast of such 
 a selfish nature that I will not say how much I 
 feel interested in its prosperity. Knowing so 
 well as I do that the sympathies of many pre- 
 sent are with me, I will simply give you the 
 toast, without further preface. (Cheers.) 
 
 The toast having been responded to with 
 great . cordiality, the Chairman called on Mr. 
 Heron to respond. 
 
 James Heron, Esq., responded. 
 
 John Borthwick, Esq., proposed " The Agri- 
 culture, Manufactures, and Commerce of Ire- 
 land." (Loud cheers.) 
 
 The toast was received with great enthu- 
 siasm. 
 
 W. R. Anketell, Esq., J.P., being called upon 
 loudly, responded. 
 
 Mr. Hugh M'Call, having been called upon, 
 rose at the lower end of the hall, amid loud 
 cheers and calls of "Platform." Ultimately 
 he was obliged to remove to the upper end of 
 the hall, and ascend the platform, which he 
 did amid renewed and enthusiastic cheering. 
 He spoke as follows: — The centenary of the 
 birthday of Burns has aroused a host of new 
 associations in connexion with that great man's 
 history. Wide as is the fame he has already 
 won in castle and cottage, a more extended 
 range of popularity will in future be given to 
 those stirring strains which have lightened with 
 glee and gladness so many hearths and homes 
 of the toiling millions. There is hot a spot of 
 earth trod by Saxon or Celt — not a country or 
 clime inhabited by men with British hearts and 
 sympathies — that will not enjoy its own pecu- 
 liar burst of enthusiasm while recalling to re- 
 membrance the proceedings and events con- 
 nected with this memorable day, (Loud 
 
BELFAST. 
 
 499 
 
 cheers.) Robert Burns, with all his faults iind 
 failings, was the great reformer of his age. 
 Entering into public life at a time when sickly 
 sentimentality ruled the demand for poetic 
 literature, and when the right spirit of inde- 
 pendence was hardly known in the world of 
 prose, he at once rose into something like 
 gigantic greatness. Standing out and alone 
 from the dwarfs that surrounded him, he gave 
 utterance to language so new and so novel that 
 many people of that day looked on his senti- 
 ments as the wild and wayward imaginings of 
 reckless impiety ; but the advanced few hailed 
 them as the early dawnings of a brighter era 
 in the social history of his country. (Cheers.) 
 He saw men and things in a light previously 
 unmarked by pen or pencil ; he flung, as it 
 were, on his broad canvas, sketches of formalism 
 and full-length portraits of hypocrisy, which 
 did more to put down thg unhealthy spirit then 
 existing in certain sections of his church than 
 all the more elaborate essays of his contempo- 
 raries had been able to accomplish. So far, 
 then, the Ayrshire ploughman was a preacher 
 of lay sermons, the apostle of a manly morality 
 which created a revolution in the world that 
 lies far beyond the immediate scene of the 
 poet's influence ; and so long as the Scottish 
 language holds a place in current literature, 
 the high-toned sentiments of Robert Burns 
 will shed their greatness and their glory over 
 every phase of human progress. In the course 
 of Professor Craik's speech, that gentleman 
 stated that he felt astonished to see such a 
 number of men in the town of Belfast coming 
 forward to render honour to the memory of 
 Burns. Now, I beg to tell the learned gentle- 
 man, and all others who hold similar views, 
 that not even in his own Ayrshire is the poetry 
 of Burns held in higher estimation than it is 
 in the counties of Down and Antrim. " The 
 centenary demonstrations in honour of Burns 
 all over the world" is a text suggestive of 
 matter not for a speech, but for a volume. 
 Readers of the public papers often feel amazed 
 at the lucubrations of some learned dogmatist 
 of the fourth estate, who, seated in his editorial 
 sanctum, has oome out with an essay on the 
 crime of some individuals, stigmatising the 
 country of that person's birth, as if the soil of 
 any nation should be held accountable for the 
 errors of all its children. The United King- 
 dom is of comparatively limited extent ; its 
 lands are, as a general rule, stubborn and unfer- 
 tile; but its people are robust and energetic 
 beyond those of any nation on the earth. In 
 the wise dispensation of Providence, it would 
 seem as if this country had been set apart as 
 the great coloniser of the world, sending forth 
 its industry and energy, its langu.age and its 
 
 literature from one end of the universe to the 
 other, and carrying its national habits to the 
 remotest regions of the earth. Lfnder all these 
 circumstances, then, we cannot afibrd to wage 
 small warfare as to the particular locality in 
 which a man first breathed the vital air; higher 
 and nobler duties remain for us to perform ; 
 and, if more pains were taken to cherish virtue 
 wherever that is found, I believe we would 
 have much less occasion to battle against vice. 
 Robert Burns, it is true, was born in a little 
 cottage about two miles from the town of Ayr. 
 Every honest-minded Scotchman is justly proud 
 of him ; but there cannot be any geographical 
 limit to the citizenship of a great man. No 
 one has the right to tell us that he who has 
 given us that glorious gem — "A man's a man 
 for a' that" — exclusively belongs to this or that 
 country. He is as much the poet of the Yar- 
 row as of the Doon — of the St. Lawrence and 
 Mississippi as the Clyde. I have referred to 
 the great mission of Britain, and the humanis- 
 ing influences which her system of colonisation 
 is extending wherever her fleets sail or her 
 people find a resting-place. Other writers have 
 done much to maintain the spirit of nationality 
 in the far ends of the earth ; but no author has 
 achieved more to keep alive and foster the 
 sacred veneration of home. Moody moralists 
 talk of the little value to be placed on human 
 fame — that it is fleeting and evanescent ; but 
 who that looks on the glorious scene I see 
 around me — the bankers, merchants, and manu- 
 facturers of Belfast met to do honour to the 
 memory of Burns — could say that fame was 
 not a living greatness ? (Hear and applause.) 
 Had the poet Burns, when on his deathbed in 
 Dumfries, been able to look through the vista 
 of years, and see that, at the end of a century 
 from the date of his birth, the people of Bel- 
 fast would have met in such a glorious assembly 
 as I see in this room, it would have given com- 
 fort, and, no doubt, considerable happiness, to 
 the deathbed of the greatest poet ever Scot- 
 land produced. 
 
 "The song is never silent, earth grows older, 
 
 Men live and die, states fall or spring to life, 
 The columns topple and the turrets moulder, 
 
 Waging with time unprofitable strife ; 
 And though the reign of error still aboundeth. 
 
 Truth wins new fields, unmarked by flame or gore, 
 While still the echo of that song resoundeth 
 
 From heart to heart, on every sea and shore." 
 
 The Chairman next said — Were it not that 
 the hour is so late, I would say something of 
 my opinion and experience on the subject of 
 " Hofiest Men and Bonnie Lasses," which forms 
 the next toast on my list. (Cheers.) The first 
 part of the toast I cannot better introduce than 
 in the words of one of our greatest modern 
 
500 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 poets, " An honest man's the noblest work of 
 God ;" and with respect to " bonnie lasses," the 
 poet whose memory we a,re met to celebrate 
 sings of them in strains we cannot forget; — 
 
 "Auld Nature swears — the lovely dears 
 Her noblest work she classes ; 
 Her 'prentice lian' she tried on man, 
 And then she made the lasses O." 
 
 This toast was responded to by the Eev. Dr. 
 Montgomery, who said : — A most excellent and 
 worthy lady remarked to me, " Well, I do not 
 know that that is a quite dignified enough sen- 
 timent for you, doctor. Having attained some 
 three score years and ten, I think to be talking 
 
 about bonnie lasses [The remainder of the 
 
 sentence was lost in laughter and applause.j I 
 said at once, " You do not know all the facts, 
 for this was Burns' charter sentiment — ' Honest 
 men and bonnie lasses.' " I ask you, gentle- 
 men, what you believe Burns would h^ye been 
 worth to us, and to the world, if it Ixad not 
 been for his sentiment of "honest men and 
 bonnie lasses ? " He would have been as 9, clod 
 of the valley; he would have been 9, thing 
 dead and gone and never heard of, but for his 
 noble love of man and woman. I say, then, I 
 feel greatly honoured in responding to this 
 sentiment, of " Honest men and bonnie lasses." 
 It divides itself, of course, into tyro parts very 
 nicely. I must get pretty sraa,r,tly over the 
 first part. I am sorry to say tljat J do not 
 think the honesty of these countries, and of 
 every other country, has stood quite so high in 
 the last ten or fifteen ye?irs, as it did at one 
 time. I do not know that honest men are quite 
 so common. Certainly they aj^e not so univer- 
 sal as we could desire them to be ; but I tell 
 you what I think on that subject — that the 
 men whom we have found out, the hypocritical, 
 scheming men — the men robbing the widow 
 and orphan under pious pretexts^ — ^the mercan- 
 tile knaves, the trading knaves of jevery kind — 
 I take them simply as exceptions to the rule of 
 humanity ; and, if they h^iye come out more 
 distinctly before us, they have been more re- 
 marked in the last few years. It will come to 
 this, that men wijl be.come more vigilant to 
 their own interests; and, if we take a great 
 account of bad men in the world, we a^e just 
 in the condition of the peasant who looks at 
 the shooting-star, an earth-born vapour, flitting 
 through the atmosphere, marking its radiant 
 pourse with its train, and then sinking to the 
 earth ; and he thinks more of the falling star 
 than he does of all the galaxy of heaven, I 
 feel, therefore, there is no depreciation as to 
 the mercantile honour or integrity of this 
 country, because some men have committed 
 crime. Dr. Montgomery proceeded to speak 
 
 in eulogy of the general mercantile character 
 of the country, as distinguished from the char- 
 acter of a few clever, but dishonest, traders. 
 With regard, sir (he continued), to honest men, 
 perhaps my views are not exactly those of the 
 general world ; because, when I talk of honest 
 men, I mean those who are so in every sense, 
 and I do not express merely the opinion of the 
 man I may have sat beside, and did not pick 
 my pocket — not the character of the man who 
 may be left alone in your ofiice and will not 
 rob your till, but who may not hesitate to over- 
 reach you in some bargain. I tell you that is, 
 a very limited kind of honesty, if I take honesty? 
 in its high and real nature as exempli6ed in the 
 man who is doing everything that is right, and 
 fair, and proper before his fellow-man and his 
 God, and whose ideas of honesty are not the 
 low and mean ideas confined to pounds, shil- 
 lings, and pence. This part of the toast I have, 
 endeavoured to compress as well as I could, 
 but I don't know how I am to condense in. 
 the latter . part of it ; for, in the present age, 
 the ladies occupy so large a space, my senti- 
 ments of admiration for them are so great that 
 it would take an angel's tongue and seraph's 
 fire to describe them. From my earliest years 
 my youngest sentiments were, that women were 
 God's special blessing to an anxious, toiling, 
 sinful world. If six thousand years ago one 
 sinned, she did it from the very purity of her 
 nature; for the most pure and unsuspecting 
 become most easily a prey to the designing and 
 deceitful ; and her successors ever since have 
 been making more than compensation in their 
 genial benignity and benevolent efibrts to 
 counteract all evils originally done. With re- 
 gard, sir, to the toast of "Honest men and 
 bonnie lasses," I love everything that's young — 
 the young bud, the young lambkin, and the haw- 
 thorn blossom, "that scents the evening gale" 
 — and shall I not love the young of my own 
 race ? I do, sir, and I have no merit in that. 
 They are to me doubly interesting, for though I 
 may be old in years, I am not old in heart. 
 But I have often felt it is not where they are 
 most beautiful, and in the gay hour of excite- 
 ment, that the greatness of their moral beauty 
 appears. (Cheers.) It is in our hours of 
 trouble and trial— when the nerve of the strong 
 man becontes as flax — that woman's spirit and 
 energy rise equal to the occasion, and she is 
 superior to the troubles under which man has 
 been ready to sink. I have known — and many 
 around me have known — families sunk into 
 comparative beggary, and have seen the wife 
 rising in dignity and patient energy in propor- 
 tion to the difficulties in which the husband 
 was placed. I have known cases where, when 
 commercial ruin was in prospect, and when the 
 
BELFAST. 
 
 501 
 
 firmness of manhood gave way, woman, by hev 
 blessed influence, has been the instrument of 
 raising hearts to hope, and of bringing round 
 a state of things which, instead of want and 
 destitution, produced progress and prosperity. 
 I am always, and I have been always, of opin- 
 ion that the influence exercised by our women, 
 whether over the destinies of those with whom 
 they are joined in life, or in future generations 
 as their educators, is the most important, as it 
 may be the most beautiful, in this world. I 
 believe that the mother makes the man, and 
 that the influence of the father is weak in com- 
 parison. I believe that whatever g'ood is done 
 for our land, or our race, is done through the 
 influence of mothers. Wlio is it that make our 
 legislators, that frame our laws ? — The mothers. 
 Who are they that make and bring out the fac- 
 ulties which, when developed, adorn our states- 
 men 1 — The mothers. Who are they that make, 
 in the same way, our divines ? — The mothers 
 also. I am afraid that, if it were left to the 
 fathers, their selection would not be for the 
 benefit of mankind. But give me, as-I have 
 said, the educated mother, and upon her influ- 
 ence and her choice I will moSt depend for fur- 
 nishing us with the men most likely in future 
 time — with the men best calculated hereafter 
 to advance the interests of their kind. (Hear, 
 hear.) There are others among our lady friends 
 who have not, probably from choice, probably 
 from combinations of dirCumstances which may 
 be understood in the gallety-i- (laughter) — but 
 <which I could not attempt to explain, upon 
 whom such functions have not devolved. Of 
 them I will say one word, and it is this — that, 
 of all the persons whom it has been my chance 
 to enoounter in life^of all the women I have 
 ever met, they are among the most estimable, 
 the most useful, and the most honourable. I 
 will go further, and say, that they are more 
 estimable, perliaps, amotig other reasons, be- 
 cause they exhibit in their choice of life that 
 independence of character which prompts them 
 and encourages them to endure sacrifices sooner 
 than yield up the independence of heart or 
 choice, which ought to place them amongst the 
 most high-principled and useful members of so- 
 ciety. But, taking all the incidents of life into 
 consideration, if there be anything in this 
 world which I worship especially, it is that 
 woman who, having passed through the various 
 stages of maiden, matron, and mother, has dis- 
 charged her duties, and set an example of vir- 
 tuous excellence in all. (Loud cheers.) I will 
 remark that it may have been the influence of 
 such, to a great extent, which brought together 
 such a meeting to-night. I call this festive 
 meeting a successful one. (Loud cheers.) I 
 do not believe that we have come together 
 
 through any other motive than the bond of a 
 common humanity, than a common feeling of 
 admiration for the genius of a great man, who 
 loved all his kind. Proceeding to allude to 
 the charge of infidelity against Burns, the rev. 
 doctor quoted the beautiful lines in which the 
 poet described the sneer of the atheist as small 
 recompense " for Deity offended ;" and invoked 
 a recollection of the circumstances in which he 
 was placed as a strong palliative of his weak- 
 nesses. With reference to the latter point, he 
 remarked that men should remember that if the 
 immoralities charged against him were not so 
 common now — they were, perhaps, more art- 
 fully hidden from the public eye. He conclud- 
 ed thus — While God permits me life, and time, 
 and strength, whenever any number of honest 
 men propose to meet in honour of Kobert 
 Burns — should there be only twenty in a room 
 together — and ask Henry Montgomery to at- 
 tend, should he not be confined to a sick-bed 
 he will be found at his post. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 After a pause, Dr. Montgomeey again rose, 
 and, in neat and appropriate terms, proposed — 
 " The health of the Chairman." He took oc- 
 casion to observe that his appreciation of Mr. 
 Getty did not date from the universal recogni- 
 tion of his worth by his fellow-townsmen, but 
 was of older date. As Dr. Johnson — a greater 
 man in literature, perhaps more burly, but, cer- 
 tainly, not so good-looking as himself — once 
 remarked about Garrick, he had pleasure in 
 saying to himself, "I titught the boy !" (Laugh- 
 ter and cheers.) The toast was one they would 
 be all sure to honour, and he would not further 
 preface " The health of the Chairman." (Tre- 
 mendous applause.) 
 
 The Chairman returned thanks, and was 
 received with the most enthusiastic applause. 
 
 The " Croupiers," replied to by Eobert 
 Grimshaw, Esq. ; the " Press," and other toasts, 
 were given, and the company separated at an 
 advanced hour. 
 
 Soiree in the Corn Exchange While 
 
 the memory of Caledonia's immortal bard was 
 being honoured by a banquet in the Music 
 Hall, a no less enthusiastic commemoration 
 was in progress at the Corn Exchange. The 
 company at the soiree was considerably more 
 numerous than that which assembled in the 
 former building, amounting to about four hun- 
 dred. It was composed principally of the more 
 respectable of the working orders. On the 
 platform were several clergymen, and a num- 
 ber of gentlemen connected with mercantile 
 pursuit. A considerable proportion of the 
 company in the body of the hall consisted of 
 ladies. Those at the principal table included 
 the Kev. Dr. M'Cosh, Queen's College ; Eev. 
 Hugh Hanna, Kev. George Cron, Evangelical 
 
502 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 Union Church, Wellington Place; Rev. Mr. 
 Mackey, Antrim ; Mr. William Scott, Mr. W. 
 Shaw, Mr. R. Hendry, Mr. W. M'CuUough, 
 Mr. Benjamin Benson, Mr. John Ireland, Mr. 
 Matthew Steele, Mr. John Ritchie, Mr. John 
 Reid, Mr. Alexr. Reid, Mr. John Mackenzie, 
 &c., &c. 
 
 The room was very tastefully decorated for 
 the occasion. The gasaliers and panels were 
 festooned with evergreens. Over the chair 
 was placed a well -painted likeness of the 
 Ploughman Bard. The picture was a half- 
 length, of life-size. It was surrounded by a 
 wreath of the Scottish thistle. To the right, 
 on a scroll, were the words, " The Cottar's 
 Saturday Night," and, to the left, « Tam o' 
 Shanter." Over the poet's head, in a medal- 
 lion, were the figures " 100," and at the base 
 of the painting was the celebrated couplet — 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 The Oldpark Band were in attendance, and be- 
 tween the addresses, and at other periods of 
 the evening, performed a number of pieces, in- 
 cluding selections from the airs of Burns' lyrics, 
 in good style. The manner in which the stew- 
 ards discharged their duties during the evening 
 was deservedly the subject of general commen- 
 dation. 
 
 After tea, on the motion of Mr. Jas. Shaw, 
 (Sydenham), Mr. W. Scott was called to the 
 chair, in the absence of James Carlisle, Esq. 
 
 The Chairman, on taking his place, briefly 
 addressed the audience. He said he did not 
 know *hy he had been called to his present 
 position ; but he felt extremely honoured by 
 the favour shown him. This was the first time 
 he had ever presided at a meeting, and having 
 received no warning, he had made no prepara- 
 tion whatever for a speech. It was, of course, 
 unnecessary for him to offer any suggestions as 
 to the manner in which the memory of Burns 
 should be honoured in a company such as the 
 present. Burns was pre-eminently the peo- 
 ple's poet, and in that character no one ever 
 held such sway over the minds of the people as 
 he had done. His high genius had been de- 
 voted to the elevation of his class and his kind 
 — to the advancement of freedom and indepen- 
 dence — and to the correction of abuses — not 
 only in his own age, but ever since. (Applause.) 
 
 Mr. Ritchie then sang, with good taste, 
 Burns' pleasing ballad, " There was a lad was 
 born in Kyle." 
 
 The Chairman then introduced the Rev. 
 George Cron, who would speak upon Burns. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Cron then came forward, and 
 was received with great applause. He said — 
 It is our impression that, if the memory of 
 
 "Scotia's greatest bard" should be cherished 
 by any class in the community, it deserves to 
 be cherished by the working classes. There 
 are two reasons why the name of Burns should 
 be specially dear to them. He was ever the 
 warm friend of the working classes. None 
 knew better than Burns that 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 He was one of themselves; he was born in no 
 lordly mansion, but in an " auld clay biggin." 
 He was not born the heir of broad acres — he was 
 born to win his bread by the sweat of his brow. 
 For years he held the plough with his "horny 
 •fist," and to this circumstance are we indebted 
 for the much-admired piece, beginning — 
 
 " Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie, 
 Oh, what a panic's in thy breastie! 
 
 There are those who condemn the poet of Cale- 
 donia with great severity. In their judgment, 
 he was the impersonation of all that is bad. 
 When we meet with individuals of this descrip- 
 tion, we always feel strongly inclined to direct 
 their attention to his "Address to the Unco 
 Gruid." For our parts, we cannot bring our- 
 selves to cast stones at him. That he had 
 faults, and even glaring faults, far be it from 
 us to deny. But who is without faults and 
 failings ? Had Burns been a common mortal, 
 his blemishes would not have been so' notice- 
 able. As a lady, who knew him intimately, 
 justly observes: — "It is only on the gem that 
 we are disturbed to see dust; the pebble may 
 be soiled, and we never regard it." We have 
 not, however, met this evening either for the 
 purpose of defending Burns' character, or 
 apologising for his irregularities. We have 
 met simply to pay a cordial tribute of respect 
 to his genius; and that he was a genius of high 
 order is universally admitted. Dr. Johnson de- 
 fines genius — " A mind of large general powers 
 accidentally determined in one particular direc- 
 tion." GilfiUan defines genius — "Natural or 
 Original thought, invested with the power of 
 passion, and expressed in the language of 
 imagination." Now, Burns will stand to be 
 tested by either of these definitions. In fact, 
 there is scarcely any poet, Shakspeare excepted, 
 that tliey so exactly suit. His was unquestion- 
 ably a " mind of large general powers." He 
 possessed a vigorous understanding, an imperial 
 imagination, a fine memory — ^indeed, every 
 variety of talent in an eminent degree. He 
 would have excelled in any department of 
 literature to which he might have chosen to 
 devote himself. So thought no less an authority 
 than Professor Stewart, and some others, judg- 
 ing from, his conversation, for it seems that he 
 
BELFAST. 
 
 503 
 
 was a noble tidker. Two things convince me 
 that Burns was a rare genius: — 1. The. fact 
 that nearly all his didactic, humorous, satirical, 
 pathetic, and descriptive pieces will bear to be 
 read as often as you please. 2. The number 
 of quotations that are made from the produc- 
 tions of his pen. Well may Campbell represent 
 his lines as " mottoes of the heart." If, then, 
 it is indubitable that Burns was emphatically 
 a genius, what more natural than for us to unite 
 ill admiring and respecting him ? Honour is 
 due to a good man, and is generally given. 
 Honour is also due to an intellectually great 
 man, and ought not to be withheld. We may 
 be reminded that genius is a Divine gift. We 
 cheerfully acknowledge that it is. God made 
 Burns; and it is important that we should 
 make an effort to remember this, prone as we 
 are to find the creator of genius in its 
 possessor. Before concUiding, we would fur- 
 ther express it as our conviction, that Burns 
 has achieved lasting fame ; and does not the 
 general and enthusiastic celebration of his 
 birthday, though one hundred years lie between 
 us and it, justify this conviction ? Scotland and 
 Scotchmen — and where are they not ? (and 
 his. admirers are by no means confined to his 
 own countrymen) — will long be proud of their 
 Burns. I frankly confess that Scotland is all 
 the dearer to me that I can associate Burns 
 with it. We call him the " Immortal Bard," 
 and I believe, with Tarinahill, that 
 
 " Unaided he has fixed his name 
 Immortal on the rolls of fame." 
 
 (Loud applause.) 
 
 Song — " A man's a man fur a' that," by Mr. Steele. 
 Band — " Cheer, boys, cheer." 
 
 The Chairman said, the next speaker he 
 would introduce would be the Rev. Dr. M'Cosh, 
 who had attended kindly at their meeting, and 
 who would address them on "Eobert Burns 
 and Hugh Miller," — two great working men. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. M'CosH then rose and said 
 that there was much in his own early history 
 which made him feel an interest in Robert 
 Burns. Not only was he a countryman of 
 Burns, but he was born and brought up on the 
 same stream, the " banks and braes o' bonnie 
 Doon." ■ (Applause.) There were few of the 
 scenes celebrated in his poetry with which he 
 (Dr. M'Cosh) was not familiar ; he had had the 
 pleasure of being acquainted with more than 
 one of his relatives ; and often had he met with 
 associates of the poet who told him how, in his 
 better moods, Burns made the listener laugh at 
 one moment and weep the moment after. One 
 of his early poems was dedicated to a friend of 
 his own father, who was also the friend of his 
 (Dr. M'Cosh's) father. Perhaps he might be 
 
 prejudiced in ftl^'our of Burns from early pre- 
 possessions ; yet he could not avoid expressing 
 his conviction that his songs, of all others that 
 had ever been written, came nearest the heart, 
 for they came from the heart. In respect of 
 original genius he was the greatest poet in the 
 three kingdoms, with the exceptions of Shak- 
 speare, the poet of universal gifts, and Milton 
 who " shone as a star, and dwelt apart." It 
 was upon tiiese grounds that he had felt a deep 
 interest in the proposal to do honour to Eobert 
 Burns on the centenary of his birth. At the 
 same time, he did not feel at liberty to join all 
 who might celebrate this centenary. He would 
 not choose to put himself in a position in which 
 his freedom of speech and action would be re- 
 strained. (Hear, hear.) If he did so, he would 
 feel himself unworthy of claiming descent from 
 those who had been hunted on the mountains 
 of Scotland and fought at Drumclog. He was 
 not one of those who would say that Burns was 
 without his imperfections. — Who, in fact, was 
 without them ? But this he might safely af- 
 firm — that Burns himself regretted those fail- 
 ings, especially when he recollected his early 
 days in his father's house. The committee for 
 the management of another centenary celebra- 
 tion of Burns' birthday had done him (Dr. 
 M'Cosh) the honour of nominating him to a 
 place in connection with their proceedings. He 
 preferred, however, on this occasion mingling 
 with the common people. Burns was, empha- 
 tically, one of the people ; and, if a second 
 Robert Burns — a young Burns — were to be 
 found, it would be in this company rather than 
 in the other. It was natural that it should be 
 so ; and it was fitting, too, that, on such an 
 occasion as this, the rich and the poor should 
 be ranged together. It was so in other coun- 
 tries. He had spent several months of the last 
 summer upon the Continent; and there he 
 found noblemen, gentlemen, merchants, young 
 shopkeepers, and artisans, all socially mingling 
 together. He should like to see this upon all 
 occasions ; for it made each grade of society 
 love and respect the other more. Nowhere, 
 among the better classes of operative labourers 
 and of small farmers, was so much intelligence 
 to be found, combined with such noble inde- 
 pendence as in Scotland. After spending some 
 time in Edinburgh, when his fame was at its 
 highest. Burns declared that nowhere had he 
 found — not even among nobles, and the top- 
 most circles of society — so much intelligence, 
 independence, wisdom, and wit, as among the 
 peasantry of Scotland. There was another 
 Scottish genius of more modern days who had 
 also sprung from the ranks of the people. This 
 was the late Hugh Miller, of whose memory he 
 had been called upon to speak this evening — a 
 
504 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 task which he would willingly perform, as for a 
 dear friend — a shining light in the ranks of 
 science and literature. He had been in tlie 
 habit of spending an occasional hour with Mr. 
 Miller in Edinburgh ; and he could testify that 
 his conversation was equally brilliant and gra- 
 phic with his writings. This he knew from 
 having purposely drawn him out, and from 
 proving that his language in conversation was 
 as beautiful as that of his sentiments expressed 
 in writing. Between Miller and Burns there 
 was much similarity. Both sprang from the 
 noblest class of the peasantry ; both were com- 
 paratively uneducated ; both were once under 
 the necessity of making up their minds to go to 
 America; both had been sons pf toil; the 
 writings of each had been devoted to the ele- 
 vation of their fellow-men. Burns was eminent 
 in poetry ; Hugh Miller was eminent in science 
 and in prose. He (Dr. M'Cosh) did not know 
 whether it would be possible to find a writer, 
 either of a past or of the present age, whose 
 language was more graphic than that of this 
 stone-mason. He had a spa,rkling fancy, broad 
 humour, and a power of bitter sarcasm ; and all 
 of these qualities were employed in setting forth 
 the great questions of the day in a manner 
 which would go down to all posterity. His 
 genius was at once firm and flexible as the 
 trunk of the elephant, which could pick up a 
 straw or rend a branch from a tree, and man- 
 ageable as the steam-hammer, which could 
 drive a pin or mould the plates of a ponderous 
 boiler. (Hear, hear.) So impressed was the 
 great geologist. Dr. Buckland, with the meagre- 
 ness of his own style, as compared with that of 
 Hugh Miller, that he publicly declared he 
 would give his left hand to possess that man's 
 powers of description. Dr. M'Cosh went on 
 to show that Hugh Miller's genius and talents 
 had been devoted to the advancement of science 
 and religion ; and that in this object they had 
 been eminently successful. The ablest literary 
 men of the day had trembled to enter into con- 
 troversy with the stone-mason of Cromarty. 
 (Applause.) He concluded, amid general ap- 
 plause, by pointing out, in the cases of Robert 
 Burns and Hugh Miller, how much a mere 
 working man could do as the representative of 
 science and religion, or as that of literature. 
 
 The rev. doctor resumed his seat amid loud 
 applause. 
 
 Band — " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 Song—" Scots wha hae," by Mr. Eeid. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Mackay of Antrim delivered 
 an eloquent oration on the " Merits of Burns' 
 Poetry." 
 
 Song—" Afton Water," by Mr. Hendiay. This gen- 
 tleman was loudly encored. 
 
 The Chairman then introduced the Rev. 
 Mr. Hanna to the meeting. 
 
 Eev. H. Hanna addressed the meeting, after 
 which 
 
 A vote of thanks having been passed to the 
 speakers, another to the singers, and a third to 
 the band, the meeting dispersed, the band 
 playing the National Anthem. 
 
 DUBLIN— The Dublin festival to comme- 
 morate the centenary birthday of the Poet 
 Burns, was held in one of the Ancient Concert 
 Rooms, and was attended with the most com- 
 plete success. 
 
 The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor presided, 
 and the Vice-Chair was occupied by Alexander 
 Parker, Esq. 
 
 Grace having been said, the usual loyal 
 toasts were drunk with all the honours. 
 
 The Lord Mayor proposed " The Lord Lieu- 
 tenant, and Prosperity to Ireland." 
 
 The toast was cordially received. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Febguson rose amidst loud 
 cheers and spoke as follows : — My Lord Mayor, 
 Mr. Parker and Gentlemen — In calling upon 
 me to give the toast I am about to propose, you 
 do me an honour which I prize the more be- 
 cause I am hardly worthy of it ; yet I may, 
 without vanity, acknowledge that on this occa-: 
 sion, when you celebrate the memory of the 
 great Scottish poet in the metropolis of Ire- 
 land, there is a certain propriety in your de- 
 volving that honourable task on one like me, 
 who, although, by the nativity of many genera- 
 tions, an Irishman, am yet, by lineage and 
 descent, a Scot. (Applause.) Six generations 
 and more have passed since the district of An- 
 trim, where my infant ear first became familiar 
 with the accents of Galloway, was peopled from 
 that region which has since become famous as 
 the land of Burns. Time has but slightly 
 altered the Scottish accent on our lips; and, 
 saving our duty to our own country, our hearts 
 still turn with pride and affection to that noble 
 land, whose sons to-day, throughout the civi- 
 lised world, offer the tribute of a national 
 homage to the great poet of Scotland. Such 
 an hofliage has not been paid to any man of 
 letters of modern times. Yet it is not in the 
 extent merely of these demonstrations al- 
 though they embrace the whole circle of the 
 globe, wherever Scotchmen have penetrated in 
 
 the pursuit of duty, of fame, or of fortune 
 
 that we find the magnitude and the marvel of 
 the praise that you bestow upon him. It is in 
 the character of the nation that bestows it and 
 in that of the man to whose memory the tri- 
 
DUBLIN. 
 
 505 
 
 bute is offered, that we discern the greatness 
 and the worthiness of your praise. A nation, 
 eager and eminently successful in the pursuit of 
 practical objects, proverbially prudent, habitu- 
 ated to a rigorous self-control, selects for the 
 object of its reverence — not a man like Ben- 
 tham or like Franklin — not a divine, a philoso- 
 pher, or an economist, but a child of impulse 
 and of passion — a proud, an improvident, an 
 unworldly man. How comes this? By what 
 spell is it that you are thus drawn together in 
 hundreds and in thousands, from the rising.to 
 the setting of the sun, — with a contagious fer- 
 vour which draws into the vortex of your own 
 enthusiasm the sister capitals and all the pro- 
 vincial towns of the United Kingdom— to swell 
 the tribute of honour to the memory of a man 
 apparently so dissimilar to yourselves? The 
 answer to the inquiry — the spell that brings 
 you together — ^lies in the«depths of your own 
 character. It is the old poetic fervour of your 
 race, that faculty which lies at the basis of all 
 enterprize and of all fortune, although not dis- 
 cerned by those who merely view the surface 
 of the Scottish character, which recognises in 
 the poet — in the man of fervid soul, the true 
 representative of the genius of the Soot in its 
 highest and best aspect. Therefore it is that 
 you have well and wisely chosen a poet as the 
 representative of your race and of your nation 
 — a poet who commands the admiration of 
 mankind, because he has given utterance to the 
 noblest sentiments of love, of tenderness, of 
 generosity, of patriotism, and of piety — to the 
 most charming humour and the brightest wit — 
 in numbers perfectly melodious, and in language 
 which, notwithstanding its dialectic peculiarities, 
 is pre-eminently manly, modest, direct and in- 
 telligible. (Hear.) The sentiments belong to the 
 world. The dialect and the poet are your own. 
 When it pleased God to ordain that the lan- 
 guages of mankind should be different, he left 
 their hearts the same ; and that speech which 
 most directly stirs in the hearts of men the 
 common sympathies of our nature is the truest 
 classic; and when we find those sympathies 
 evoked by language harmonious in its com- 
 position, . and melodious in its rythmical ar- 
 rangement, where rhyme reinforces time, and 
 sense falls in with both, and emotion culminates 
 at every turning point of the composition, then, 
 by the common consent of mankind, we ac- 
 knowledge ourselves in the presence and the 
 power of the poet, whether he speak the lan- 
 guage of Attica or of Ayrshire. (Loud ap- 
 plause.) This is the true test of poetic power 
 — that it stirs the hearts of men deeply and 
 vividly by the direct agency of simple and in- 
 telligible language. Tried by this test, the 
 poetry of Burns justifies the unexampled ho- 
 
 nours that to-day are paid to his memory. 
 These poems have the breadth, the ease, and 
 the force of operations of nature. And this is 
 the characteristic of the poetry of the Augustan 
 age of every school of letters, and these demon- 
 strations of yours to-day wiU do more than all 
 the criticisms of the reviews and magazines to 
 recall our writers from that profitless search 
 after recondite thought, and curious felicities 
 of expression which of late in our literature 
 have become too much the fashion, and in 
 which the careful observers of the progress of 
 the literature of older nations might well ap- 
 prehend the approaching decay of letters in 
 our own, if the tendency of our favourite 
 writers to abandon the ancient models of sim- 
 plicity and manliness be not arrested by such 
 demonstrations as these of to-day. If these 
 meetings had no other effect than to warn our 
 men of letters that the lasting praises of the 
 generations are not to be obtained by intricate, 
 conceited, and curious compositions, they would 
 confer a boon on literature, and aid in main- 
 taining the standard of taste. But, gentlemen, 
 they have & wider and deeper significance. 
 Men will not forget their nationalities — men 
 will not lay down the ties of birth and oi 
 kindred at the chair of any science or of any 
 quasi science. We must be Scotchmen — we 
 must be Irishmen — (cheers) — and we will ho- 
 nour the memories of the men whose genius 
 has asserted and won for us our own places, 
 for ourselves, in the temple of British fame. 
 Honour, then, in full measure, heaped and 
 over-flowing, to the Heaven-born peasant who 
 has borne the harp of his country so high in 
 that temple, that, though it be placed a little 
 lower than the lyre of Shakspeare, it is still so 
 near it that if you make the chords of the one 
 vibrate, those of the other will thrill in harmony, 
 — and who, having achieved that position for 
 the lyrical genius of his country, could say 
 with the modest nobility of a truly manly na- 
 ture, " I have been bred to the plough, and I 
 am independent." (Loud applause.) Well 
 was it for Burns that he was bred to the 
 plough — that he spent the days of his dawning 
 genius in familiarity with nature, and not 
 amongst the fine ladies and fine gentlemen 
 whose neglect of him has been deplored as a 
 misfortune, but truly was a happy escape for 
 him and for us all. Burns was not ashamed 
 that he was born a son of toil. Why should 
 he ? All the pursuits of industry are honour- 
 able, especially those of the husbandman. The 
 hands of heroes have been familiar with the 
 plough. Ulysses, the wisest of the Homeric 
 worthies, did not blush to confess his prowess 
 in the labours of the field. When reproached 
 with idleness by one of the proud suitors of 
 
506 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Penelope, you may remember the noble spirit 
 in which, associating the toils of the husband- 
 man with the glories of the warrior, he re- 
 plied — 
 
 " Forbear Eurymachus ; for were we matched 
 In work against each other, tliou and I, 
 Mowing in spiingtime, when the days are long; 
 Or if again it were our task to drive 
 Yoked oxen in tlie plough ; and were the field 
 In size four acres ; with a glebe through which 
 The share might smoothly glide : — then should'st 
 
 thou see 
 How straight my furrow should be cut and trae. 
 Or should Saturnian Jove this day excite 
 Here, battle, or elsewhere ; and were I armed 
 With two bright spears, and with a shield, and bore 
 A brazen casque well fitted to my brows, 
 Me then thou should behold mingling in fight 
 Among the foremost chiefs, nor with the crime 
 Of idle beggary should'st reproach me more." 
 
 Ulysses did not conceive that skill in manual 
 labour detracted in aught from his position as 
 a prince and chieftain ; nor in the case of Burns 
 has it in aught detracted from his pre-eminence 
 as a leader among the intellects of his country. 
 (Applause.) Let no regrets mingle with your 
 festive offerings to his memory. No one with 
 truth can say his life was unhappy. As toil is 
 incident to the eating of daily bread, despon- 
 dency is incident to the poetic temperament ; 
 and he could not have had that keen enjoyment 
 of existence, had he not sometimes purchased 
 it by moments of depression. But of a man 
 who enjoyed in a measure so exalted the rap- 
 tures of love, the delights of friendship, the 
 enchantments of the fancy, no one can affirm 
 that his lot was an unhappy one. (Hear, hear.) 
 Neither let the libation you pour to his memory 
 be dashed by any bitter thought of supposed 
 neglect or ingratitude in his country. Gentle- 
 men, that is not so. Much as Burns has done 
 for Scotland, Scotland, before Burns was born, 
 had done more for him. He was born the 
 child of a proud, of a renowned, and glorious 
 country. For him Wallace had made the hills 
 of Ayrshire holy ground — for him Bruce shook 
 his Carrick spear — (applause) — for him, as for 
 every child of genius that the soil of Scotland 
 should produce to the end of time, the genius 
 of Scottish music had made the hills and 
 valleys of his country vocal with melodies so- 
 liciting to song — for him courageous-hearted 
 ancestors, brave and pious men had watched 
 and prayed — had fought and bled — and on 
 mountain and on moor had offered up the 
 sacrifice of their blood for Scotland's religious 
 freedom; that the cottar on his Saturday at 
 e'en might be free to open his big hall Bible 
 by his own hearth-stone, and that amid scenes 
 of patriarchal simplicity, piety, and virtue, of 
 manly self-reliance and bold self-assertion, the 
 young germ of genius might unfold itself in 
 
 safety. Let no man, therefore, say that Scot- 
 land had not done her part. No, she has not 
 been wanting. She is no unworthy mother of 
 her noble son. In honouring him you honour 
 her and yourselves. With full hearts, then, 
 and with consciences discharged of all feeling 
 of breach of duty towards the man whose 
 memory we are met to celebrate, let us stand 
 up and drain this bumper toast to the memory 
 of Robert Burns. (Loud and enthusiastic 
 applause.) 
 
 •The Yice-Chairman, in proposing " The Day, 
 and a' wha honour it," said that for the first 
 time he felt his own great indiscretion in per- 
 mitting himself to follow his learned and able 
 friend, who had so eloquently introduced the 
 toast of the night ; but he trusted that he could 
 cast himself upon the sympathies of men who, 
 like himself, were from the engrossing character 
 of their business pursuits unable to make pil- 
 grimages within the territory of literature, and 
 must content themselves with touching occa- 
 sionally its coasts and promontories. (Hear.) 
 They had not leisure to make literature their 
 study or oratory their pursuit ; and they could 
 but trust to that which was, after all, the great 
 charm of the poet whose memory they had met 
 to celebrate. They could but trust to the na- 
 tural expression of the heart, in order to effect 
 the purpose they proposed. (Applause.) In great 
 sincerity then he had to propose to them the 
 toast of " The Day, and a' wha honour it." 
 There were none of their pleasures that were 
 not increased by sympathy, and great as was 
 their enjoyment that night, it was enhanced by 
 the knowledge of the fact that here, and there, 
 and everywhere throughout the United King- 
 dom, many kindred minds had met to do hom- 
 age to the genius of Burns, and they were not 
 alone in the celebration ; but even in the most 
 distant colonies of Great Britain — on which it 
 had been truly said the sun never sets — there 
 were meetings to celebrate that day, and to do 
 honour to the great poet of Scotland. They 
 asked the reason of all this, and they found it 
 in the universality of his genius. He had struck 
 a chord for every taste — he had filled up the 
 great hiatus between the " Cottar's Saturday 
 Night " and " Tam o' Shanter;" and certainly it 
 required great versatility to do that. (Applause.) 
 The claim lay, as his learned and able friend 
 has said, in his speaking the natural language 
 of the human heart. Whether he spoke to the 
 martial feelings of his countrymen — whether he 
 spoke to the lover — whether he spoke to the 
 admirer of nature — to whatever man he spoke, 
 he spoke in nature's language, and struck a 
 chord which vibrates to nature's feelings. (Louds 
 applause.) There had sprung up a desire that 
 a deputation from that assembly should visit the 
 
DUBLIX. 
 
 507 
 
 meeting of their juniors, who were celebrating 
 that day liiie themselves. He could only say 
 that a most excellent friend of his, Alderman 
 Carnegie, had undertaken to head the deputa- 
 tion, and he now asked the lord mayor's per- 
 mission for them to go ; and however much 
 they might enjoy themselves to-night, he hoped 
 their brethren in another place might enjoy 
 themselves not one whit the less. (Applause.) 
 
 The Lord Mayor next proposed " The Kela- 
 tives of Burns," coupling with the toast the 
 name of Mr. Gilbert Burns. 
 
 The toast having been drunk amidst loud 
 applause, 
 
 Mr. Gilbert Burns responded. He said — My 
 Lord and Gentlemen : As a relative of Burns I 
 thank you for the flattering manner in which 
 you have drunk this toast. I have in my pos- 
 session some relics of the poet, which I have 
 brought with me with a miew of giving addi- 
 tional interest to this festival. They will be 
 handed round presently for your inspection. 
 The most interesting of these relics is the family 
 Bible of Burns' father and mother, containing 
 a record of the births of their children. I have 
 before me a well-executed fac simile of that 
 record, and on the same sheet a fac simile of 
 Bruce's Address from a manuscript in the poet's 
 handwriting in my possession, and I now beg 
 to present a copy of it to each gentleman pre- 
 sent on this occasion. Mr. Burns resumed his 
 seat amidst loud applause. 
 
 The Vice- Chairman, in proposing " The 
 A rts. Science, and Literature of Ireland," said 
 that the Scotch could not be charged with in- 
 sensibility to the land they lived in. (Hear, hear.) 
 It were unworthy the Scotch people to bring 
 such a feeling into the country in which they had 
 prospered, and in which they had been received 
 with many thousand welcomes. (Applause.) 
 They had a lively sympathy with all tlieir insti- 
 tutions, and entered heartily into the comme- 
 morations of those memorable and great men 
 that distinguished Ireland by their poetry, their 
 oratory, by their pursuits in science and litera- 
 ture. (Applause.) In looking into her early 
 history, one only wondered that under all the 
 difficulties to which she was subjected from 
 foreign invasion, and under all the misfortune 
 of civil wars, that the taste for the arts had 
 not died out, and that the lamp of science had 
 not been extinguished, and that the path of 
 literature had not ceased to be trodden by her 
 sons. But there never was a time in Ireland's 
 history when some of her sons were not able to 
 take their place in all the three departments of 
 elegant accomplishments. (Applause.) And, fol- 
 lowing up the old proverb, " There is no time 
 like the present," they could safely affirm that 
 never yet was there a call for an Irishman to 
 
 take his post in the foremost ranks of those who 
 promoted the arts, advanced science, or were 
 distinguished in letters, that an Irishman was 
 not found to take that place. (Hear, hear.) The 
 Vice-Chairman then, in complimentary terms, 
 coupled the name of Mr. W. K. Wilde with the 
 toast. 
 
 Mr. Wilde responded in a speech fraught 
 with eloquence, in which he gave a graphic 
 sketch of the progress science and the arts had 
 made in Ireland. 
 
 Mr. S. Ferguson then gave " The poetry and 
 music of Scotland" in an appropriate speech. 
 
 Mr. A. Armstrong proposed " The poetry 
 and music of Ireland." 
 
 The Vice-Chairman proposed " The health 
 of the Lord Mayor," which was warmly re- 
 ceived. 
 
 The Lord Mayor briefly returned thanks. 
 
 The Vice-Chairman next gave the " Army 
 and Navy." 
 
 Colonel Sir J. E. Alexander said that he 
 trusted the army would be found always ready 
 to do their duty; and as to the navy, he was 
 aware they exceeded in their desire to do their 
 duty. In the trenches before Sebastopol, when 
 requested to fire shells, instead of putting in 
 one shell they put in a couple (laughter), and 
 having brought up their heavy guns to the front 
 they exposed themselves most fearlessly. Eng- 
 lishmen, Irishmen, and Scotchmen always nobly 
 did their duty. (Applause.) As a Scotchman he 
 felt it his duty to be present there on that occa- 
 sion, and besides he had the honour for some 
 years of wearing the tartan of the 42d High- 
 landers. He had marched to the music of the 
 bagpipes, and he knew that Scotch soldiers were 
 always exhilarated by the poetry of the immor- 
 tal Burns — (applause) — listening to the immortal 
 strain they had just heard sung — 
 
 " Wha will be a traitor knave? 
 Wha can fill a coward's grave? 
 Wha sae base as be a slave? 
 Traitor! coward! turn and flee!" 
 
 He would now take the liberty of alluding to 
 Irish soldiers. (Applause.) In one of the last 
 despatches of Sir Henry Havelock, he mentioned 
 the soldier Kavanagh — the brave man who was 
 found at last amidst ten of the mutineers whom 
 he had slain. (Cheers). Sir Henry Havelock 
 expressed a hope that that brave man would 
 not be forgotten, nor his friends, by the nation. 
 He left his friends as a legacy to the nation. 
 He (Col. Alexander) ascertained at length that 
 his father was living in Wexford ; he was eighty 
 years of age, in great want, and endeavouring 
 to sustain life by acting as a farm servant. He 
 trusted they would do honour to the memory 
 of that Christian soldier. Sir Henry Havelock, 
 
508 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 by seeking to carry out his wishes with refer- 
 ence to the father and friends of the brave 
 Kavaiiagh. 
 
 Mr. H. W. Todd proposed « The city of 
 Dublin, its trade and commerce." 
 
 " The Scottish Benevolent Society of St. 
 Andrew," and other toasts having been proposed 
 and responded to, the proceedings terminated. 
 
 Another dinner, to commemorate the cen- 
 tenary of the birthday of Burns, was held in 
 Jude's Royal Hotel, Grafton Street. At half- 
 past six o'clock upwards of 150 gentlemen sat 
 down to dinner, which was provided in capital 
 style by Mr. Jude. 
 
 The chair was occupied by Walter Irvine, 
 Esq. of HawicTj, and the vice?-chair by William 
 Keating Clay, Esq. 
 
 The cloth having been removed, ' and the 
 usual loyal toasts having been proposed and 
 drunk. 
 
 The Chairman proposed " The Lord Lieu- 
 tenant and Prosperity to Ireland." He could 
 not help remembering upon this occasion that 
 the Earl of Eglinton belonged to the ancient 
 and noble Scottish family of Montgomery, near 
 one of whose estates the poet, whose centenary 
 they were met to celebrate, was brought up. 
 They would remember his lordship in connec- 
 tion with the celebrated /ei« of 1844, and while 
 they drank his health as the representative of 
 her Majesty in this part of the empire, they 
 would also think of him as the chivalrous and 
 high-minded Scottish nobleman. (Cheers.) 
 
 The toast was drunk amid loud cheers. 
 
 The next toast was that of " The Army and 
 Navy," which was received with applause. 
 
 The Chairman now proposed the toast of the 
 evening — He said. Gentlemen — We are assem- 
 bled to-night to do honour to " The Memory 
 of Burns," and to speak and think gratefully of 
 him as the univer3.al benefactor of his kind. In 
 his noble, vigorous, and pathetic verses he has 
 left a grand endowment, not only to Scotch- 
 men, but to all mankind. He thought solemnly 
 and deeply, and so became an adept in the 
 study of human nature. As a poet, he purified 
 many indelicate ditties, and gave us wondrous 
 beauty instead of pollution. No song writer 
 has ever upheld nobler or better principles in 
 his lyrics. He taught the Scottish peasant 
 self-reliance, and animated by the power of 
 true genius, he stands upright and looks all 
 men in the face without a blush, exclaiming in 
 the language of his beloved bard, — 
 
 " Is there, for honest poverty, 
 
 That hangs his head and a' that? 
 The coward slave, we pass him by — 
 We dare be puir for a' that." 
 
 Grand principles are enunciated in these ani- 
 
 mated words. The world is not often favoured 
 with such " large utterances." Your own great 
 countryman, Edmund Burke, has given states- 
 men of all time imperishable political texts. 
 Next to Shakspeare, indeed, he is the most 
 suggestive of all English writers. I think he 
 remarked, " The end of all government is the 
 happiness of the people,"— a truth which all 
 statesmen should bear in perpetual remem- 
 brance. Burns was also a moral pliilosopher. 
 In this department he was as profound as in 
 his favourite province of lyrical poetry. To 
 justify this view, I need only refer you to the 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night," and the " Address 
 to a Young Friend." Every young man who 
 leaves his father's home to "try the world" 
 should keep that address very near his Bible. 
 The wholesome advices contained in this grand 
 homily are more valuable than many sermons. 
 The student may wade through many volumes 
 of learned philosophy, and not be able to cull 
 so much wisdom from their elaborate sections 
 as from the "Advice to a Young Friend." 
 Every young man ought to Ifearn it, and take 
 its truths to heart and practise them. Gen- 
 tlemen, let us now honour " The Memory of 
 Burns," reverentially and in silence, as becomes 
 the occasion. One hundred years after he 
 dawned on the world, and sixty-three years 
 after his sad life battle was closed, when his 
 bright eyes were prematurely quenched in 
 death, and while we do solemn honour to his 
 memory by silent respect, let us also rejoice in 
 his living works, and let us indicate our joy by 
 grateful applause after we have sung his natal 
 song. 
 
 The toast was drunk in impressive silence, 
 after which the song, " There was a Lad was 
 born in Kyle," was beautifully sung, the entire 
 company standing and joining in the chorus. 
 The song was followed by deafening rounds of 
 applause. 
 
 At this period of the evening a deputation 
 from the gentlemen who were holding the fes- 
 tival at the Antient Concert Rooms entered 
 the room. They, were received with loud 
 applause. 
 
 Alderman Carnegie, of Cork, stated that 
 they were deputed by the gentlemen who con- 
 stituted the other meeting held to celebrate 
 the Centenary of Burns, to visit their friends 
 now present, to ask them were they enjoying 
 themselves, and to bring the best wishes of 
 those dining at the Antient Concert Rooms for 
 the happiness of their evening. 
 
 The Chairman said that he was sure those 
 present would appreciate the kindly spirit of 
 good feeling which had prompted their friends 
 in the Antient Concert Rooms to send this 
 deputation. When they returned they might 
 
DUNDALK— LIMEKICK. 
 
 509 
 
 say that those dining in Jude's were enjoying 
 themselves, and that they reciprocated the kind 
 wishes which had been expressed by Mn Car- 
 negie. 
 
 The Chairman then briefly proposed "Moore 
 and the Poets of Ireland." 
 
 The toast was drunk amid enthusiasUic ap- 
 plause. 
 
 The Vioe-Chairman responded. He said: — 
 Irish poetry still found worthy representatives 
 in Samuel Ferguson, M'Carthy, and Lover. 
 But, however, among these, Moore must still 
 enjoy the pre-eminence that Burns did among 
 the poets of Scotland. He was an ardent 
 patriot as well as a graceful poet. It must be 
 admitted that Burns was the greater philosopher, 
 but still there were many points of comparison 
 and similarity between them, and they would 
 long be honoured and remembered as the great- 
 est of lyric poets. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 The Vice-Ghairman proposed "The Land o' 
 Cakes," which was enthusiastically received. 
 
 Mr. Henderson then gave " The Lasses." 
 
 The Chairman then proposed " The Land 
 we live in." 
 
 Mr. John Fbasbr, Barrister^at-Law, re- 
 sponded. He said : -^Though a Scotchman by 
 descent he could not forget he was an Irish- 
 man by birth, and he would maintain that in 
 genius, in poetry, eloquence, arts, and arms, 
 Ireland was not inferior to any other land on 
 the face of the earth. However, he would 
 rather speak as a subject of the British Empire, 
 and he should admit that while Ireland could 
 boast of her great men, and Scotland her 
 Burns, England might claim the two greatest 
 uninspired names — Shakspeare and Newton. 
 (Cheers.) Let them remember this, and while 
 proud of their great countrymen, let them feel 
 parlacular pride in the greatness and magnifi- 
 cence which the three countries as one empire 
 had attained. (Cheers.) 
 
 The toasts of '* Living Scottish Poets," and 
 " The Peasantry of Scotland," were proposed, 
 after which the proceedings terminated. 
 
 DUNDALK. — An interesting event took 
 place here in the laying of the foundation stone 
 of a handsome monument to be raised by public 
 subscription over tlie remains of William G-ault, 
 land-steward to the late Matthew Fortesoue, 
 Esq., and Agnes Burns, his wife, the eldest 
 sister of the Poet, who were both buried in 
 Dundalk churchyard. Major Jocelyn laid the 
 foundation stone. At six o'clock in the even- 
 ing about seventy gentlemen sat down to dinner 
 in the Market House. The Hon. Major Jocelyn 
 occupied the chair, supported on the right by 
 Chichester Fortesoue, Esq., M.P., and on the 
 left by Captain M'Neill and Eobert Macneill, 
 
 Esq., of BaUymascanlon. Mr. Eobert Woods, 
 of Stephenstown, acted as croupier. The toast 
 of the evening vras given by the Chairman in a 
 brief but appropriate address. 
 
 GOET. — Mr. Andrew Wallace, Gort, in 
 honour of Scotland's immortal Bard, invited all 
 his Scotch friends, and a few Irish ones, re- 
 siding in that handsome little town and 
 neighbourhood, to a private entertainment in 
 his own house. The chair was occupied by the 
 worthy host, who, after the . Queen and the 
 other loyal and patriotic toasts had been pro- 
 posed, gave in a very happy style the "Im- 
 mortal Memory of Eobert Burns," which was 
 received by the guests in the warmest manner. 
 Song — " Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon." 
 The toast of the " Music and Poetry of Ireland " 
 was replied to by Mr. John M'Glynn in very 
 eloquent terms, after which he sung with great 
 effect a song composed by himself for the oc- 
 casion. Various other appropriate toasts and 
 songs were given, and the evening passed laden 
 with delight to all present, while at its close all 
 heartily united in singing " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 LIMEEICK. — The commemoration of this 
 festival came off in the Theatre, Henry Street, 
 with great eclat. The house was beautifully 
 decorated — bannerets being suspended from 
 the boxes in a tasteful manner, and mottoes — 
 quotations from the works of Bums, encircled 
 with wreaths, were fixed in various parts around 
 the room. Behind the head table, a large col- 
 lection of plants, evergreens, orange trees, &c., 
 was displayed to much advantage, and over 
 the Croupier's chair Burns' arms were placed, 
 lighted overhead with a brilliant gas jet in the 
 shape of a star. 
 
 The company numbered about 140, and 
 every one of them will have a pleasing recollec- 
 tion of the happiness of such an entertainment. 
 — The utmost cordiality and good fellowship 
 prevailed throughout, and few public dinners 
 in Limerick have passed off so successfully as 
 the one in memory of Scotia's bard. The 
 dinner was supplied by Mr. John Moore, in a 
 manner that reflected credit on the cuisinage 
 of his establishment. The entertainment was 
 enlivened by music, sotigs, and glees, at in- 
 tervals. Mr. T. Bailey, of the Eoman Catholic 
 Cathedral, Cashel, presided at the piano. 
 
 The gentlemen who distinguished themselves 
 by vocal harmony, such as even few pro- 
 fessionals seldom surpassed in that temple of 
 
510 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAKY. 
 
 song, were Messrs. Syme, Robinson, Boyd, and 
 Bailey. 
 
 The arrangements of the stewards were ex- 
 cellent, — and these gentlemen were most unre- 
 mitting in their efforts to provide for the com- 
 forts of the company. 
 
 The entrance of our two city members was 
 greeted by loud and enthusiastic applause by 
 the entire audience. Shortly after six o'clock 
 the chair was taken by James Spaight, Esq., 
 M.P. To the right of the Chairman sat his 
 colleague, Eranois William Russell, Esq., M.P. 
 Among the other gentlemen at the head 
 table, were Rev. David Wilson, A. Murray, T. 
 G. Nairn, Alderman T. M'Donnell, W. D. 
 Joynt, L. Quinlivan, and W. Fitzgerald; Dr. 
 Gore, S. Bourchier, and W. Boyd, Esqrs. Mr. 
 Hogg performed the duties of croupier, and the 
 other tables were presided over by Messrs. J. 
 Fife, and G. W. Pragnell. Grace before, and 
 thanksgiving after the banquet, were said by 
 the Rev. D. Wilson. The Chairman proposed 
 " The Immortal Memory of Burns," in a speech 
 of great eloquence. At about eight o'clock, as 
 the toasts were about to commence, the boxes 
 were thrown open to the admission of ladies, 
 and they were soon filled by a galaxy of beauty, 
 such as Limerick alone could produce, — and 
 their presence added considerably to heighten 
 the charms of as gay and festive a scene as any 
 other centenary commemoration in the world 
 could show. 
 
 NEWRY. — A large party dined here on 
 Tuesday, under the chairmanship of James 
 M'George, Esq. ; Dr. Conner, and Joseph 
 Longham, Esq., acted as croupiers. The toast 
 of the evening was given from the chair. 
 
 TRALEE. — The admirers of the great 
 peasant Bard of Scotland having, as our readers 
 are already aware, determined to celebrate, by 
 social banquets, the centenary of the birth of 
 the immortal Burns, not alone throughout Scot- 
 land, England, and Ireland, but in every part 
 of the earth in which the language in which he 
 sang is understood — and where is the land 
 where its beauty and its music are not known 
 and felt? — the Scottish residents of Tralee, 
 joined by several of their fellow-citizens, met on 
 Tuesday evening at dinner in Benner's Great 
 Room. 
 
 At half-past six o'clock, between forty and 
 fifty gentlemen sat down to an abundant and 
 exceedingly well-served dinner, every man his 
 "pint-stoup" of excellent Sherry, and at the 
 
 close of the evening's entertainment a " wee 
 drappie " of something more " racy of the soil." 
 
 Mr. John Lumsden filled the chair, with 
 characteristic good humour and judgment. 
 
 Mr. William Lunham, to whose enterprise 
 our town and county owe so much, occupied 
 the vice-chair. 
 
 In the vicinity of the chair and vice-chair, 
 we noticed — The Worshipful Chancellor Swin- 
 delle, Messrs. John Egan, Edward Morphy, 
 Michael Kennelly, Edward Riordan, Joseph J. 
 O'Riordan, John De Courcy, (National Bank,) 
 James Pearson, (Provincial Bank,) Thomas 
 Hodgins, Thomas Morris, Edward Curry, 
 James Lumsden, Charles M'Carthy, William 
 Imrie, William Brick, George Johnston, Charles 
 Johnston, Francis M'Carthy, Alexander Suther- 
 land, John Moore, Adam M'Gregor, Adams 
 Benner, John M'AUum, Donald Sutherland, 
 Samuel Benner, David M'Gregor, George 
 
 Moore (firm of Donovan and Moore), 
 
 Jones, Dentist, &c. 
 
 Connor's excellent string band were in at- 
 tendance, and, just as the viands were being 
 cleared away, struck up " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 Dinner having been discussed. The Worship- 
 ful Chancellor Swindelle said grace. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts had 
 been duly given and responded to, the Chair- 
 man said : — It appears to me that 
 
 " Now's the day, and now's the hour," 
 
 to celebrate the centenary of the immortal 
 Scottish poet, Robert Burns. Thousands of 
 the countrymen and admirers of the genius of 
 that distinguished bard are assembled this even- 
 ing, like us, to commemorate his birth, to ad- 
 mire his genius, and to do homage to one of 
 the brightest stars that shine around the sun of 
 Shakspeare. (Loud cheers.) Burns was a poet 
 of nature — had a keen perception of its beau- 
 ties, and what he wrote was the pure offspring 
 of native genius. He tells us that the poetic 
 genius of his country found him as the pro- 
 phetic bard Elijah did Elisha at the plough, 
 and threw her inspiring mantle over him, and 
 bade him sing the loves, the joys, the rural 
 scenes and rural pleasures of his native soil in 
 his native tongue. (Cheers.) He was between 
 fifteen and seventeen when he first wrote poe- 
 try. Love was the mother of his muse. He 
 was early blessed with what was early blighted 
 — his love for Highland Mary. How tender 
 are his words — 
 
 " The golden hours on angel wings 
 Flew o'er me and my dearie, 
 For dear to me, as light and life, 
 Was my sweet Highland Mary." 
 
 Burns well deserves our homage, for, although 
 
TRALEE. 
 
 511 
 
 no statesman, warrior, architect, or engineer, 
 has he not benefited our race by expressions 
 of noble sentiment and of glorious thought ? 
 Has he not reconciled poverty to its hard lot, 
 and lightened the burden of care with his 
 music? Has he not, in strains unrivalled in 
 simplicity, and yet in fervid solemnity, por- 
 trayed "The Cottar's Saturday Night" — so 
 that by this immortal song he has for ever 
 sanctified the poor man's cot, and that by a 
 picture which genius, inspired by piety, could 
 alone have conceived? Has he not> poured the 
 patriotism of a Wallace and a Bruce, in lan- 
 guage which has immortalized alike the poet 
 and the warriors ? Burns loved the humblest 
 condition of humanity, and nobly and boldly 
 stood up for the independence of the class to 
 which he belonged-^ 
 
 " The rank is bat the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 Sentiments such as these stamp Burns as a 
 poet of the highest order ; and while we drink 
 in solemn silence to the memory of Burns, let 
 us think of the honour he has conferred on the 
 country that gave him birth, and of his world- 
 wide fame. " The Memory of Eobert Burns." 
 
 Drunk in solemn silence. 
 
 Air — " Bums' Farewell." 
 
 Mr. Joseph J. O'Riordan — ^Mr. Chairman 
 and Vice, I have now to propose, the next 
 toast: I ask you to drink in solemn silence, 
 " The Memory of Tom Moore." 
 
 Air-^" O blame not the Bard." 
 The Worshipful Chancellor SwiNDELiiE then 
 proposed, in a speech which drew down thun- 
 
 ders of applause, " The Land o' Cakes." There 
 could be, he said, no more suggestive toast than 
 "The Land o' Cakes." It indicated that, if 
 Scotland was not a land flowing with milk 
 and honey" — though the untiring industry of 
 Scotia's sons might be said to have made it 
 such — it was a land in which no man would be 
 permitted to beg his bread, or die of starva- 
 tion. It was emphatically, in this sense, a land 
 of cakes. The history of chivalry contained 
 no brighter page than that which recorded the 
 martial story of old Scotland. (Cheers.) Her 
 chivalrous loyalty, like that witnessed in our 
 own land, to a dynasty now happily passed 
 away, has afforded a glorious theme for the 
 historian, the novelist, and the poet. To have 
 been the birthplace of Burns is among not the 
 least of her glories. (Cheers.) The nursery 
 of arms and arts and sciences, each of her sons 
 may exclaim, in the words of the immortal 
 bard of Mantua, 
 
 " Quse regie in terris nostri non plena laboris." 
 
 (Cheers.) After some further observations, the 
 rev. gentlemen concluded by giving " The Land 
 o' Cakes." (Great cheering.) 
 Air — " Soots wha hae." 
 
 The festivities were continued till after 
 twelve, having been enlivened by several inci- 
 dental toasts, speeches, and songs. 
 
 The Chairman, before vacating the chair, 
 gave the health of their worthy host and hostess 
 (Mr. and Mrs. Benner), whose excellent enter- 
 tainment and arrangements had contributed so 
 much to the comfort of the evening. 
 
COLONIES. 
 
 ABERFOYLE, Canada West.— The an- 
 niversary was celebrated by a supper, attended 
 by a party of about thirty persons, — Mr. John 
 Cockburn, chairman ; Mr. , K. M'Kenzie, vice ; 
 and Mr. John Black, croupier. 
 
 AYK, C. W. — The dinner was highly suc- 
 cessful. Upwards of 150 persons were present. 
 Mr. William Kay occupied the chair, supported 
 on the right by Dr. Caw, and on the left by 
 Joseph Kilgour, senior, Esq. The vice-chair 
 was filled by Mr. Alison. 
 
 BATHUKST, N. B.— The centennial birth- 
 day of the peasant poet was celebrated in 
 Bathurst with all the honours. Thirty gentle- 
 men, including many of the prominent inhabi- 
 tants of the place, sat down to supper. Wm. 
 Napier, Esq., presided, and John Ferguson, 
 Theophilus Des Brisay, and Matthew Car- 
 ruthers, Esqs., officiated as vice-presidents. 
 
 BELLEVILLE, C. W.— The anniversary 
 was celebrated with becoming honour by the 
 Scotchmen of Belleville and vicinity. Others, 
 admirers of the genius of Burns, who claim not 
 the land of the "heather and the braes," as the 
 home of their nativity, joined heartily in the 
 festivities of the day. The special feature of 
 the day was a sleigh-ride, consisting of over 
 sixty sleighs and cutters. In the procession 
 was a rustic-looking habitation, mounted on 
 runners, intended as a representation of Burns' 
 cot. It was constructed chiefly of evergreen 
 and twisted hay, and presented a very attrac- 
 tive appearance. The festival at the Dafoe 
 House, in the evening, was a grand affair. 
 The large dining hall was crowded to excess, 
 and a considerable number were unable to 
 obtain admittance. There could not have 
 been less than 400 present, among which were 
 the beauty and SUte of the town. 
 
 George Neilsdn, Esq., President, took the 
 chair, and opened the evening's entertainment 
 by a brief reference to the poets and heroes of 
 Scotland, among whom stood pre-eminent him 
 to whose memory they had assembled to do 
 honour. The oration of the evening was made 
 by Mr. Burdon, Principal of the Grammar 
 School. 
 
 The meeting was also addressed by the Rev. 
 Mr. Clunie and others. The speeches were 
 interspersed with a number of Scottish songs, 
 and the proceedings terminated with a ball, 
 which was kept up till morning. 
 
 BOMBAY, E. I. — The demonstration in 
 Bombay, in honour of Burns, was all that could 
 be desired. Nowrozjee Ardaseer Davur, Esq., 
 kindly lent his splendid mansion at Tardeo for 
 the occasion ; and a more magnificent ball- 
 room than it contained could not have been 
 procured. The grounds were brilliantly lighted 
 up, while the interior was one mass of splen- 
 dour. The company began to assemble at 
 about half- past eight; and at nine, dancing 
 commenced with great spirit, which was vi- 
 gorously sustained until twelve o'clock, at 
 which hour all adjourned to supper. Upwards 
 of two hundred and fifty ladies and gentlemen 
 sat down to a table laden with every delicacy 
 of the season ; and so laid out with fruit, 
 flowers, and lustres, that the scene seemed one 
 of enchantment rather than of reality. The 
 champagne and other wines were iced to a 
 second ; and the music of cork-drawing told 
 how well they were appreciated. 
 
 After ample justice had been done to the 
 viands, the toasts next claimed attention. 
 
 Right Worshipful Brother Crawford, (Man- 
 ager of the Bombay Steam Navigation Com- 
 pany), Master of Lodge " Perseverance," and 
 Right Worshipful Brother Cartwright, (Leckie 
 & Co.), Provincial Grand Master of Western 
 India, gave the usual loyal Masonic toasts 
 and responses: after which Right Worshipful 
 Brother George Craig, Editor of the Telegraph 
 and Courier newspaper, rose and gave the 
 
BRANTFORD— DUNVILLE. 
 
 513 
 
 toast of the evening. He said : — The toast 
 which I have been asked to propose is one, to 
 whicli both the lateness of the hour and the 
 festivity of the evening will prevent me doing 
 justice. We must not forget that, however 
 alluring the deity of song may be, we have 
 assembled to-night to do honour to the poetess 
 of motion. But my toast is happily one which 
 requires neither an encroachment upon plea- 
 sure, the pomp of language, nor the splendour 
 of eloquence ; and its best response is silence ! 
 
 The memory I would recall — the shade I 
 would invoke, is that of Robert Burns — the 
 poet, the mason, and the man ! Yesterday was 
 the centenary of his birth, and the sympathies 
 of the civilized world vibrated at the mere 
 mention of his name. 
 
 By an accident we have been obliged to 
 celebrate his nativity to-night instead of yes- 
 ternight ; but the enthusiastic and happy faces 
 I see around me are a stifflcient guarantee that 
 our worship at the shrine of Burns, although 
 late, will nevertheless be accepted. 
 
 I need not here dilate upon his high attain- 
 ments, his rare genius, and his matchless wit ; 
 they are known wherever a taste for the beau- 
 tiful is cultivated. I shall, therefore, sum up 
 his virtues and his failings in the immortal 
 words of the Poet of all time, — 
 
 " He was a man, take him for all in all, 
 We shall not look upon his like again." 
 
 The toast, "The Memory of Burns," was 
 drank amidst solemn silence ; and it seemed to 
 be regretted that the lateness of the hour pre- 
 vented the speaker from enlarging upon such a 
 fruitful theme. 
 
 Right Worshipful Brother R. B. Barton, 
 Barrister -at -Law, Brother John Macfarlane, 
 Solicitor, and James Berkley, Esq., Resident 
 Engineer of the Great Indian Peninsula Rail- 
 way, proposed and responded to, in neat Snd 
 appropriate speeches, " The Ladies," " Our 
 Guests," and the other toasts usual upon such 
 occasions. 
 
 Right Worshipful Brother Cartwright gave 
 the final toast of the evening — " To all Poor 
 and Pistressed Masons wherever they may bej 
 and may they speedily find relief." 
 
 This toast, as is customary amongst Masons, 
 was also drank in silence ; after which the 
 supper-party broke up and repaired to the ball- 
 room, where dancing was recommenced, and 
 kept up with great spirit until after gunfire. 
 
 "Sir Roger de Coverly" terminated the 
 amusements of the evening ; and it has been 
 universally admitted that a mofe pleasing or 
 more successful demonstration than the Burns 
 Centenary Masonic Ball was never witnessed 
 in Bombay. 
 
 BRANTFORD, C. W.— The day was cele- 
 brated at this place by a large supper-party. 
 Nearly 300 ladies and gentlemen sat down at 
 the table. Allan Cleghorn, Esq., President of 
 the St. Andrew's Society, took the chair, and 
 Messrs. Botham, Greer, Clement, and Hen- 
 wood acted as croupiers. The Rev. J. Young 
 replied in an able speech to the toast of the 
 evening, and numerous excellent speeches fol- 
 lowed. 
 
 CHATHAM, C. W.— About 200 sat down 
 to dinner. Dr. Robertson acting as President, 
 and A.M'KelIar,Esq.,M.P.P,, as Vice-President. 
 The principal speakers were Mr. George Jamie- 
 son, Principal of the Grammar School of Kent, 
 Mr. M'Sween, assistant in that institution, 
 Walter M'Crea, Mayor of Chatham, Dr. Cross, 
 George Duck, Esq., Mr. W. M'Kenzie Ross, 
 and Mr. J. W. Rose, of the Advertiser. A 
 ball, in which some 100 couples joined, was 
 kept up with great spirit until morning. 
 
 CHATHAM, MiEAMiCHi, N. B. — The 
 Burns Ccntenafy Festival, under the auspices 
 of the Highland Society, took place at Bowser's 
 Hotel, and for years to come will the happy 
 hours of festive mirth then spent be remem- 
 bered by those who assembled there that night. 
 
 CLINTON, C. W.— The occasion was cele- 
 brated in Clinton by a procession and ball. 
 The procession, which was by torch-light, was 
 heade4 by th^ee stalwart pipers in Highland 
 costume. 
 
 DOWNIE, C. W.— Mr. Jariies Simpson, of 
 Downie, invited a number of his friends and 
 neighbours to his house, on the 25th, to do 
 honour to the memory of the poet, 
 
 DUNDAS, C. W.— A dinner took place on 
 the occasion at Riley's Hotel, at which were 
 present about 70 Scotchmen, accompanied by 
 English, Irish, Canadian, and American friends. 
 The meeting was one of the most pleasant that 
 ever came off in the town of Dundas, and the 
 proceedings gave unmixed satisfaction to all 
 who were present. 
 
 DUNVILLE, C. W.— This testimonial came 
 off in Boswell Hall, where a very large party 
 sat down to dinner at eight o'clock, spread 
 by Mr. Mitchell. The company numbered 
 about 100. The address of the President, A. 
 2 K 
 
514 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 M'Donald Lookhart, Esq., was very appro- 
 priate. 
 
 ELORA, C. W.— The admirers of Burns 
 met in Bain's Commercial Hotel, to celebrate 
 the centennial birthday of the ploughman bard. 
 About fifty gentlemen sat down to supper — 
 Dr. Finlayson in the chair, and Mr. Philips 
 vice-chairman. 
 
 FERGUS, C. W.— The Eergus Division of 
 Sons of Temperance held a soiree, which was 
 attended with a degree of success unprece- 
 dented on any similar occasion in the village. 
 
 FEEDERICTON, N. B. — About sixty 
 gentlemen honoured the memory of Robert 
 Burns, on the evening of the 25th, by dining 
 together at Mr. Whelpley's Hotel. Dr. Robb 
 occupied the chair ; and the dinner and its 
 associations passed off as well as possible. 
 
 GALT, C. W.— With a promptitude which 
 only intense admiration of the man and his 
 works could stimulate, the inhabitants of Gait, 
 and all parts of Dumfiies, assembled to the 
 number of a thousand or twelve hundred, ladies 
 as well as gentlemen, in the Town Hall, to do 
 honour to the memory of Robert Burns. These 
 sentiments consisted of recitations from the 
 Poet's works ; some of his sweetest, most pa- 
 triotic, and manly songs ; addresses from 
 gentlemen of well-known ability ; music from 
 the Gait band ; singing by the Gait Philhar- 
 monic Society ; and exquisite music from the 
 piano, at which Mr. Veit presided. 
 
 GEELONG.— The festival celebrative of the 
 hundredth anniversary of the birth of Burns 
 was observed in the Mechanics' Institute Hall 
 by 120 admirers of Scotia's bard. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Fife occupied the chair. 
 
 The viee-ohair was occupied by Mr. H. S. 
 Wills, M.L.A. Mr. John Bell, M.L.A., and 
 Mr. John Calvert officiated as croupiers. On 
 the immediate right and left of the Chairman 
 were the Rev. Andrew Lowe, Mr. Wm. Stra- 
 chan, Mr. A. C. Macdonald, and Mr. William 
 Eraser. 
 
 After the usual preliminary toasts, 
 
 The Chairman called upon all guests to fill 
 their glasses, preparatory to the toast of the 
 evening. He felt it a great honour for a Scotch- 
 man some sixteen thousand miles away from 
 
 the land of his birth to have it in his power to 
 say a hundred years after the birth of their il- 
 lustrious poet that he had had it in his power 
 to preside over a meeting like that. The oc- 
 casion was no doubt equally gratifying to others 
 who were not Scotchmen, but admirers of 
 Burns. They might live another century, and 
 not see another man like Burns. He did not 
 approach this toast with levity. In Burns they 
 found a man of the people, a man to whom the 
 people of Scotland and England had done jus- 
 tice after they had lost him. On the day of 
 his death there was many a stalwart ej'e shed 
 tears. He would leave it with the gentleman 
 who was intrusted with tlie response to the 
 toast to deal more at large with the subject. 
 He would call upon the guests to drink to the 
 memory of Burns in solemn silence. 
 
 The toast was drunk accordingly. 
 
 Band—" The Land of the Leal." 
 
 The Rev. Andrew Love responded to the 
 toast in a speech at the same time pleasant and 
 pathetic. He said he had come from a sick 
 room which he ought not except on such an 
 occasion to have quitted. It would be ungra- 
 cious and ungrateful in him to say that he had 
 undertaken this task unwillingly ; although 
 when he was a boy he could better have quoted 
 the poetry of Burns than his present memory 
 and strength would enable him to do. No 
 doubt they were all aware that some years ago 
 a person of his profession would have felt it an 
 insult to be asked to be present on such an oc- 
 casion ; but that time had passed. He felt it 
 a high honour to be placed in the position he 
 then occupied. As a boy he had often by 
 "Bonnie Doon" read by stealth the poems of 
 Burns, and many a boy had had the book under 
 his pillow in preference to his " Shorter Cate- 
 chism." (Laughter and cheers.) Burns was 
 the one prohibited book to all who would boast 
 of orthodoxy and virtue. To find a copy of 
 Burns beside the " big ha' Bible" of any family 
 was sufficient in the estimation of canting 
 zealots to stamp that family with all the sweep- 
 ing condemnation of a " Holy Willie," or an 
 unbeliever. This was among the "unco gude" 
 of Scotland in that day, and this arose chiefly 
 from the irregularities of the man and the free- 
 ness and keenness of his satirical attacks on 
 every species of bigotry and superstition which 
 were prevalent in Scotland in the days of 
 Burns, and to some extent in his own younger 
 days also. The supposed looseness of his 
 morals and his irregular habits must ever 
 be regretted, yet if Burns had been of a more 
 sober and staid disposition, less convivial, less 
 impulsive and impassioned under the influence 
 of social companionship, the world never would 
 have witnessed some of his most bewitching 
 
GUELPH— HALIFAX. 
 
 515 
 
 and exquisite pieces, which liad raised him to 
 the very liighest place among the poets of Scot- 
 land, and to a position of equality in all that 
 constitutes true genius with the poets of any 
 land. But Burns, the man, had passed away. 
 Burns, the poet, remained. Let them hope 
 that his words were prophetic when he sung so 
 sweetly and so hopefully of the " Land of the 
 leal." Mr. Love then spoke of the humorous, 
 pathetic, and descriptive talent of Burns, illus- 
 trating each by quotations given with great 
 zest, and which were heartily applauded by the 
 audience. 
 
 Sundry other toasts were drunk and re- 
 sponded to, and much harmony indulged in, 
 after which the meeting gradually broke up. 
 
 GUELPH, C. W.— Such was the interest 
 felt in the occasion, that work was to a great 
 extent suspended in this locality. A goodly 
 number of the poet's countrymen arrived in 
 town during the day from the villages in the 
 district, some of them travelling ten, twenty, 
 or thirty miles, to assist in honouring the 
 memory of the bard. Great difficulty was ex- 
 perienced by the committee on account of the 
 comparative smallness of the Town Hall, the 
 only suitable room in the town. The hall is 
 only capable of accommodating about three 
 hundred, whereas thei-e were nearly twice that 
 number of applications for tickets ; and the de- 
 sire of the committee to accommodate as many 
 as possible caused unavoidable crowding. At 
 the appointed hour the hall was completely 
 filled, about one-third of the company being 
 ladies. A. J. Eergusson, Esq., paid an elo- 
 quent tribute to the memory of the poet. A 
 " Scotch " concert followed, which gave gene- 
 ral satisfaction. Between the parts the Rifle 
 band played some excellent music. An original 
 poem composed by Mr. Alexander M'Lachlan, 
 was read by Mr. James Gow, after which the 
 company adjourned to the refreshment-i-oom, 
 and dancing was subsequently commenced, and 
 kept up till the following morning. 
 
 HALIFAX, Nova. Scotia.— Yesteraa;y was 
 a magnificent day. At early morn, looking 
 eastward, the hazy atmosphere, tinged with the 
 rays of the great luminary behind, seemed 
 figurative of the occasion about to be celebrated. 
 Later in the day the more direct rays of 
 heaven's great orb shone forth in its effulgence, 
 dispersing the hazy veil around. — So, as the 
 day wore on, were the lesser lights and thoughts 
 of those about us forgotten in the magic power 
 and genius of him who was personified so well 
 by the orator of the day. 
 
 Displays of flags, in various directions, were 
 floating in the air, — and at every turn animated 
 Scotchmen might be seen, denoting by their 
 smiles, the pleasure experienced at the prepara- 
 tions being made to honour the memory of their 
 favourite countryman. 
 
 Between one and two o'clock ladies and gen- 
 tlemen might be seen moving towards Temper- 
 ance Hall, which was, very judiciously, first 
 opened to the ladies, who filled the gallery and 
 wings — presenting a magnificent picture. 
 
 Shortly after two o'clock the North British 
 and Highland Societies, who had assembled at 
 Masonic Hall, marshalled by Mr. Wm. Grant, 
 moved off to the strains of the Highland pipes, 
 towards Temperance Hall, passing through 
 Granville Street. Prominent in the procession 
 were the rich banners of the Societies, the High- 
 land dresses of several of the members and two 
 or three wee laddies, and the Orator of the Day 
 amid the gaily decorated office-bearers of the 
 Society. Arriving at the Hall the platform was 
 filled by prominent leaders of the Societies and 
 leading citizens ; in the centre the Red Lion of 
 Scotland was held by Mr. Thomas Hume, sup- 
 ported on either side by Messrs. James Wallace 
 and John P. Muir, and the wee lads, all in 
 Highland costume, — the venerable Chief Justice 
 occupying tl»e chair.. While the procession 
 were being seated, the band of the 62d Regt., 
 who were stationed in the gallery, played a 
 lively Scotch air. 
 
 The Chairman observed, that just one hun- 
 dred years ago, in a humble village of Ayrshire, 
 Robert Burns was born. He said he could not 
 wonder why Scotchmen delight in honouring 
 the name of the poet, when they remembered 
 his " Cottar's Saturday Night " and his efforts 
 to elevate the peasantry of Scotland. He was 
 proud, he said, as a member of the North 
 British Society, to preside on the present occa- 
 sion. Without further remark, he said he had 
 much pleasure in introducing the Hon. William 
 Young, th« orator for the day. This announce- 
 ment was received with hearty expressions of 
 ilpplause; 
 
 The Hon. William Young said — Mr. Chair- 
 man, Ladies and Gentlemen — When the mar- 
 shal just now requested the band to play a 
 Scottish tune, and stated by a slip of the tongue 
 that presently you would have something better, 
 he volunteered a promise which it is impossible 
 to fulfil — for what voice, however eloquent or 
 inspired, could surpass the Scottish muse? 
 (Cheers.) 
 
 By an unanimous vote of the General Com- 
 mittee, it was determined that besides the ban- 
 quet in the evening, which will probably be 
 one of the most brilliant affairs ever witnessed 
 in the Province, an oration should be delivered 
 
516 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 in this place upon the genius and character of 
 Burns, so as to give scope for a more critical 
 ^nd elaborate review of his writings than would 
 otherwise have been possible, and to admit the 
 fairer sex to a share in the festivities of the day, 
 from which they would else have been ex- 
 cluded. 
 
 It was also unanimously decided that I should 
 deliver this oration, a respoeslble but agreeable 
 duty, and which I cannot but accoimt the high- 
 est compliment ever paid me by the partiality 
 of my countrymen. (Cheers.) 
 
 It is a gratifying circumstance that the chair 
 is filled by the venerable Chief Justige — .the 
 head of my own profession — at the great age of 
 eighty-four, with his aiFections still warm and 
 his intellect undimmed, a living impersonation 
 of the integrity and purity of the administra- 
 tion of the law. Perhaps on this occasion I 
 may be permitted to gay that it is not impossi- 
 ble that the Scottish blood which circulates in 
 his veins may have contributed to the formation 
 of those estimable and sterling qualities which 
 illustrate and adorn his character. (Cheers.) 
 
 In glancing my eye over this brilliant ^a/ferre, 
 it is gratifying to find that the ladies have 
 assembled in such force — for, after all, what 
 would an oration be, and more especiiiUy an 
 oration on Burns, the very poet of love, were it 
 ipot hailed and illuminated by female smiles ? — 
 (Loud cheers.) To a Scotchman, and, as I have 
 reason to think, to a Nova Scotian^ as well as a 
 Scotchman, the very pr.esejjee of the sex is an 
 inspiration, and kindles his imagination into a 
 warmer and tenderer glow. (Renewed cheers.) 
 I think also that the General Committer has 
 been happily compounded — all shades of opinion 
 are there — and party differences, by common 
 consent, are for a time forgotten. The extreme 
 Liberal and the extreme Conservative are beside 
 me. Her Majesty's government and her Ma- 
 jesty's opposition are duly represented. I see my 
 honourable friend, the Receiver General, indulg- 
 ing in a laugh with a liberal committeeman, and 
 am inclined to think that he has n(?t appeared 
 to such advantage or enjoyed himself half so 
 much at any time these two years as duf ing the 
 last fortnight wliile he has been under my 
 fatherly care, 
 
 But this celebration is marked by a grander 
 and more distinctive feature. Where in the his- 
 tory of the world was ever such ovation paid as 
 this day to the memory of Burns ? In every 
 quarter of the globe, wherever the Scottish race 
 has penetrated, we may be assured that they 
 are now assembled to do honour to their national 
 poet. The most distinguished literary men of 
 the mother country and America, without dis- 
 tinction of origin, will contribute their finest 
 talents to raise one universal song of praise, 
 
 which will ascend from every corner of the 
 earth. The countrymen of Burns, to be sure, 
 as is natural and proper, lead the way, but they 
 carry with them the sympathy and approval of 
 all educated men. Here is true fame! — an 
 earnest of the spirit, which is every day more 
 and more developed, and overlooking the old 
 and factitious distinctions, awards the highest 
 place to intellect and genius. 
 
 And as Scotland, thus glorying in her son, 
 has largely participated in the progress of the 
 age. The Duke of Argyle, in a speech recently 
 delivered in Dundee, shows how wonderfully 
 she has advanced during the last century in all 
 the elements of wealth and civilization, to a 
 degree, indeed, that is scarcely exceeded by the 
 Canadas or the Western States. Cobbett, who, 
 it must be admitted, whatever his faults may 
 have been, was a keen observer, and one of the 
 most racy and idiomatic writers in our tongue, 
 full of English prejudices against Scotland, was 
 tempted to visit the rich straths and valley of 
 the Clyde, and in a sketch which he has given 
 of his journey, recants all his old opinions,^- 
 and paints with fervid eloquence the beauty of 
 the river — the exquisite and varied scenery, and 
 the evidences everywhere apparent of improve- 
 ment and wealth. 
 
 Some ten or twelve years ago, while in the 
 North of Scotland, after enjoying the sunrise 
 and the whirring of the black-cock from among 
 the heather on the top of Birnam Hill, I pro- 
 ceeded jthrough the pass of Killicrankie — famous 
 for the fall of Dundee — the Claverhouse of 
 Scott — and was astonished to find in that re- 
 mote region a skilful and scientific agriculture 
 — cottages embowered with the eglantine and 
 the rose — hotels with all the modern appliances 
 — and symptoms of a refined and progressive 
 people. 
 
 With such a country it is not to be wondered 
 at that Scotland takes such a strong hold of the 
 affections of her sons, and that the Scottish en- 
 thusiasm is aroused on a day like this. 
 
 It will be necessary, in order to understand 
 the character and position of Burns, to take 
 a rapid glance at the literature of his country. 
 
 The literary history of Scotland previous to 
 the days of Burns presents some remarkable 
 features. In the days of the early James' she 
 produced a body of men not inferior to the 
 leading minds of the Southern kingdom, — but 
 after the transfer of the court to London, and 
 the withdrawal of the nobility, the spirit of the 
 nation seemed to be paralyzed, and in the long 
 interval of nearly two centuries— -from Bu- 
 chanan to Hume — there was scarcely one dis- 
 tinguished writer to be found in her literary 
 annals. The country, torn by dissensions, and 
 agitated by the rebellions of 1715 and 1745, 
 
HALIFAX. 
 
 617 
 
 seemed at one time as if she were about to lose 
 her ancient manly spirit, and sink into a pro- 
 vince. But the native character of the people 
 received a new impulse, and Scotland, in the 
 words of her own poet — 
 
 " Oome, firm resolve, take thou the van, 
 Thou stalk of oarl-bemp in man," — 
 
 assumed fresh courage, and asserted her inde- 
 pendence. It was then that a galaxy of emi- 
 nent men sprang up. 
 
 Dr. Robertson's History of Scotland ap- 
 peared in 1754 — Hume's England at the same 
 period — and a few years later, Adam Smith 
 published his celebrated Wealth of Nations, 
 which laid the foundation of the modern science 
 of political economy. Of this celebrated book. 
 Buckle, in his late fascinating and brilliant, 
 but somewhat dangerous work, does not hesi- 
 tate to say, that it has oj^erted a larger influ- 
 ence on public opinion and the destinies of 
 mankind, than all the legislation of the Im- 
 perial Parliament. Dugald Stewart, too, had 
 just entered upon his course of metaphysical 
 enquiry — and the intellect of the country, 
 although somewhat tainted with foreign ad-' 
 mixture, was everywhere reviving and expand- 
 ing, when suddenly there arose a great national 
 poet from the very midst of the people. 
 
 As the ballads of a country are the ground- 
 work of its historical knowledge, so the man 
 who has the genius to write its songs, exercises 
 an influence oftentimes superior to its legislators. 
 God save the Queen and Eule Britannia excite 
 an enthusiasm which an act of Parliament can- 
 not, and the Song of the Shirt has drawn forth 
 sympathetic tears and touched the finest emo- 
 tions of the heart. Poetry to be effective must 
 be true to nature, and awaken a correspond- 
 ing echo in the hearts of the people. Now 
 the poetry of Burns was eminently true and 
 eminently national. He was touched by an 
 enthusiastic love of his country, and his country 
 has passionately returned his love. All hail 
 then to the birth of Eobert Burns, the poet of 
 Scotland, the poet of all time. 
 
 Robert Chambers, in his recent biography,- 
 styles liinj " the great peasant." Professor Wil- 
 son desdribes him as the greatest poet who has 
 ever sprung from the bosom of the people. 
 But it is injustice to him to consider him 
 merely as a prodigy. Had he been nothing 
 else, he had long since been forgotten. His 
 claims to intellectual distinction are independ- 
 ent of his birth. Nature herself stamped on 
 his ample brow the seal of a rare and original 
 genius. 
 
 There is nothing more striking in literary 
 history than his sudden appearance — a dark- 
 browed, manly, independent thinker — in the 
 
 literary coteries of Edinburgh, where he con- 
 tended on equal terms with the highest — dis- 
 solved them by his pathos into tears, or over- 
 whelmed them with floods of merriment. Yet 
 he was not intoxicated by the draught, and 
 when his bubble of fame was in the zenith, he 
 saw the reverse which was too sure to follow. 
 Johnson, the great moralist of England, after 
 producing his London — a satire in its power of 
 expression, knowledge of life and character, and 
 true poetry, scarce inferior to Juvenal — wan- 
 dered about the streets of the metropolis for days 
 in want of food. The neglect and privations 
 then of Burns were not peculiar to Scotland. 
 He derived his enjoyments from other than ex- 
 ternal sources, or as he himself expressed it — 
 
 " It's no in titles nor in rank; 
 It's no in wealth like Lon'on bank. 
 
 To purchase peace and rest; 
 It's no in makin' muckle mair; 
 Its no in books, its no in lear. 
 
 To make us truly blest; 
 
 If happiness hae not her seat 
 
 And centre in the breast, 
 We may be wise, or rich, or great, 
 
 But never can be blest." 
 
 With hard fortune then, but with a stout 
 heart, and calm content in his peasant home, 
 our poet cultivated the seeds of poetry and na- 
 tional feeling. He teLs us that Blind Harry's 
 Life of Wallace was his first book. This fa- 
 vourite poet of the Scottish i>easant he devoured 
 with patriotic ardour. " It poured," he said, 
 " a tide of Scottish prejudice in my veins which 
 will boil along there till the floodgates of life 
 shut in eternal rest." 
 
 The vision of Mirza and the Hymns of Ad- 
 dison, some dramas of Shakspearej Pope's 
 Homer, Locke on the Human Understanding, 
 were among his earliest studies. 
 
 The man who could master these, and appre- 
 ciate them, was no vulgar peasant. Above all, 
 he was familiar with his Bible, and drew in- 
 spiration from the fervid devotion of the Psalms, 
 and the sublime eloquence of Job and Isaiah. 
 
 Burns' favourite book, however, was a collec- 
 tion of Scottish songs and ballads. It was his 
 vade meoum and his companion^— he conned 
 them over line by line till they became hiS fa- 
 miliar friends, and he taught himself how to 
 distinguish the true pathetic and sublime from 
 affectation and fustian. Like Scott, too, his 
 imagination in early youth was fed from the 
 old superstitions and ballads of his country. 
 An old woman in the family had an immense 
 store of them. His mother was well versed in 
 this favourite literature of the peasantry, and 
 Jean, his wife — ^like the old woman of Moliere 
 — with her native wood-notes wild — sang every 
 song as he composed it, and married his im- 
 
518 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENAKY. 
 
 mortal verse to the favourite airs of his country. 
 He was fired, too, with a lofty ambition — to 
 use his own fine and characteristic image — like 
 the groping of Homer's Cyclops round the cave, 
 he cherished the eager desire which he has 
 poured forth in verse — 
 
 "Even then a wish, — I mind its power, — 
 A wish tliat to my latest hour 
 
 Shall strongly heave my breast, 
 That I, for puir auld Scotland's sake. 
 Some usefu' plan or beuk could make. 
 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 But he sought greatness by identifying him- 
 self with the people. He looked upon rural 
 life not through "the aerial veil of imagina- 
 tion," but in its reality^ — hallowed and warmed 
 with a poetic glow. He felt the power of na- 
 ture and aspired to be her poet. 
 
 " I have some favourite flowers,'' said he, 
 " in spring, among which are the mountain 
 daisy, the harebell, the foxglove, the wild-brier 
 rose, the budding birch, and the hoary hawthorn 
 that I view and hang over with particular de- 
 light. I never hear the loud solitary whistle of 
 the curlew in a summer noon, or the wild mix- 
 ing cadence of a troop of gray plovers in an 
 autumnal morning, without feeling an elevation 
 of soul like the enthusiasm of devotion or 
 poetry. Tell me, my dear friend, to what can 
 all this be owing ? Are we a piece of machinery 
 which, like the jEolian Harp, passive, takes the 
 impression of the passing accident? Or do 
 these workings argue something within us above 
 the trodden clod ? I own myself partial to 
 such proofs of those awful and important re- 
 alities; a God that made all things — man's im- 
 material and immortal nature — and a world of 
 weal or woe beyond death and the grave." 
 
 Thus it was that he communed with nature, 
 both in her external aspects and her immaterial 
 essence, till at length every phase of passion, 
 from the wildest gust that thrills along the 
 strings, and wakes to ecstacy the living lyre — 
 from the sublime ardour of the patriot, roused 
 to defend his country — to the softest breath- 
 ings of the most delicious of the passions, found 
 its exponent and interpreter in Burns. His 
 famous war ode, " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace 
 bled," — the noblest and most stirring ever 
 written by man, and which has nerved many a 
 Highland regiment as they rushed with the far- 
 sounding cheer into the thickest of the battle — 
 he composed amidst the fiercest turmoil of the 
 elements, while the poet felt the inspiration, 
 and thoughts, imagery, and feelings came rush- 
 ing upon him during the storm, "firm" as the 
 measured tread of marching men. 
 
 " It was his delight, he tells us, to wander 
 alone on the banks of the Ayr, whose stream is 
 now immortal, and to listen to the song of 
 
 the blackbird at the close of the summer's day. 
 But still greater was his pleasure in walking on 
 the sheltered side of a wood, in a cloudy winter 
 day, and hearing the storm rave among the 
 trees; and more elevated still his delight to 
 ascend some eminence dui'ing the agitations of 
 nature, to stride along its summit, while the 
 lightning flashed around him, and, amidst the 
 bowlings of the tempest, to apostrophize the 
 spirit of the storm. Such situations lie declares 
 most favourable to devotaon — ' Wrapt in en- 
 thusiasm, I seem to ascend towards Him who 
 walks on the wings of the wind.' " 
 
 It was his pleiisure, too, and his good fortune, 
 to cultivate the provincial dialect of his country 
 — a dialect not mean and vulgar, like that of 
 some distant county, but the language of a 
 cultivated people and of polite life — full of a 
 wild, warbling cadence, and, in the mouth of an 
 accomplished woman, the most delicious music 
 in the world. 
 
 " He woo'd each maiden in song," — 
 
 as Wilson finely says — "that will, as long as 
 our Doric dialect is breathed in beauty's ears, 
 be murmured close to the cheek of innocence, 
 trembling in the arms of passion." 
 
 But it is said that Burns sang too seducingly 
 the praises of " John Barleycorn." True it is 
 he said — 
 
 " That if you do but taste his blood, 
 'Twill make your courage rise." 
 
 True it is, that of his favourite hero he said — 
 
 " Wi' just a drappie in his e'e, 
 He was nae fou, but just had plenty." 
 
 And that Burns occasionally may have resem- 
 bled the hero he depicted, — but it is equally 
 true that he was never seen intoxicated in 
 Dumfries, and that he loved " the social crack," 
 and the company far better than the drink — 
 and if the truth must be told, the lawyers of 
 Edinburgh — "the noblesse of the robe," as 
 they were styled with their high jinks, which 
 Scott has immortalized in his Guy Mannering 
 — were more to blame for the example they set 
 than the peasant poet. While, as to the clergy, 
 Professor Wilson testifies that he has heard — 
 " Willie brewed a peck o' maut," sung with 
 great unction and success at Presbytery din- 
 ners — ^but surely this was a libel on the Kirk. 
 A much more serious charge affects the religious 
 convictions of our poet. " Offended conven- 
 tionalities," as Chambers expresses it, " brood- 
 ed and whispered over his grave," and it must 
 be confessed that occasionally over his poems 
 there is cast a levity of expression, not at all 
 in accordance with the purer and more refined 
 taste of the present age. Let us recollect, 
 
HALIFAX. 
 
 519 
 
 however, that we must try him by the standard 
 of his own time, and not by ours. His wildest 
 wit, says Gray, was never tainted by indecency. 
 Lord Cocliburn, the biographer of Jeffrey, in 
 his recent most amusing and graphic memorials 
 of his own time, describes a laxity of expression 
 and usages, in the clergy and the ladies of that 
 age, not inconsistent with genuine piety and 
 refinement as then understood, but which would 
 be shocking to us now. Some of the verses in 
 " Holy Willie's Prayer" would be nowadays 
 indefensible, but if it were a true picture of the 
 cant and hypocrisy it scourged, the lash was 
 well applied. In his most celebrated piece, the 
 " Holy Fair," which was approved and correct- 
 ed by Dr. Blair, while he lashes the follies, the 
 affectation, and the grimaces of the actors, he 
 keeps aloof from the Communion Table, and 
 we could hardly wish one of the most spirited 
 and poetic satires that was ever penned, un- 
 written. 
 
 His best letters to Mrs. Dunlop are full of 
 expressions of religious feeling and religious 
 faith, — and in his letter to Cunningham, writ- 
 ten in 1794 — two years before his death — he 
 says : " It is in this point of view, and for this 
 reason, that I will deeply imbue the mind of 
 every child of mine with religion. If my son 
 should happen to be a man of feeling, senti- 
 ment, and taste, I shall thus add largely to his 
 enjoyments. These are no ideal pleasures ; 
 they are real delights ; and I ask which of the 
 delights among the sons of men are superior, 
 not to say equal, to them ? And they have 
 this precious vast addition, that conscious vir- 
 tue stamps them for her own ; and lays hold 
 on them to bring herself into the presence of a 
 witnessing, judging, and approving God." 
 
 They, says Lockhart, who have been told 
 that Burns was ever a degraded being — who 
 have permitted themselves to believe that his 
 only consolations were those which " the opiate 
 guilt applies to grief," will do well to pause 
 over this noble letter and judge for themselves. 
 
 But the noblest answer may be drawn from 
 the most perfect of his poems — " The Cottar's 
 Saturday Night" — the most beautiful and 
 touching picture that was ever sketched of un- 
 affected piety and rural life in a cottage. 
 
 The honourable speaker here quoted largely 
 from the " Cottar's Saturday Night" and " Tam 
 o' Shanter," after which he proceeded : I have 
 been speaking of Burns as a Scottish poet, and 
 Scotland may well be proud that she produced 
 him ; but now that the faint lines between 
 England and Scotland have all but vanished, 
 and that Ireland is drawing more closely every 
 day to Britain, so that these two magnificent 
 islands — small in dimensions, but magnificent 
 in power — are combining into a perfect union. 
 
 Scottish genius is British genius. The unap- 
 proachable majesty of Milton — the wonderful 
 power and inspiration of Shakspeare — the feli- 
 citous diction and simplicity of Goldsmith — 
 and the airy vivacity and brilliancy of Moore, 
 are the common inheritance of us all, and be- 
 long to us in Nova Scotia as well as to the na- 
 tive Briton. (Loud and enthusiastic cheering.) 
 Burns, like other poets, was a being of im- 
 pulse and feeling. He had strong passions 
 which sometimes misled him ; but his heart 
 was always tender, and he had a generous na- 
 ture. His anxieties were for others, his moth- 
 er, his wife, his brother Gilbert, and he had 
 learned the true secret of happiness, without 
 which no distinction in law or literature — in 
 politics or in philosophy — will make a man 
 truly blessed. 
 
 " What maks fireside a happy oliine 
 To weans and wife ; 
 That's the true pathos and sublimo 
 Of human life." 
 
 Burns was a most affectionate husband. It 
 was his " craze," as he said, to see his Jean 
 well put on. She had the first gingham gown 
 that any woman of her station ever wore in 
 Dumfries, and his extravagance rose at last to 
 such a pitch that her clothing cost the enor- 
 mous sum of forty shillings sterling a-year. 
 
 It was the eminence of Burns that made his 
 errors conspicuous. The dark spots were shown 
 by the very light of his genius. Let him that 
 hath no sin cast the first stone at Burns. He 
 paid the penalty of his genius, and was exposed to 
 a thousand temptations which duller intellects 
 cannot apprehend. God had afflicted him with 
 a constitutional melancholy. ' " I have wished 
 a hundred times," said he, " that I could resign 
 my life as any officer does his commission, for I 
 would not take in any poor ignorant wretch by 
 selling out." Mark his own epitaph : — 
 
 " The poor inhabitant below 
 Was quick to learn and wise to know, 
 And keenly felt the friendly glow, 
 
 And softer flame ; 
 But thoughtless follies laid him low, 
 
 And stain'd his name ! " 
 
 There he did injustice to himself. The name 
 of Burns is not stained, but lives and will live 
 in immortal honour, and his grave, for centuries 
 to come, will be a place of pilgrimage, and 
 watered by the tears of every lover of genius. 
 He died early. What might he not have been, 
 had a few more years been spared to him. 
 Johnson, at the age of thirty-eight, had pro- 
 duced only his tragedy of Irene, London, and 
 the life of Savage. The numerous works which 
 have given him so high a place in the literature 
 of England would never have been produced 
 
520 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 had he then been cut off. Our poet died early, 
 but not iinlamented ; — the close of many an il- 
 lustrious life has been darker than his. Scot- 
 land cannot altogether be exempted from re- 
 proach. But England and Ireland, too, have 
 not always been just to the men who have con- 
 tributed to their fame. Sheridan, who had so 
 often delighted the House of Commons, and, 
 in his famous speech on the trial of Warren 
 Hastings, had surpassed even Burke himself — 
 whose comedies are still amongst the choicest 
 treasures of the English stage — died solitary 
 and forgotten, when his wealthy and noble 
 friends gave him the mockery of a splendid 
 funeral. The death-bed of Chatterton, with 
 all the frightful accompaniments of disease and 
 destitution, is,one of the finest efforts of the 
 modern pencil, which attracted, my admiration 
 at the Great Exhibition of the Arts in Man- 
 chester. Bloomfield and Clare, too, were ad- 
 mired for a season, then left to perish. Burns 
 at least preserved his independence. He died 
 out of debt,— though from an overstrained and 
 false delicacy, he refused pecuniary compensa- 
 tion for those matchless songs which have been 
 sung by millions, and will last while the Eng- 
 lish language endures. 
 
 Many anxious hours — many days of gloom 
 and despondency were his lot^but the exer- 
 cise and the consciousness of his own talents 
 were sources of deep enjoyment which only the 
 poet can appreciate. On this auspicious day 
 his fame has inspired two original poems now 
 in my hand, one from a fair poetess, whose 
 name I am not at liberty to mention. — the other 
 sent to me anonymously, but, as I believe, also 
 from a female pen, and neither, as I under- 
 stand, drawing their lineage from Scotland. 
 
 Here the speaker read portions from both 
 productions, which were received with great 
 applause. 
 
 And now I shall ^faw to a conclusion. I 
 have not deemed it respectful to this enlight- 
 ened audience, nor just to myself, to extenuate 
 too far the errors into which Burns was some- 
 times seduced, — but his errors are forgotten in 
 the blaze of his reputation, and the love which 
 we cherish for his memory. And, in the words 
 of Byron, who united with Campbell and Scott 
 in pronouncing him a poet of the highest or- 
 der, already has 
 
 " Glory without end 
 Scattered the clouds away — and on that name attend 
 The tears and pj-aises of all time." 
 
 (Enthusiastic cheers.) 
 
 At the close of the oration, the Chief Justice 
 expressed the pleasure he, and he had no doubt 
 all present, had enjoyed. He could add no- 
 thing to the pleasurable feelings excited by the 
 Hon. Mr. Young. 
 
 William Murdoch, Esq., . was then called to 
 the chair. 
 
 A vote of thanks was moved by John Es- 
 son, Esq., to tiie Chief Justice, which passed, 
 followed by three enthusiastic cheers for that 
 venerable and esteemed gentleman. The band 
 struck up " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 The Attorney General, standing among the 
 audience, passed a high compliment to Mr. 
 Young, and moved a vote of thanks to that 
 gentleman, which passed unanimously, followed 
 by three hearty, cheers. The compliment was 
 gracefully acknowledged by Mr. Young. 
 
 Three cheers were then given for the Queen ; 
 the band played the national anthem, and the 
 whole company withdrew. The societies form- 
 ed in procession again, and walked to the Ma- 
 sonic Hall, where they separated. 
 
 The Dinner. — In the evening about 320 
 persons sat down to a splendidly prepared din- 
 ner at Mason Hall, which was presided over by 
 tlie Hon.' W. Young. Captain Taylor, the 
 President of the North British Society, occu- 
 pied the chair at the foot of the table. His 
 Excellency the Lieut.-Governor and Staff were 
 present, as well as a number of officers of the 
 different corps. 
 
 After the usual preliminary toasts, the Hon. 
 Chairman, in proposing " The Health of the 
 Lieut.-Governor," said: — Mr. Yice, we are 
 honoured this night with the presence of the 
 Lieut. - Governor, the representative of Her 
 Majesty, who, like ourselves, appreciates the 
 transcendent merit of our national poet. In 
 the position which I have held as a public man 
 since his Excellency's arrival, in opposition to 
 his advisers, I may not perhaps be accounted 
 the most suitable interpreter of his opinions ; 
 but I have been honoured so far with his 
 friendship, and know enough of his sentiments, 
 and wishes to be assured that, having been 
 familiarized with British usage in the best and 
 noblest school in the world — in the House of 
 Commons — he was most anxious to fulfil his 
 duties in the spirit of the constitution, to ex-r 
 tend equal courtesy and right to all classes, of 
 Her Majesty's subjects, a,nd to promote the 
 happiness and advance the welfare of the Pro- 
 vince. His noble father, the Marquis of Nor- 
 manby, I had the good fortune to know as 
 Colonial Secretary in 1839, and at a subse- 
 quent period as our Ambassador in Paris. His. 
 administration of Ireland, as one of the most 
 popular Viceroys, and his literary taste,, are 
 known to us all; and as the politics of his 
 family have always leaned to the popular side, 
 I trust that His Excellency's administration here, 
 maybe alike agreeable to himself and acceptable 
 to the people. 
 
 His Excellency the Lieut.-Governor rose 
 
HALIFAX. 
 
 521 
 
 and said : — It gives me, Sir, the greatest 
 pleasure to join in the celebration of an event 
 which is even now being celebrated, not only 
 in this city, but in the Mother Country, British 
 America, the United States, in fine, Sir, over 
 the whole world, wherever the English lan- 
 guage is known. (Enthusiastic cheers.) 
 
 On this day, wherever Scotchmen dwell, 
 wherever the Anglo-Saxon race have fixed 
 their domicile, men of every shade of opinion, 
 of every station, may be found uniting together, 
 cordially and heai-tily, to honour a man who 
 during his lifetime occupied a somewhat humble 
 station, and did not receive that reward and 
 encouragement which his transcendent genius 
 merited. 
 
 It is not my intention to descant on the 
 poetical abilities and distinguished talent of 
 Burns, great as they were, for after the ad- 
 dress delivered to-day bji your worthy Chair- 
 man upon that subject, it would be in vain for 
 me to attempt to depict in more glowing 
 colours than he did, the merits of that extraor- 
 dinary man — the struggles he had to undergo, 
 or the difficulties which beset him in the per- 
 formance of the great work he had in hand. 
 There is one point in his history, however, to 
 which I may allude, for I think from the con- 
 templation of it the juniors of this country may 
 be incited to follow the noble example he set. 
 
 Burns, the son of a farmer — himself a plough- 
 man — from his earliest youth upwards strove 
 unceasingly to cultivate his mind, and suc- 
 ceeded to a degree which enabled him to pro- 
 duce those beautiful, those immortal poems 
 which have gained for him universal celebrity, 
 exhibited in the celebration of the day — an 
 honour, I believe, never accorded to man be- 
 fore. He had no external aid to assist liim — 
 his birth was humble ; and. Sir, though I can- 
 not be supposed to disparage the advantages of 
 birth, if the position it confers be rightly used, 
 yet my tendencies of mind have always induced 
 me to honour far more the man who has made 
 his own position, and by bis unaided exertions 
 achieved fame for himself, than he who owes it 
 to his lineage, however exalted. 
 
 Such was the case with Burns — and such I 
 hope may be the case with many of the inhabi- 
 tants of this province. Nova Scotia has already 
 given men to the world whose names will be 
 illustrious in history. Within the last two 
 years, nay. Sir, within the sliort period I have 
 resided in this province, you have on« example, 
 when your Legislature had the pleasing duty 
 to perform of marking the high sense they en- 
 tertained of the courage, skill, and assiduity of 
 one of Nova Scotia's sons. Another instance 
 occurred shortly before my arrival here : but 
 though I refer only to these two instances, 
 
 there are many other names which will go 
 down to posterity with honour and renown. 
 In the Church, in the Senate, in the Field, at 
 the Bar, or in the arena of Commerce, are to 
 be found Nova Scotians, equally honoured, 
 equally esteemed by their countrymen, and 
 whose renown is not confined to the narrow 
 limits of this province. Who can tell the effect, 
 who can judge the influence which the history 
 of a man like Burns has exerted upon these 
 men ? Who can say what a contemplation of 
 his untiring assiduity may lead the sons of 
 Nova Scotia to achieve in the future? Educa- 
 tion is not confined -to the Seminary or tlie 
 College, though the influence of such institu- 
 tions cannot be undervalued, self-instruction 
 may efiect vast results. The soul and the mind 
 of man, that which distinguishes him from the 
 brute creation, is susceptible of cultivation and 
 improvement. Education is to the mind what 
 the labours of the skilful husbandman are to 
 the soil — with it, everything can be accom- 
 plished^ — without it, nothing. Let me urge, 
 then, upon my audience the necessity of culti- 
 vation in the season of youth, for that is the 
 period during which a store of information may 
 be hoarded from which the possessors may reap 
 a rich revrard in after life. 
 
 In this country I know no party ; and, Sir, 
 so long as I hold the office to which Her 
 Majesty has been pleased to appoint me, who- 
 ever may be selected by this people to admin- 
 ister their public afiairs, shall receive from me 
 an honest, cordial, constitutional support. And 
 it will be the greatest satisfaction to me, if, by 
 God's blessing, I may be enabled in any way 
 to promote the interest and well-being of Nova 
 Scotia and its inhabitants. (Prolonged cheering.) 
 
 Hon. William Young here read a telegram 
 from the friends of Burns in Pictou, conveying 
 their good wishes to his admirers in Halifax. 
 
 Hon. W. YonNO — I find that it is precisely 
 ten o'clock, at which hour we have been re- 
 quested to join with those engaged in celebrat- 
 ing this day in New York and elsewhere in 
 drinking to the following toast : — " Kindred 
 associations throughout the world, may they 
 preserve the Songs and disseminate the Senti- 
 ments of Burns, till 
 
 ' Man to man, the world o'er, 
 Shall brothers be and a' that.' " 
 
 This toast was drunk with enthusiastic applause. 
 The Chairman gave "The Legislature of 
 the Province," to which the Hon. Stayley 
 Brown replied. He said : — It has pleased the 
 Orator of the day to bring me forward a little 
 more conspicuously, perhaps, than was becoming 
 my modesty. In the references made by him 
 to-day, it seemed to me that he thought, en- 
 
522 
 
 THE BUEN8 CENTElSrARY. 
 
 grossed by the toils of office, I could not even 
 enjoy one day — a day like this, which should 
 be marked by nothing but hilarity and good 
 feeling, without thoughts of politics and party. 
 Sir, it well becomes us to celebrate the event 
 we commemorate ; for if there be in any man 
 one drop of Scottish blood, one spark of Scot- 
 tish feeling, Burns is the man and this the 
 hour to call it forth. (Loud cheers.) The 
 tribute we now pay to the memory of that 
 great Poet whose achievements in the realm of 
 song have delighted and entranced all classes 
 of men — all ranks of society — is well merited, 
 well deserved. The lapse of time instead of 
 taking from has lent an additional charm to 
 his writings, and increased the admiration felt 
 for him by all who peruse them. In conclusion, 
 on behalf of the Legislature I return thanks for 
 the reception of the toast just proposed. 
 
 Hon. Attorney -General— I comply with 
 the request of the Chairman to acknowledge 
 this toast in the assurance that whatever en- 
 gages the warm affections of a large portion of 
 the community, will meet a hearty response in 
 the Legislature of this, our common country, 
 where are and must be united in indissoluble 
 bond the interests and the affections, the hopes 
 and the cares of all the members that make up 
 that common country, as the streams that find 
 the same channel to the sea. Although they 
 may not at once commingle, and for a time may 
 each preserve the peculiarity it brought from 
 its own rocky source, yet all unite in making 
 up the volume and power — the beauty and the 
 usefulness of the noble river that enriches the 
 land. There may be some here who imagine 
 that the hall of Legislation is not "meet 
 nurse " for poetic fancies ; and who see small 
 harmony between the occasion of this festival 
 and the toast I am called upon to answer. — 
 But they who have experience, and who know 
 what are the tender love-engendering influences 
 of red benches and high-backed courtly chairs, 
 might perhaps rebuke such scepticism. With- 
 out, however, venturing on this difficult prob- 
 lem, I may say that even in the arid atmo- 
 sphere of politics may be found the suscepti- 
 bilities to be moved by Burns' tender strains, 
 and to render deep homage to the power of 
 his muse. But Burns has other claims to uni- 
 versal regard besides poetic genius ; and it is 
 not left to his countrymen alone to do honour 
 to the memory of one on whom nature had 
 stamped a nobility confined within no national 
 borders; and who, though he loved the land 
 so dear to him with intensity, had yet a heart 
 that warmed with the sentiment of patriotism, 
 drawn from higher than classic authority, even 
 the stirrings of his own generous emotions, 
 nothing human was alien to his affections; 
 
 for under all the variations to which the char- 
 acter and lot of man is subject, unless indeed 
 of baseness, with which Burns held no terms, 
 he felt and acknowledged that — 
 
 " A mail's a man for a' that." 
 
 HAMILTON, C. W.— "We'll a' be proud o' 
 Robin" was one of the inscriptions prominently 
 displayed in the Mechanics' Hall, on the occa- 
 sion of the magnificent banquet given there in 
 honour of the poet Burns. For so it has hap- 
 pened. The prophecy has been fulfilled, and 
 English, Irish, and Scotch are alike proud of 
 the bard who was born just a hundred years 
 ago. 
 
 The Mechanics' Hall has been lately frescoed, 
 and one of the portraits around the walls is 
 that of Burns. In addition to this, a fine oil- 
 painting of the poet was suspended at the head 
 of the room, while another picture representing 
 the cottage where he was born,, occupied a con- 
 spicuous position. ' The mottoes surrounding 
 these, in addition to the one quoted at the 
 commencement, were 
 
 "The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that," 
 
 and, in a transparency, 
 
 " It's coming yet for a' that. 
 That man to man, the warld o'er. 
 Shall hrlthers be for a' that." 
 
 The flags of the national societies were dis- 
 played next to the mottoes, and on each side 
 of these, again, were flags of England, in 
 various positions. In one corner of the hall 
 was a telegraph apparatus, fitted up on purpose, 
 for carrying on correspondence with the various 
 admirers of Burns throughout the continent. 
 Four tables, laden with viands of every possible 
 kind, reached from one end of the hall to the 
 other ; and at the head was a cross table, 
 spread for the Chairman and some of the most 
 distinguished guests of the evening. Isaac 
 Buchanan, Esq., occupied the chair ; on his 
 right, Henry M'Kinstry, Esq., Mayor of Hamil- 
 ton ; Dr. Skinner, of Waterdown ; Mr. Hutchi- 
 son, the President of the St. Andrew's Society ; 
 Mr. Freeman, Capt. Nicolls, and Mr. Charles 
 Magill ; — on his left, Adam Ferrie, M. L. C. ; 
 Mr. C. J. Brydges, Mr. Jno. Young, Mr. Rey- 
 nolds, Mr. Thomas Kerr, Mr. Adam Brown. 
 The Vice-President was Mr. Braid. The 
 members of the Burns Society, numbering 
 about eighty, and bearing white favours on 
 their breasts, occupied a conspicuous position. 
 The band of the Hamilton Artillery, whose 
 appearance in uniform was sanctioned by the 
 commanding officer, were stationed on the plat- 
 
HAMILTON. 
 
 523 
 
 form, and played at intervals throughout the 
 evening. But the feature of the entertainment 
 was the admission of the ladies, a number of 
 •whom met in the room adjoining the hall, and 
 came to grace it with their presence after the 
 eating of the dinner had been duly performed, 
 and when the speeches were about to begin. 
 They were conducted to the seats allotted to 
 them by the Chairman, the Mayor, and other 
 gentlemen, while the band played " Green 
 grow the rashes O!" 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, the 
 Chairman said: — We are assembled to drink 
 the great toast of the day, not only here, but 
 in every city, home, and hamlet in Canada, the 
 StateSj England and Scotland. We have assem- 
 bled to render the tribute of a world's grati- 
 tude to Burns. Carlyle began his criticism on 
 Lockhart's life of Burns thus : — " The inventor 
 of a spinning -jenny is pretty sure of his reward 
 in his own day ; but the writer of a true 
 poem, like the apostle of a true religion, is 
 nearly as sure of the contrary." We do not 
 know whether it is not an aggravation of the 
 injustice, that there is generally a posthumous 
 retribution. Kobert Burns, in the course of 
 nature, might yet have been living ; but his 
 short life was spent in toil and penury ; and he 
 died in the prime of his manhood, miserable 
 and neglected ; and yet, already a brave mauso- 
 leum shines over his dust, and more than one 
 splendid monument has been reared in other 
 places to his fame ; the street where he lan- 
 guished in poverty is called by his name ; the 
 highest personages in our literature have been 
 proud to appear as his commentators and ad- 
 mirers ; and here is the si^eth narrative of his 
 life that has been given to the world! We are 
 now come to the great object of this great and 
 unparalleled occasion. A nation's gratitude — 
 a world's gratitude is this day to be paid to the 
 memory of Eobert Burns. Scotland will not 
 be grudged a peculiar property in her greatest 
 poet; but it is such an interest as does not 
 lessen the world's claim to him. It is the in- 
 terest of a mother in her son — her beautiful 
 and brave — too soon fallen in his country's 
 service, but who has also had the tribute of a 
 world's tears. Burns' original biographers com- 
 mitted the error of appearing to patronise, or, 
 at least, to apologise, for Burns ; and his later 
 commentators have gone into the more pardon- 
 able extreme of hero worship. The truth 
 seems to lie between them. Not more for his 
 great genius than for his warm heart is Burns 
 immortal — every throb of that great heart 
 having been for his country and his country's 
 poor. He had a force and freedom of expres- 
 sion known only to Shakspeare. With poetic 
 fingers he swept thrillingly across the well- 
 
 strung lyre of the human heart, and his senti- 
 ments, however manly, illustrated the national 
 mind of his country. Scotland had always 
 been glorious in her freedom and independence, 
 the well-springs of which, in the Scottish mind, 
 it was Burns' glorious mission to lay bare to 
 the world. The indications of these national 
 sentiments formerly were chiefly such as had 
 been given by the swords of Wallace, of Bruce, 
 and of the Covenanters, He acknowledges 
 worth, alike in the peer and the peasant, as the 
 only basis of universal brotherhood. 
 
 Song, Mr. Cuirie — " A man's a man lor a' tliat" 
 The Hon. Adam Ferrie, who had been ac- 
 quainted with Burns, replied. 
 
 The fii-st toast from the Vice -Chairman, 
 A. Braid, Esq., was " The Contemporaries of 
 Burns." He briefly referred to the poetical 
 celebrities embraced in the toast, and, speaking 
 of Burns, he said that he was a man of ster- 
 ling, sturdy independence, as evinced by the 
 conclusion of his letter of dedication to the 
 gentlemen of the Caledonian Hunt. The chief 
 glory of a nation arises from its authors. A 
 celebrated man has said, " Give me the making 
 of a nation's songs, and who pleases may make 
 the laws." He (Mr. B.) would not allow his 
 admiration of Burns to carry him so far as the 
 Kev. Mr. Girvan, who had called him a " Psal- 
 mist in hodden grey," comparing him to the 
 Psalmist David ; nor could he sympathise with 
 another reverend gentleman of this city, who 
 had been pleased to speak of Burns in con- 
 nexion with " unsanctified genius." Burns was 
 an ardent lover of liberty, and the depth of his 
 religious sentiments was testified by that cele- 
 brated poem, " The Cottar's Saturday Night," 
 a poem whose truth had no doubt been felt by 
 many who are here present. (Cheers.) The 
 strength of expression which sometimes char- 
 acterised . Burns' style was well illustrated in 
 the first lines of " Tam o' Shanter," where the 
 gudewife sat " nursing her wrath to keep it 
 warm." (Laughter.) For beauty of sentiment 
 Burns' lines commencing, "Pleasures are like 
 poppies spread," were not excelled in the Eng- 
 lish language. It was needless to refer to the 
 excellencies of such compositions as " Scots 
 wha hae," " Tam o' Shanter," " Man was made 
 to mourn," " John Anderson, my jo," &c. But 
 what Scotchman could describe the warmth of 
 feeling evoked by "Auld Langsyne," when 
 sung around the festive board, and bringing 
 back the sweet recollection of home ? or who 
 could but wish that the day might come 
 
 "When man to man, the world o'er, 
 Shall brothers be, and a' that?" 
 
 (Cheers.) Without further trespassing on their 
 
524 
 
 THE BURNS CEKTENARY. 
 
 time, he. would give them " The Contemporary 
 Bards of Burns." 
 
 Song, Mr.Buscombe— " The Battle and the Breeze." 
 
 The Vice-Chairman then gave " Moore and 
 the Poets of Ireland." Received with loud 
 cheers. 
 
 Song— Mr. Greer — " Eich and rare were the gems 
 she wore." 
 
 The Vice- Chairman then gave "Sir Walter 
 Scott and the literature of Scotland." 
 
 The Chairman then gave " Professor Wilson 
 and the Biographers of Burns." 
 
 The Chairman then gave the "Montreal 
 Festival." 
 
 The Song of Mr. Spence — "Flow gently sweet 
 Afton," was so loudly encored that that gentleman 
 gave " Go fetch to me a pint of wine." 
 
 The next toast from the chair was " The 
 Land of Burns." 
 
 Song — Mr. Wilson — " Syne Burns he's awa," was 
 rapturously encored, and the singer followed it with 
 " Castles in the air." 
 
 The Chairman then gave the Religious and 
 Educational Institutions of Scotland. All who 
 had read "The Cottar's Saturday Night," 
 would know what those institutions were. 
 Burns was not a warlilie poet, only on two oc- 
 casions had he devoted his attention to warlike 
 themes. He was the poet of the people and 
 the feeling of the country, and they had great 
 reason to be proud of the institutions of their 
 country. 
 
 The 100th psalm was then sung by the whole com- 
 pany standing. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Skinner said — From the time he 
 was a child he had been in the habit of hearing 
 the songs of Burns, and had sung them him- 
 self. He believed that some clergymen were 
 afraid to have their names and profession iden- 
 tified with the name of Burns — just as if he 
 were a sot, or something of the lowest nature. 
 He held that Burns was a man— he himself 
 was a man. There was no man on earth who 
 sinned not. David was the man after God's 
 own heart, yet he was not a sinless man. Burns 
 had got credit for many sins he was never 
 guilty of. Burns was a poet of nature. Jea- 
 lous men would nibble at Burns just as a fly 
 would nibble at an angel. There were some 
 who were jealous of Burns when he got a small 
 situation under government ; he believed Burns 
 was true to the government and his country ;, 
 he was a patriot ; " Scots wha hae" proved this. 
 They had all read of the 42d Highlanders at 
 Waterloo ; of the Scots in India, how much of 
 their bravery was due to the poetry and songs of 
 Burns. None of those men would have done any- 
 thing to cast a stain on their country. Burns was 
 an independent poet, he would never be a lick 
 spittle; he would take a paltry office rather 
 
 than be dependent. They had heard from their 
 venerable friend, Mr. Ferrie, that in his youth he 
 was very wayward, and might, perhaps, have 
 been too independent. Burns was a most gen- 
 erous man. He got MOO for the second edi- 
 tion of his poems, from the gentlemen of the 
 Caledonian Hunt ; half of this he gave to his 
 brother. Burns, in the Song " Willie brewed 
 a peek o' maut," gave a real picture of Scottish 
 life. He spoke nature's truths, and satirised 
 them. " The Holy Fair," could any one deny 
 the truth of it ; was it not a true picture ? sa- 
 tire only could put it done ; and he believed 
 that it had been one of the greatest instruments 
 in the hand of God in putting down such 
 scenes of debauchery. Burns was not an igno- 
 rant man. He was one of the most zealous 
 patrons of libraries, and such like institutions, 
 and of the man who could write " The Cot- 
 tar's Saturday Night" so true to nature, they 
 might say, let nothing be said but good of the 
 dead ; and why should not the name of Burns 
 be associated with the religious and educational 
 institutions of Scotland ? They were the ad- 
 mirers of genius, and were paying a tribute 
 to it. 
 
 The Vice-Chairman then gave " Canada, the 
 land of our adoption." 
 
 Band — " Canadian Boat Song." 
 
 Song by Mr. Brodie^^" Scotland's Hills." 
 
 The Vice-Chairman gave " The Peasantry 
 of Scotland." 
 
 After other speeches, toasts, and songs, Mr. 
 Wilson sung "Auld Langsyne." The whole 
 company joining in the chorus. 
 
 The health of the Chairman was then pro- 
 posed, and drunk -amidst great cheering. 
 
 Song-—" He is a right good fellow." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan responded, after which, the 
 band played " God save the Queen," and the 
 company separated ; and we may safely say, 
 that the centennial anniversary of Burns' 
 natal day will be one long remembered in 
 Hamilton. 
 
 HASTINGS, C. W.— The county of Peter- 
 boro' has not been behind in doing honour to 
 Scotia's immortal bard. On account of an 
 understanding that there was to be a social 
 meeting at Hastings, the capital of Asphodel, to 
 celebrate the hundredth birthday of Burns, a 
 number of gentlemen from the town, invited as 
 guests, went there to enjoy the festivity. The 
 affair was a grand triumph. A number of the 
 leading men of Asphodel and Percy were pre- 
 sent, amounting in all to about ninety persons. 
 The worthy proprietor of Hastings, H.Fowlds, 
 Esq., took the chair. At an early hour in the 
 morning the company broke up, highly grati- 
 fied with the result of the entertainment. 
 
KINGSTON— MELBOURNE. 
 
 525 
 
 KINGSTON, C. W.— Nowhere in Canada 
 was the memory of Burna more highly Iionoured 
 than in that city. The banquet in the City 
 Hall was of the most magnificent description, 
 and the decorations of the hall were particularly 
 beautiful. The hall was filled with one of the 
 most respectable gatherings which ever assem- 
 bled within its walls, the dresses of the ladies 
 contrasting gaily with the decorations ; the 
 whole forming a tout ensemble rarely equalled, 
 and never in that city surpassed. The chair 
 was occupied by the Hon. Alex. Campbell, 
 M.L.C., at either side of whom were the follow- 
 ing gentlemen : Thomas Kirkpatrick, Esq., Q.C., 
 Dr. Litchfield, George W. Hinds, Esq., Orlando 
 S. Strange, Esq., Mayor of Kingston^ Maxwell 
 W. Strange, Esq., Arch. Jno. M'Donnell, Esq., 
 Eeoorder, O. S. Gildersleeve, Esq., And. Drum- 
 mond, Esq., and Judge Mackenzie. Many ex- 
 cellent speeches were delivered during the even- 
 ing. After the chair hS,d been vacated, a 
 number of the youthful admirers of Burns 
 joined in a dance, which lasted until an early 
 hour in the morning. 
 
 Another meeting of a very popular character 
 took place on the same occasion in the town. 
 The Chairman, Col. Cameron, Warden of the 
 United Counties, wlio did honour to himself 
 and the occasion by wearing the national plaid 
 and bonnet, opened the meeting with some ap- 
 propriate remarks, and the company was ad- 
 dressed by the Rev, Mr. Mulkins, Mr. O'Lough- 
 lin and other speakers. A number of songs 
 were sung, and among others some spirited 
 verses by Evan M'CoU. 
 
 LONDON, C. W.— The dinner came off" at 
 the City Hotel. About 300 sat down. The 
 wall immediately behind the chair was de6orated 
 with banners, flags, and paintings. On the 
 right was a large full-length portrait of her 
 Majesty, and on the left a corresponding one of 
 the Prince Consort. In the centre was sus- 
 pended the likeness of the immortal bard, over 
 which hung the arms of Scotland, At the 
 other end of the room was placed the green 
 ilag of Erin, painted on which was the National 
 Harp, with festoons of shamrocks. The other 
 portions of the walls were covered with Union 
 Jacks, and Other flags, and from the ceiling 
 hung a great number of banners. When the 
 company were seated, a more interesting scene 
 could scarcely be imagined. John Wilson, 
 Esq., occupied the chair. He was supported 
 on the right by his Worship the Mayor, and on 
 the left by the Rev. Mr. Nicholl. A. Hope, 
 Esq., filled the vice-chair. 
 
 In addition to this festival a number of the 
 
 admirers of the immortal Bums assembled at 
 the Mechanics' Institute, where they regaled 
 themselves with tea, &c. Several capital 
 speeches were made, and songs sung. They 
 enjoyed themselves very much, and separated 
 at a late hour. 
 
 MELBOURNE. — This festival was cele- 
 brated on Tuesday in the Exhibition Building. 
 The banqueters numbered not fewer than 600 
 gentlemen, who were eeated at several rows of 
 tables, arranged in the centre of the hall, clear 
 of wings. The galleries were occupied by a 
 number of ladies. On the whole, the arrange- 
 ments were satisfactory. The Hon. Thomas 
 M'Combie; M.L.C., occupied the chair; he was 
 supported on the right by His Excellency Sir 
 Henry Barkly, the Rev. Thomas Binney of 
 Weigh House Chapel, London, and his Wor- 
 ship the Mayor of Melbourne ; on his left were 
 C. W. Ligar, Esq., Dr. Gilbee, Capt. Bancroft, 
 and the Hon. T. Harker, M.L.A. Dr. Mac- 
 adam officiated as vice-chairman ; and the Hon. 
 M. Harvey, M.L.C., Sheriff' Farie, and Colin 
 Campbell, M.L.A., as croupiers. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Binney said grace. 
 
 After the repast was over. 
 
 The Chairman rose and proposed " The 
 health of the Queen." Her Majesty, he said, 
 had special claims on the sons of -the land of 
 Burns. She had never been ashamed to ac- 
 knowledge her descent from the Kings of Scot- 
 land, and in various ways she testified her fa- 
 vour for Scotland. Her son she had dressed in 
 the garb of Old Gaul, and, preceded by the 
 national bagpipe, she went to the banqueting 
 hall. 
 
 The toast was drunk with all the honours. 
 Organ and band, "National Anthem." 
 
 The Chairman next proposed " Tlie health 
 of Prince Albert and the members of the Royal 
 Family." 
 
 The toast was drunk with three times three. 
 Band " Coburg March." 
 
 The Chairman then rose and said: The 
 next toast I have to propose to you is one I am 
 sure you will drink in a bumper. It is " The 
 health of His Excellency Sir Henry Barkly." 
 Gentlemen, Sir Henry Barkly is, I believe, if 
 ever there was an instance of the saying being 
 true, the right man in the right place. (Cheers.) 
 He is not more distinguished as a gentleman 
 than he is au fait in his duty as a statesman ; 
 and I am sure it will be readily assented to 
 that we owe a great debt of gratitude to Her 
 Majesty for having sent us so able a politician 
 as Sir Henry Barkly to govern this important 
 colony. I believe the duty of the government 
 
526 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 hitherto has been light, but that might not 
 always be the case ; and if ever a crisis should 
 arrive, it will be a great blessing to have such 
 a gentleman, and such an able politician, to 
 meet it as His Excellency, who so ably and 
 so honourably represents Her Majesty. Gen- 
 tlemen, I do not hesitate to say that Sir Henry 
 Barkly is the best Governor, and the fittest, 
 that has been sent to the Australian colonies. 
 Without detaining you farther, I will now call 
 on you to pledge in a bumper " The health of 
 His Excellency Sir Henry Barkly." 
 
 The toast was drunk with enthusiastic cheers. 
 Band — " Rule Britannia." 
 
 His Excellency, on rising to respond, was 
 received with prolonged cheering. On silence 
 being obtained, he said — Mr. Chairman and 
 gentlemen, on rising, as in duty bound, to 
 return thanks, I feel it would be in bad taste, 
 however cordially you have been pleased to re- 
 ceive the toast, to detain you long in connec- 
 tion with a mere routine toast from the real 
 business of the evening. I am afraid I am 
 hardly entitled to consider myself a country- 
 man of Burns. It happens, not from any fault 
 of my own, that I was born not far beyond the 
 sound of Bow Bells ; and, therefore, as one of 
 my parents was Scotch and the other Irisli, I 
 think I may fairly consider myself a represen- 
 tative of the three nations of the United King- 
 dom. (Loud cheers.) Far be it from me, 
 however, to repudiate my Scottish ancestry. 
 (Cheers.) On the contrary, if I could have 
 regulated the movements of the roving chief 
 who passed over the borders into Scotland, I 
 should not have approved of his proceedings ; 
 and I may say without blushing, that when I 
 hear our poet's inspiring strains of, " Scots wha 
 hae," I do reflect with some pleasure that 
 among the stanchest adherents of Wallace and 
 Bruce was one whom Blind Harry describes as 
 the good Sir David de Barclay. But a truce 
 to these conceits. Let us remember we are 
 here assembled, men of different countries and 
 different creeds, to do honour to the mighty 
 genius of the Poet Burns. The true poet must 
 possess the highest species of knowledge — the 
 knowledge of the heart of man. That Burns 
 was such a one — that he was not a poet of one 
 country or of one generation, but a poet for all 
 time, I firmly believe ; and if any proof were 
 required I think it is to be found in the fact of 
 the Centenary anniversary of the birthday of 
 Burns being festively celebrated from one end 
 to the other of the British dominions. I re- 
 member, when attending at Rome a grand cere- 
 mony in honour of one for whom the privilege 
 of canonisation as a saint was claimed, being 
 told that to prevent mistakes or undue influ- 
 ence, no further step could be taken to place 
 
 her in the calendar until a hundred years had 
 elapsed. To-night, gentlemen, the claims of 
 Robert Burns, the Ayrshire ploughboy, to a 
 niche in the eternal temple of fame are duly 
 ratiSed ! 
 
 Dr. Macadam then proposed " The Army 
 and Navy." 
 
 The Hon. Thos. M'Combie rose and said : 
 — We have this evening met, as you are aware, 
 to commemorate the centenary of the great 
 national poet of Scotland. It is just a hundred 
 years this day since Robert Burns was born. It 
 has been held that a writer who has held his 
 ground for this space is entitled to be placed 
 amongst those likely to become immortal. But 
 Burns not merely takes his place after the 
 usual period of probation, among the undying 
 great, but he takes the very foremost rank 
 there. Since his 'bright genius first shed its 
 light on the globe it has been generally ac- 
 knowledged to be a light from heaven. Its 
 effects have been to render men happier, and to 
 awaken noble sentiments and fine feelings dor- 
 mant in their minds, and therefore his mission 
 must have been for good. His writings have 
 not merely been read and admired, but each 
 succeeding generation seems to pay more en- 
 tliusiastic tribute to his memory ; his fame has 
 daily increased, and his writings are now house- 
 hold words from pole to pole, while in his na- 
 tive land high and low have his songs and 
 poems engraved on their hearts. And when the 
 Scotsman leaves his own land to seek his for- 
 tune by his high courage and indomitable per- 
 severance, he takes along with the carefully 
 treasured Bible the works of Burns, and next 
 to the Word of God, he loves to read him as 
 Campbell has well said — 
 
 " Then see the Scottish exile tanned 
 By many a far and foreign clime, 
 Bend o'er his homely Terse and weep, 
 In memory of liis native land, 
 With love that scorns the lapse of time, 
 And ties that stretch beyond the deep." 
 
 And there is little doubt that next to the sa- 
 cred volume Burns' writings have tended to 
 imbue the minds of those persons with that 
 straightforward honesty of character, and that 
 enthusiastic love of literature and poetry which 
 is their characteristic. It must not be forgot- 
 ten that though Scotland is in many parts bar- 
 ren in soil compared with many countries, she 
 has always had a high rank among nations. 
 No country on earth, with the same population, 
 has produced so many great poets, great histo- 
 rians, great philosophers, and great scholars, 
 and it is no ordinary nation that has given its 
 love to Burns. But he is not the property of 
 his countrymen. He is a public benefactor, and 
 public property. But his own country- owes 
 
MELBOURNE. 
 
 527 
 
 him a peculiar debt in having given their lan- 
 guage, as well as their manners and customs, a 
 fame world-wide and undying. There have 
 been great poet Scotsmen, such as Campbell, 
 Scott, Byron, &c. ; but Burns is the only truly 
 native Scots poet. He has elevated the homely 
 language of the Soots peasantry to convey his 
 feelings and sentiments of surpassing truth, 
 novelty, and beauty — not that Burns did this 
 from necessity, but choice. He could write in 
 good English when he thought proper, but he 
 preferred to use the national language of his 
 country. He loved his native land with a sur- 
 passing love, as he expresses it when labouring 
 amongst the fields, " Beardless, young, and 
 blate." He wished — 
 
 " That he, for poor auld Scotland's sake, 
 Some useful plan or bulk could make ; 
 Or sing a song at least." 
 
 And is it not natural and*just that the Scots 
 people should not only admire but love Burns, 
 and love him, too, with a most tender and pas- 
 sionate affection 1 He was a poet, but he never 
 emerged from his own class. He delighted to 
 sing the virtue, the independence, the manli- 
 ness of the people of Caledonia. The literary 
 tribunals have long acknowledged the claim of 
 Burns to take the very foremost place in our 
 literature, no light praise when we reflect on 
 the long list of our sons of song, mighty and 
 powerful, who have been his rivals. Some 
 have equalled him as a poet ; none have his ex- 
 cdHence as a song writer. No writer in any 
 language approaches him in this respect except 
 Horace, and he is far inferior in many import- 
 ant respects. Most poets have written for the 
 educated few ; but the peculiar excellence of 
 Burns is, that his productions are equal favour- 
 ites in cot and hall. The poorest and most 
 illiterate of his countrymen derive equal plea- 
 sure from them the ripest scholar can do. He 
 opened up a new and inexhaustible realm of 
 fancy and sentiment — a new and bright crea- 
 tion which the sons of toil have since enjoyed. 
 Has it not made tliem better and happier 1 and 
 is not one who has conferred such glorious 
 benefits — a benefactor of his kind ; and does 
 he not deserve honour ? The appearance of a 
 great genius from the unlettered peasantry was 
 the more delightful to Scotland that it was un- 
 expected. The muse found Burns at the plough, 
 and threw her mantle of inspiration over him. 
 The star shone more luminous that it rose from 
 the mists of obscurity and ignorance. Burns 
 was a happy child of nature, and was little in- 
 debted to study and education ; he became one 
 of her high priests and interpreters, and it was 
 his duty to explain her most sublime mysteries 
 to the common race of mortals. He has ahvavs 
 
 been justly termed Nature's own poet, for no 
 other man iias ever understood and expressed 
 her beautiful but mysterious influences so well. 
 His verse burns with the fervour of his imagi- 
 nation — his descriptions are powerfully vivid — 
 the rustling broom, the purple heath, the wav- 
 ing cornfield, and the clear wimpling stream — 
 all start up as if in reality before you. He 
 gives expression to the burning passions of the 
 soul, with unequalled force of conception and 
 expression. His love for Scotland w;is intense, 
 and found expression in many of his verses ; he 
 was the real Scots poet, and has thrown a dig- 
 nity about all that belonged to his country. 
 His genius has ennobled the humble cottar, the 
 cottar's still humbler dog, the wild daisy, the 
 field mouse, the simple servant girl, not to 
 mention the streams and mountains, villages 
 and cities. He found means to penetrate into 
 millions of hearts, where no other poet had 
 ever been ; to arouse and excite emotions in 
 myriads of the humbler classes, where other- 
 wise they would have most probably continued 
 to lie dormant; he has cheered and beguiled 
 many a heavy and weary heart, for at the very 
 sound of his unequalled Scotch songs, his " Scots 
 wha hae," " Auld Langsyne," or " Willie brew- 
 ed a peck o' maut," what Scotsman but would 
 be cheered and lightened ? And are not such 
 men real benefactors of their kind ? Have any 
 men done so much to amuse the weary heart, 
 and soften the couch of sorrow and sickness, as 
 Scott, and Burns, and Shakspeare 1 How many 
 aching hearts have their poetry not lightened ? 
 How many griefs have they not assuaged ? Is 
 not Burns then one of the greatest of benefac- 
 tors? Biii-ns has been regarded simply as a 
 prodigy instead of a great genius, but perhaps 
 without due attention to the subject. The 
 greatest poets, such as Homer and Shakspeare, 
 have been born in humble life, and have flou- 
 rished in the infancy of the literature of their 
 country, and Burns, therefore, was only like his 
 equal in genius, that he rose amongst the ranks 
 of the people, and was indebted to no other 
 source than his own genius, and carried Scot- 
 tish song to such perfection that he has left 
 nothing for his successors to do. His works 
 attracted great attention in the literary circles 
 of England when they appeared, for they came 
 forth at a time when the great English masters, 
 Shakspeare, Milton, Dryden, and Pope, had 
 passed away, and when the imitators of the 
 latter, Goldsmith and Churchill, were silent; 
 while the new schools, the Lakers, the Cock- 
 ney, or the Satanic, as they have been termed, 
 had not arisen to attract the wondering gaze 
 and admiration of the lovers of poetry. But 
 this low and barren period did enough when it 
 gave Burns ; and he sang to the admiring 
 
628 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 world without a rival ; Englishmen acquired a 
 knowledge of his language, in order to read 
 and enjoy him. Nor does the host of great 
 poets who have since appeared — Byron and 
 Shelley, Scott and Campbell, Wordsworth and 
 Coleridge, Southey and Moore — in any way 
 tend to diminish the popularity and fame of 
 Burns. For one reader and admirer that any 
 one of these sons of song can boast, Burns can 
 number his hundred. Time has only, by ex- 
 tending his renown, increased his fame. Those 
 songs and lays which he scrawled on the 
 winter evenings in his humble cottage amongst 
 the moors of Scotland, have cheered and so- 
 laced millions in every quarter of the world. 
 No poet has perhaps afforded the world so 
 much gratification. For it is not the scholarly 
 man and the gentleman that alone can ap- 
 preciate the truthfulness, and beauty of his 
 sentiments ; he addresses himself quite as much 
 to the humble ranks of life as to the middle and 
 higher orders. He is so much admired in 
 America that numbers of our most distinguish- 
 ed transatlantic brethren have made pilgrimages 
 to Scotland to worship at the place of his birth, 
 as one of " the Delphan vales, Palestines, or 
 Meccas of the mind ;" and the most finished 
 American poem that I am familiar with is Fitz 
 Green Halleck's " Address to a wild rose," 
 brought with him from Alloway. In all civil- 
 ized lands, and wherever genius is acknow- 
 ledged. Burns is placed in the very foremost 
 rank of poets, side by side with Shakspeare, be- 
 tween whom and the Scotch ploughman there 
 is a very considerable resemblance. Both were 
 born amongst the ranks of the poor, the one 
 was bred a ploughman the other a woolstapler ; 
 Shakspeare attained the same rank in dramatic 
 that Burns attained in ballad poetry, Tlie 
 English poet worked up all those old stories 
 and legends which were floating about his 
 native land into those undying productions 
 which are familiarly known as his plays. Burns 
 collected all the many beautiful airs of his 
 native land, and composed the inimitable songs 
 which are as unequalled in their peculiar ex- 
 cellence as Shakspeare's plays, and afford plea- 
 sure to a much wider circle ; and if the whole 
 world has willingly acknowledged the great 
 pleasure derived from Burns' songs, how much 
 more peculiarly grateful are they to Scotsmen, 
 and particularly to Scotsmen in a far-off land ? 
 When he hears one of his familiar lays, the 
 melody charms and absorbs his senses like a 
 spell of enchantment. This is why Scotland, 
 that boasts a Scott, a Byron, and a Campbell — 
 of all of whom she is proud — still far beyond 
 all loves Burns ; and it may be remarked that 
 although the characters of the Scotch people 
 are in many particulars more staid and less 
 
 liable to temporary influences than the other 
 nations of the west, yet when once their en- 
 thusiasm has been aroused, and their hearts 
 gained, they are steady in their affections. 
 They love Burns not only as their poet, but 
 they love him for his independence, for th6 
 tenacity with which he stuck to his order, and 
 for the many misfortunes he endured, and the 
 grief he struggled with. The admiration which 
 the world freely gives to Burns is for his genius 
 as a ballad poet. Wherever the heart vents 
 itself in the strongest passions of love and grief, 
 of joy and melancholy, the language of Burns 
 must be used ; for as the most eminent critic of 
 the nineteenth century has said, " In this de- 
 partment he is so pre-eminent that there is none 
 second to him." Though he takes the highest 
 rank as a poet, and displays natural emotion, 
 vast power, and no ordinary felicity of expres- 
 sion, yet it is as a song writer he has distanced 
 all competitors. Honour — immortal honour — 
 to him who wrote such noble sentiments, and 
 whose genius has shed such a lustre, not only 
 on his country, but on his race. Let the fail- 
 ings of humanity be forgotten in the splendid 
 genius which ennobled it ! Honour to the 
 Scotch peasant who struck off the fetters of 
 ignorance which had kept the mind of his 
 humbler countrymen enslaved ! Honour to the 
 great refiner of human feelings — the expounder 
 of human sympathy ! Honour to the disciple 
 and expounder of nature ! A long remem- 
 brance to the favourite child of the muses ! 
 Maj' his name never die in the new world or 
 the old ! 
 
 The toast was drunk in solemn silence. 
 Band — " Bobin's awa." Song by Mr. Ewart — 
 " Scots wha hae." 
 
 His Excellency then rose and said : The 
 next toast, Mr. Chairman, needs no eulogium 
 to insure its enthusiastic reception. It was 
 not on this account, however, that I selected 
 it for myself to propose. I knew that there 
 would be here to-night many a Scotchman 
 ready to call on you, heart and soul, to smile 
 to " the hand of Burns," but I wished, while 
 Sparing their modesty, to show them, that 
 though I had the misfortune to be born on the 
 wrong side of the Tweed, I can yet proclaim 
 the praises of the land of my sires with genuine 
 pride and devotion. The world. Sir, owes 
 much in every way to that little nook of it 
 called Scotland. It is not alone the land of 
 Burns, but the land of Wallace and of Bruce — 
 
 of Buchanan and of Knox — of Napier- of 
 
 Hume — of Dugald Stewart, and a host of other' 
 worthies. It was, in a word, in early days, the' 
 cradle of civil and religious liberty. Ithas in 
 later years produced some of the most dis- 
 tinguished men of letters and of science of 
 
MELBOURNE. 
 
 529 
 
 ■whom Great Britaia can boast. But in no re- 
 spect are the claims of Scotland on our admi- 
 ration stronger than when we regard it as the 
 " Land of Song." Not to weary by going 
 further back than the poets of our own age, it 
 was amid its wild and majestic solitudes that 
 Byron was nurtured, frequent allusions through 
 his travels — such as, " Yet, Caledonia, beloved 
 are thy mountains," "Ah! there my young 
 footsteps in infancy wandered," — showing how 
 gratefully in later life he cherished the recol- 
 lections of his early residence there. Again, 
 Scott declares his obligations to the land of 
 his nativity, in lines so beautiful and so appro- 
 priate to the occasion, that I must be permitted 
 to quote them : — 
 
 " Oil, Caledonia! stern and wild, 
 Meet nurse for a poetic child ; 
 Land of brown heath and shaggy wood ! 
 Land of the mountain and the flood 1 
 Land of my sires ! 'W^iat mortal hand 
 Can e'er untie the filial band 
 That knits me to thy rugged strand ? " 
 
 I could add a score of others did time permit, 
 but, fortunately for us, of all Scotch poets 
 Burns himself is the most enthusiastically 
 Scotch — the most intensely national. He 
 loved his country, its scenery, its traditions, its 
 customs, its dialect, with a fervour almost akin 
 to idolatry. His writings are throughout 
 tinged with feelings of patriotism and national 
 pride. Whether in the glorious war songs, with 
 which, like another Tyrtseus, after he had him- 
 self put on the uniform of the volunteer corps, 
 he ro4.ised the martial spirit of his fellow- 
 countrymen against French aggression — whe- 
 ther in the plaintive love songs of his earlier 
 days, or in those simple pastoral idyls or domestic 
 lays, which yet more deeply touch our hearts — 
 this idea of country was ever uppermost in his 
 mind. To borrow, indeed, the beautiful image 
 with which he illustrates his own view of his 
 uniform, in one of his published letters : " The 
 poetic genius of my country found me," says 
 lie, " as the prophetic bard Elijah did Elisha, at 
 the plough ; and throwing over me her inspir- 
 ing mantle, she bade me sing the loves, the 
 joys, the rural scenes and rural pleasures of my 
 native land in my native tongue." That na- 
 tive tongue — stumbling-block as it proves to 
 " So'throns," and much as it has doubtless 
 stood in the way of the full appreciation of 
 Burns' merits in other countries — has been 
 probably the keystone of his popularity among 
 his own countrymen. In the colonies of Great 
 Britain, especially where so many thousand 
 Scotchmen are settled — the once familiar tones 
 of the Scottish dialect, mingled with the dulcet 
 strains of the poet, serve to recall the scenes of 
 infancy, to awaken the tenderest recollections 
 
 of youth. Hence the very name of Burns 
 seems to be doubly reverential among Scotch 
 colonists thus estranged from their kindred and 
 their homes. Hence to-night this triumphant 
 celebration of his memory in lands of which ho 
 never even knew the existence whilst living. 
 Burns himself, it may be interesting in connec- 
 tion with the events of to-night to call to mind, 
 was once on the eve of becoming a colonist. 
 In early life he had actually decided on taking 
 his passage for the Island of Jamaica', when he 
 was encouraged by liis friends to publish his 
 first volume of poems — an experiment so suc- 
 cessful as to change all his future plans. What 
 the result might have been had he really gone 
 to the West Indies, who can guess ? He might 
 in those days have found a readier road to for- 
 tune, if not to fame. He might have returned 
 home a very different man from what, alas ! he 
 eventually as a gauger of whisky became. 
 This much, at least, we may however conclude 
 — no change of clime or of circumstances would 
 have quenched the spark of poetry in his 
 breast ; his temperament would have remained 
 unaltered ; and we can fancy how he would, 
 therefore, have pined after the land of his birth. 
 With what an aching heart he would have sung 
 his own exquisite stanzas — 
 
 " Their groTes of sweet myrtle let foreign lands 
 reckon, 
 Where bright beaming summers exalt the perfume; 
 Far dearer to me yon lone glen of green hreokan, 
 Wi' the burn stealing under the lang yellow broom." 
 
 My theme, gentlemen, is inexhaustible, but 
 your patience should not be so considered, so I 
 hasten to conclude. Years have rolled over 
 many of your heads since you left this land so 
 famous in song and in story — years may elapse 
 ere some of you can again tread its shores. 
 But I know full well that the recollections of 
 its ancient glories, and of its present beauties, 
 have not faded — never will fade from your me- 
 mory. And I call on you, therefore, to join 
 me in drinking — not with noisy acclamations— 
 but with solemn — with reverential accents — to 
 " The Land of Burns." 
 
 The toast was duly honoured, and followed 
 by prolonged cheering. Organ — " Ye banks 
 and braes." Song by Mr. Ure — " A man's a 
 man for a' that." 
 
 Mr. G. W. Rusden proposed " The Poets of 
 the Nineteenth Century." 
 
 Mr. Michie proposed " Scottish Song." 
 
 Mr. Blair, M.L.A., proposed " The Advance- 
 ment of Literature." 
 
 Mr. Thomas Stewart proposed " The Lassies." 
 
 The Hon. M. Hervey, M.L.C., gave " The 
 Land we live in." 
 
 Mr. Colin Campbell proposed " The Literary 
 and Scientific Institutions of Victoria." 
 
530 
 
 THE BURNS CEXTENARY. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Dickson proposed " The Chari- 
 table Institutions of the Colony." 
 
 This closed the proceedings of the evening, 
 and the company gradually broke up, after 
 singing " Auld Langsyne." As His Excellency 
 retired to his carriage the National Anthem was 
 played, and a hearty round of cheers was given. 
 
 MONTREAL.— About seven o'clock in the 
 evening the City Concert Hall, which was 
 beautifully and appropriately decorated for the 
 occasion with illustrations of and quotations from 
 the works of Burns, under the direction and 
 auspices of the Montreal Burns Club, was filled 
 with an assemblage as brilliant, perhaps, as any 
 that ever met within its walls. Shortly after 
 7 o'clock the Chairman (the Hon. John Rose) 
 and the other speakers entered amid applause, 
 and took their seats on the platform. 
 
 ■Perhaps one of the most remarkable features 
 of the evening was a telegraphic apparatus on 
 the platform, with wires running along the hall, 
 and connecting with those in the street, by 
 which, during the night, sentiments were ex- 
 changed with, and received from, other as- 
 semblies of the same kind, in Canada and the 
 States. 
 
 The following gentlemen were on the plat- 
 form, viz.: — The Hon. John Rose, President of 
 the Burns Club; Professor Dawson, Alexander 
 Morris, Esq., Rev. Mr. Snodgrass, Mr. Sheriff 
 Boston, F. E. Morris, Esq., Q.C.; Mr. Justice 
 Badgley, Rev. Dr. Mathieson, His Worship the 
 Mayor, Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, Charles Cour- 
 sol, Esq., Colonel Taylor, C. Blackwell, Esq., 
 David Mair, Vice-President, and A. A. Steven- 
 son, Corresponding Secretary of the Burns 
 Club. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Mathieson having asked grace, 
 the Banquet was begun. During progress, Mr, 
 Macdonald, the Highland piper, delighted and 
 astonished the audience by marching round the 
 room playing, " Up an' waur them a' Willie," 
 The Banquet finished, and thanks having been 
 returned by the Rev. Mr. Snodgrass, 
 
 The Chairman said — Ladies and Gentle- 
 men: — There is one toast the first in every 
 loyal assembly, the Queen. (Applause.) I 
 know the enthusiasm and loyalty with which 
 you will respond to this toastr-— I know the 
 sentiments of personal attachment which you 
 bear towards our sovereign, and the way in 
 which you appreciate her qualities as wife and 
 mother. So I give you the Queen, God bless 
 her. 
 
 Drank with enthusiasm. 
 
 Baud — " God Save the Queen." 
 Song—" National Anthem," in which Miss Suther- 
 land took part. 
 
 Glee — " Willie brewed a peck o' maut." 
 
 The Chairman again rose — He said :— The 
 conventionalities that forbade me prefacing the 
 last toast scarcely apply to this; so I may be 
 permitted to offer one or two observations, as 
 the subject is one of peculiar interest in this 
 portion of Her Majesty's dominions at the pre- 
 sent moment. There seems to be a general 
 impression, not without foundation, that next 
 year we may be visited by some member of the 
 royal family. If the event should occur, if this 
 anticipation should be realized, he will find here 
 not only a work which, in magnificence of con- 
 ception, and in wonderful execution, surpasses 
 all the triumphs of modern science, but His 
 Royal Highness will also find here those of 
 whom, as his future subjects, he need not be 
 ashamed. He will also find that we possess 
 not only all the elements of material prosperity, 
 all that contributes to our social well-being, but 
 he will find that we enjoy constitutional free- 
 dom, and also that the sentiment of loyalty 
 has lost nothing in being transplanted to this 
 distant part of Her Majesty's dominions. He 
 will find a people drawn from two antagonistic 
 races, sprung from two of the greatest nations 
 of the earth — France and England — gradually 
 becoming united into one homogeneous whole. 
 He will find that this people is imbued with a 
 sentiment of loyalty, as warm, as earnest and as 
 enduring, as in any other portion of the wide- 
 spread dominions over which his royal parent 
 now holds sway. He will find also that he will 
 receive as warm a welcome as in any other part 
 of the empire of his royal mother — whether in 
 Asia, Africa, Europe or America. (Applause.) 
 I now give you " Prince Albert and the Royal 
 Family." Drunk with all the honours. 
 
 Band — " Gude Nioht and joy be wi' you a'." 
 
 Song by Miss Sutherland — " My heart is 
 sair for somebody ! " This song was raptur- 
 ously encored, and Miss Sutherland sang, " I'm 
 owre young to marry yet." 
 
 The Chairman then gave "The Army and 
 Navy," which was replied to by Colonel "Taylor 
 of the Royal Artillery. 
 
 In introducing the toast of the evening the 
 President said — This meeting is one not in- 
 tended merely for purposes of conviviality. We 
 are on the contrary met as one among many 
 bands, which are this night assembled by a 
 common instinct to do honour to the memory 
 of our great national bard. I shall not attempt 
 to institute a comparison between Burns and 
 the other poets of ancient or of modern times. 
 Nor do I claim for Burns that he was the 
 greatest poet who ever lived. Comparison and 
 panegyric would be equally inappropriate, but 
 the reflection which must occur to us all is to 
 ask, what it is that brings us here as by a na- 
 tional instinct, one hundred vears after his 
 
MONTREAL. 
 
 o3l 
 
 birth to do honour to the memory of Burns ? 
 I think some reflection on the answer to tliis 
 question may do us all good. This night, one 
 hundred years ago, Burns was born in an hum- 
 ble cottage, of parents so poor that they could 
 scarcely give him the rudiments of education, 
 accessible as education is in Scotland, almost to 
 the lowest. We all know with how much 
 difficulty he obtained the education which was 
 afforded him — how he had to take turns with 
 his brothers at their field work, in order that he 
 might go to school. We all know, too, how, 
 in after years, he struggled with poverty, and 
 sometimes with neglect — his parts being some- 
 times appreciated, only to make the subsequent 
 neglect felt more severely. We know the story 
 of his love and of his despair — and how, in later 
 life, poverty again haunted him. This is the 
 story of too many poets — of too many men, 
 whose genius has electrified the world, and 
 therefore, I again ask what there is to induce 
 us, one hundred years after his birth, thus to 
 assemble and worship at his shrine 1 We know 
 how many and what vast changes have taken 
 place within these hundred years — how much 
 has been done for social and material pros- 
 perity, what advance has taken place in arms, 
 in steam, that great agent by which the intei'- 
 course of the world is so much promoted. 
 Since then, too, the world has seen Scott and 
 Campbell and Southey, and Napoleon and Wel- 
 lington — names at which we almost hold our 
 breath with awe. Lastly, we have obtained 
 that electric communication by which the re- 
 motest parts of the earth are brought into con- 
 tact, though at distant parts of Continents, or 
 separated by oceans, what is it then that amidst 
 all these exciting changes induces us to pay 
 this homage to our Bard? I do not pretend to 
 offer critical or dogmatic reasons; but what 
 strikes me as the cause of his being so firmly 
 embedded in all our hearts, and which, when 
 we are no more, will cause him to be found in 
 those of our descendants, one hundred years 
 hence, filling them with as much enthusiasm as 
 it does ours, is that his poetry appeals so 
 strongly to the sympathies and feelings of our 
 hearts. He was not, indeed, the poet of the 
 intellect or of the imagination; but he spoke 
 to that part of our nature which has ever been 
 and ever will be the same. This he brought 
 out with a distinctness, reality, and .substance, 
 which made them felt and almost seen by his 
 readers. What was it that inspired the genius 
 of Burns 1 I find the answer in the presence 
 this night of so many of my fair country- 
 women. It was love of woman that first 
 stirred the genius of the poet. We have his 
 own testimony to the fact that at the age of 
 fifteen when harvesting with a girl who worked 
 
 in the same field, he became charmed by her 
 person, and electrified when he felt the touch 
 of her hand, or observed her eye directed 
 towards him. He found in her a voice from 
 heaven, which awoke his slumbering emotions. 
 The moral then is that we ought to cherish 
 and cultivate the social affections. But there is 
 another reason. We thus honour him because 
 we feel in every mode of our lives, whetlier ia 
 happiness or misery, joy or sorrow, some echo 
 to our thought in the pages of Burns. And 
 do we not find these sentiments running 
 through his poetry? How beautifully delineated 
 are the social affections, the comforts of do- 
 mestic life, and the piety of the family in the 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night." Yet these are not 
 the only sentiments to which he appeals. His 
 genius wells up fresh, adapted to every occa- 
 sion of our lives, and the products appear to 
 have come from his mind freely and without 
 effort. " Tam o' Slianter" was written while 
 walking up and down before the river Doon ; 
 
 " The Deil came fiddling tliio' tlie toon 
 And danced away wi' th' Exciseman," 
 
 was written while, in the quality of exciseman, 
 he was watching a smuggler, in the offing, hav- 
 ing first sent away his men to intercept the 
 crew of the vessel on their landing. I hope the 
 tradition of the occasion for the composition of 
 the song 
 
 " Is there, for lionest poverty,'' 
 
 is not the true one ; but there is a tradition that 
 Burns, having been invited to take part at a 
 feast in some great house, was not received at 
 the table ; but treated only as one who was to 
 contribute to the amusements of the guests. It 
 is said that in this humble position he stood up, 
 and recited the words of the song as they came 
 from his heart. I hope this story is not true. 
 At any rate let us be happy in thinking it could 
 not occur in our own day, when genius and 
 worth meet with their due appreciation, no 
 matter what may be the rank of their possessor 
 in the social scale. Gentlemen and ladies, it 
 has been said that Scotch nationality is on the 
 decline — that Scotland is as it were losing her 
 individuality ; but is that true ? No, I believe 
 it is the very reverse, though she may have 
 lost some of her peculiarities. But sending her 
 sons abroad all over the earth their hearts re- 
 vert to their native soil with as warm an enthu- 
 siasm as they ever did, and that enthusiasm is 
 certainly greatly promoted by the poetry of 
 Burns. If martial excitement is required, can 
 we have anything more glowing than : — 
 
 '• Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled?" 
 
532 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 or if social enjoyment is to be delineated, could 
 it be better done than in " Tarn o' Shanter," 
 and " Willie brewed a peck o' maut," or in that 
 song, which he hoped they would all join in 
 singing before they left — he meant the favourite 
 song of "Auld Langsyne?" Mr. Rose con- 
 cluded by reading several telegraphic commu- 
 nications, which he had received from several 
 parties who were celebrating the day in the 
 same manner, it having been arranged that, 
 through the whole of America, the same toast 
 should be proposed at the same moment. The 
 Chairman then proposed the memory of Burns. 
 
 Mr. Gunn then gave a very humorous re- 
 citation of " Tam o' Shanter." 
 
 Alex. Morris, Esq., in an eloquent speech, 
 proposed " The day and a' wha honour it." 
 
 Band — " Scots wha hae." 
 
 " My Nannie O," by Miss Sutherland, who, 
 being encored, sang the " M'Gregor's Gather- 
 ing." 
 
 The Phesidbnt then said he had a question 
 from Hamilton : — " We are getting on finely. 
 How's a' wi' ye." The answer of the meeting 
 was " Gaylies brawlies. Thanks to ye for 
 speerin'," which was ordered to be sent by 
 telegraph. 
 
 Mr. F. G. Johnson proposed the " Poets and 
 Poetry of the present age." 
 
 Band — " Cheer Boys, Cheer." 
 
 Song — " There was a lad wag born in Kyle," by 
 Mr. Muir. 
 
 Telegraphic greetings were then read from 
 Brockville, Kingston, Quebec, Hamilton, Otta- 
 wa, and Prescott. 
 
 The Chairman gave the next toast. The 
 " Land of Burns." 
 
 Principal Dawson responded in an eloquent 
 speech. 
 
 Song — "Comin' thro' the Eye," by Miss Agnes 
 Sutherland. 
 
 The Chairman then gave " Canada our 
 Home." 
 
 C. J. Courson, Esq., amid applause, replied. 
 
 The Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau proposed " The 
 Press." 
 
 Band, " Telegraph Gallop." Miss Agnes 
 Sutherland sang, amid great applause, " O, 
 Wliistle and I'll come to you my lad;" then 
 came a glee, after which 
 
 His Worship the Mayor proposed the health 
 of the Ladies, in a few observations, well re- 
 ceived and appropriate. 
 
 Song — " Green grow the Rashes," by Mr. Muir. 
 
 Mr. Sheriff Boston proposed the health of 
 the Chairman and the Members of the Burns' 
 Chib. Received with due honours. 
 
 The whole assemblage standing, " Auld Lang- 
 syne " was sung, and thus ended the first cen- 
 tenary of Robert Burns. 
 
 The proceedings passed off to the satisfaction 
 of all ; the programme was appreciated ; tlie 
 Burns Club frequently commended for the ex- 
 cellency of the arrangements, and Miss Agnes 
 Sutherland was the idol of the evening. Every 
 song she sung received an encore; every time 
 she retired she was followed by the cheers and 
 applause of the audience. 
 
 The dinner, as prepared by Mr. Balchin, was 
 such as , to sustain his reputation as a careful 
 caterer for the public. 
 
 Prince's band, during the evening, played 
 some of the best musical pieces of the day. 
 
 NEWCASTLE, N. B.— A number of the 
 admirers of Robert Burns met at the Witherall 
 House, Newcastle, to celebrate the centenary. 
 Mr. A. Eraser occupied the chair, and Mr. 
 James Neilson acted as croupier. 
 
 OTTAWA, C. W.— The celebration took 
 place at the Britisli Hotel, which was appropri- 
 ately fitted up. Tlie entire range of windows 
 fronting on Sussex and George Streets were 
 brilliantly illuminated, and on the front of the 
 building were placed three transparencies, one 
 being a well-executed full-length portrait of the 
 immortal bard. The dinner was spread in the 
 large room in the second story of the building, 
 which was neatly and appropriately fitted up. 
 The mayor of the city, E. M'Gillivray, Esq., 
 presided, having on his right the Rev. Alex. 
 Spence, and R. W. Scott, Esq., M.P.P., and on 
 his left the Rev. M. M'D. Dawson and Isaac 
 Berichon, Esq. Simon Eraser, Esq., High 
 Sheriff of the County, and Robert Lees, Esq., 
 County Attorney, filled the vice-chairs. 
 
 PETERBORO', C. W.— The admirers of 
 Burns met together on Tuesday evening, over 
 the store of Messrs. Coujjar and Ogilvy, to 
 celebrate the centenary. No preparations were 
 made for the gathering, it having been felt that 
 the anticipatory movement in Hastings would 
 draw away the greater part of the most valuable 
 assistants of the entertainment. However, as 
 night drew near, the friends who remained at 
 home collected to about sixty, and partook of 
 supper, keeping up their demonstrations in 
 speech and song until near morning. 
 
 PICTOU, N. S. — Tlie centenary celebra/tion 
 came off in good stylo in this place. The local 
 
PRESCOT— SIMCOE. 
 
 633 
 
 Chronicle regi'ots its inability to furnish a repoi-t 
 of the proceedings. 
 
 PRESCOT, C. W.— The Scotchmen of Pres- 
 eot, .accompanied by tlieir friends, assembled at 
 North nip's Hotel to do honour to the anniver- 
 sary. Upwards of fifty individuals sat down 
 to dinner. The chair was occupied by William 
 Gibson, Esq., and the vice-chair by E. Mundle, 
 Esq. Altogether the celebration was very suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 QUEBEC, C. E The festival of Quebec 
 
 was a great success, both as an act of homage 
 to the poet and a gay gathering. It was not 
 only one of the most brilliant known to our 
 social annals, but assembled upon the same floor 
 representatives (to the number of at least ] ,500) 
 of all the various circles of society into which 
 our city is inevitably divided. 
 
 We quote the following remarks by Dr. 
 Smith, rector of the High School: 
 
 How becoming is it in us to join in the " lo 
 Triumphe " of popular applause, and to enrol 
 our names in this mighty movement! The uni- 
 versality and grandeur of the tribute is com- 
 manding expression from pole to pole. And 
 that the sentiments of tribute are as warmly 
 cherished as they are widely spread, is not only 
 beautiful in itself but is one of the most re- 
 markable demonstrations of modern times. It 
 is an extraordinary fact that politicians of every 
 shade, churchmen of every tenet, denizens of 
 every class and clime, meet to sustain and cheer 
 one another. How truly great must that man 
 be who will cause ordinary minds to become 
 enthusiastic and the gifted to become divine! 
 I have often gazed upon the mausoleum of 
 Burns, erected in the churchyard of Dumfries; 
 liis full-sized statue with his hand resting upon 
 the plough ; all of pure white marble ; and 
 pondered upon the original genius, the mascu- 
 line talent, and the consummate conversational 
 power of the once-neglected man, whose re- 
 mains lay mouldering beneath that shining and 
 splendid monument. But, really, what is 
 " storied urn and animated bust ;" what is all 
 the cunning workmanship of art to the rena- 
 scent holocaust of an admiring world, now being 
 offered up at the shrine of true nobility of soul, 
 with one heart and with one mind ? What is 
 the circumvallated breastwork of that squire- 
 archy which in Burns' day they raised against 
 him as a branded democrat, who sought to ex- 
 alt the peasant to a level with the peer, 'by 
 preaching to them in their native tongue that 
 genius, creative art, intellectual capabilities, and 
 manly feeling, are the common inheritance of 
 
 every human being ; and that from tlie many, 
 rather than from the shrinking shadowy few, is 
 power given to range through eternity, to force 
 a passage through those countless worlds that 
 swarm with life ; yea, to soar to the footstool of 
 Hira who upholds other systems and other suns. 
 What are all the pretentious bucklers with which 
 gentility, and excise commissioners, and trashy 
 officialdom can invest themselves, and which our 
 tears of love for Burns could drown, one and 
 all of them, whose memoi-ies the vestal fire of 
 the poet's genius is fast reducing to ashes, un- 
 less, haply, they be vaguely reflected by the 
 glare of that ethereal flame which in their mer- 
 ciless and proud ignorance, they sought to 
 quench 1 What, I ask, are all these — from 
 monumental marble to Old Light bigotry and 
 the bloodhounds of political espionage, to the 
 lasting and glorious eulogies which have been 
 passed, and will continue to be passed, upon 
 our greatest national poet, who is commanding 
 universal homage, and linking together in sym- 
 pathetic union high and low, rich and poor, the 
 man of transcendent genius with his brother 
 man of humbler natural endowments? 
 
 SARNIA, C. W.— The demonstration took 
 place in the Court House, and considering the 
 limited time which intervened between the re- 
 solution to have a celebration and the day it- 
 self, the affair passed off most satisfactorily. 
 The large Hall was duly prepared and decorated 
 for the occasion, and four ranges of tables set 
 its entire length, offering accommodation to 
 240 or 250 persons, and every available seat 
 was occupied ; the ladies turning out in goodly 
 numbers to do honour to the memory of one 
 who was a generous admirer of female loveliness. 
 Hon. M. Cameron presided. Altogether, the 
 affair was decidedly successful. 
 
 SHAKSPEARE, C. W.— The banquet given 
 in honour of the " ploughman poet " at Thom- 
 son's Hotel, Shakspeare, on Tuesday, was in 
 every respect a most successful affair. One 
 hundred and fifty persons sat down to an ex- 
 cellent dinner, a large number having come 
 from Stratford, Mitchell, and other places. 
 The chair was ably filled by Wm. Smith, Esq. 
 of Stratford, and the vice-chair by Alex. Ham- 
 ilton, Esq. Toasts, sentiments, and singing 
 were the order of the evening, and the festiv- 
 ities wound up with a dance. 
 
 SIMCOE, C. W— The admirers of Burns 
 met together in the Norfolk House, to celebrate 
 the anniversary. The room was tastefully de- 
 corated witli festoons, and the walls were hung 
 
534 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 with likenesses of her Majesty, Burns, Scott, &o. 
 Colonel Wilson acquitted himself of the duties of 
 the cliair in liis usual happy manner, ably 
 seconded by the Hon. M. H. Foley, as vice- 
 chairman. 
 
 ST. JOHN, N. B.— The admirers of the 
 poet, and these include many of every class in 
 the community, anticipated on the 25th of 
 January, 1859, a holiday, and a pleasant one 
 to boot. " A blast o' Januar win' " ushered in 
 the eventful day. The address on the Life and 
 Writings of Burns was delivered by the Hon. 
 James Brown, in the hall of the Mechanics' In- 
 stitute, in the afternoon, to a large and most 
 respectable audience. He first reviewed the 
 life and character of the bard, and concluded 
 with his writings, selections from which he re- 
 cited with a power and feeling which provoked 
 to smiles the saddest, and drew tears from the 
 ej'es of many unaccustomed to weep. Himself 
 a Scotchman, and most thoroughly conversant 
 with Burns, he had no difficulty in catching the 
 spirit of the poet, and succeeded admirably in 
 imparting it to his audience. In the evening a 
 dinner was given in Ritchie's Hall, to which 
 upwards of 200 sat down. Want of accommo- 
 dation prevented the issuing of a larger number 
 of tickets, otherwise not a few more would have 
 been present. The Hon. John Robertson, in a 
 most able manner, discharged the duties of 
 chairman, and in these he was well sustained 
 and assisted by the croupiers, Hon. James 
 Brown, and John Boyd, Alexander Petrie, 
 John M'Ara Walker, and James Macfarlane, 
 Esqs., On the right of the Chairman was the 
 Mayor, and on the left the chaplain of the St. 
 Andrew's Society, Rev. W. Donald, A.M. 
 Grace having been said by Mr. Donald, and 
 thanks returned by the Rev. J. W. Disbrow, 
 and after the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 the Chairman, in a few eloquent remarks, gave 
 the toast of the evening, " The Day we Cele- 
 brate, the Centennial Anniversary of the Birth- 
 day of Robert Burns — a true Man, and a true 
 Poet." Captain Charles Brown sung, " There 
 was a lad was born in Kyle." Mr. Boyd re- 
 plied at some length, and with great eloquence 
 and ability. Before and after this toast was 
 read an original piece of poetry, from the pen 
 of Mr. Murdoch. Other appropriate toasts fol- 
 lowed, and songs by the Quintette Club, who 
 attended the dinner as well as the address, and 
 discoursed most beautiful music, both vocal and 
 instrumental, by Captain Brown, and by other 
 gentlemen present. The company on this oc- 
 casion heedless of the warning given wjien 
 
 " The aula clock hammer strak the bell," 
 
 prolonged the feast till early morn. 
 
 ST. MARY'S, C. W.— The celebration took 
 place in the Odd Fellows' Hall, and w^as, as the 
 Stratford Beacon says, a complete triumph. 
 Nearly one hundred sat down to dinner, Mr. 
 J. Hutton, Chairman, Mr. Emmerson in the 
 vice- chair. 
 
 STREETSVILLE, C. W.— The o~ccasion 
 was celebrated at this place by a numerous 
 party at the Stephens House, James Paterson, 
 Esq., in the chair. 
 
 SYDNEY. — The centenary birthday dinner 
 in commemoration of Robert Burns was held 
 at the Prince of Wales Theatre. It was in 
 every respect a great success, for, notwith- 
 standing the Cricketers' Dinner and other 
 counter attractions, the attendance was large ; 
 the dinner and the wines of good quality, the 
 stewards attentive, and the assembled guests 
 (comprising Englishmen, Scotchmen, Irishmen, 
 and the representatives of several Continental 
 nations) enthusiastic in the expression of thoir 
 admiration of the genius of the Scottish bard. 
 
 Members of her Majesty's Government and 
 members of the Opposition cast aside the wea- 
 pons of their political warfare, and met for 
 once upon common ground to do honour to the 
 memory of one who has left so rich a legacy to 
 the world, and whose name in one century has 
 become a household word in the new homes of 
 the South and the West. 
 
 The theatre was decorated with much taste. 
 The palm leaf, the fern, and Australian foliage 
 of various kinds, enlivened by the gay colours 
 of the hydrangea and the oleander, adorned 
 the boxes, from which hung a number of ban- 
 nerols containing some of the most beautiful 
 passages from the productions of the poet. 
 The pit of the theatre was boarded over on a 
 level with the stage, and three tables extended 
 from one end nearly to the other of the spaci- 
 ous edifice, flanked by a cross-table for the ac- 
 commodation of the Chairman, the Legislature, 
 and the Bar. There were also several smaller 
 tables underneath the boxes. These, like the 
 others, were covered with the substantial of 
 the feast and set off to advantage by vases well 
 filled with flowers. At the extremity of the 
 stage were displayed the English, the Ham- 
 burg, the French, and the American flags — 
 two on either side of a large picture represent- 
 ing an oval medallion of Burns, surrounded by 
 several minor illustrations — the house in which 
 he was born, the plough and other implements 
 of husbandry, symbols of the poetic muse, and 
 a star setting in glory over his tomb. The 
 arms of the family of Burns, and several ma- 
 sonic emblems were also shown in the picture 
 
SYDNEY. 
 
 ■.3.5 
 
 —the former at the foot, and the latter above 
 the medallion. 
 
 The dress-circle was crowded with ladies, 
 with the exception of two boxes which were 
 appropriated to Mr. Winterbottora and his 
 band, whose finely-arranged and well-executed 
 music so greatly enhanced the " commemora- 
 tion." 
 
 At half-past seven o'clock the chair was taken 
 by Mr. J. Williamson, M.L.A., and about 700 
 gentlemen sat down to partake of the good 
 things which the committee had procured, and 
 which were supplied by Mr. Alfred Hatch, of 
 the London Tavern. As appropriate to such 
 an occasion, what Burns humorously styled the 
 "great chieftain o' the puddin' race" — a "guid 
 Scotch haggis" — was placed in a conspicuous 
 place upon the table. The Chairman was sup- 
 ported on his right by the Premier, Mr. Cow- 
 per ; the hon. and learned Attorney-General, 
 Mr. Lutwyche ; and th6 hon. and learned So- 
 licitor-General, Mr. Dalley ; and on his left by 
 Mr. Hay, M.L.A., and Mr. Wise, M.L.C. We 
 also observed Mr. Piddington, M.L.A. ; Mr. 
 Hart, M.L.A. ; Mr. Gordon, M.L.A. ; Mr. 
 Dickson, M.L.A. ; Mr. Deniehy, M.L.A. ; Mr. 
 Owen, M.L.A., and, at a later period of the 
 evening, the hon. Minister for Lands and Pub- 
 lie Works (Mr. Eobertson) ; Dr. Dickson, 
 M.L.C; Mr. Blake, M.L.C; the Rev. Dr. 
 Woolley, Principal of the Sydney University ; 
 the Rev. G. H. Stanley ; and the Rev. Dr. 
 Lang, Mr. Garland, Mr. Rae, Captain M'Le- 
 rie, &c. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Lang repeated Burns' " Grace 
 before Dinner" — 
 
 " Thou, who kindly dost provide 
 
 For every creature's want ! 
 We bless Thee, God of Nature wide, 
 
 For all Thy goodness lent : 
 And if it please Thee, Heavenly Guide, 
 
 May never worse be sent ; 
 But whether granted or denied, 
 
 Lord, bless us with content!" 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts the 
 Chairman rose, amid loud cheering, to propose 
 the toast of the evening, " The Memory of Ro- 
 bert Burns." He said — Gentlemen, I believe 
 that nowhere under the sun are there to be 
 found men more proud of their country than 
 Scotsmen. To have been born a Scotsman, — 
 to know that he is descended from those heroes 
 who fought for freedom on the field of Ban- 
 nockburn, gives a manly pride to the Scot, 
 however humble his position. Sharing as I do 
 in no small degree in this pride of birth, how 
 honoured do I feel in presiding at this magnifi- 
 cent festival, — a festival of no ordinary kind, 
 but one in commemoration of the hundredth 
 natal day of Scotia's gifted poet, — " the sweet- 
 
 est bard that ever sang," — a day which will not 
 only be commemorated where the broad banner 
 of Britain waves, but in every part of the world 
 where the foot of the white man hath trodden. 
 In the great republic of America, — in the 
 crowded cities of China, — in the torrid plains 
 of India, — ay, even in the desert of Africa, for 
 where Livingstone is, the memory of his gifted 
 countryman will not be forgotten. I am not 
 vain enough to think that the honour of pre- 
 siding here this evening has been conferred 
 upon me as a man, but from the knowledge 
 which I possess of my countrymen — that, 
 though many years absent from my native land, 
 1 am heart and soul a Scotsman, — that Scot- 
 land to me is the bright spot in the distance, 
 — the land of freedom, literature, and science, 
 — the land of " honest men and bonnie lasses ;" 
 and that, to me, the memory of Burns is a sa- 
 cred thing. I feel myself unable to do justice 
 to the high position 1 am this evening placed 
 in, but freely throw myself on the indulgence 
 of my countrymen, feeling assured that they 
 will take the will for the deed, and overlook 
 my deficiencies. One hundred years have 
 rolled on in the cycle of eternity since the 
 birth of Robert Burns, and what mighty chan- 
 ges have taken place on this transitory scene ! 
 Science and knowledge in the poet's day, com- 
 paratively in the dawn, have brightened to me- 
 ridian splendour; and so revolutionised society, 
 and even the face of nature, that, were the poet 
 again to revisit earth, he would look in vain 
 for the scenes of his boyhood. The sound of 
 the hammer and the hum of multitudes would 
 startle him where solitude used to reign. Cit- 
 ies have taken the place of villages, and the 
 snort of the iron horse awakens the echoes long 
 sacred to the curlew or the cushat-doo. Great 
 men, heroes, and bards have lived and died ; 
 but neither hero nor bard has been able to 
 find a kindred place in the affections of the 
 people. We have all pored over the passionate 
 verse of Byron, the romantic legends of Scott, 
 and the loving strains of Moore ; but no poet 
 that ever sang, no prophet or historian, how- 
 ever gifted, has so indelibly left the impress of 
 his writings on the national character of a 
 country as Burns. He forms part and parcel 
 of their very lives ; his works — his legacy in 
 the noblest castle in the land, and in the hum- 
 blest cottage — ^lie side by side with the big 
 " ha' Bible." The first music the young Scots- 
 man hears is the sweet songs of Burns, from 
 his mother's lips ; the first lessons of manly vir- 
 tue and sturdy independence are gleaned from 
 his page. He learns that 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
536 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 He is taught that patriotism is one of the no- 
 blest virtues, and that love of country so pro- 
 minent in the character of a Scotsman, owes in 
 a great degree its existence to the songs of 
 Burns; and cold must be the heart of that 
 Scotsman whose pulse does not vibrate to 
 
 " Soots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." 
 
 It is not only in youth that the poems of Burns 
 become identified with our characters ; but 
 when the business of life has really begun — 
 when the boy has become the man, and the 
 fair maiden crosses his path that is to bring to 
 him happiness or woe — when he becomes the 
 victim of that passion, the noblest, the holiest, 
 that humanity is subject to — a virtuous love — 
 when the arrow has pierced his bosom — where 
 does he turn for succour and relief? Not to 
 crowded places — not to the advice of friends — 
 but to his own little room, and to Robert 
 Burns. In his pages he finds relief; he repeats 
 
 " My heart is sair, I darna tell, 
 My heart is sair for somebody. 
 
 I wad do, what wad I not, 
 For the sake o' somebody." 
 
 He acquires fresh vigour from the page, perse- 
 veres and conquers, and again borrows from 
 the poet — . 
 
 "My wife's a winsome wee thing, 
 She is a handsome wee thing ; 
 She is a bonnie wee thing. 
 This sweet wee wife o' mine. 
 
 I never saw a fairer, 
 
 I never lo'ed a dearer ; 
 
 And neist my heart I'll wear her. 
 
 For fear my jewel tine." 
 
 And when the heyday of youth is over — when 
 the business of life is drawing to a close — 
 when years of affection, mutual love, and con- 
 fidence are past — ^when the raven hair is tinged 
 with silvery hue — when the white open fore- 
 head gets furrowed, and the rounded cheek 
 hollow — how well we can sympathise with his 
 
 "John Anderson, my jo, John, 
 When we were first aoquent, 
 Your locks were like tlie raven, 
 Your bonnie brow was brent ; 
 But now your brow is held, John, 
 Your locks are like the siiaw; 
 But blessings on your frosty pow, 
 John Anderson, my jo." 
 
 In every relation of life do we find ourselves 
 associated with the poetry of Burns. In love 
 and happiness, in sorrow and care, he carries 
 us away, and is really and truly the poet of the 
 people. Meeting with old friends brings up the 
 days of " Auld Langsyne." If laden with care 
 and sadness, we remember that 
 
 "The poor, oppressed honest man 
 Had surely ne'er been born, 
 Had there not been some recompense, 
 To comfort those that mourn." 
 
 And if to sadness is added despondency, where 
 will we find such sympathy as with the poet? 
 
 " life, thou art a galling load, 
 Along a rough, a weary road, 
 To wretches such as I." 
 
 But if we find sympathy in our sadness and 
 despondency, to what a pitch does our mirtii 
 go when led on by Burns ? What a fund of 
 pleasure do we derive from his " Hallowe'en," 
 his " Cottar's Saturday Night," and, above all, 
 his "Tam o' Shanter?" Who has not in im- 
 agination seen "Auld Alloway Kirk in a bleeze," 
 "The dance of Witches," "Nanny wi' her 
 Cutty Sark?" 
 
 " ATild Nick in shape o' beast, 
 A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large, 
 To gie them music was his charge ; 
 He screwed his pipes and gart them skirl, 
 Till roof and rafters a' did dirl." 
 
 And who does not sympathize wi' honest Tam, 
 with the witches in full chase, skreeking — 
 
 "Ah, Tam! ah, Tam! thou'lt get thy fan-in' ! 
 In hell they'll roast thee like a herrin ! 
 In vain thy Kate awaits thy comin' I 
 Kate soon will be a waefu' woman ! " 
 
 But, thanks to Maggie's heels, the " keystane 
 of the brig " is won, and Tam is safe. 1 trust 
 I shall be pardoned for so many quotations ; 
 but on an occasion like this my enthusiasm is 
 apt to carry me away. At such a gathering 
 as this — a meeting in honour of our national 
 poet — it is impossible to prevent that ethereal 
 part of our being — our memory — from darting 
 like the electric Huid across the 16,000 miles 
 that divides us from our fatherland, and bring 
 again before our eyes the scenes of our boy- 
 hood, the familiar school, and the stern frown 
 of the pedagogue — the old church and the kind 
 minister — the old churchyard and the graves of 
 our parents ? We can join together, heart and 
 soul, in praying God bless her; we can say, 
 with the sacred psalmist, " If I forget thee, O 
 Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cun- 
 ning ;" or, with our own poet, 
 
 " Caledonia I stern and wild, 
 Meet nurse for a poetic child; . 
 Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, 
 Land of the mountain and the flood. 
 Land of my sires, what mortal hand 
 Can e'er untie the filial band 
 That knits me to thy rugged strand ! " 
 
 The toast was drunk in solemn silence. 
 Band — " Land o' the leal." 
 
SYDNEY. 
 
 537 
 
 ^Ir. Joiix Rae was called upon by the Chair- 
 man to respond. He said: — I really cannot 
 understand why I am called upon to respond 
 to the toast which has just been proposed, ex- 
 cept it is because I am known to love the poet 
 dearly, and because som« considerable number 
 of years ago I had the honour of endeavouring 
 to bring the beauties of his works before an 
 Australian audience. On the 5th August, 
 1844, I delivered the first of a series of lec- 
 tures at the School of Arts, on the genius and 
 character of Burns ; and I mention the day 
 fi'om the singularity that attended it. By the 
 next mail from England I discovered that on 
 the very evening I was endeavouring in my 
 humble way to illustrate the genius of our 
 national poet to an Australian audience, the 
 repentant heart of Scotland was moved to its 
 centre to do justice to the bard whom she had 
 partially neglected during his lifetime, and had 
 canonised after his death. • On that very even- 
 ing the streets of Ayr-^the avenues leading to 
 liis birth-place and to his monument — were 
 lined with a mass of living beings pressing for- 
 ward to- the grand national ceremony that was 
 to be held in honour of his memory, and to 
 welcome his three sons, after an absence of 
 some thirty years, to the home of their father. 
 And glorious was that meeting. The nobleman 
 and the peasant, the poet, the philosopher, and 
 the orator, were there to greet the sons of the 
 peasant poet of Scotland. Greater honour was 
 never awarded to the memory of a poet than 
 this. And we are met here to-night for a 
 similar purpose. I must say that I was sur- 
 prised to hear " The Memory of Burns " drunk 
 in solemn silence. Why should we drink in 
 solemn silence to the memory of Burns ? Does 
 any one suppose that we expected all that was 
 mortal of him to survive for a century ? We 
 are here, not to weep over the remains of our 
 bard, but with heads erect to proclaim to the 
 world that our poet has survived his century — 
 that he has stood the test of 100 years, and 
 that he had emerged unscathed from the trial. 
 We are here to announce that the calumnies — 
 the slime and the slander — which have been 
 heaped upon his name have long since been 
 washed away in the generous burst of enthu- 
 siasm — by the tears which have been shed over 
 his untimely grave. We are here to announce 
 that the holly is still as green upon his brows 
 as when the Muse of Scotland bound it there 
 by the chimney nook of the auld clay biggin. 
 You, Sir, (alluding to the Chairman) have 
 entered so fully into the character of the poet 
 tliat you have left very little room for your 
 successors : but, as if you had paid more at- 
 tention to his character as a man, and the 
 moral lessons which he has given in his poetry. 
 
 I shall, in the few remarks I have to make, 
 confine myself more to his poetical character. 
 Burns was, every inch of him, a Scotchman. 
 He never travelled, and never wished to travel 
 far beyond the precincts of his country, the 
 
 " Land o' cakes and blither Scots, 
 Frae Maidenkirk to John o' Groats." 
 
 He was fond of the Scotch people, the Scotch 
 lasses, and the Scotch whisky. He loved, also, 
 the Scotch language — ^not, however, in conse- 
 quence of any inability to compose in English, 
 for 1 may state, on the authority of Lord Jef- 
 frey, that Bums composed in as pure and good 
 English as nine-tenths of gentlemen who were 
 understood to have had a good education. It 
 was not from necessity but from choice that he 
 adopted the peculiar dialect of his country, 
 and perhaps also because he found that dialect 
 adopted in those ancient ballads which he 
 studied from his infancy. It is evident that 
 some of the best portions of Burns' productions 
 can be thoroughly understood and appreciated 
 only by Scotchmen. All Scotchmen know that 
 there is peculiar to Burns' language a mellow- 
 ness of expression which no translation can 
 convey, and that those who have not been 
 accustomed to that language from their infancy 
 almost — who are obliged to have recourse to a 
 glossary — lose a large portion of Burns' poetic 
 beauties. They gaze at the great luminary of 
 Scotland shorn of his beams. The language 
 of Burns is the language of the heart. No 
 man, perhaps — no poet, at all events — ever 
 lived more thoroughly in the hearts of a whole 
 people. A peasant by birth, and a ploughman 
 by profession — secluded alike from the world 
 of letters and the world of fashion — enduring, 
 by his own account, the " seclusion of the con- 
 vent with the unceasing turmoil of the galley- 
 slave," he was well able to depict, as he has 
 done from bitter experience, the sorrows that 
 afllict the poor. But amidst his troubles and 
 trials his brave heart never quailed. A light 
 from heaven shone over the seeming darkness 
 of his destiny, and enabled him to sing light- 
 heartedly at the plough, and reveal some 
 gleams of that glory which awaited him. He 
 was born a poet. He lisped in numbers, for 
 the numbers came. The spirit of the poet was 
 in him and about him wherever he went. 
 Before he understood its language it was speak- 
 ing to him with a " still small voice," and giv- 
 ing rise to that wish which he had it in his 
 power so early to gratify — 
 
 " That I, for puir auld Scotland's sake, 
 Some usefu' plan or book could make, 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 How fully was that wish realized in after 
 
538 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 years! Were ever songs like his songs? Where 
 shall we find, amidst all the sentimental trash, 
 the rhymed speeches of our latter-day song 
 makers, anything to compare with the melting 
 tenderness and the manliness of tlie heart- 
 breathed songs of Burns ? He was the high- 
 priest of love. His love songs are the finest 
 ever produced in the world. Love was tlie 
 inspiration of the earliest of his songs, and 
 love was the inspiration of the last. Even 
 when the hand of death was upon him, the 
 bard could look upon the face of the kind- 
 hearted Jessy Lewars, who had attended him, 
 and feign an immortal passion for her in words 
 which are imperishable. Need it be wondered 
 at that the people of Scotland, and particularly 
 the peasantry of Scotland, look upon Burns as 
 the greatest poet that ever lived ! He was of 
 their own order. He spoke a language which 
 they understood, and he celebrated in his 
 verses their sports and pastimes — inspiring 
 their hearts with noble sentiments of indepen- 
 dence. Singing sweet songs of their loves and 
 affections, their banks and braes and darling 
 streams, he was well worthy of their admira- 
 tion, and he received it. His was true popu- 
 larity. The monument of Burns is written in 
 more durable materials than marble or brass — 
 it is written in the hearts of his countrymen ; 
 and his works, as the Cliairman has already 
 told you, are to be found in the lowliest cot- 
 tage on the heather hills — frequently with no 
 other book besides the Bible. They have 
 cheered the hearts of thousands, and not on 
 the hills of Scotland alone, but also, among 
 other places, on the hills of Australia. The 
 greatness of a country does not depend upon 
 the extent of its territory — upon its cattle 
 grazing upon a thousand hills — upon its mineral 
 wealth, or its material resources generally : — it 
 depends on the character of the men it pro- 
 duces. One noble sentiment, elaborated in the 
 closet or while at the plough, may sink into 
 the heart of mankind, and be a glory and a 
 tiling of joy for ever. And what a galaxy of such 
 thoughts do we find scattered, like threads of 
 gold, through the whole texture of Burns' poetry ? 
 Let us unite, then, in a full flowing bumper — 
 a cup of kindness — a good wullie waught — to 
 the memory of Burns — not in solemn silence, 
 but with joy and exultation that another poet 
 has survived his century, and is now placed 
 with the immortals in a conspicuous niche of 
 the temple of fame. (Continued cheering.) 
 
 Mr. Home having been called on for a song, 
 sung with much effect, " Robin was a roviu' 
 boy," &c., and on being encored, gave with 
 equal spirit, " Riggs o' barley." 
 
 Dr.LANGthen roseto propose the toast next on 
 the programme—^' The Descendants of Burns." 
 
 He said : — It had very frequently been asked 
 upon occasions of meetings like the present — 
 of festal commemorations in honour of the Scot- 
 tish Poet — how it came that Scotchmen put 
 forward their Robert Burns as prominently the 
 representative of their country and of their 
 nation? How it came that they passed over 
 all the other illustrious names that have shone 
 so brightly in the history of their native land ? 
 How it came that they suffered even Sir Wil- 
 liam Wallace and King Robert the Bruce — 
 those splendid benefactors of their country and 
 nation — to pass unheeded, and to give way to 
 the humbler Scottish poet, " the Ayrshire 
 ploughman," the rhyming poet. Now it was 
 not because that they were insensible to the 
 transcendent merits of those constellations of 
 illustrious men who had distinguished them- 
 selves in the annals of fame, and in the history 
 of their father-land, — who had shed a glorious 
 halo around their native countrj' which em- 
 balmed them in the memory of Scotchmen to 
 all succeeding ages. No, it was from no feel- 
 ing of that kind. It was from no want of re- 
 spect for the great character and illustrious 
 deeds of those great heroes and patriots of 
 their country, Sir William Wallace and Robert 
 the Bruce, tliat they put forward as the repre- 
 sentative of their country and of their nation 
 on such occasions as the present — the Ayrshire 
 Poet. It was because they found in him a man 
 far more illustrious on the page of history to 
 all succeeding times — a name far more glorious 
 in the annals of fame than either of his great 
 countrymen — the warrior patriot and the pa- 
 triot king. They had selected, as their repre- 
 sentative man, not only a man of Scotland — 
 not only a native of Great Britain, but a cos- 
 mopolitan — a man of the world — the poet of 
 all countries and of all times. Recollecting 
 that their patience was but limited, he would 
 but briefly advert to two of those peculiar 
 points that, in his opinion, bore out the senti- 
 ment which had been put into his hand on the 
 present occasion, and one with which he cor- 
 dially concurred — " That the poet of Scotland 
 is a worthy exponent of the national mind of 
 Scotland, both intellectually and morally, and 
 making all due allowance for the aberrations of 
 the poet himself from that path which he indi- 
 cated so ably to others, he is well deserving of 
 the greatest respect, and bf the fervent admir- 
 ation of all intelligent men — especially of all 
 Scotchmen, in all countries to the latest po- 
 sterity." He would just advert, in illustration 
 of the sentiment, to those points which struck 
 as very remarkable — remarkable both of the 
 characteristics of the poet and of the personal 
 character of the man. The first of these was 
 the noble spirit of patriotism that breathed 
 
SYDNEY. 
 
 539 
 
 throughout all his poetrj', for unquestionably 
 it was to those times to which he had just 
 before alluded that the poet directed his at- 
 tention — it was to that great struggle for free- 
 dom, for national freedom and independence 
 which the Scotch nation maintained against all 
 the chivalry of England during the 13th and 
 14th centuries, and which so largely tended to 
 confirm the national character of Scotland. It 
 was impossible that a nation could come from 
 such a struggle without bearing the impress of 
 glory and greatness upon its brow. And the 
 man who had embalmed in immortal verse the 
 spirit of patriotism of his countrymen who im- 
 mortalized those who succeeded in that memor- 
 able struggle, was the man who sang Robert 
 Bruce's address to his army. The author of 
 these immortal verses was the true poet of 
 Scotland, — the man who embodied in immortal 
 verse sentiments to which nothing was known 
 superior, whether in the range of Greek or 
 Boman poetry. This was the man and the 
 poet whom Scotland delighted to honour as 
 the first of her sons. The second of the three 
 remarkable characteristics of the poetry of 
 Burns was the proper sense which he uniformly 
 showed of the dignity and the noble spirit 
 which he at all times evinced in his advocacy 
 of the rights of man. Indeed, he might only 
 refer, in confirmation of this allegation, to 
 another of his immortal poems, in regard to 
 which one of the greatest German writers says, 
 " that must be a noble nation, one of the pea- 
 sants of which can write such burning words 
 as these," 
 
 " Is there for honest poverty," &c. 
 
 It seemed to him that a sort of prophecy was 
 contained in the latter verse of that poem, 
 which was fulfilled and realized in this country 
 in the extension of the sufirage and vote by 
 ballot. It seemed to him that a prophecy was 
 contained in these words — 
 
 " Then let us pray, that come it may. 
 As come it will for a' that, 
 That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth, 
 May bear the gree and a' that. 
 
 For a' that, and a' that — 
 It's coining yet, for a' that, 
 
 That man to man, tlie warld o'er, 
 Shall brothers be for a' that." 
 
 The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm. 
 
 Mr. Hay responded to the toast in eloquent 
 terms. Other toasts were given and songs 
 were sung. The whole passed off in a most 
 creditable manner, and as a festival at which 
 the fullest harmony and concord prevailed, it 
 will, no doubt, be long remembered by those 
 present with feelings of pleasure. 
 
 E^fTE^TAINMENT IN HoNOUR OP Burns, at 
 
 THE School of Arts. — A literary and musi- 
 cal entertainment, in honour of the genius and 
 writings of Robert Burns, came oflf" with con- 
 siderable eclat in the hall of the School of Arts. 
 Two other festivals, of a similar cliaracter, and 
 for the same object, were being held elsewhere 
 in the city ; consequently the patronage of 
 Scotchmen generally, and the lovers of the 
 writings of Burns in particular, was somewhat 
 divided. The literary entertainment, however, 
 received its fair share of patronage, the body 
 of the hall being well filled with a higlily rer 
 spectable auditory, while a considerable number 
 of persons congregated in the gallery. The 
 festival was commenced at eight o'clock with 
 an overture executed on the powerful organ by 
 Mr. Packer; after which Mr. Murray came for- 
 ward and proceeded with the literary portion of 
 the entertainment. This consisted of a sketch 
 of the birth, parentage, and characteristics of 
 Burns, with remarks on the peculiarities of his 
 productions. This disquisition evinced deep 
 research, thorough familiarity, and considerable 
 critical acumen on the part of the writer. The 
 eloquently expressed opinions of Scott, Moore, 
 and Lockhart ; the profound and didactic criti- 
 cism of Carlyle; and the elaborate panegyric 
 of Professor Wilson were introduced and illus- 
 trated by Mr. Murray with remarks of his own. 
 The readings from Burns comprised his " Ad- 
 dress to the Deil," "A Man's a Man for a' that," 
 " Tarn o' Shanter," " Scots wha hae," and several 
 others. " A Man's a Man " and " Scots wha 
 hae " were received with enthusiastic applause ; 
 while "Tarn o' Shanter" and the "Address to 
 the Deil" were greeted with alternate cheers 
 and laughter. Sir. Murray's happiest effect 
 was his rendering of the "Address to the 
 Mountain Daisy," a gem so touching and so 
 full of the peculiar pathos in which the poet 
 delighted. It was read with a fine appreciation 
 of its excellencies, and elicited the applause of 
 the audience. Mr. Packer did good service by 
 performing, at intervals, a variety of Scotch 
 airs ; the whole concluding with " Auld Lang- 
 syne." 
 
 Masonic Celebration. — About fifty breth- 
 ren sat down to an entertainment projected by 
 the Robert Burns Lodge, in memory of Scot- 
 land's Poet, who was also a distinguished 
 member of the craft. The dinner was laid 
 out in the Lodge-room of the Freemasons' Hall, 
 York Street, and it is needless to say the com- 
 plete arrangements, both in the quality and 
 quantity, and of the good things provided, by 
 Br. A. Cohen, met with the most general satis- 
 faction. The chair was occupied by Brother 
 Captain J. Malcolm, Past Acting P. D. G. M., 
 supported by the V. W., D. P. G. M. Brother 
 Aldermiin Williams, Brothers Alderman Murphy, 
 
540 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Watson, Wilson, J. Simmons, sen., R.W. Moore, 
 and many of our respected citizens. After the 
 removal of the cloth, the following toasts were 
 put from the chair, and most ably responded 
 to : — 1# The Queen : band — The National An- 
 them. 2. Prince Albert and the Royal Family: 
 liiind — Prince Albert's March. 3. "The Three 
 Grand Lodges: band — Entered Apprentice. 
 4. Robert Burns : band — Burns' Farewell. 5. 
 The Provincial Grand Lodge : band — Entered 
 Apprentice, slow time. 6. The Governor- 
 General : band — Fine Old English Gentleman. 
 7. Lady Denison and the Ladies of Australia: 
 band^Here's a Health to all Good Lasses. 8. 
 The Army and Navy : band — The British 
 Grenadiers and Rule Britannia. 9. Australia, 
 the land of our adoption: band — Cornstalk 
 Polka. 10. All the Fraternity around the 
 Globe : band — A Mason never Forsakes. 
 
 About twelve o'clock the brethren separated, 
 after spending a most agreeable evening. 
 
 TARRANGOWER, Australia This fes- 
 tival, which has been kept up throughout the 
 British world, was not suffered to fall into 
 decay on Tarrangower. The dinner took place 
 at the Royal Hotel. A large number attended, 
 not only of the sons of Scotia, but also of vari- 
 ous other lands, all of whom met to do honour 
 to the ploughman poet. The dinner was to 
 the uninitiated a mystery, beginning at Scotch 
 broth, continuing ' with haggis, sheep's heads, 
 and terminating with poultry of all kinds, pas- 
 trj', &c. About eighty gentlemen sat down, 
 the chair being occupied by John Stevenson, 
 Esq., formerly of Campsie, Stirlingshire, and 
 the vice-chair by R. C. Mackenzie, Esq., P.M. 
 After due justice had been done to the good 
 things of this life, provided by host M'Intosh, 
 the cloth was removed, when the Chairman in- 
 troduced the first toast, the Queen, which was 
 drunk with all the honours. The toasts of 
 Prince Albert, all the Royal Family, and Sir 
 Henry Barkly, with appropriate songs and 
 sentiments, were drunk with enthusiasm, and 
 duly honoured. The Chairman then proposed 
 the toast of the evening. 
 
 Mr. Vice-chairman, and Gentlemen: It is 
 an hundred years this day since heaven sent 
 Robert Burns into this world ; and we are met 
 here, in this far-off land, under the Southern 
 Cross of Australia, to thank heaven for her 
 kindness and to celebrate the auspicious event. 
 Permit me, therefore, to tell you, that the toast 
 I am about to bring before you is of such great 
 importance, so highly interesting to the admir- 
 ers of genius that I am sorry it has not fallen 
 to abler hands to perform the pleasing duty of 
 
 proposing the memory of Burns. Allow me, 
 however, in my own humble «ay to say that I 
 am proud to see so many enthusiastic, intelli- 
 gent men from the old world, assembled at the 
 Antipodes — at the very end of the earth — to 
 give a spontaneous expression of their national 
 feelings towards the illustrious dead, to do 
 homage at the shrine of the humble, unassum- 
 ing ploughman whose name has become a 
 household word in many lands. How many 
 manly bosoms have bowed with enthusiasm at 
 the matchless effusions of his magic jsen. How 
 true, how graphic are his delineations of the 
 Scottish Peasantry in all its variations of grave 
 or of gay, of light, or of shadow: 
 
 " In busiest street and loneliest glen 
 Are felt the flashes of his pen." 
 
 His " Cottar's Saturday Night" is a sublime 
 production, full of noble sentiment and glori- 
 ous thought. It is to be regretted that Robert 
 Burns did not foresee the futurity of fame 
 created for him in this far-off' land. But one 
 would almost think the mantle of inspiration 
 had fallen on him when, in one of his humor- 
 ous songs, he said — 
 
 " He'll hae misfortunes great and sma', 
 But aye a heart aboon them a', 
 He'll be a credit till us a' — 
 We'll a' be proud o' Kobin." 
 
 He unquestionably belonged to that high order 
 of beings, who have by noble sentiment and 
 lofty thought benefited the human race. He 
 knew and proclaimed to the world that 
 
 " The rank is bat the guinea stamp, 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 And who does not recollect the chivalrous 
 compliment he paid the fair creation, when 
 alluding to the bountiful manner in which na- 
 ture had lavished on them so many charms. 
 
 " Her prentice hand she tried on man, 
 And then she made the lasses, O." 
 
 It has been said of him by a celebrated autlior 
 that he sang of all things Scotch, from her 
 mountains to her field-mice — from her forests 
 to her daisies — from her rivers to her souple 
 
 scones — from her heroes to her haggis from 
 
 her nobles and poets to her jolly beggars from 
 
 her most solemn religious services to her wild- 
 est revelries — from her churches to her smi- 
 thies. And he did this with a prophetic fore- 
 sight that his name was to be for ever associ- 
 ated with that of his country, that he was to 
 be Scotland's Bard. He has given unto Scot- 
 land a store of lyrics which has made her 
 famous, and his words are echoed alike from 
 palace and cottage. " Scots wha hae wi' Wal- 
 
TORONTO. 
 
 541 
 
 lace bk'd," is a national patriotic song of great 
 excellence, and would of itself immortalise any 
 ))oet. What sublimity soars out in the last words, 
 " Let us do or die." It has been sung and 
 admired in many lands, and was often heard in 
 the trenches amidst the booming cannon and 
 bursting of bombs under the frowning battle- 
 ments of Sebastopol. The working class may 
 well feel proud when they remember it was 
 from them and not from the privileged orders 
 of society tliat our greatest national genius was 
 destined to arise, whose fame is wide as the 
 world itself, and was so ably gifted with the 
 power of mingling humorous descriptions with 
 imagery of a sublime and terrific nature. His 
 famous poem of " Tam o' Shanter" is an illus- 
 tration of the great talent he could bring to 
 bear on these subjects. 
 
 " Kings may be blest, but 'J'ain was glorious, 
 O'er a' the Ills o' life vicUbdous." 
 
 But, gentlemen, "Nae man can tether time nor 
 tide;" I have detained you long, much longer 
 tlian my ability to do justice to the subject 
 entitles me, I will therefore conclude with an- 
 other quotation from the prolific stores of our 
 ploughman Poet, in the sentiment of which I 
 am sure you will all cordially sympathise. 
 
 " Scotia, my dear, my native soil, 
 For wliom my warmest wish to heaven is sent ; 
 IjOng may thy hai'dy sons of useful toil 
 Be blest with health and peace and sweet con- 
 tent." 
 
 And now, gentlemen, you will join me in giv- 
 ing every expression of enthusiasm in an over- 
 flowing bumper to the " Memory of Bobbie 
 Burns." 
 
 He concluded this clever speech amongst a 
 burst of well-deserved cheering. 
 
 Song — "Ye Banks and Biaes o' Bonnie Doon," by 
 Mr. P. Furness. 
 
 Mr. R. C. Mackenzie liad to propose the 
 next toast, but was aluiost afraid after the elo- 
 quence of the last speaker, which had truly 
 taken him all of a heap. The toast, howevei-, 
 he had to propose was one which would be felt 
 deeply in the hearts of all the Scotchmen pre- 
 sent, and in fact of all men whatever. 
 
 " Oh, Caledonia, stern and wild, 
 Meet nurse for her poetic child." 
 
 Was there one present, or could they imagine a 
 man who had not hoped or made up his mind 
 to go back and see his old native land, the land 
 of their boyhood ? Wherever they go they 
 find Scotchmen, and wherever they find •Scotch- 
 men they found that they worked together, 
 stuck together, and did all in their power to 
 benefit mankind. He was glad to see this 
 gathering, and hoped that they might never 
 
 lose sight of the customs of their own native 
 land. There were many toasts on the list, and 
 he did not like to detain those present, but he 
 felt sure they would drink with all enthusiasm, 
 " The Land of our Birth." (Tremendous 
 cheers.) 
 
 Song—" The Bonnie Hills of Scotland," by Mr. 
 Black. 
 
 Many other excellent speeches were given, 
 and songs were sung, after which the company 
 separated, each well pleased with the long- 
 looked-for gathering, and all highly delighted 
 at its having gone off so well. 
 
 TORONTO.— The centennial dinner took 
 place in the Rossin House, and was well fitted 
 to commemorate the great event which the 
 company had met to celebrate. Covers were 
 laid for about 120, and the tables were fully 
 occupied. The only attempt at decorative dis- 
 play was seen at the head of the room, where 
 a trophy of flags enclosed several implements of 
 husbandry, and the compass, square, and other 
 masonic emblems, representing the avocations 
 of the poet in his early life, and also the craft 
 of which in his later years he was a member. 
 The dinner was supplied in Mr. Joslin's best 
 style, and gave general satisfaction. Daniel 
 Wilson, Esq., LL.D., took the chair. The 
 vice-chairmen were the Hon. J, H. Cameron, 
 Q. C, Hon. Mr. Mowat, and Hon. Mr. Allan. 
 On the right of the chair sat Sir J. B. Robin- 
 son, Bart., Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's 
 Bench, Vice-Chancellor Spragge, Hon. J. C. 
 Morrison, Hon. Mr. Cayley, the President of 
 the St. George's Society, and the President of 
 the St. Patrick's Society. On the Chairman's 
 left were Hon. Mr. Ciiief- Justice Draper, C.B., 
 Skeffington Connor, Esq., Q.C., LL.D., M.P.P., 
 Mr. Justice Richards, and Hon. P. M. Van- 
 koughnet. At the other tables were Hon. Mr. 
 Brown, M.P.P., J. B. Robison, Esq., M.P.P., 
 Col. Thompson, Angus Morrison, Esq., M.P.P., 
 M. Talbot, Esq., M.P.P., Aid. Ewart, Vice 
 Chancellor Langton, W. M'Master, Esq., Wm. 
 Henderson, Esq., Dr. Thorburn, Daniel Morri- 
 son, Esq, M. C. Cameron, Esq., William Hay, 
 Esq., T. G. Ridout, Esq., W. Dickson, Esq., 
 (Gait,) A. H. Armour, Esq., Rice Lewis, Esq., 
 Mr. Sheriff Jarvis, Mr. ex-Sheriff Jarvis, D. B. 
 Read, Esq., R. S. Miller, Esq., R. Bell, Esq., 
 H. Cameron, Esq., S. M. Jarvis, Esq., W. B. 
 Lindsay, jun., Esq., T. G. O'Neill, Esq., Georgfe 
 Michie, Esq., R. Milroy, Esq., John Watson, 
 Esq., John Bell, Esq., John Fisken, Esq., 
 Alexander Grant, Esq., Seeker Brough, Esq., 
 J. M'Michael, Esq., &c., &c. Mr. Clark pre- 
 sided at the piano, and with his usual ability 
 accompanied a party of excellent volunteer 
 singers, who gave many of Burns' songs in the 
 
542 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 intervals between the toasts. Grace was said 
 before meat by a clergyman present, and after 
 dinner, " Non Nobis," was sung by the ama- 
 teurs. Several ladies then entered the room, 
 and smiled their approval on the interesting 
 proceedings which followed. 
 
 After the usual loyal and patriotic toasts, 
 the Chairman said : — Gentlemen, I have 
 now to invite your attention to the special 
 object to which we owe our assembling Iiere 
 on this high festival of genius. This day we 
 mark by a peculiarly significant symbol — the 
 lapse of another century of time. Throughout 
 the world-wide empire won to itself by the 
 Anglo-Saxon race, it is being commemorated 
 tliis day that, one hundred years ago, the mean 
 clay bigging of a Scottish peasant became, by 
 the birth of Robert Burns, one of the sacred 
 shrines — the Meccas of the world. The hard 
 lot of toiling poverty was his heritage from the 
 cradle to the grave. In the world's broad field 
 of battle, life was to liim one stern warfare, 
 sweeping onward through all its brief scenes as 
 a grand but fearful tragedy — gloomy, yet 
 lighted up with the glory and beauty of a lov- 
 ing and gifted soul. For Burns, art and cul- 
 ture, the sophistical philosophy and the refined 
 artificialities of the eighteenth century, did 
 nothing. All tlie sterling worth of Scotland's 
 peasant bard was born of her rugged soil, and 
 of the genial nurture of that sainted father of 
 her " Cottar's Saturday Night." Life was to 
 him real and earnest. With a tenderness tear- 
 fully tremulous as the loving pity of a mother, 
 there was sunshine still behind the clouds ; 
 there was wealth of treasure for his large heart 
 in the sympathies of nature ; and he seems to 
 us as if sent into that eighteenth century to 
 reveal once more to men where the true beauty 
 of life lay ; and to tell us how the daisy in the 
 furrow, and the man of honest independent 
 worth, are alike fulfilling great Nature's plan. 
 In the genius of Scotland's peasant bard we 
 discern the pulsations of a musical instrument 
 of the widest compass. From his rustic lyre 
 come notes joyous and earnest — laughter- 
 moving and tremulous with tears. Alas ! 
 its heavenly notes were jarred in the dread 
 struggle with temptations, with passions, with 
 the social environments of that poor century to 
 which he was so vainly given as a teacher and 
 a guide. It is not for us to pity him, who, 
 tried before the impartial tribunal of posterity, 
 has been adjudged one of those whose memory 
 and whose works posterity will not willingly 
 let die. It is not for us to pity — to blame the 
 mighty dead ; neither is it for us now to at- 
 tempt his panegyric. Nay, rather, may we say 
 of his poems, they are imperfect, and of very 
 small extent; for liis life itself was a mere 
 
 broken fragment. His sun went down ere it 
 was noon, darkening on one of the saddest 
 tragedies of the eighteenth century ; and the 
 world only learned when too late the priceless 
 value of the treasure it had cast beneath its 
 feet and trodden in "the mire. Robert Burns 
 had only attained his thirty - seventh year, 
 when, casting one lingering look of anguish on 
 the orphanage of his love, he lay down amid 
 the stern realities of life's battle-field to die. 
 Let us think of this if we would estimate 
 rightly what he did accomplish. Was there 
 not, in the genial drollery and pregnant life of 
 that " Tam o' Shanter " of his, the promise of 
 a whole series of Scottish Canterbury Tales, 
 had he but lived to the maturity to which 
 Chaucer attained ere he gave form and utter- 
 ance to his immortal song? Dying at thirty - 
 seven, Milton would have left to us no Paradise 
 Lost or Regained. Dryden at that age would 
 only have been known, if known at all, as the 
 courtly sycophant who penned his "Annus 
 Mirabilis ; " and even Pope, who lisped in 
 numbers, would have left unaccomplished the 
 poems on which chiefly rest the enduring foun- 
 dations of his fame. Tet the author of the 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night " stands in need of 
 no such apology. Burns has bequeathed to , 
 us Ins songs, and that is fame enough to win 
 for him the poet's immortality. His songs 
 were a noble patriotic offering — and how gen- 
 erously bestowed on that country for which her 
 poet mourned that he could do so little, while 
 laying on her altar the priceless tribute. What 
 lyric in any language surpasses in pathetic ten- 
 derness his " Mary in Heaven 1 " What glori- 
 ous battle-song ever rang with more thrilling 
 patriotic fervour than his " Scots wha hae wi' 
 Wallace bled ?" Or what noble, manly lay can 
 equal in pith and power his " Man's a Man for 
 a' that?" The songs of Burns are already a 
 part of the living language of our common 
 race ; and may not our hearts thrill within us 
 this night, when gathered here around this fes- 
 tive board, on a spot hewn in our own day out 
 of the old savage-haunted pines of Ontario's 
 wooded shores — as we think that the same 
 songs are being this night sung wherever the 
 free banner of England floats on the breeze ; 
 and wherever the language is spoken inherited 
 by her sons. Under the straw-clad roofs of 
 Scotland, in the cottage homes of England 
 and of Ireland, the songs of Burns have been 
 chaunted in triumph to-day. By the echoes 
 of their music, repeated from land to land, may 
 fancy follow the flag of British freedom round 
 the world. Wliere it proudly floats above the 
 rocky heights of Gibraltar, and on Malta's an- 
 cient knightly towers, there their music has given 
 voice to the breeze. At Aden, on the old Red 
 
TORONTO. 
 
 543 
 
 Sea ; in Africa, on lier Atlantic coasts and her 
 far-southern Cape of storms; in India, where 
 the rush of tlie Ganges replies to the answering 
 shouts of Britain's triumphant and dauntless 
 sons ; on that island-continent of Australasian 
 seas — a newer world than our own — on solitary 
 rocks like the low historic St. Helena; on clus- 
 tering groups like the Antilles ; and where the 
 flag of a great republic flaunts proudly over 
 the hardy descendants of our common stock — 
 to each and all of these, as to ourselves, the 
 peasant's voice, sweeping along the electric 
 wires of genius, is heard thrilling this night with 
 the pregnant utterances of that inspired song, 
 
 "Then let us pray that come it may, 
 As come it will for a' that, 
 That man to man, the world o'er. 
 Shall brothers be for a' that." 
 
 The lot of Burns was a proud, yet also a most 
 sad one. One of Nature^ great high-priests, 
 he was taken in early youth from the sickle 
 and tlie plough, and plunged into temptation, 
 and suffering, and ineffectual self -guidance. 
 His spirit was jarred in all its melodies, and 
 the coarse hand of a mean prosaic age swept 
 rudely over the broken strings. It is not for us to 
 judge the strong man, if he yielded before the 
 wiles of the world's Philistines ere he passed 
 away for ever beyond reach of the wrongs 
 heaped on him by an unappreciating age. But 
 let us never forget this, that amid the mean 
 necessities of the humblest peasant lot ; in 
 poverty, in weary toil, in sorrow, and even in 
 shame. Burns had still an eye for the beauty 
 and the poetry of life ; and built up for himself 
 a glorious and immortal monument out of 
 these very materials of Iiis suffering and his 
 toil. Therefore is it that this day, with joyous 
 pride, we look back on him whose footsteps we 
 trace in the sands of the completed century ; 
 whose influence lives and shall live in the 
 world's coming centuries; and above all in that 
 dear native land, for which his warmest wish to 
 heaven was sent, and amid whose bleak and 
 rugged wilds he won for himself an everlasting 
 name. Nor let us judge hardly even of those 
 who took their poet from the sickle and the 
 plough " to gauge ale firkins," and who only 
 learned to discern his true worth when the 
 toil-worn reaper had lain down to his last 
 sleep, and the greatest of a nation's poets had 
 gone to join the great departed. The case of 
 Burns is no solitary one. The world has had 
 her Dante, and Camoens, and Milton, and 
 Dryden, and Chatterton, as well as its Burns. 
 He, too, is now ranked among the benefactors 
 of l)is race. For him the gorgeous temple has 
 been reared, where, living, he almost wanted 
 bread. The scene of his brief and chequered 
 
 career is now the land of song, the land of 
 Burns — known by his name and visited for his 
 sake, by pilgrims from many a distant scene ; and 
 for him, and seeking to honour ourselves by ren- 
 dering a just tribute to his fame, we, in this 
 distant nook of Britain's world-wide em]>ire, 
 hold high festival to-night. The glory dies 
 not, and the grief is past. Not in sorrow as 
 over the kingly dead, struck down amid the 
 vanquished, in the high places of the field ; 
 but with joyous acclamations as welcoming the 
 victor in triumph, returning laden with the 
 spoil, let us now pledge the immortal memory 
 of Scotland's peasant Bard. The Chairman 
 resumed his seat amid great cheering, which 
 was again and again renewed. 
 
 The toast was given with three times three. 
 
 Hon. Mr. Cameron here read sentiments 
 which had just been brought on the telegraph 
 wires from different parts of the United States. 
 He also remarked that the lines of telegraph 
 from one end of America to the other were 
 open free to-night for the transmission of mes- 
 sages connected with the Burns' Centenary. 
 
 Hon. Mr. Cameron rose to propose " The 
 Bards of England and Ireland — may the Rose, 
 the Thistle, and the Shamrock ever twine with 
 tlie Laurels of the Poets." He said — Scotch- 
 men could not but feel proud that in their 
 country had risen a man who, as the Chairman 
 had so eloquently told them, was the peojjle's 
 bard, and who spoke to the men of his own 
 time, and of all time, in language which would 
 never be forgotten. Nor would they willingly 
 forget that they were now ranked with those 
 whose language was the language of Milton 
 and Shakspeare, or that the descendants of the 
 men who fought at Bannockburn were to be 
 found side by side with the descendants of the 
 heroes of Poitiers, Agincourt, and Cressy. Mr. 
 Cameron traced the progress of English poetry 
 from the days of Chaucer to the present time, 
 and then, turning to Ireland, dwelt upon the 
 genius of Moore. In one respect, Burns and 
 Moore might be compared with each other, 
 but in other respects they could not be com- 
 pared. Burns spoke to the people in tlie 
 people's tongue ; but Moore's verses were ex- 
 pressed in more polished language. The songs 
 of both, however, were so beautiful in senti- 
 ment, so exquisite in language, that they would 
 ever live in the memory of the nation. Mr. 
 Cameron concluded by reciting a very beauti- 
 ful poem, in which he had given expression to 
 the sentiments he entertained for the " peasant 
 bard." 
 
 Rev. Dr. M'Caul, in a long and eloquent 
 speech, gave " The Bench and the Bar of 
 Canada: may learning and eloquence adorn, 
 may integrity and justice strengthen them;" 
 
544 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENABY. 
 
 and mentioned Sir John B. Robinson, Hon. 
 Chief Justice Draper, and Mr. Vice-Chancellor 
 Blake as being distinguished ornaments to the 
 Canadian Bench. 
 
 Song — " When Arthur First." 
 
 Sir J. B. Robinson proposed " The Mother 
 Country: may her Canadian sons prove wortliy 
 of their sires," in an eloquent speech, conclud- 
 ing as follows : — And why should they prove 
 unworthy of their sires ? They were born in 
 a country enjoying as free a constitution as 
 there was in the mother country itself. They 
 were governed by good laws, and it was in 
 their power to make these laws still better, 
 for they were almost unrestricted in the rights 
 of legislation which the mother country had 
 conceded to them. They were surrounded by 
 a climate as capable of sustaining a hardy, 
 energetic population as could be found in any 
 part of the globe. They were natives also of 
 a country in which the population were princi- 
 pally agriculturists — an occupation more pro- 
 ductive of honesty and independence of char- 
 acter than any otlier. But there was another 
 circumstance in their favour. There was no 
 country in the world in which greater attention 
 was paid to education than was being paid to 
 it in Canada at the present moment. There 
 was no person in Upper Canada who was not 
 within reach of the means of a better educa- 
 tion than Burns, the poet, enjoyed. But how- 
 ever excellent might be their schools and col- 
 leges, it was not by the teacher's instruction 
 that they could become poets such as Robert 
 Burns. Genius like liis was the gift of Heaven. 
 Everything which came from his pen was cher- 
 ished with the most ardent feeling by the 
 people of the present generation. Something 
 had been said of his failings ; but they must 
 recollect how much he must have resisted. The 
 same fire of genius which enabled him to write 
 what he had penned made to him the tempta- 
 tions offered by convivial meetings irresistible. 
 On such occasions, " the minutes wing'd their 
 way wi' pleasure," and the words in which he 
 spoke of " Tarn o' Shanter," might with equal 
 propriety be applied to himself — " Kings may 
 be blest, but Tam was glorious." 
 
 Song — "Auld Langsyne," by Mr. Bain. 
 
 Hon. Mr. Brown proposed — " Our Univer- 
 sities and Schools : may they foster the Cana- 
 dian mind, and add the force of intellect to the 
 fire of native genius." 
 
 Song — " John Anderson, my jo," by Mr. T. Bilton. 
 
 Mr. Chief Justice Draper gave " the Cana- 
 dian Institutions and the Scientific Associa- 
 tions of Canada : may science find a home in 
 our province, and win new triumphs on our 
 soil." Tlie learned gentleman referred to the 
 early condition of the inhabitants of Canada, 
 
 and to the position which they had now attained, 
 as was evidenced by the number of scientific 
 institutions in their midst. He concluded by 
 saying that it was indeed pleasing to see Eng- 
 lish, Irish, Scotch and Canadians assembled to 
 do honour to the poet Burns. (Applause.) 
 
 Song — " Canadian Boat Song." 
 
 Dr. Connor gave "The Genius of Song: 
 may its laurels flourish on the free soil of 
 Canada." 
 
 Song — " Scots wha hae," by Mr. Bilton. 
 
 Hon. P. M. Vankoughnet said he was highly 
 gratified at having the honour to be present on 
 such an important occasion. It was now ap- 
 proaching twelve o'clock, and the song of 
 " Auld Langsyne,'' which had just been given, 
 acted as a warning to him to be very brief. 
 He would not have very great difficulty in 
 speeding his plough. Every one in Canada 
 could join in the statement, in reference to 
 Scotland, that she has sent us her sons who 
 had plenty of strength to speed the plough, 
 and the best of them were those who had come 
 from the land of Burns. It was greatly to be 
 attributed to the fact that Burns was a plough- 
 man that he had excelled as a poet. He had 
 drawn his inspiration from nature, and by this 
 he had achieved a position seldom attained. It 
 could not, however, be expected that every 
 ploughman would become a poet ; but he may 
 greatly improve his condition in this country, 
 and also that of his family, by storing his mind 
 with knowledge, and taking an interest in 
 those things which would ennoble him and 
 raise him in his position. (Cheers.) He (Mr. 
 V.) had great pleasure in giving the toast, 
 which he felt certain all present would join in, 
 " Speed the Plough." (Applause.) 
 
 C. Connon, LL.D., then recited Burns' cele- 
 brated poem, " Tam o' Shanter," amid bursts 
 of laughter and applause. 
 
 Hon. G. W. Allan said the toast which he 
 had to propose was "The City of Toronto: 
 may virtue and integrity be its bulwarks ; may 
 peace and prosperity surround it." One hun- 
 dred years ago, Canada was a province of 
 France, and at that time Toronto had no exist- 
 ence. But now Toronto could boast of her 
 50,000 inhabitants. Mr. Allan then contrasted 
 the Toronto of the present day with the 
 "Muddy Little York" of twenty-five years 
 ago, and said every one would now be of opi- 
 nion that the site which had been chosen for 
 the city by Governor Simcoe had been a most 
 judicious one. He then said that several amus- 
 ing accounts of the extent of the city were 
 given in \'arious works, and, to show the manner 
 in which they were generally spoken of, he 
 might inform them that the following was to 
 be found in Bell's Edinburgh Gaisetteer: — 
 
TORONTO. 
 
 545 
 
 " Toronto, a town in Upper Canada, with one 
 hundred wooden houses, and eight thousand 
 inhabitants." (Laughter.) Mr. Allan then said 
 tiiat the high position to which the city had 
 risen was mainly to be attributed to the manly 
 independence and energy of the working men 
 within her bounds. He hoped that they would 
 still carry out the same virtues with which 
 they had so well begun. (Applause.) 
 
 Hon. O. Mowat, in a very eloquent speech, 
 gave " The Press." 
 
 The Chairman, in very appropriate terms, 
 then gavfe " The Ladies." 
 
 Song — "All good lasses," by the glee party. 
 
 Dr. Connor, in very complimentary terms, 
 proposed the health of the Chairman, which 
 was acknowledged in a very happy manner by 
 Dr. Wilson. The proceedings then terminated. 
 
 Those who celebrated the centennial anniver- 
 sary of the great poet in the St. Lawrence 
 Hall were by no means Ibehind their brethren 
 of the Rossin House, in the magnificence of 
 the preparation. Without exaggeration, the 
 whole affair was a triumph from beginning to 
 end. The decorations of the hall in which the 
 first and last part of the proceedings took 
 place demands attention. On either side of 
 the platform an Union Jack was placed, and 
 between the two was exhibited a painting of 
 Burns at the plough, with Coila placing on the 
 poet's head the mantle of inspiration. The 
 picture is the production of Mr. Joseph Davis, 
 of Toronto, a young artist, and gives much 
 promise of future excellence. On the walls 
 were ■ hung festoons of evergreens, interlaced 
 with red, white, and blue drapery. The inter- 
 vals were decorated with shields bearing the 
 names of many of Burns' songs. The Crown 
 of Great Britain, supported by the letters V. 
 R., shed a flood of light over the gallery occu- 
 pied by the band of the Canadian Rifles. 
 Another painting was also placed here. It re- 
 presented one of those old snug, straw-thatched 
 farm houses, which, though common in Great 
 Britain, are almost unknown in Canada, and 
 bore the very appropriate motto, " Auld Lang- 
 syne." But the great ornament to the hall was 
 the brilliant assemblage within it. The plat- 
 form was occupied by several members of the 
 Toronto Highland Society, in their national 
 costume. Besides these gentlemen, were Lieut. 
 Col. Irvine, A.D.C. ; Col. Macdougall ; Sir 
 James Leith Hay, Bart., President of the 
 Burns' Club ; Thomas D'Arcy M'Gee, Esq., 
 M.P.P. ; Dr. M'Caul, President of the Upper 
 Canada University ; George Duggan, Esq., 
 Recorder ; George Gurnett, Esq., County Ma- 
 gistrate ; CajUain Goodwin, Esq. ; Thomas Sel- 
 lars, Esq., and Mr. Alexander M'Lachlan, 
 author of Canadian Lyrics. 
 
 Sir James Hay having taken the chair, said 
 tliat His Worship the Mayor had been, he re- 
 gretted to say, unavoidably detained. In his 
 absence. Dr. M'Caul had consented to open the 
 proceedings. 
 
 Dr. M'Caul was received with loud applause. 
 He said : — Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentle- 
 men. — It is with no ordinary pleasure that I 
 rise to take part in the proceedings of this 
 evening ; intended as they are to honour one 
 who has been so justly styled, — " Scotia's im- 
 mortal bard." It is peculiarly gratifying to 
 find, on such an occasion as the present, all 
 national distinctions thrown aside, and the 
 natives of each part of the United Kingdom 
 come forward gladly to do honour to the great 
 poet. There is a beautiful custom that prevails 
 in parts of the continent, whereby the members 
 and friends of some departed loved one, fix on 
 some anniversary, the anniversary of birth, of 
 marriage, or of death — the three great epochs 
 of man's existence — they fix on one of these in 
 order to approach that tomb which wraps the 
 remains of those they loved, and to present to 
 them, as a tribute to show their eternal me- 
 mory, simple flowers in testimony of their un- 
 dying affection. (Ajiplause.) It is in some 
 such ceremony as this we are engaged this 
 evening. The monument of Burns is not here ; 
 that monument is near that all-hallowed kirk 
 thjit gave origin to what I conceive to be the 
 finest of all his poems, Tam o' Shanter, but we 
 can fancy a cenotaph not holding any of the 
 remains of the poet ; and to that the Scotch- 
 man comes forward and presents as a tribute 
 of affection and regard, the Thistle, the proud 
 emblem of his native land. The Englishman 
 comes forward and presents the Rose, all fra- 
 grant with perfume and blushing with beauty; 
 and the native of my own dear Isle comes for- 
 ward and presents the green, immortal Sham- 
 rock, chosen love of bard and chief; Old Erin's 
 native Shamrock ! And our brethren, the 
 natives of this land, come forward, and they 
 present the bright Maple leaf, the glory of our 
 autymnal woods. It is. Sir, as it ought to be. 
 Burns is not the poet of one people, although 
 Scotland is stamped unequivocally in every- 
 thing he wrote ; Burns is the poet of all coun- 
 tries. But, Sir, on such an occasion as the 
 present, it might reasonably be expected that 
 any one who would rise and address the 
 audience would bring forward and expatiate 
 on what he believed to be the especial merit of 
 Burns. I confess that, in attempting such a 
 task as this, I labour under very great diflS- 
 culties. I have not the good fortune to have 
 been familiar from boyhood with the dialect in 
 which he wrote, and I well know the great dis- 
 advantage of not knowing that. I well re- 
 2 m 
 
546 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 member when I first read Burns' poems, I ap- 
 preciated, as any one must, those beauties 
 which are on the surface ; but, when I heard a 
 Scotch lady read them with all the unction of 
 her native dialect, there were passages which 
 had seemed to me tame that acquired unwonted 
 vigour ; there were passages in which, to my 
 eyes, there was little fire, but there flame burst 
 forth — thoughts that breathed, and words that 
 burned. Under such circumstances, I feel that 
 the best I can do would be to leave such sub- 
 jects to be dealt with by a gentleman whom I 
 am glad to see amongst us on this occasion. 
 The gentleman, who I believe is to address you 
 last, a Canadian author of lyrics, one who has 
 unquestionably caught a portion of the spirit 
 of Burns himself. Perhaps, however, as a mere 
 matter of curiosity, for it can be but little more, 
 some persons I trust whom I address may be 
 desirous of knowing what are the peculiar me- 
 rits for which an Irishman admires Burns. 
 Eirst of all I admire him for his adherence to 
 nature ; for his strict adherence to the truth of 
 nature. There is nothing aiFected, nothing 
 distorted in him ; but his verses actually 
 daguerrotype tlie scenes and persons around 
 him. But I admire him for his tenderness and 
 sensibility. Take such compositions as we are 
 all familiar with ;— " To a Daisy," " To a field 
 Mouse." These compositions show the very 
 highest grade of sensibility. But I admire 
 him for his high appreciation of that feeling 
 which, when the gates of Eden were closed on 
 our primitive parents, and they went forth 
 wanderers through the world, was to cheer and 
 comfort them in all tlieir travels, that affection 
 which like the rainbow was to shine brightest 
 amidst the darkest gloom. I refer to such 
 passages as that which has been quoted by 
 critics as being the very essence of a thousand 
 love stories : — 
 
 " Had we never loved so kindly, 
 Had we never loved so tUndly ; 
 Never met, or never parted. 
 We had ne'er been broken-hearted." 
 
 (Applause.) And that most exquisite speci- 
 men of his muse, " John Anderson, my Jo." 
 
 " Noo we maun totter down, John, 
 But hand in hand we'll go. 
 And sleep together at the foot, 
 John Anderson, iny Jo." 
 
 (The rev. gentleman threw great pathos into 
 the last two lines, and drew forth from the 
 audience a: round of applause.) Nothing can 
 be finer than that ; nothing can be truer to 
 nature. It has the ring of the true metal, and 
 to borrow an expressive Yankee phrase, " and 
 no mistake." I do not envy the man who has 
 
 come to that period of life when his hair begins 
 to turn a little white that does not feel his 
 heart throb responsive to those verses, which 
 express so beautifully the crown and glory of 
 domestic peace. I admire Burns too, for his 
 pathos. Take for instance his poem to " Mary 
 in Heaven." I admire him for his originality, 
 his power of changing rapidly from the terrific 
 to the ludicrous, such as is embodied in his 
 poem of " Tam o' Shanter." But I admire him 
 also for his thorough independence of character, 
 for his thorough conviction of the nobleness of 
 man. (Applause.) Need I mention that poem 
 which has supplied so many quotations that 
 few remember from whence they are derived, 
 such words as 
 
 " The rank is but the guinea stamp. 
 The man's the gowd for a' that." 
 
 But, Sir, I fear I have already trespassed too 
 far on the audience, and I shall therefore close 
 with one characteristic of Burns ; that charac- 
 teristic that is apparent in every one of his 
 verses, I mean his thorough nationality ; — he is 
 an unequivocal, undoubted, straightforward 
 Scotsman. I believe. Sir, there is a class of 
 philosophers, the growth of these later years, 
 who look on this love of country, such as Burns 
 had, as a reprehensible infirmity. They look 
 on it as a proof of intellectual infirmity. If 
 these be their tenets, and I have but little doubt 
 of it, for they use such grand terms as " wide 
 extended cosmopolitan views," all I can say is, 
 that I am no disciple of their school, and if 
 they found an institution for the propagation 
 of their doctrines, most unquestionably I will 
 not matriculate in it. My feeling is as Burns' 
 feeling, that that man is devoid of sensibility 
 that does not love beyond every other country 
 on the earth, be its features what it may, hfs 
 own, his dear native land. Take that most 
 beautiful passage in which he states that he 
 hopes, 
 
 " for puir auld Scotland's sake. 
 Some usefu' plan or beuk he'd make. 
 Or sing a sang at least." 
 
 And, Sir, did he not sing a song, did he not for 
 poor old Scotland's sake sing a song that has 
 rendered himself and his country celebrated 
 throughout the world ? That song was origi- 
 nally uttered in his native county Ayrshire ; 
 it was low, faint, and feeble, as the tones that 
 are uttered by an ^olian harp when the wind 
 elicits music from its dormant strings. But 
 that song spread. It was sung by the plough- 
 man at the plough, it was joined in by high and 
 low. That song sped on to the capital of 
 the kingdom. It crossed the border, and there 
 won the admiration of the rank, wealth, and 
 
TORONTO. 
 
 547 
 
 intelligence of England. And it crossed the 
 little narrow channel and came to my own 
 country, and there it found people in the north 
 of Ireland acquainted with the dialect in which 
 it was written. Further still, it crossed the 
 surging Atlantic, it reached those States, our 
 neighbours to the south of the lakes, and there 
 it was welcomed. Such words as those I have 
 quoted, " A man's a man for a' that," became 
 the watchword of freedom. It passed on still 
 further, it reached this country, then not as 
 it is now, but it reached the backwoodsman, 
 who laid by his axe and dropped a tear for 
 the heather-clad hills he had left behind him. 
 It spread throughout the habitable globe ; 
 wherever it came, it was welcomed with joy ; 
 it was welcomed with admiration. This very 
 meeting, crowded as it is, and hundreds of 
 others throughout the earth, all bear witness, 
 not merely to the wide extent his songs have 
 traversed, but to the strong affection whereby 
 they are fixed in the mind. And depend upon 
 it, that Hesperus who rides the starry host, — on 
 this day as the shadows of evening fall, as he 
 looks down to this earth, presenting in its re- 
 volution its various parts to his observations — 
 looks down upon eloquence bringing forth the 
 choicest treasures of knowledge ; music gushing 
 with melody ; he looks down upon not merely 
 eloquence and song pouring forth their trea- 
 sures, he looks forth on the ruddy wine flowing 
 in brimming bowls, and he looks down also 
 upon — to those who prefer it — the more health- 
 ful " cup which cheers but not inebriates." He 
 looks forth on one wide, unbroken scene of 
 mirth. And when Hesperus is called upon to 
 do that other duty of ushering into the expect- 
 ant world, the " rosy-fingered Aurora, the 
 Daughter of the Dawn," depend upon it, he will 
 look back with regret on the festive scenes he 
 must leave, on halls flashing with light, ringing 
 with acclamation, and "Mirth with all her 
 jocund train" holding high festival in honour 
 of Scotland's peasant bard of Ayrshire, Robert 
 Burns. 
 
 The Mayor, who had entered during the 
 speech of Dr. M'Caul, apologized for not hav- 
 ing been present in time. He had been busily 
 engaged in some other matter. His Worship 
 very much regretted that one so disqualified for 
 the situation he had the honour to fill should 
 have been selected for the purpose. It was one 
 of the inconveniences of being a Mayor of this 
 city that he was occasionally called upon to 
 discharge duties for which he was disqualified. 
 We had met here to celebrate this evening the 
 centennial birthday of Robert Burns, who was 
 born on the 25th January, 1759. That was 
 the year, and it was well to bear it in mind, in 
 which these Provinces fell to the British arms. 
 
 Tills also was the 100th anniversary of the 
 taking of Quebec. Burns was born of very 
 humble parents. His father seemed to have 
 been a man of remarkable abilities, and bis son 
 had the highest reverence for him. His mother 
 was a very superior woman, and Burns bore for 
 her the greatest love. This was one of the 
 many incidents where' the higher gifts of the 
 mind were found developed in the child. It 
 was through an old ballad that his mother was 
 very fond of singing, " The life and age of 
 man," which inspired Robert to write his ex- 
 quisite song, " Man was made to mourn," one 
 of the most beautiful dirges in the whole range 
 of English literature. His sphere of life was a 
 very humble one; it was to labour with his 
 hands upon the small plot of land where he 
 was born. But his natural avocation was in 
 another field, and he asserted his right, and 
 entered into his inheritance. The poetry of 
 Burns was much aflected by his love for 
 women, and although it led him into serious 
 faults and irregularities, we must also bear in 
 mind, that, had it not been for the very exer- 
 cise of that irregularity, we should not have 
 had so many of his noble songs and poems. 
 One sentiment which the poet was most anxi- 
 ous to impress on all mankind, was forbearance 
 and charity to the faults of others. In that 
 admirable production of his, to the " Unco guid 
 and rigidly righteous," it was especially appa- 
 rent. There was one special reason why his 
 poetry had taken so strong hold upon the peo- 
 ple ; his intense nationality. For there never 
 was a Scotchman so powerfully, so perfectly a 
 Scotchman as Robert Burns. He celebrated 
 her soil ; he even celebrated her Scotch drink 
 — whisky. Very shortly after Burns had writ- 
 ten that finest of all ballads, " Scots wha hae 
 wi' Wallace bled," he was called to his last 
 account. He died at the early age of thirty- 
 seven. In conclusion. His Worship said the 
 memory of him whose centennial birthday we 
 had met here to celebrate was not confined to 
 the country that gave him birth. His memory 
 was known and was fresh in every land wher- 
 ever the literature of England was published, 
 and throughout the world wherever a people 
 used the same language as ourselves, they were 
 as deeply and strongly attached to the memory 
 of Robert Burns as any Scotchman could be. 
 (Loud applause.) 
 
 Mr. M'Lachlan concluded an eloquent and 
 feeling address on the life and character of 
 Burns by reading a very beautiful poem com- 
 posed by him for the occasion, the three first 
 stanzas of which we can only give : 
 
 " All I'.ail ! prince and peasant, 
 The hour that gave birth 
 
648 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 To the heart whose -wUd beatings 
 
 Resound through the earth; 
 Whose sympathies nations 
 
 Nor creeds could not bind, 
 But gushed out in torrents 
 
 Of love to mankind. 
 
 All hail ! mighty Minstrel, 
 
 Thy magical art 
 Was the breathings of love, through 
 
 The strings of the heart; 
 And all thine own burdens 
 
 Of sorrow and grief 
 Were charmed into music 
 
 For mortals' relief. 
 
 Let the poor and the lowly 
 
 Look up and rejoice ! 
 The dumb and down-trodden 
 
 Find in thee a voice — 
 The high and the lordly, 
 
 In palace and hall — 
 For thou wert the playmate 
 
 And brother of all. 
 
 Several other speeches were made, and songs 
 were sung, and precisely at ten o'clock, His 
 Worship gave " The memory of Burns," a toast 
 which it had been agreed upon to drink at that 
 nioment throughout America. 
 
 The Supper. — An adjournment to the sup- 
 per-room then took place. As the tables, spa- 
 cious as they were, could not accommodate all 
 present, a portion of the guests had to stop in 
 the hall, while the others were partaking^of the 
 good things prepared by Mr. Webb. , Upon 
 entering the rooms, a sight met their gaze 
 ■which must have astonished many. The tables 
 seemed of an illimitable length ; the eatables 
 were in such quantities that the idea of dispos- 
 ing of all in a legitimate manner seemed almost 
 ludicrous. Castles of sugar, surmounted by 
 the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew were 
 everywhere seen. There were lions rampant 
 made of cake, and lions couphant made of jelly. 
 Bonbons and turkeys, ices and salmon, hams 
 real, and hams unreal, the latter resembling 
 "Everton Taffy" to the taste. But we cannot 
 
 attempt to name the good things; it would 
 take too long. The rooms were decorated with 
 flags in admirable order, and a dais had been 
 erected for the Governor-General, which, as he 
 was not present, the Mayor took possession of. 
 During the supper, Mr. Geo. Brown entered 
 the room, and was loudly cheered. The fol- 
 lowing toasts were proposed in succession ; no 
 speeches were made : — " The Queen and the 
 Royal Family ; His Excellency the Governor- 
 General; the Army and Navy; the Memory 
 of Scotland's immortal Bard, Robert Burns; 
 Kindred Burns' Clubs all over the world." 
 
 His Worship's health was called for and 
 drunk amid loud cheers. Mr. Wilson returned 
 thanks in a few words. 
 
 Meanwhile the hall had been cleared, and 
 before the sound of the last cheers had died 
 away, tlie dancing had commenced ; it con- 
 tinued till a late hour in the morning. 
 
 WOODSTOCK, C. W.— There assembled at 
 Norton's Hotel, to do honour to the memory of 
 Scotland's immortal bard, a large and respect- 
 able company. The dinner was got up in the 
 very best style, and was placed on the table at 
 half-past six o'clock, when upwards of two 
 hundred took their seats, Excellent speeches 
 were delivered by the Chairman, James Kin- 
 trea, Esq., and the Rev. Duncan M'Diarmid, 
 and John Douglass, Esq. 
 
 YAAS (Australia). -^The celebration of 
 the Centenary of Robert Burns, the Scotch 
 Bard, was observed here by a public dinner, 
 and kept up till morning. The attendance was 
 good, and most of the speeches pithy. Dr. 
 Campbell gave the toast " Robert Burns" with 
 true Scotch fervour. 
 
UNITED STATES. 
 
 ADRIAN, Michigan. — On the evening of 
 the 25th, the Scotchmen of this city met at the 
 residence of C. M. M'Kenzie. A pleasant 
 evening was spent in recurring to the days of 
 " Auld Langsyne." A beautiful repast, with a 
 few good Scotch songs? and appropriate re- 
 marks, formed the principal attractions of the 
 evening. Before parting, a committee was 
 formed for the purpose of organizing a St. An- 
 drew's Society for this county. Thus an op- 
 portunity will be afforded to Scotchmen in tlie 
 county to have a friendly meeting occasionally 
 with their countrymen of the city. 
 
 ALBANY, N. Y.— The Albany Burns Club 
 celebrated the centenary with becoming spirit. 
 No more elegant repast was ever served up in 
 this city upon any similar occasion. And the 
 ' feast of reason' correspotided with it. The 
 speeches, toasts, and songs were appropriate, 
 expressive, and exhilarating. A pleasant hi- 
 larity pervaded the Club ; and although every- 
 thing passed off with becoming decorum, the 
 felt presence of the Spirit of the immortal poet 
 awakened an enthusiasm which gave a joyous 
 zest to the feast. James Dickson, the Presi- 
 dent of the Club, presided with becoming dig- 
 nity and grace. He was ably assisted by Yice- 
 President Dodds; while Secretary M'Goun 
 made himself useful everywhere. The inde- 
 fatigable labours of Treasurer Shanks and Mr. 
 Manson, through the evening, as general super- 
 intendents of the feast, were fully appreciated. 
 But as a Burns anniversary would be sadly de- 
 fective without a song, the Club owe a thou- 
 sand thanks to Messrs. Ellis, Drummond, Tray- 
 nor, Watkins, M'Haffey, Lamb, Gresham, 
 Dodds, Yuill, M'Farland, Murphy, and others, 
 for the admirable manner in which they ren- 
 dered a score of the choice gems of Scotland 
 and America. Indeed, there was every variety 
 of song and sentiment appropriate and befitting 
 such an occasion. The chief feature of the 
 evening was the exhibition of the autograph 
 copy of " Auld Langsyne," of the genuineness 
 of which there is no doubt. For this the Club 
 
 is indebted to the Hon. J. Y. L. Pruyn, wlio 
 has recently become the possessor of this pre- 
 cious relic. " The fragment containing ' Auld 
 Langsyne,'" says Henry Stevens, Esq. of Mas- 
 sachusetts, " is part of a letter to Mrs. Dunlop, 
 and is beyond all question in the autograph of 
 Burns. I have placed beside it a characteristic 
 letter of the poet, dated Feb., 1788, bearing 
 his signature, and addressed to John Eichmond. 
 This autograph of 'Auld Langsyne' was for 
 many years in the possession of my late friend 
 William Pickering, the publisher, and after hiS 
 death it fell, under Sotheby's hammer, in 1855> 
 to me, at a price which I dare not name." 
 
 ANDOYEE, Mass.— The Burns Club of 
 Andover, now two years old, celebrated the 
 anniversary by a supper, to which a large party 
 sat down. Mr. Hugh Smart, President, deliv- 
 ered an opening, address, after which appropri- 
 ate sentiments were read and responses received 
 from P. Smith, Esq., Messrs. D. Middleton, 
 James Smith, A. Scrimgeour, J. Tytler, and J. 
 B. LyaU. Eecitations were given by Messrs. 
 E. Clarke, J. B. Smith, Tytler and LyaU. 
 Songs, instrumental music, and social chat fill- 
 ed up the time till the " wee short hour," when 
 the company separated. 
 
 BALTIMORE.— The festival came off at the 
 Maltby House on Tuesday night, a full attend- 
 ance of the Club and a large number of invited 
 guests being present. The president, James 
 Stirratt, Esq., sat at the head of the table. 
 Near him were seated Hon. John P. Kennedy, 
 S. Teakle Wallis, Esq., Samuel Cairns, Esq., 
 Secretary of the Club, and other well-known 
 citizens. Yice-Presidents William M'Clymont 
 and M. J. Drummond occupied the foot of the 
 tables. The Presidentj after removal of the 
 cloth, having opened the proceedings with an 
 appropriate address, proceeded to announce the 
 toast of the evening, " The Memory of Eobert 
 
550 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Burns," which was drunk standing and in si- 
 lence. 
 
 The Hon. Mr. Kennedy responded in the 
 following terms : — The fame of Robert Burns 
 is confined to no land nor latitude. It is 
 world-wide in its character, and the songs of 
 the Ayrshire peasant poet are the common pro- 
 perty of humanity. Wherever the English 
 language is spoken, his tender verse is repeat- 
 ed. It is sung under the roof-trees of the 
 houses in Scotland, and in England, and in 
 America, and wherever the adventurous spirits 
 of those who speak our language have wan- 
 dered. What, asked the. speaker, has given 
 this wide latitude to the poetry of Burns ? It 
 is because he was a true man, and gave his 
 energies and songs for the benefit of mankind. 
 No man ever lived who showed less disposition 
 to pander to the rich, or fawn upon the pow- 
 erful. He stood forth the perfection of inde- 
 pendence and a pattern of true nobility. His 
 songs are tuned to every touch of human feel- 
 ing. Satire, war, love, humour, sympathy and 
 sentiment have each received the richest oifer- 
 ings from his pen. Now he awakens the finest 
 chords of feeling and touches the noblest sym- 
 pathies, and anon he sets the table in a roar. 
 A genius like that of Burns was far in advance 
 of his age, and as a consequence he was not 
 properly appreciated then. But with the lapse 
 of years his fame had grown dearer, and the 
 sacrifices of his life were now claimed as a her- 
 itage by millions of the luiman race. His po- 
 etry was addressed to the futjire as well as to 
 the firesides of the day in which he lived, and 
 now, after years have passed away, nobility 
 goes to his tomb to pay him homage, while 
 mankind meet, as on this evening, to celebrate 
 his worth. He comes to us this evening puri- 
 fied from the dross of mortality, and stands be- 
 fore us a spiritual existence, full of the finest 
 touches of humanity. 
 
 The second toast was " Scotland — ^hallowed 
 by ancient memories and associations of undy- 
 ing glory and renown," and was responded to 
 by James Mellon, who sung " Dear Scotland, 
 I love thee," excellently well, and was much 
 applauded. 
 
 The third toast was " The Immortal Memory 
 of Washington," drank standing and in silence. 
 
 The fourth toast, " The Memory of Sir Wal- 
 ter Scott," was responded to by Teakle Wallis, 
 Esq. 
 
 The fifth toast was "Washington Irving — 
 the Patriarch of American literature — may Rip 
 Van Winkle sleep no more, but live through 
 all time and perpetuate the name of his illus- 
 trious historian." 
 
 The Poets of America, The Press, and other 
 toasts were given, until the small hours of the 
 
 morning were breaking in upon the enthusias- 
 tic party, when they adjourned, after compli- 
 menting the host of the Maltby, L. U. Maltby, 
 Esq., and the singing of " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 BARTON, Alleghany Co., Md. — The 
 Barton Burns Club held their first annual cel- 
 ebration in the Fountain Hotel. — After partak- 
 ing of an excellent supper, not omitting the 
 haggis, which was furnished by one of our 
 Scotch ladies, the tables were cleared, and the 
 company, to the number of about fifty, pro- 
 ceeded with the business of the evening. The 
 chair was taken by the President, Mr. Thomas 
 Herron, who was assisted by the two Vice- 
 Presidents of the Club, Messrs. John Sommer- 
 ville and Peter Goodwin. Mr. Herron opened 
 the meeting ivith a few appropriate remarks, 
 after which the toast of the evening was pro- 
 posed ; the other usual toasts suitable to such 
 occasions were then drunk and responded to. 
 The evening was enlivened by many excellent 
 songs from Matthew Waddell, John and Tho- 
 mas Goodwin, John Macmillen, Wm. Rankine, 
 Wm. Orr, jun., and several others. The meet- 
 ing did not break up till well on in the morn- 
 ing, and I am confident we spent as happy a 
 time as any of our other sister societies through- 
 out the length and breadth of this continent. 
 
 BOSTON.— The Burns Club of Boston 
 celebrated the occasion by a festive gathering 
 at the Parker House, which was one of the 
 most successful and brilliant demonstrations 
 ever held in the city. The list of invited guests 
 included many of the most brilliant intellects 
 of New England ; and the knowledge of the 
 fact that several of them would be present and 
 address the Club, crowded the festive hall to 
 its utmost capacity with the admirers of the 
 Scottish bard. 
 
 General Tyler, the President of the Club, 
 occupied the chair. On the right of the Presi- 
 dent were seated the Governor, Colonel E. G. 
 Parker, Hon. Joseph Howe of Nova Scotia, 
 Hon. Charles A. Phelps, Mayor Lincoln, Hon. 
 Josiah Quincy, jr. ; and on the left the Chaplain 
 of the evening, Rev. Mr. Lawrie, Ralph Waldo 
 Emerson, Lord Radstock, George S. Hillard, 
 N. P. Willis, James Russell Lowell, Oliver 
 Wendell Holmes, and Captain Lang. 
 
 It was announced that letters had been re- 
 ceived from a number of distinguished gentle- 
 men who had found it impossible to be present. 
 Numerous sentiments were received by tele- 
 graph from various parts of the United States 
 and Canada, and responded to in an appropriate 
 manner. Among the peculiar features of this 
 festival was a haggis, which had been made for 
 the occasion in the cottage in which Burns was 
 
BOSTON. 
 
 551 
 
 born. Several interesting memorials of the 
 poet were also exhibited. 
 
 The President, in a brief and sensible ad- 
 dress, proposed the toast of the evening, which 
 was responded to by Mr. Emekson in the follow- 
 ing terms : — Mr. President and Gentlemen,^! 
 do not know by what untoward accident it has 
 chanced, and I forbear to inquire, that in this 
 accomplished circle it should fall to me, the 
 worst Scotcliman of all, to receive your com- 
 mands, and at the latest hour, too, to respond 
 to the sentiment just offered, and which indeed 
 makes the occasion. But I am told there is no 
 appeal, and 1 must trust to the inspiration 
 of the theme to make a fitness which does 
 not otherwise exist. Yes, Sir, I heartily feel 
 the singular claims of the occasion. At the 
 first announcement, from I know not whence, 
 that the 25th of January was the hundredth 
 anniversary of the birth of Eobert Burns, a 
 sudden consent warmed the great English race, 
 in all its kingdoms, colonies, and states, all 
 over the world, to keep the festival. We are 
 here to hold our parliament with love and 
 poesy, as men were wont to do in the middle 
 ages. Those famous parliaments might or 
 might not have had more stateliness and better 
 singers than we — though that is yet to be 
 known — but they could not have better reason. 
 I can only explain this singular unanimity in a 
 race which rarely acts together, but rather after 
 their watchword, each for himself — by the fact 
 that Robert Burns, the poet of the middle class, 
 represents in the mind of men to-day that 
 great uprising of the middle class against the 
 armed and privileged minorities — that uprising 
 which worked politically in the American and 
 French Bevolutions, and which, not in govern- 
 ments, so much as in education and in social 
 order, has changed the face of the world. In 
 order for this destiny, his birth, breeding, and 
 fortunes were low. His organic sentiment was 
 absolute independence, and resting, as it should, 
 on a life of labour. No man existed who 
 could look down oh him. They that looked 
 into his eyes saw that they might look down 
 the sky as easily. His muse and teaching was 
 common sense, joyful, aggressive, irresistible. 
 Not Latimer, not Luther, struck more telling 
 blows against false theology than did this brave 
 singer. The " Confession of Augsburg," the 
 "Declaration of Independence," the French 
 " Rights of Man," and the " Marseillaise," are 
 not more weighty documents in the history of 
 freedom than the songs of Burns. His satire 
 has lost none of its edge. His musical arrows 
 yet sing through the air. He is so substan- 
 tially a reformer, that I find his grand, plain 
 sense in close chain with the greatest masters 
 — Rabelais, Shakspeare, Cervantes, Butler, and 
 
 Burns. If I should add another name, I find 
 it only in a living countryman of Burns. He 
 is an exceptional genius. The people who care 
 nothing for literature and poetry care for 
 Burns. It was indifferent, they thought who 
 saw him, whether he wrote verses or not ; he 
 could have done anything else as well. Yet 
 bow true a poet is he! and the poet, too, of 
 poor men, of grey hodden, and the guernsey 
 coat, and the blouse. He has given voice to 
 all the experiences of common life; he has 
 endeared the farm-house and cottage, patches 
 and poverty, beans and barley; ale, the poor 
 man's wine ; hardship, the fear of debt, tlie 
 dear society of weans and wife, of brothers and 
 sisters, proud of each other, knowing so few, 
 and finding amends for want and obscurity in 
 books and thought. What a love of nature, 
 and, shall I say it ? of middle-class nature. 
 Not great like Goethe, in the stars, or like 
 Byron, on the ocean, or Moore in the luxurious 
 East, but in the lonely landscape which the 
 poor see around them — bleak leagues of pas- 
 ture and stubble, ice, and sleet, and rain, and 
 snow-choked brooks ; birds, hares, field-mice, 
 thistles and heather, which he daily knew. 
 How many " Bonnie Boons," and " John An- 
 derson, my joes," and "Auld Langsynes," all 
 around the earth have his verses been applied 
 to ! And his love songs still woo and melt the 
 youths and maids ; the farm-work, the country 
 holiday, the fishing coble, are still his debtors 
 to-day. And as he was thus the poet of poor, 
 anxious, cheerful, working humanity, so he had 
 the language of low life. He grew up in a 
 rural district, speaking a patois unintelligible 
 to all but natives, and he has made that low- 
 land Scotch a Doric dialect of fame. It is the 
 only example in history of a language made 
 classic by the genius of a single man. But 
 more than this, he had that secret of genius, to 
 draw from the bottom of society the strength 
 of its speech, and astonish the ears of the polite 
 with these artless words, better than art, and 
 filtered of all offence through his beauty. It 
 seemed odious to Luther that the devil should 
 have all the best tunes : he would bring them 
 into the churches; and Burns knew how to 
 take from fairs and gypsies, blacksmiths and 
 drovers, the speech of the market and street, 
 and clothe it with melody. But 1 am detain- 
 ing you too long. The memory of Burns — I 
 am afraid heaven and earth have taken too 
 good care of it, to leave us anything to say. 
 The west winds are murmuring it. Open the 
 windows behind you, and hearken for the in- 
 coming' tide what the waves say of it. The 
 doves perching always on the eaves of the 
 stone chapel opposite may know something 
 about it. Every name in broad Scotland keeps 
 
552 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 his fame bi'iglifc. The memory of Burns — 
 every man's, and boy's, and girl's head carries 
 snatches of his songs, and can say them by 
 heart, and, what is strangest of all, never 
 learned them from a book, but from mouth to 
 mouth. The wind whispers them, the birds 
 whistle them, the corn, barley, and bulrushes 
 hoarsely rustle them ; nay, the music-boxes at 
 Geneva are framed and toothed to play them ; 
 the hand organs of the Savoyards in all cities 
 repeat them, and the chimes of bells ring them 
 in the spires. They are the property and the 
 solace of mankind. 
 
 In reply to the toast of the " The Common- 
 wealth of Massachusetts," Governor Banks re- 
 sponded in an admirable speech, in which he 
 referred to the obligations Massachusetts was 
 under to Scotland for its religious liberty. It 
 was in consequence of the determined stand 
 made by the people of Scotland against the 
 infringement of their religious liberties in the 
 time of Ciiarles I. that Massachusetts was 
 allowed to have religious freedom. It was said 
 by the advisers to Charles the First, that in 
 consequence of this outbreak in Scotland, it 
 was necessary that he should allow the colo- 
 nists of Massachusetts to go on in their own 
 way ; and from that period the colonists of 
 Massachusetts had their own way, and for their 
 own purpose, and had pursued the path of suc- 
 cess to which no son of theirs this day has 
 other reason to point than as the crowning 
 glory of his race. 
 
 Mr. Banks also made some eloquent obser- 
 vations with reference more immediately to the 
 subject of the meeting. He said — We are in- 
 debted, Sir, in the Commonwealth of Massa- 
 chusetts to the countrymen of Burns upon other 
 grounds. Our manufactures, our commerce, 
 our mechanic arts, and our literature, have 
 been strengthened, and our success has been 
 enlarged by the frugal spirit, the untiring 
 energy, and keen, piercing intellect, which 
 they at all times and in all directions have 
 given to our industry and practical prosperity. 
 But especially are we indebted to Scotland for 
 the brilliant and heroic spirit, the unsurpassed 
 poetic genius and the pure love of nature and 
 of the right, which we find in the poetry of 
 Burns — not the poetry for those of scholastic 
 attainments alone, not for one class or another, 
 but for all who wear the form of man, or who 
 can be moved by the highest and purest 
 thoughts which have ever stirred the hearts of 
 the human race in any age of the world. 
 
 I am not disposed, gentlemen, to trespass 
 upon your time with any disquisition upon his 
 merits as a poet or writer. There are those 
 who can do this better than I, whom you have 
 chosen for this purpose, and so I pass it. But 
 
 I beg your permission and grace to say, that 
 when you present on this centennial anniver- 
 sary of his birth, his character as a man, his 
 genius as a poet, and the spirit of humanity 
 which has immortalized his name, you furnish 
 an example and a philosophy which have warm- 
 ed the hearts of his fellowmen, and will still 
 strengthen them, so long as human hearts beat 
 within tlie breasts of men. 
 
 From the lowest ranks of life, nerved alone 
 by his own spirit and by his own courage, re- 
 cognized by none, seeking counsel and support 
 from none, through the strength of his own 
 genius, he achieved for himself an immortality 
 of fame, and gave to the world an illustrious 
 example, which will never cease to be felt. 
 (Cheers.) Sir, if we could give to the people 
 of other lands, to Spain, or to France, or to 
 Russia, or to whatever nation or people you 
 may turn, such words and such lessons and 
 such power, that should so enter into the hearts 
 of their people as the thrilling melodies of 
 Burns have filled the hearts of Scotchmen, and 
 Englishmen, and Americans, they would hew 
 their way through the thick ranks of privileged 
 orders, and batter down tlie heavy masses of 
 legislative encroachment, though they were 
 piled mountains high, until they made " Ossa 
 like a wart." (Enthusiastic cheering.) 
 
 This is what Burns did for Scotchmen ; it is 
 what he has done for Americans ; and until 
 years shall cease to roll, and human hearts to 
 beat, there will never be a man, in whatever rank 
 of lifeyou find him, however poor and oppressed, 
 who, with the memory and glory of Robert 
 Burns before him, will not gird and guide him- 
 self as if possessed with the spirit and power of 
 truth, of justice, of humanity and right, against 
 whatever odds may be presented. (Loud ap- 
 plause.) 
 
 Let me say then, Mr. President and gentle- 
 men of the Burns Club, taking him as the type 
 of the purpose of Scotland, and the Scotch 
 people, and his language, as evidence of their 
 power and of their intellect — let me say in his 
 own words, upon this the hundredth anniver- 
 sary since God gave him the light of life, and 
 the pen of eloquence, — poesy, truth and power : 
 
 " Aultl Scotland has a raucle tongue, 
 She's just a devil wi' a rung, 
 And ii' she promise auld or young 
 
 To taU their part, 
 
 Tho' by the neck she should be strung 
 
 She'll no desert. 
 
 As the home and head-quarters of so many 
 American poets, the voice of poetry was not 
 wanting on this occasion to do honour to the 
 memory of the Scottish Bard, and no fewer 
 than four original poems were read composed 
 for the occasion, one by Oliver Wendell Holmes, 
 
BOSTON. 
 
 553 
 
 two by Professor James Russell Lowell, and 
 one by Mr. John G. Whittier. 
 
 The Hon. Geohge S. Hillard replied to 
 the toast of " The Minstrels and Minstrelsy of 
 Scotland" in a long and interesting speech, 
 from which we extract the following passages : 
 — Why is it that Burns has taken such a hold 
 upon the hearts of all who speak with English 
 tongues and read English books ? Why, among 
 otlier proofs of this, are we here to-night? 
 
 It seems to me that this is due in part to his 
 character as a man, and in part to the peculiar 
 qualities of his poetry. His character was re- 
 markable for its manliness, its sincerity, and its 
 independence. He was too brave for disguises, 
 and too truthful for affectation. In all his life 
 there is no stain of meanness, of treachery, of 
 cowardice, of hypocrisy. If he was vehement 
 in his dislikes, and sometimes almost savage in the 
 expression of them, he was also the most faith- 
 ful of friends. We mark in him one sure indi- 
 cation of a noble nature — the warmth and con- 
 stancy of his gratitude. The burden of obli- 
 gation he wears like a jewel and not like a 
 chain. He often yielded to temptation ; but 
 his errors are half atoned for and wholly for- 
 given by the frankness with which he confesses 
 them. He was born in a very low estate, and 
 reared in bitter soul-crushing poverty ; and 
 this, too, at a time when native worth was less 
 valued, and adventitious distinctions were more 
 regarded than they are now. But in spite of 
 this, his life was marked by a manly independ- 
 ence, sometimes pushed to a fierce and defiant 
 self-assertion. The low-born peasant, whose 
 hands were hardened and whose frame was bent 
 by toil, stood in the presence of noblemen and 
 gentlemen, of wits and scholars, unabashed, 
 " pride in his port, defiance in his eye," as firm 
 upon his feet as when he strode behind his 
 plough upon the mountain side. He never 
 lowered the flag of genius before the flag of 
 rank. Wherever he met a man's mind, he laid 
 his own alongside of it, yard arm and yard arm, 
 for a fair fight. He respected in others the 
 claims of essential superiority — the God-given 
 patents of nobility — and he exacted from them 
 the same deference. All the primal sympa- 
 thies of the human soul recognize the power, 
 the charm, of a character of such manly self- 
 reliance, such lofty self-assertion. We follow 
 with admiration the movements of the broad- 
 shouldered, swarthy-cheeked, black-eyed pea- 
 sant, who on all occasions and in all societies 
 sustains himself with such simple dignity, who 
 plants himself with such assured force on his 
 worth as a man, and whose vigorous, untaught 
 genius beats down the feeble guards of com- 
 monplace cultivation and the thin defences of 
 social rank. 
 
 But it is the poetry of Burns, far more than 
 his character as a man, that brings us here to- 
 night. He was a poet of the first order ; but 
 that is not all. Among all the poets endowed 
 with a vision and a faculty so high as his, we 
 recall no one whose genius is of so popular a 
 quality. The lowliness of his birth, in some 
 respects a disadvantage, was herein a help to 
 him ; for it gave him a comprehension of the 
 common heart and mind of his countrymen 
 which must have been denied to him had he 
 been born in a higher sphere. Take, for in- 
 stance, his immortal poem of " The Cottar's 
 Saturday Night." Where can we find another 
 poet with an imagination capable of so idealiz- 
 ing the subject, and yet so familiar with its 
 details as to present a picture as true as it is 
 beautiful 1 The poetry of Burns hits the heart 
 of man just between wind and water ; every 
 line and every word tells. With the inspired 
 eye of genius he looked abroad upon the com- 
 mon life of Scotland ; and there found the 
 themes of poetry — and the highest poetry, too, 
 — in scenes, in relations, in objects which to 
 the prosaic apprehension seemed compact of 
 hopeless prose. As in works in Florentine 
 mosaic, — in which leaves and flowers are re- 
 produced in precious stones — our pleasure is 
 made up in part from the beauty of the mate- 
 rial used, and in part from the familiar charac- 
 ter of the forms represented. So in reading 
 the poetry of Burns, we are not only charmed 
 with the genius it displays, but thrilled with a 
 strange electric delight in seeing the ordinary 
 themes of every-day life so glorified and trans- 
 figured. At his touch, the heather bloom be- 
 comes an amethyst and the holly-leaf turns 
 into emerald. Every man can comprehend, 
 feel and enjoy the poetry of Burns ; for this no 
 other training is needed than the training of 
 life. There are no leai'ned allusions, no recon- 
 dite lore, no speculations that transcend the 
 range of average experience. To have seen 
 the daisy blow and heard the lark sing — to 
 have clasped the hand of man and kissed the 
 lips of woman — are preparation enough for all 
 that he has written. The sentiments with 
 which the poor man reads him are compounded, 
 perhaps unconsciously, of admiration and gra- 
 titude — gratitude to the genius which has 
 poured such ideal light around this common 
 earth — which has empurpled with celestial roses 
 the very turf beneath his feet — which has 
 opened to him, the child of poverty and toil, 
 the fairy world of imagination — which has held 
 to his lips the sparkling elixir, the divine ne- 
 penthe, of poetry — which- on its mighty wings 
 has soared with him into regions where he 
 could see the waving of angelic robes and hear 
 the music of paradise ! 
 
554 
 
 THE BURNS OENTENAEY. 
 
 Men of Scotland ! countrymen of Burns ! 
 you do well to celebrate his memory with song 
 and speech, with eyes suffused, and hand 
 clasped in hand. You owe him >a debt of gra- 
 titude which you can never repay. You have 
 a right to thank God in your jjrayers for the 
 gift of. Burns. Every Scotchman has a right 
 to hold up his head higher from the fact that 
 Burns was his countryman. For him every 
 blue-eyed lassie that runs about your flowery 
 braes or bathes her feet in the wimpling burn 
 is a fairer object. For him every heathery hill 
 glows in richer purple ; every glen lies steeped 
 in softer light; every mountain lake gleams 
 with deeper blue. For him the wild rose burns 
 with finer flame, and the thorn exhales a 
 sweeter breath. His spirit hangs like a glory 
 over your land ; your streams are vocal with 
 his name ; the lyric lark sings of him whose 
 music was sweeter than his own ; of him your 
 torrents rave ; your winds murmur of him. 
 The Scotland that he left was not the Scotland 
 that he found. By him it was exalted, glori- 
 fied, idealized ; by him it was bathed in light 
 that never shone on earth and sea ; and until 
 the rocks around your coast shall melt in the 
 sun — until your hills shall pass away like the 
 vapours that curl and play upon their sides, let 
 not his image be banished from your hearts, 
 let not his praise be silent upon your lips. 
 
 Among the other speakers in tlie course of 
 the evening were the Hon. Joseph Howe, 
 N. P. Willis, Lord Radstock, the Hon. Josiah 
 Quincy, jun., &c. Altogether the meeting was 
 distinguished by a geniality of soul and bril- 
 liance of intellect rarely equalled. 
 
 Reverb House. — In the evening about 
 a hundred and fifty persons met at the Revere 
 house to celebrate the Centennial Birthday of 
 the great Scottish Poet. 
 
 Some time before six o'clock, many of the 
 company assembled in the reception-rooms of 
 the Hotel, and were soon joined by the mem- 
 bers of the Caledonia and Boston Scottish 
 Clubs, dressed in the costume of various clans, 
 and preceded by their pipers. 
 
 When all the company had arrived, they 
 marched into the dining-hall to the inspiring 
 music of the bagpipes. The hall had been 
 beautifully decorated for the occasion. 
 
 Amongst those present were the Marquis de 
 Lusada, the British Consul; Henry I. Bowditch, 
 M.D.; H. Weld Fuller, Esq.; W. J. M'Pherson, 
 Esq., President of the Scots Charitable Society ; 
 Wm. H. Wilson, Esq., and Wra. Ed. Coale, 
 M.D., former Presidents of that Society ; Jef- 
 frey R. Brackett, Esq.; and Rev. James M'Lean, 
 of the Theological Seminary, Andover. 
 
 Mr. John Wilson presided, and Mr. David 
 Millar acted as Vice-Chairman. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. M'Lean invoked the divine 
 blessing ; and the company partook of an ex- 
 cellent dinner, including a substantial haggis 
 and the delicacies of the season, with the usual 
 kinds of beverage. 
 
 On removal of the cloth and the call to order, 
 the shield inscribed with the name of Burns 
 was suddenly withdrawn ; disclosing an illumi- 
 nated transparency of the Bard as he appears 
 in the celebrated painting by Nasmyth. This 
 was the signal for hearty and long-continued 
 cheering, waving of bonnets, &c. 
 
 Mr. Wilson then rose ; and, after briefly ex- 
 pressing his sense of the honour conferred on 
 him of presiding on so great an occasion, and 
 his consciousness of inability to discharge pro- 
 perly the duties of such an office, he delivered 
 the following address : — Robert Burns, as is 
 well known, was born about two miles from 
 Ayr, on the 25th of January, 1759 ; and died 
 at Dumfries, on the 21st of Julj', 1796, in the 
 thirty-eighth year of his age. As the offspring 
 of a poor but honest couple, he first opened his 
 eyes in a "clay bigging;" and, as the father of 
 a family, he last closed them, though in a tene- 
 ment comparatively respectable, amid great 
 distress and destitution. He lived the life of 
 a labourer, of a ploughman, and of a humble 
 ofiicer of the excise; and the scenes through 
 which he played his various parts — while not 
 undiversifled by hours of rest and relaxation, 
 of sweet peace and calm content, nay, of rap- 
 ture and joy — were chiefly those of toil and 
 trouble, anxious care and disappointed hope, 
 and sometimes of chagrin, remorse, and agony. 
 
 The festival in which we have the happiness 
 to participate is not confined to a small portion 
 of the people, but extended to the many. Its 
 observance is not the prerogative of a few in 
 the circles of learning, talent, or good fellow- 
 ship : it is the privilege of all who are akin to 
 Burns by ties of country or of soul. This is 
 the jubilee of universal Scotland, when all dis- 
 tinctions of birth, rank, and riches, for at least 
 one half-day, cease ; and when nothing is re- 
 cognised but the kernel, or inherent substance, 
 of humanity. On such a day, all true Scots- 
 men feel that they are by nature peers and 
 nobles. On such a day must the peasant lift 
 his brow towards heaven ; the citizen stand 
 erect in the presence of lordly men ; and the 
 favourite of wealth and material grandeur, 
 whether he trace his descent to patriots or to 
 traitors, bow before the majesty of genius and 
 virtue. Would that it had been one long 
 holiday, free from all the cares of business and 
 from all the toils of work; that, for one blessed 
 day, — another sabbath of the poor man's exist- 
 ence, — the hammer had rested on the anvil, 
 the shuttle in the loom, and the merchandise 
 
BOSTON. 
 
 555 
 
 in the warehouse ! But, beneath the din and 
 turmoil of this morning's occupations, there no 
 doubt lay deep imbedded in the heart of tlie 
 poor and industrious Scot a tender and rever- 
 ential regard for the memory of Eobert Burns; 
 and he only waited, with a sad but subdued 
 ])atience, for the evening hour, when he could 
 testify the ardour of his gratitude by the mani- 
 festation of his thoughts and feelings. Would 
 also that Woman were a participator in the 
 glorious festival of this evening ; that all the 
 bonnie lasses and guidwives of Scotland had 
 been invited to pay their homage, heartfelt as 
 it is, to a poet who has made their worth and 
 beauty in their representatives of his time, im- 
 mortal and burning as his own starry name ! 
 But it may be that their sensitive natures would 
 in general have shrunk at making any public 
 display of their love for Burns ; and that they 
 were content to reward their lovers and their 
 husbands with a more than wonted mark of 
 affection for thus exhibiting their enthusiasm 
 towards so gallant and glorious a bard. It is 
 not, then, for one moment to be imagined, that 
 the celebration of this Centenary is restricted 
 to the members of Burns' Clubs and Caledonian 
 Societies: it is observed by the Scottish nation, 
 — by the men of Scotland, and the descendants 
 of Scotsmen, throughout almost every part of 
 the globe, — by men who, I cannot doubt, have 
 this evening brought to the shrine of the Ayr- 
 shire Bard offerings that were hallowed at the 
 ingle-side by the heart and the lips of womanly 
 tenderness and excellence. 
 
 But, though pre-eminently the Bard of Ayr- 
 shire and of Scotland, Robert Burns was also, 
 as I have already intimated, the Poet of Nature 
 and Humanity; and hence not only the inhabi- 
 tants of every village and town in our mother- 
 land are, on this 25th of January, either cele- 
 brating their own festival in his honour, or have 
 virtually sent their representatives to the larger 
 and more important cities ; but — in the British 
 empire itself, in this glorious country of our 
 adoption, and wherever throughout the world 
 " a Scot can meet a neebor Scot " — the Eng- 
 lishman, the native of the green Isle of Erin, 
 the dweller in the Canadas, the citizen of 
 these United States, and the intelligent for- 
 eigner everywhere, sit down with their brethren 
 from North Britain to recognise the grand 
 moral principle which pervades the life and 
 writings of Burns. 
 
 I would not overrate the influence of Burns' 
 life and works ; but, as one of the men of beat- 
 ing hearts and warm affections in a company 
 which in itself forms only a unit in the grand 
 concert of multitudinous souls assembled this 
 evening, I feel that the fact of such meetings 
 being held must have a cause adequate to ac- 
 
 count for its existence. Nor would I justify 
 an undue reverence towards the memory of 
 Burns, but merely a rational service, — a grate- 
 ful and a hallowed respect. The homage which 
 has been paid to it, and that which is now in 
 the very act of being paid, is not, I trust, and 
 may well believe, the worship of an idol. It is 
 an homage rendered to the virtues, not to the 
 vices, of Burns; to the manliness and integrity, 
 not to the weakness and vacillation of his moral 
 character; to the inimitable beauties, not to 
 the faults or extravagances of his prose and 
 poetical compositions. It rises, too, I hope and 
 trust, to the Author and the God of Burns, — 
 to the Spirit of all good affections, — to the 
 Giver of all great endowments, — to the Inspirer 
 of all genius and of all excellence. Nay, it 
 must rise, consciously or unconsciouslj', to God; 
 because all love and reverence for the best or 
 noblest attributes of man's nature, though em- 
 bodied in what is finite and perishing, are but 
 another name for the worship of the same at- 
 tributes in Him who is infinite and eternal. 
 
 After an eloquent exposition of the beauties 
 of the songs of Burns, the Chairman con- 
 tinued — I pass on to other features which dis- 
 tinguish both the poet and the man. I must 
 altogether omit speaking of the general powers 
 of his mind, which, in the opinion of some 
 eminent philosophers who enjoyed the pleasure 
 of his acquaintance, qualified him for excelling 
 in any walk or avocation of life. Nor do I 
 speak of his disinterested friendship with the 
 good, wise, gifted, honoured men and women 
 of his native land ; of his ever-warm but high- 
 minded gratitude to the patrons of his unbought 
 Muse ; and of his frank and generous appreci- 
 ation of the merits of the poets of his own time, 
 — with his deep veneration for the memory of 
 those who had preceded him in the grateful 
 task of describing the scenery of Scotland, and 
 the manners, superstitions, loves and virtues of 
 her sons and daughters. Each of these themes 
 would afford matter for no stinted praise or 
 admiration, but, on the contrary, additional 
 reasons for regarding Burns as a man of extra- 
 ordinary worth and genius. 
 
 I cannot sit down without making a few re- 
 marks on the patriotism of Burns, — on that 
 love for our common mother- country which 
 ever beat in his bosom, was intertwined with 
 his affections for those to whom he owed his 
 earthly being, deepened his friendships, adorned 
 his relations to the gentler sex, intensified in 
 his eye the beauties and sublimities of his native 
 land, and inspired him with grand visions of 
 Scotia's ancient glory and future renown. 
 Though he was crude and inconsistent in his 
 political views, — by turns a Jacobite, a Whig, 
 and an admirer of the French Eevolution, — • 
 
556 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 there was no feebleness or vacillation in his 
 patriotism. This was more than an impulse 
 of the soul, a deduction of the understanding, 
 or a sentiment of the imagination; it was a 
 principle which ever dwelt in his innermost 
 being, and gushed forth in songs of beauty and 
 power, to flow unceasingly with the rivers of 
 Scotland and with the life-blood of the Scottish 
 heart. Nor could it have been otherwise ; for 
 he liad susceptibilities and powers which well 
 qualified him for appreciating the fame that 
 Scotland and her children had acquired, and 
 were capable of still further acquiring. In in- 
 fancy, he had heard her melodies ; in childhood, 
 liad listened to her tales of wonder ; in boy- 
 hood, had been familiar with her religion ; and, 
 in youth, had read with rapture of her patriots 
 and her bards. By these instrumentalities, aided 
 by his great natural genius, he felt inspired to 
 sing the praises of his native land, and to shed 
 over her name a new halo of grace and glory. 
 Though not a professed philanthropist. 
 Burns entertained no feeling of patriotism ad- 
 verse to the most enlarged benevolence. His 
 was not the maxim, •' My country, right or 
 wrong ! " — his, not the feeling which would 
 laud a declaration of independence, without 
 applying its ground-truths to all, irrespective 
 of their condition, their colour, or their clime. 
 If, at one time, he wept the fate of the un- 
 fortunate dynasty of the Stuarts, and at another 
 admired the principles of the British Constitu- 
 tion; if, at all times, he fervently prayed for 
 the freedom and the happiness of his Scottish 
 brethren and sisters, and would have them 
 stand conspicuous as a nation of virtuous men 
 and lovely women, — he never cribbed his soul 
 within the narrow confines of his country, but 
 hailed with warmth, if not with enthusiasm, 
 every omen of advancing freedom and of a true 
 democracy in other lands, whether on the 
 Continent of Europe or in America. Much as 
 he loved to delineate, in his own beautiful and 
 expressive Doric, the peculiarities of Scottish 
 feeling, thought, and manners, he delighted 
 still more to dwell on the elemental principles 
 and qualities which are common, all the world 
 over, to human nature. True, it was this na- 
 ture, as manifested in the life of the Scottish 
 peasant, which claimed his particular attention, 
 and drew towards him the loving and reverent 
 regards of his countrymen ; but this very fact 
 testifies to the truth of my assertion. His de- 
 scriptions of local scenery, his pictures of rural 
 manners, his expression' of peculiar modes of 
 feeling and thought, his delineations of rare and 
 remarkable characters, his songs of ardent love 
 and patriotism, with his bursts of humour and 
 his flashes of wit, however beautiful, genuine, 
 or true to Scottish nature, they may be, could 
 
 never have touched the universal heart of his 
 own people, unless they had been animated 
 by his genius with the soul of our common 
 liumanity. He had a nobler mission to perform 
 — though not fully conscious of it himself — 
 than merely to eternize the streams and hills 
 and heather of Scotland, to paint the customs 
 and habits of her industrious sons, or to descant 
 on the charms of her matchless daughters. 
 With a rare power of pathos and artless elo- 
 quence, which could invest a common daisy 
 with human life and interest, and infuse into the 
 breast of the hare, the mouse, or the little bird, 
 a microcosm of human feeling and emotion, 
 Burns with no less poetic power and tender- 
 ness, but with more practical philosophy, went 
 down into the very heart of the Scottish peas- 
 ant, and brought up materials with which to 
 form a noble and a perfect man. 
 
 By the circumstances of his life, thrown 
 chiefly into the society of the poorer classes, he 
 was able to judge, with tolerable accuracy, as 
 to the peculiarities of their character, whether 
 of virtue or of vice. Nor was he unobservant 
 of the relations of landlords and factors to their 
 dependents, or of the disposition which they 
 too often evinced for oppressing them. This 
 knowledge of human nature was extended by 
 the fact, that in consequence of his genius, he 
 was, especially while in Edinburgh, invited to 
 the assemblies, saloons, and tables of the more 
 dignified circles ; and hence enjoyed the means 
 of becoming acquainted with much that per- 
 tains to their mode of life, and to the qualities 
 by which they are distinguished from their in- 
 feriors. But acknowledging, as he must have 
 done, the advantages connected with high 
 station, noble rank, and liberal culture, and 
 sensible as he was of the excellent qualities for 
 which a few of these men were remarkable, he 
 felt indignant that so niany of them should put 
 on supercilious airs, and either oppress their 
 brethren in the humbler spheres of life, or re- 
 gard them as too mean or contemptible to be 
 worthy of notice. He, therefore, stripped them 
 of their habiliments of pride, power, and pre- 
 tence, — of all that was merely outward and 
 conventional; and found the elements of their 
 inner nature to be no finer, no greater, no richer 
 or nobler, than those of the poor and despised 
 portions of the community. This humanizing 
 truth was but faintly discerned in Burns' day, 
 and is not sufficiently acted on even at present. 
 It was supposed that something inherently mean 
 and vile existed in the very nature of the poor 
 and uneducated, — something innately grand 
 and dignified in that of the high-born, the 
 wealthy, and the learned. This idea was care- 
 fully inculcated in the nursery, the school, and 
 the college ; it pervaded a large majority of tales. 
 
BOSTON. 
 
 557 
 
 novels, and romances; it pointed tlie produc- 
 tions of the drama, and coloured the language 
 even of history and of the pulpit. It was, ex- 
 cept in a few rare instances, assumed as a 
 primary truth, till Eobert Burns, the peasant- 
 jieer, a nobleman of nature's creation, pro- 
 nounced it to be at once a libel and a lie ; till, 
 in his life, his letters, and his lyrics, he enunci- 
 ated that great principle which lies at the root 
 of Christianity and of human nature, and which, 
 though long buried mid the rubbish of shams 
 and false judgments, can never be eradicated 
 from the soul of iiumanity, — .that it is not what 
 a man has, but what he is, which constitutes 
 the true criterion of nobility and greatness. 
 
 Gentlemen, I have done, and now simply 
 announce the toast of the evening, — " The 
 Memory of the Poet of Ayrshire, of Scotland, 
 of Nature and of Humanity, — Robert Burns." 
 
 In the course of his address, the Chairman 
 was frequently interrupt^ by loud cheers. 
 
 After the toast had been given, and been 
 drunk in silence, " The land o' the leal " was 
 sung by Messrs. Lewis and George Thomp- 
 son. 
 
 A wooden cup, from which the President 
 drank to tlie memory of Burns, was liere ex- 
 hibited, and handed round as a precious relic 
 of the Poet. It had been purchased by Mr. 
 Thomas Cruickshanks, of Beverly Farm, Mass., 
 at the sale of Mrs. Burns' effects at Dumfries, 
 some time after her death. This vessel, whicli 
 had been used by the poet as a stirrup-cup, and 
 in later years by his " bonnie Jean " as a sugar- 
 bowl, is rendered more interesting from the 
 fact, that the stalk had been formed of part of 
 an old dining-table used by King Bobert the 
 Bruce; the relics being still preserved at Bro- 
 derick Castle, Isle of Arran. 
 
 The second toast was — " The Queen : God 
 bless her." 
 
 " God save the Queen " was then sung by 
 Mr. Alexander Inglis, the company joining in 
 the chorus. 
 
 Response of the Marquis de Lousada, 
 British Consul. — Mr. President and Gentle- 
 men — It has devolved upon me, as the humble 
 representative of her British Majesty here, to 
 respond to the toast you have just given. 
 
 That loyal Scotchmen should heartily toast 
 their Queen is natural. That the American 
 gentlemen present should join in so cordially, 
 is one more proof of what I have often observed ; 
 namely, that you look on the Queen of Great 
 Britain in quite a different light from any other 
 sovereign. And why does she obtain your 
 more entire sympathies 1 Because she is the 
 Queen of a free people, — a people not only 
 identical in origin and in language, but en- 
 joying, like yourselves, every civil, religious, 
 
 and political liberty. Gentlemen, in my sover- 
 eign's name, I thank you for the honour. 
 
 To-night we are gathered together to cele- 
 brate the anniversary of one of Scotland's gift- 
 ed sons. On this I will but lightly touch ; for 
 there are present among you eloquent men — 
 athletes in the use of language — who will do 
 justice to the subject ; and to them I leave it. 
 But this assembly, — what a glorious tribute to 
 genius ! Your ancestors, gentlemen, in many 
 a bloody field and foray, have earned a legen- 
 dary renown. But hosts and their leaders 
 have alike passed away, and left but scant trace 
 on history's broad page ; whilst this — Scot- 
 land's rustic bard, unaided by ancestral glory 
 — stands alone on his self-created pedestal ; 
 and now and henceforth, on either side of the 
 Atlantic, wherever the Anglo - Saxon has a 
 hearthstone, there shall his name — the name of 
 " Robert Burns" — be cherished as a household 
 word. 
 
 I thank you, gentlemen, for the courtesy 
 with which you have listened to my few words; 
 and, before I sit down, let me say how favoured 
 I think myself to have been selected to reside 
 in this your great and prosperous State ; in 
 this its capital of Boston, so aptly named the 
 " Modern Athens." High as had been my 
 preconceived ideas, I confess they fell far short 
 of the reality. When I witness your vast and 
 still expanding trade ; when I see your noble 
 ports, filled with shipping from all countries 
 and climes ; when I see your palatial edifices 
 springing up on all sides with a celerity that 
 savours of enchantment ; when I behold your 
 abundant schools, your public education, your 
 wealth, your enterprise,- — I can hardly realize 
 to myself any limit to your magnificent future. 
 
 Gentlemen, long may our countries remain 
 as now, — united ; long may our only contest be 
 an honourable contest for leadership in the 
 path of progress ; and may a celebration like 
 the present be our only field of mutual rivalry ! 
 
 I again thank you, gentlemen, for the way 
 you have received and drank to her Majesty's 
 health. (Cheers.) 
 
 The third toast was — " The President of the 
 United States ;" to which followed the song 
 " The star-spangled banner," which was sung 
 with much enthusiasm by Mr. T. P. Young. 
 
 The fourth toast was — " Scotland, our auld 
 respected Mither," which was responded to by 
 the Rev. James M'Lean, who said — It seems 
 to me. Sir, that some one, who has more recently 
 dwelt in " the land of the mountain and flood" 
 than I, could speak to better purpose of this 
 patriotic sentiment, so dear to every leal son 
 of the " land o' cakes and kail brose." Biit 
 since it was my happy fortune to live long 
 enough in the land of my fathers to learn that 
 
558 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 it is always best to perform cheerfully every 
 duty which shall combine with it the privilege 
 of rehearsing the deeds and dwelling upon the 
 memories of a truly noble and venerated ances- 
 try, I accept with pleasure the few minutes 
 allotted for the response to this inspiring and 
 memorable sentiment. 
 
 We may well remember with devout plea- 
 sure " our auld respected Mither," when we 
 think of her glorious past, as it stands out, 
 brilliant with the deeds of warlike sons, and 
 yet more memorable as the parent of the no- 
 blest martyrs who have ever sealed the truth 
 with blood. She has, in fact, produced and 
 nurtured distinguished men in every honoura- 
 ble walk of life ; and hence, — 
 
 "While we sing, ' God save the Qaeen I' 
 We'll ne'er forget the people." 
 
 When the sanctity of her homes has been in- 
 vaded, and the flame of her altar-fires has been 
 dimmed by the mercenary usurpations of Pop- 
 ish and High-Church tyrannies, the eagle-eyed 
 orthodoxy of such saints as Knox and Living- 
 ston has riddled the superb nonsense of a de- 
 generate hierarchy ; and, when the sword of 
 offended justice must leap from its scabbard, 
 we see before us a race of warriors, rushing 
 fearlessly into the jaws of death, inspired by 
 the martial pibroch, and following the lead of 
 the more than princely forms of the invincible 
 Wallace and Bruce. Looking over the crim- 
 soned plains of Bannockburn, we may hear the 
 ploughboy-poet uttering for the expiring Bruce 
 that imperishable sentiment dear to every kilt- 
 ed clansman : — 
 
 " Lay the pvoud usurpers low ! 
 Tyrants fall in every foe ; 
 Liberty's in eveiy blow : 
 Let us do or die 1 " 
 
 Mountains and glens, floods and mists, tor- 
 rents and sportive rivulets, lochs, caverns, and 
 threatening crags, and the ocean wreathed in 
 foam, spending its fury on the unyielding cliffs 
 of her rugged coast, have exerted no small in- 
 fluence in securing for Scotchmen their intel- 
 lectual acumen, combined with that high-toned 
 morality which renders them so straight that 
 they are said to lean back. Deep in yonder 
 cavern, where bubbles up 'the crystal fountain, 
 the Covenanter's child has received the holy 
 rite of baptism ; and the listening air, in that 
 far-off glen of native beauty, has often vibrated 
 with the anthems of redeeming love rising and 
 swelling from the hearts of fugitive worship- 
 pers. Thus every spot of " auld Caledonia" is 
 hallowed ground, and every stream has blushed 
 with the life -tide of noble men. And 
 hence, 
 
 " Where'er you go through the world helow, 
 You'll find old Scotia's men ; 
 And, when you rove through the world above, 
 You'll find them there again." 
 
 The fifth toast was— " The Boston Burns 
 Club: success attend its efforts to perpetuate 
 the memory of Robert Burns." This toast was 
 drunk by the company standing, and repeating 
 it, and a poem, written for the occasion, was 
 then delivered by Jeffrey R. Brackett, Esq. 
 
 Mr. Colin M'Kenzie read an original ode, 
 and after a number of toasts and songs had 
 been given, Mr. James Louden sang "Dainty 
 Davie." 
 
 The Chairman said he presumed that the 
 late or rather the early hour would suggest to 
 the company the necessity of adjourning. 
 Though he felt sorry to break in on the convi- 
 viality which reigned, he must remind them 
 that there could be for them but one such day ; 
 and that that day had passed only to be re- 
 membered with its many pleasant associations. 
 In conclusion, however, he would propose, that, 
 before parting, "Auld Langsyne," a song so 
 appropriate for the finale of a Burns Festival, 
 be sung ; and he would therefore call on Mr. 
 Inglis to give the first verae. This was sung 
 with much feeling, and was joined in by all the 
 company. 
 
 The Chairman now bade the company good- 
 night ; and all separated to their various homes, 
 after having enjoyed an evening of great plea- 
 sure and instruction. 
 
 BROOKLYN.— With the view of affording 
 the countrymen of Burns residing in Brooklyn 
 an opportunity of being represented in the 
 centennial anniversary of the birthday of their 
 national and immortal bard, the Burns Associa- 
 tion of that city announced arrangements for a 
 grand supper and ball at Gothic Hall. The 
 Scotch Brooklynites were fortunate in their 
 conclusion to have a dance. Scotchmen may 
 manage to pass two hours under the electrifying 
 eloquence of a Beecher, and double that time 
 at a dinner party, where they can join in the 
 " hip, hip, hurrah " to toasts, and cheer lustily, 
 with stentorian lungs, to patriotic sentiments; 
 but, after all, Sawney is never so satisfied in his 
 festive hour as when he is reeling through and 
 through, and going it with a right good will to 
 " Tullochgorum " and " Gillie Callum." 
 
 The company was small, but very respectable. 
 There were not probably altogether 200 per- 
 sons present. 
 
 At nine o'clock there was a sufficient number 
 present to commence the dancing. 
 
 To dilate on the individual style of discussing 
 the viands, &c., of a supper table would be 
 quite as sensible as to remark on the style of 
 
BROOKLYN. 
 
 559 
 
 individual dancing at the ball last niglit ; but it 
 may be said that Professor M'Pherson's taste, 
 judgment, and activity in conducting the cere- 
 monies were highly creditable to him and very 
 agreeable to those over whom he wielded his 
 baton. Of course they had polka, waltz, sohot- 
 tische, and mazourka; but these passed into the 
 land of forgetfulness whenever the company 
 were set for a reel. Sawney then thought only 
 of the heather hills, the sweet innocence of 
 nature's children; and, indifferent to the stu- 
 died grace of signer and signorita, he made the 
 kilts shake while he toed and heeled in earnest. 
 
 After eleven o'clock the company were sum- 
 moned to the supper room, underneath the ball 
 room, where five tables were loaded with every- 
 thing that could please the eye, and refresh the 
 inner man. At the head of the centre table 
 the stars and stripes and the union jack, were 
 blended in harmonious union around a life size 
 bust of Burns, while stripes of every colour 
 sprung out from them, and were entwined 
 around the pillars, and extended over the roof 
 from one end to the other. 
 
 After a few remarks from the President of 
 the association the first regular toast was 
 read : — 
 
 "The Day we Celebrate — The birth of 
 Burns." 
 
 Responded to by Mr. H. B. Perkins, of 
 Fort Washington. Mr. P. was very eloquent 
 in his eulogiura of Burns. He said : — The 
 memory of Burns has been honoured and enno- 
 bled by many of the ablest writers of the Old 
 World, and but yesterday his memory was regilt 
 and regarnished by that distinguished orator, 
 Henry Ward Beecher. How, then, sir, can I 
 hope to add one single fiower to the wreath 
 that already adorns his noble brow. Yet, if I 
 cannot do this, I can at least pay in part my 
 share of that debt of gratitude which the world 
 owes to its benefactors ; and who will not readily 
 admit that as a world-wide benefactor Robert 
 Burns stands pre-eminent. While we point 
 with pride to Newton, Bacon, and Locke, to 
 Shakspeare and Milton, to Byron and Moore, 
 our hearts all unbidden turn with their warmest 
 love to Scotia's gifted child of song. Burns 
 was one of those rare men who sometimes, 
 though not frequently, spring from the humble 
 ranks of life. He could not point back to a 
 long train of titled ancestry. He was not one 
 of those 
 
 " Proud boasters of a splendid line, 
 Like gilded ruins mouldering while they shine." 
 
 He did not, like Wellington, lead forth bannered 
 armies to battle and to victory ; nor did he, 
 like the eloquent Curran and the sublime Burke, 
 the applause of listening multitudes command ; 
 
 nor yet, like our own Franklin, call down the 
 red lightning from its far off home tliat it might 
 become the swift-winged messenger of thought; 
 but in the fairer field of poesy and song he won 
 the right to wear the wreath only to mighty 
 poets due. Burns was a special favourite of the 
 fair sex, as men of genius and talent deserve to 
 be. The time will not permit us to go into 
 the details of his history on this festive occa- 
 sion; but I cannot conclude my few remarks 
 without alluding to those festivals in yonder 
 great metropolis, where in brilliantly lighted 
 halls, may be heard the sounds of mirth and 
 revelry. Many guests are there assembled, 
 sweet strains of music float around the festive 
 board, the merry song is heard, the familiar 
 air — 
 
 " Flow gently, sweet Afton," 
 
 falls with melody upon each listening ear ; 
 toasts are drank to the memory of " Auld 
 Langsyne," and " John Anderson, my Jo," with 
 his snow-white locks on bonnie brow lives again, 
 and hearts are thrilled anew as some enthusi- 
 astic son of auld Caledonia sings the glorious 
 war ode — 
 
 " Soots wlia hae wi' Wallace Wed." 
 
 And not only in that city and in this, but in 
 almost every other city throughout the length 
 and breadth of our land, from the bleak hills of 
 Canada to the broad Savannahs of the South, 
 from the great Atlantic that rolls almost at our 
 feet, and bears upon its foam-crested billows 
 the rich products of nations, to the mild Pacific, 
 whose waters quench the last beams of the set- 
 ting sun — yes, wherever and beneath whatever 
 skies the sons of Caledonia may meet this night, 
 they will lisp the name of him who long ago 
 tuned his wild harp and sung the praise of his 
 own dear land; and up from the shady vales of 
 Scotland and from her distant hill tops now 
 arises the swelling anthem in praise of him who 
 immortalized the land of Wallace and Bruce in 
 song, and inscribed his own name in brilliant 
 characters on the fair page of Scottish history. 
 Let us, then, cherish the remembrance of Burns, 
 and " wear him in our heart of hearts, for ages 
 may pass away ere the world will look upon his 
 like again." 
 
 Mr. Perkins was frequently cheered in the 
 delivery of his oration, and resumed his seat 
 amid boisterous applause. 
 
 The following were theremainder of the toasts: 
 — The Poets and Poetry of all Nations ; The 
 President and the Land of our Adoption ; The 
 Queen, and the Land of our Birth ; The Burns 
 Association of the city of Brooklyn, and the 
 Burns Association in all the World ; The 
 Ladies. 
 
560 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 Each toast was duly honoured and responded 
 to, while at table an original poem was read, 
 embracing Burns and his works. Several songs 
 were also well sung. 
 
 Dancing was resumed, and continued till an 
 early hour in the morning. 
 
 BUFFALO.— The admirers of Burns in this 
 city and neighbourhood celebrated his centen- 
 nial birthday with a ball and supper at the 
 American Hotel. Shortly after seven o'clock 
 in the evening a large company of both sexes 
 had assembled in the parlours of the American, 
 which had been thrown open for the reception 
 of the guests, and to add to the sociableness of 
 the festival. The company formed into pro- 
 cession and marched to the ball-room, headed 
 by a piper. The hall was handsomely deco- 
 rated with flags, mottoes, and banners. 
 
 The ball was opened with a strathspey and 
 reel danced in the good old style. Reel, coun- 
 try dance, quadrille and polka followed, the 
 music being Scottish as much as possible. At 
 half-past ten a most sumptuous banquet was 
 spread in the dining-room of the American, to 
 which nearly all present sat down, presided 
 over by Mr. M'Donell, President of the St. 
 Andrew's society. The cloth being removed, 
 the intellectual part of the festival commenced. 
 The committee of management, to make it 
 more worthy, if it were possible, of Burns, di- 
 verged from the usual routine of toasts, and 
 brought forward nothing but sentiments and 
 quotations from Burns, with the exception of 
 the first regular toast, so that the centennial 
 anniversary might indeed be called "a nicht 
 wi' Burns." The Chairman proposed in a few 
 appropriate remarks " The Memory of Burns." 
 Responded to by Mr. James S. Lyon. Then 
 followed "To our Guests," to which 0. G. 
 Steele, Esq., responded. He gave an inter- 
 esting sketch, descriptive of a late visit to the 
 land of Burns, interspersed with many anec- 
 dotes. 
 
 The next sentiment proposed was " True 
 Aristocracy." Hon. James Wadsworth replied 
 in an eloquent and impressive speech. The 
 sentiment "True Manhood" was replied to by 
 Mr. George J. Bryan, President of St. George's 
 Society. 
 
 "A True Monarchy." 
 
 " An honest man, though e'er sae poor, 
 Is king 0' men for a' that." 
 
 In replying to this sentiment, Ellicott Evans, 
 Esq., dwelt chiefly on the character and the 
 manly independence of Burns. 
 
 Mr. A, M. Olapp, of the Express, responded 
 to the toast of " The Press" in his usual happy 
 manner. Many other sentiments followed. 
 
 Letters from various gentlemen, resident in the 
 neighbourhood and the Canadas, were read re- 
 gretting their unavoidable absence. Several 
 messages were received and replied to by tele- 
 graph. At intervals during the > evening the 
 company was enlivened by songs from Messrs. 
 Walls, Fotheringham, Inglis, and others, ac- 
 companied by Mr. Hobson on the piano. The 
 festival was closed by all present singing with 
 hands united, " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 CHARLESTON, S. C — The centennial 
 celebration of the birthday of Robert Burns was 
 an occasion long to be remembered. The 
 Union Light Infantry, Lt. Broadfoot, command- 
 ing, and the Highland Guard, Capt. Carmalt, 
 paraded in good force in honour of the day, and 
 formed a battalion of escort to the Orator, 
 Chaplain, President of the day, and other officers 
 in special places of honour. 
 
 This procession moved, about the appointed 
 hour, from the residence of the Orator, Da^^d 
 Ramsay, Esq., to St. Andrew's Hall, where an 
 expectant throng had assembled. This elegant 
 and commodious Hall had been appropriately 
 draped and ornamented in honour of the ob- 
 servances and objects of the day. The flags 
 and ensign symbols of the United States, and 
 the United Kingdom, were displayed around 
 the walls, with the flags of the Companies en- 
 gaged. 
 
 The exercises were introduced, by appoint- 
 ment, with a prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. J. 
 L. Kirkpatrick, D.D., who discharged his solemn 
 ofliice, in substance, as follows: — 
 
 Almighty and ever blessed Lord our God, Thou 
 art the source of all our mercies, and we would 
 desii-e to render to Thee the homage which is Thy 
 due. 
 
 We thank Thee that Thou hast made us rational 
 beings, endowing us with intellects, judgment, 
 taste, and imagination, and so distinguishing us 
 from other orders of Thy creatures inhabiting this 
 world with us. .We thank Thee that Thou hast 
 given us faculties with which we may in some mea- 
 sure appreciate and enjoy Thyself and all that like 
 Thee is great and good. Impress us, we beseech 
 Thee, with a proper conviction of our responsi- 
 bilities for such capacities, and enable us to acquit 
 ourselves of every obligation in Thy sight. 
 
 It did please Thee to endow him whose birth we 
 this day commemorate with extraordinary gifts. 
 We thank Thee for whatever of enjoyment and 
 profit we have derived from the products of the 
 talents so liberally bestowed upon him ; for what- 
 ever is pure, and great, and elevating in his writings, 
 as they have been transmitted from generation to 
 generation. Grant that we may have wisdom 
 Thy gift also, to discriminate between that which 
 is truly and ever good as Thou art, and conducive 
 to the welfare and advancement of mankind and 
 
CHARLESTON. 
 
 561 
 
 that which may be evil in itself or in its tendencies. 
 Bleas us in the enjoyment of the one ; preserve us 
 from the dangers of the other. 
 
 We supplicate the continuance of Thy favour 
 toward our country. Protect our institutions of 
 civil and religious liberty, and us in the possession 
 of the varied privileges secured to us under those 
 institutions. May our people, gathered upon these 
 distant shores out of so many nations and tribes, 
 feel that they are bound together in common aims, 
 and form one brotherhood of affection and interest. 
 May tlie mingling together here under the same 
 institutions and lavfs, in harmony and love, of the 
 representatives of so many lands, tend to the estab- 
 lishment of peace and concord between all tlie na- 
 tions and people of the earth. 
 
 May it please Thee to preside over the exercises 
 of this day, and the affairs of the Association at 
 whose instance they are held. May everything 
 be done to Thy approval and our profit. All which 
 we, who are most unworthy, ask in the name of 
 Tliy Son our Lord and Saviour. — Amen. 
 
 The Hon. Mitchell King, President of tlie 
 day, then introduced Mr. David. Earasay, with 
 some fitting remarks, referring to his ancestral 
 and inherited connection with the history of the 
 State, and to the name he worthily bears. Mr. 
 Ramsay arose amid general and earnest ap- 
 plause, and proceeded to deliver tlie oration : — 
 
 We meet to remember that, on this day, in 
 that distant northern land, whose liberal air is 
 tremulous with song, there was born a poet. 
 
 A hundred years ago, a whirlwind was on its 
 march through the fastnesses of Scotland. As 
 it swept over the land and moaning waves 
 which chafed on their craggy margin, it seemed 
 tliat, with vast minstrelsy, oeolian voices were 
 loud in prophecy. A feeble wail, in a peasant's 
 hut, mingled with the elemental turbulence. A 
 man was born into the world ; but hardly had 
 a mother rejoiced, when that tenderest love 
 trembled for its offspring, ignorant of the future, 
 and finding no oracle in ominous circumstance. 
 Under the mighty strokes of the storm blast, 
 the frail hut yielded, and partly falling to the 
 ground, the unconscious babe was cradled be- 
 neath the open firmament, the furtherest con- 
 fines of which were bound to his fame. 
 
 It is a high destiny to have to utter words 
 that can never die, to give voice to any universal 
 feeling. Learned leisure or academic retreats 
 are rarely the schools in which an intellect thus 
 commissioned is formed and prepared, but never 
 was genius nurtured in a harder lot than that 
 in which the child of this centenary was reared; 
 and in which continuing, he yet left a name 
 hoir-loom of his land, the pride of his country- 
 men, an ornament of mankind. It is apparently 
 a law of development, that not from the high 
 places and pinnacles of the world shall light 
 shine forth upon man. As a deduction of ex- 
 perience, it is most especially true that poetry 
 
 finds her ministers among the yeomanry of 
 time. He whom we seek to reverence was 
 summoned as " Elijah, the prophetic bard, 
 called Elisha from the plough." He remained 
 leal to his birth-right; the only jewels of which, 
 honour, truth, faith, simplicity, he ever wore 
 undimmed. At the period, the State was 
 graced by the " Great Commoner." Letters 
 were also to find a votary who " held the pa- 
 tent for his honours direct from the hand of 
 God." Tliis poet was a man of the people. 
 He knew the wants and modest hopes of humble 
 life, its integrity, its unselfish charity larger 
 than the dole of pharisaic wealth; he shared 
 that content which suffers the carking present, 
 enduring for the things which shall be. The 
 heart of man trembled with no universal emo- 
 tion which failed to agitate his own pulse of 
 life. Such a man is a tribune in the republic 
 of letters. How could he be forgotten ? Never 
 while there is aspiration ; never while sympathy 
 remains. 
 
 Nevertheless, we honour liim not merely as a 
 man kindred to the large sorrows of humanity, 
 and reflecting somewhat of that diviner pity 
 which could be touched with a sense of our 
 infirmities; we honour him not merely as a 
 man who felt impulses which rose above his 
 fortunes, which could rise above every eminence 
 he might surmount; we also honour him as 
 ordained to a holy oflice in the great worship 
 of the universe. Not a fiower yielded incense, 
 not a voice of nature was audible — whether the 
 matin carol of choristers, rising with their song 
 to the blue sky, or the ever-enduring roar of 
 the cataract, or the unceasing roll of the surge, 
 but the poet's chant could accompany the ac- 
 cord. It was happy for the world, and for 
 future ages, that the earthly pilgrimage of 
 Burns was through a native land, so meet a 
 " nurse for a poetic child." On all sides nature 
 had lavished beauty and grandeur. History 
 and tradition peopled with exciting recollections 
 every glen, every valley, every mountain. Eacli 
 footfall might be on the grave of a hero, each 
 glance lighted on some scene, or relic, or monu- 
 ment appealing to national honour and enthu- 
 siasm. . Nor was the race unequal to its past. 
 Truth and nobility of mind were national with 
 the Scottish peasantry. No vulgar herdsmen 
 or downcast serfdom were cultivators of that 
 rigid soil. Principles of holy and eternal right, 
 immunities of dear-bought franchise, were in- 
 herent in the nation. Ages before freedom 
 muttered in Europe it was proclaimed by them 
 lex rege potior, lege populus. Education had 
 heightened the astute intelligence of a hardy 
 race, and withal fancies of a weird superstition, 
 garlanded as with a myrtle bough, the keen 
 edge of their severe and trenchant life. Here 
 
562 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 was a man of surpassing genius, born on a soil 
 consecrated by memories of a lieroic past, the 
 sons of which were peculiar for intelligence and 
 imagination, while distinguished for the diffu- 
 sion of education. Above all, blending with 
 every peculiarity, there was a fervour of piety 
 and zeal. Of each and all these high attributes 
 of his country. Burns was representative through- 
 out his poetry. 
 
 In his poems rarest humour sparkles, deli- 
 cate fancy enchants, tender emotions meet, pa- 
 triotism swells, passion inflames, even the orna- 
 ments of rhetoric are lavishly strewn. It 
 has been well said that his songs have been 
 set to music with unrivalled adaptation, for the 
 songs are tiiemselves music. In all the litera- 
 ture of sea-girt Britain there is but one other 
 strain which could sustain such varied change 
 with unfaltering voice; and even the swan of 
 Avon rose to the empyrean with no more buoy- 
 ant pinion. 
 
 We have met to honour his memory. It 
 were most unseemly to make inquisition for 
 error or mistake. Wliat if he shared the frailty 
 of human nature? What even if his defects 
 were great ? Is not his surpassing excellency 
 equally so 1 What even if they were but com- 
 mensurate ? He is like some lofty altitude 
 whose inaccessible eminence forbids ordinary 
 scanning; whose very height must be deter- 
 mined by the shadow. 
 
 In the evening a large party assembled again 
 in St. Andrew's Hall, to enjoy the festival sup- 
 per, which was provided by Mr. A. J. Rutjes, 
 of the Mount Vernon Refectory. 
 
 The Rev. J. L. Kirkpatrick, D.D., invoked 
 the Divine blessing on the feast. After the 
 cloth was cleared, the intellectual enjoyments 
 began in good spirits, and were continued with 
 a steady flow until the late hour. 
 
 The Hon. Mitchell King, President, said : 
 Gentlemen — Members of the St. Andrew's 
 Society, and admirers of the genius of Robert 
 Burns — we are met to commemorate the birth, 
 to rejoice in the genius, and to do honour to 
 the memory of a great and gifted man. A man 
 of high and generous character — of the keenest 
 wit and the richest humour — of the most en- 
 larged sympathies, with everything brave, and 
 true, and noble, and beautiful — who elevated 
 and dignified the rank in which he was born — 
 breathed his own independent spirit into his 
 countrymen, and left them, in his inestimable 
 productions, an inheritance for ever. Probably 
 no man that ever lived, not excepting even 
 Shakspeare himself, has, within the same space 
 of time after his death, had so much praise be- 
 stowed upon him. With a lofty spirit, without 
 conceit or arrogance, animated by a devoted 
 love of country, inspired by the truest genius, 
 
 and embodying the strongest, most tender and 
 delicate thoughts in the fittest and fewest 
 words, he addressed himself to the hearts of 
 his countrymen, and took possession of them. 
 Burns is probably entitled to a high praise, 
 which seems to have been generally overlooked. 
 He revived the study, and insured the immor- 
 tality of the old Scottish language written by 
 Barbour, and Ballenden, and Dunbar, and 
 David Lindsay, and Gawin Douglas, and spoken 
 by Mary and her maids of honour, and .the 
 nobles and gallants of her court, and the judges, 
 and advocates, and clergy of Scotland, when it 
 was an independent kingdom, and before the 
 crowns of England and Scotland were united 
 in the person of the Sixth and First James. 
 When Burns appeared that language was fast 
 falling into disuse. The ambitious and aspir- 
 ing men of Scotland were anxious to acquire 
 the pronunciation, and to speak the pure lan- 
 guage of the court, the church, the parliament, 
 the bar of England. The Doric of Scotland 
 had become provincial, and often raised a smile 
 when heard in the polite circles of London and 
 Westminster. It was beginning to lose the 
 vitality necessary for its preservation. Burns 
 animated it with new life, re-married it to im- 
 mortal verse, in thoughts that breathe and 
 words that burn, and it is now as imperishable 
 as the thoughts which it embodies. I give 
 you " The Memory of Robert Burns." 
 
 A song for the occasion was here sung by 
 Mr. John M'Kay. 
 
 The President announced the second toast 
 as follows : — " The Queen of Great Britain and 
 Ireland." This toast was received with re- 
 peated cheers, and followed by loud and im- 
 portunate calls for Robert Bunch, Esq., H.B.M. 
 Consul, and President of the St. George's So- 
 ciety, who occupied a seat of honour near the 
 President. 
 
 Mr. Bunch replied with his wonted ease 
 and happy expressiveness. He said — Mr. Pre- 
 sident and Gentlemen — Although I am well 
 aware, by long experience of Scotchmen in 
 their public gatherings, that it would be im- 
 possible for them to abstain upon any such oc- 
 casion from respectful and complimentary allu- 
 sion to the sovereign of their native land, I 
 cannot fail to recognize a peculiar appropriate- 
 ness in such a tribute at a celebration so emi- 
 nently national as this one, held, as it is, in 
 grateful commemoration of the day which gave 
 to Scotland, and through her to the world, her 
 poet, Robert Burns. It is, I say, an occasion 
 especially adapted to the demonstration of that 
 principle of loyalty which underlies the many 
 virtues of the Scottish character, and that, be- 
 cause Robert Burns, whether as poet or as sub- 
 ject, was a truly loyal man. As it is possible 
 
CHARLESTON. 
 
 563 
 
 that exception may be taken to this statement, 
 I will explain in a few words the grounds upon 
 which I make itv To the person of the sover- 
 eign who wielded the destinies of Scotland in 
 his day, it is very probable that your poet may 
 have felt no warm attachment. His sympathies 
 were rather with the exiled race, with the 
 " bonnie Prince Charlie," whose ill-fated at- 
 tempt of the '45 was fresh in the memory of 
 Scotland when Burns was born, and in whose 
 royal cause the poet was pleased, with a par- 
 donable, nay, with a pious vanity, to believe 
 that his ancestors had fought and suffered — 
 
 " My fathers that name have rever'd on a throne, 
 My fathers have fallen to right it ; 
 Those fathers would spurn their degenerate Son, 
 That name should he sooffingly slight it." 
 
 The man who conld write these lines, and 
 feel them as Burns did feel all that he wrote, 
 (the chief charm of his verses) must surely be 
 ciilled a loyal man, even though the object of 
 his fealty was not the reigning monarch ; nay, 
 rather, was not his a purer type of loyalty, of 
 that fidelity which knows nothing of success or 
 failure, but clings, like the ivy, all the tighter 
 to the ndned wall ? It can be no reproach 
 upon your bard that, like many a steadfast 
 cavalier, ay, and yeoman too, of those trouble- 
 some times, he 
 
 " Never ceased to pray 
 For the Eoyal race they loved so well, 
 Tho' exiled far away." 
 
 It was the effusion of a chivalrous and a noble 
 nature, as often found in the peasant as in the 
 peer, and to my mind infinitely preferable to 
 that lip-loyalty which transfers its allegiance 
 as circumstances may seem to demand. But, 
 gentlemen, the days of trouble to Scotland 
 have long since passed away. The rival claims 
 of contending Houses have yielded to the 
 course of time and to the national will. The 
 last of the kingly Stuarts sleeps in a foreign 
 but friendly land, beneath a costly monument, 
 erected at the private expense of a Hanoverian 
 king. " Beffio cineri Pietas regia." The 
 crowns of both sit lightly upon another Royal 
 Head ; lightly, but firmly, too, for Scotland's 
 people guard them ! In that illustrious Lady 
 to whom your tribute has just been paid, are 
 buried the regrets, satisfied the desires, en- 
 couraged the hopes of Caledonia's loyal sons. 
 Tlie white rose blooms anew around her foot- 
 steps, whilst Jacobite and Covenanter alike 
 unite to arrest the hand that would pluck even 
 a single leaf. And, gentlemenr^ can we not 
 picture to ourselves the enthusiasm, the rapture 
 with which, had your poet lived in these our 
 days, a heart so peculiarly sensitive as was his 
 
 to every beautiful thouglit, every noble resolve, 
 every holy emotion of the soul, would liavo 
 welcomed, would have apostrophized sucli a 
 sovereign as this ? If, even under the rule of 
 the stranger monarch who had supplanted the 
 objects of his veneration, he could say 
 
 " Who will not sing ' God save the King,' 
 Shall hang as high's the steeple.'' 
 
 What fate would he have reserved for those 
 who failed in homage to Queen Victoria ? It 
 is for these reasons, gentlemen, that I recognize 
 a peculiar propriety in your last toast, as 
 honouring, by a display of loyalty, the memory 
 of Scotland's loyal bard. As the official repre- 
 sentative of Great Britain here to-night, I 
 thank you most sincerely for the sentiment to 
 which 1 have endeavoured to reply ; and I 
 would be permitted, in addition, to congratu- 
 late you upon the great success which has at- 
 tended this creditable, this honourable manifes- 
 tation of your love for Robert Burns, and 
 especially upon your happy choice of the orator 
 of the day, who so feelingly and so eloquently 
 dilated upon his titles to your admiration. His 
 memory, indeed, deserves a gentle treatment 
 at your hands. Along the bead-roll of patriots 
 and heroes, of philosophers and divines, of 
 martyrs to political and martyrs to religious 
 principle, of those who have investigated the 
 sterner or illustrated the softer impulses of the 
 mind, there is, perhaps, no single name which 
 has done more honour to Scotland than that of 
 Burns. To him it has been pre-eminently given 
 to describe nature in her own language — that 
 of simplicity and truth — to present her to her 
 votaries in a garb which all can recognise. He 
 thus becomes the poet, not only of Scotland, 
 but of the world ; and if you, as Scotchmen, 
 feel that you have the first claim upon him, 
 you cannot help conceding to humanity at large 
 a participation in the inheritance of his death- 
 less fame. 
 
 The third regular toast was given as follows : 
 — " The President of the United States." 
 
 James Conner, Esq., U. 8. District Attorney, 
 responded. 
 
 The fourth toast was proposed from the 
 Chair :— " The Worthies of Scotland." 
 
 J. L. Petigru, Esq., was called on, and was 
 received with general welcome and applause, 
 as respondent to this comprehensive and sug- 
 gestive sentiment. Mr. Petigru referred to the 
 thoughts suggested by the sentiment, and the 
 historic roll of great names and great memories 
 which were grouped with the "Worthies of 
 Scotland." He eloquently acknowledged the 
 privilege and gratification he felt in participat- 
 ing in such a festival and memorial tribute — a 
 tribute to a great man of a great race. In the 
 
561 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 moral map of the world, Scotland occupied a 
 space far beyond her extent of territory ; and 
 Eobert Burns was largely and permanently a 
 contributor to her moral and intellectual re- 
 nown. In arms and in martial powers even 
 Scotland had asserted a rank far beyond mere 
 members, or physical advantages or resources, 
 for they have the peculiar historic prestige of 
 successful opposition against both Romans and 
 EngUshmen. They have extorted admiration 
 even from those most prone to derision and 
 scorn. After brief allusions to the greatest 
 names of Scottish history in philosophy, his- 
 tory, poetry, and arms, Mr. Petigru closed with 
 the-foUowing sentiment: — May the worthies of 
 Scotland for generations to come continue to 
 illustrate the progress of civilization, while the 
 fame of her historians and bards shall from age 
 to age shed lustre on the courage of her sons 
 and the domestic virtues of her people. 
 
 The fifth toast was announced as follows : — 
 " Poesy." 
 
 The sixth toast was given from the Chair, as 
 follows :— " The State of South Carolina." 
 
 The Hon. W. D. Porter, President of the 
 Senate of South Carolina, was the honoured 
 and worthy respondent to this toast : — Mr. 
 President, — In the absence of the Governor, 
 who, if present, would have taken great plea- 
 sure in discharging this duty, which appropri- 
 ately belongs to him, I have been requested to 
 respond for the State in which we live, and 
 under whose hospitable auspices the St. An- 
 drew's Society holds this happy commemoration. 
 I thank you for the beautiful compliment to 
 her good name, to the worth of her sons, and 
 the virtue of her daughters. With the heart 
 of a loving mother, South Carolina wishes you 
 joy of the day ; and brings the homage of her 
 admiration to the shrine of the great memory 
 you commemorate. When we recollect how 
 much our country is indebted to the foreign 
 element for population and numbers, we can- 
 not think it strange that those who represent 
 that element should bring here with them, and 
 keep alive among them, their national associa- 
 tions and their national holidays and commemo- 
 rations. I confess that I regard with unmixed 
 satisfaction the cordiality with which our na- 
 tive sons, here at least, participate with them 
 in the interests and pleasures of these occasions. 
 It serves a most useful purpose — it smooths 
 down differences of opinion, harmonizes feel- 
 ing, makes us better acquainted, and promotes 
 our unity as a people, by assimilating our sym- 
 pathies and our enjoyments. South Carolina 
 has no jealousies of foreign birth or national 
 feeling. She believes that he who can alto- 
 gether forget the land of his birth will be very 
 likely to desert or forget the land of his adop- 
 
 tion, and that he who is loyal to the early 
 memories of the one, will be not unmindful of 
 his duties and obligations to the other. Her 
 policy has always been liberal and just, and she 
 has had no cause to repent of it. In this 
 spirit she meets you here, and now through 
 her sons, for she has no citizens more honest 
 and industrious, more loyal and law-upholding 
 than those of Scottish birth. May the Thistle 
 never wither in the shade of the Palmetto, nor 
 the " cup o' kindness " be forgot between the 
 native and the Scottish sons of Soutii Carolina. 
 Toasts, songs, and sentiments followed in 
 lively succession. It was a time and occasion 
 to be remembered in the hearts of all privi- 
 leged participants, and to be the goal of retro- 
 spective meditation and grateful recollections 
 .'or days, and months, and years. 
 
 CHICAGO. — In Chicago the centenary an- 
 niversary was celebrated by festivities of a very 
 public and conspicuous character. In the fore- 
 noon there was a review. It was nearly one 
 o'clock (says the News and Tribune) before the 
 escort of General R. K. Swift came upon the 
 field, the Chicago Dragoons, Captain Charles 
 Barker, doing escort duty on the occasion. 
 
 The carriage which followed bore Hon. Wil- 
 liam B. Egan, the President of the day, his 
 Honour Mayor Haines, and Ex- Gov. M'Comas, 
 Orator of the day. 
 
 Following these came the City Fathers, un- 
 der the escort of the Fire Brigade, Capt. Raj'- 
 mond, eighty strong, one of the finest corps of 
 picked men we have ever seen, handsomely 
 uniformed and displaying rare perfection of 
 drill. 
 
 The review was brief, when the whole line, 
 the right of which had rested on Lake Street, 
 wheeled into column in the following order, 
 the while a salute of one hundred guns was 
 being fired from the Lake shore, at the foot of 
 Randolph Street. 
 
 The Procession. — The following was the 
 order of march : 
 
 Chicago Artillery, Cnptain James Smith. 
 
 SIOUSTED BAND. 
 
 Chicago Dragoons, Captain Charles Barker. 
 Washington Light Cavalry, Captain Fred. Schoenbach. 
 
 LIGHT GUAED BASD. 
 
 Washington Grenadiers, Captain T. Weiller. 
 Washington Light Guard, Captain SteinmuUer. 
 Highland Guard, Captain M'Arthur. 
 Washington Rifles, Captain F. Slattern. 
 
 GARDEN CrrV BAND. 
 
 Kminet Guards, Captain 0. Stuart. 
 Montgomery Guards, Captain Gleeson. 
 
 GKEAT WESTERN BAND. 
 
 .Mavor, Aldermen, and Officers of the day. 
 Knights Templars. 
 
CHICAGO. 
 
 56.') 
 
 Masonic Lodges. 
 
 Odd Fellows. 
 
 St. Andrew's Society, with plnid and thistle. 
 
 The Citizens' Fii-e Brigade. 
 
 The order of march through the principal 
 streets gave tens of thousands of the citizens an 
 opportunity of witnessing a pageant which, if 
 less imposing than better weather auspices 
 would have rendered it, was nevertheless bril- 
 liant and wortliy of the occasion. 
 
 The concert, as the notable feature of the 
 evening, promised attractions — some novel, and 
 others all the more attractive because known 
 and appreciated by the public. 
 
 Extraordinary preparations had been made 
 for an extraordinary attendance, and the im- 
 pression that Metropolitan Hall would be crowd- 
 ed to its utmost capacity was more than real- 
 ized. From twenty-eight hundred to three 
 tiiousand persons were present, comprising not 
 only Scotch, but also all classes of our most 
 intelligent music-lovers. 
 
 After the overture, Hon. W. B. Egan intro- 
 duced the orator of the evening, Ex-Governor 
 M'CoMAS, who delivered the following oration 
 — To develop what is in them, of the spiritual 
 and the godlike, in the form and mode of their 
 own peculiar being and individuality, is the 
 unending and divinely appointed life-battle of 
 all men and of all races of men. Every man 
 into whom has been breathed " a living soul" 
 is in some sense an unwritten poem ; — perhaps 
 the soul-struggles of the humblest son of man, 
 could they be portrayed as they are seen by 
 the Searcher of all hearts, would be more 
 wonderful than the brightest and most terrible 
 conceptions of Dante or Milton. 
 
 Millions of us, in some sort, give utterance, 
 in dumb action or in unmusical words, to the 
 loves, the hopes, the fears — to the music of the 
 souls that are within us. Millions more perish 
 and " leave no sign." They " die with a most 
 voiceless thought," with all the joys and all 
 the sorrows of their soul-life unsung and un- 
 known. But the deathless struggles of the 
 souls of men and of races cannot end without 
 expression. The burning thoughts, the con- 
 suming passions, the undefined longings after 
 immortality and aspirations for a better life, 
 like a smothered volcano, must and will have 
 embodiment and utterance. 
 
 Once in a century one is more gifted than 
 his fellows, catclies some partial tone of the in- 
 finite, and bird-like, trills again and again his 
 few glad notes of music to the dumb millions 
 that are around him. And thus bard after 
 bard arises^ each singing the snatches of song 
 which his soul's endeavour has wrung from the 
 infinite — each fragment of song being but an 
 echo of some single note of the great unwritten 
 
 soul song of his race. Once in a thousand 
 years, after the throes of ages, the shehinah of 
 poetry rests upon some sublime embodiment of 
 his race, some son of genius, immortality and 
 song, who, gathering all these rivulets of music 
 into his rapt soul, pours forth all that is genu- 
 ine, musical and godlike in man, in one great 
 river of harmony — along whose banks men of 
 all after ages may stray, and in its million- 
 voiced murmurings find an echo to every aspi- 
 ration of the soul and every pulse-beat of the 
 heart. 
 
 Such is more or less the poetical history of 
 every civilized development, and especially is it 
 of Scotland. Every phase of poetic develop- 
 ment is to be found distinctly marked in her 
 national progress. Her heroism and patriotism 
 found fitting voice in the rliymed chronicles of 
 her minstrel bards, Wintoun, Barbour, and 
 Blind Harry — whose strains have been caught 
 up in later years by the bard of Abbotsford, 
 and fiung forth with a freer and bolder tone — 
 a tone that wakes every touch of heroism in 
 the human heart. Her pastoral life found echo 
 in the "Gentle Sliepherd" of Allan Kamsay. 
 Her Miltonian spirit flowed forth upon the or- 
 gan-toned harp-strings of Thomson and Pol- 
 look, -while Ferguson sang the song of her city 
 life. 
 
 And now at length, on the 25th day of Jan- 
 uary, 1759, this great national demand was 
 about to be answered. On this day, one hun- 
 dred years ago, on the banks of Ayr, and be- 
 neath the shadows of " auld Alloway's haunted 
 kirk," was born the embodied music of the soul 
 of Scotland — Eobert Burns. 
 
 To speak fittingly of the character and ge- 
 nius of Burns, were not only impossible within 
 limits suitable to the occasion, but were to me 
 at all times impossible, " Sic flichts are far be- 
 yond my power." Burns has spoken to us and 
 to all men in a thousand-tongued voice, that 
 must thrill our hearts until they shall cease to 
 respond to the woes and joys of life. We feel 
 him, we love him, we worship him, but to at- 
 tempt to delineate this child of song, to da- 
 guerreotype him as he stands, leaning upon the 
 very dome of the temple of fame — high over 
 the heads of heroes, orators and statesmen, in 
 familiar converse with his great compeers. 
 Homer, Shakspeare, and Goethe, requires a 
 steady nerve and a daring heart. To fully 
 portray him would demand the pen of genius 
 not unequal to his own. 
 
 The life-portrait of Burns is engraved on his 
 works. His character and genius stand record- 
 ed in his poetry with a patent life and truth 
 which no eulogist or historian can ever improve 
 or imitate. 
 
 His poetry was no morbid or overstrained 
 
566 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENAEY. 
 
 pictures of fancy — indeed, no pictures of fancy 
 at all. No Corsairs, no Marmions, no Hia- 
 wathas, no Calibans or Ariels racked his heated 
 brain. Each line and word was the miniature 
 of some part of his own great soul — the 
 cadenced reverberations of his own heaving 
 bosom. What his eyes saw or his heart felt, 
 was carried, as if by the wand of enchantment, 
 into music. His poems and songs were but the 
 golden shadows of the life that was in him. 
 He was himself but a living poem, a " grand 
 medley overture" of the Scotch heart, longing 
 to throw himself into song with a vehemence 
 that would not be repressed. His hates, his 
 scorns, his friendships and his loves, were the 
 genuine utterances of all that was human — so 
 sublimely human that, when poured forth from 
 his honied tongue, they seemed almost divine. 
 
 The soul of Burns will live to. us for ever in 
 his poems — as we read them now after the lapse 
 of a century he stands out before us in all his 
 genuineness, simplicity, and greatness. His 
 " Cottar's Saturday Night" is the home-life of his 
 boyhood. The follies of a drunken neighbour, 
 mixed with the superstitions of his childhood, 
 and filtered through his own matchless humour, 
 become " Tarn o' Shanter." His satires were 
 of living men — men destined now to live for 
 ever. His women were the actual beings of his 
 love; we say his women, for they were women 
 and not angels. They were the warm-hearted 
 maidens of Scotland — 
 
 " Wliose rosy lips he aft had kissed sae fondly." 
 
 Burns created little or nothing. God had 
 created quite satisfactorily to him already. 
 Other poets, Prometheus-like, might steal from 
 heaven its fire, and worship the airy figments 
 of their own brain. Burns worshipped the in- 
 finite that was in the humblest life around; he 
 sang the divinity that" was in fallen man; he 
 clothed no angels in the forms of men. 'But, 
 oh ! with what tones of melody did he not sing 
 of the heaven that still lingers in the breast of 
 woman. This life poetry is the truest, healthi- 
 est and noblest of all poetry. Do but think of 
 Pope dissecting humanity in his " Essay upon 
 Ma,n," and then hear a Scotchman read " John 
 Anderson, my Jo, John." Or tell me what 
 were an age of bliss with your " Zuliekas," 
 your"Eowenas,"or your "Araby's Daughters," 
 to one lone hour with Highland Mary " beneath 
 the gay green birk " and " hawthorn blossom," 
 when 
 
 " The golden hours on angel wings, 
 Flew o'er me and my dearie." 
 
 As a man Burns challenges the love and 
 sympathy of all true men. In him, more than 
 in all other men, were combined all that is 
 
 godlike and strong, and all that is human and 
 frail, in our nature. He was endowed with a 
 genius that was not only capable of doing all 
 things in a way in which genius alone can do 
 them ; — his soul was loyal, sensitive and great 
 — he was patriotic and true to his friendships — 
 he was devoted to freedom .and the brother- 
 hood of man — he was a deep and true sym- 
 pathizer with the woes and sufierings of his 
 kind. His manly spirit neither insulted nor 
 cringed to the great — while he wept at the 
 miseries of the unfortunate, and extended the 
 friendly grasp of fellowship to the poor. 
 Poverty may have at times saddened, but it 
 could not repress his ardour or damp the geni- 
 ality of his genius. He won fame — yet it did 
 not elevate him — he still sang the song of the 
 people. In all this, and more. Burns was 
 strong, and we can admire him. But it is 
 rather for his passions — nay, even for his frail- 
 ties, that we love him. In Burns there was no 
 insufferable projection — no mystery — no well- 
 poised prudence that kept the highest side ever 
 to the world. His wildest passions were sung 
 with a sounding lyre, his maddest follies lay in 
 light. 
 
 The genuine, true heart of man beat in the 
 bosom of Burns — a heart that thrilled at every 
 beat with all the kindly qualities of our nature, 
 in excess. His was no canting sentimentality, 
 but the normal and natural out-gushing of a 
 warm heart — a full, sound, whole man, that 
 was poetic from no eccentricity of mental 
 action, but from the superabundant overflowing 
 of a healthy nature. He drank no nectar — he 
 quaffed no " rosy wine," — ^but with a generous 
 glass of " gude old Scotch drink," got often 
 " fou and unco happy." His love was no sigh- 
 ing after fairies in a cowslip, or sylphan forms 
 so frail, 
 
 " You might have seen the moon shine through," — 
 
 but a rich and golden love for some bonnie 
 lass, 
 
 " Whose bosom was the driven snaw, 
 Twa drifted heaps sae fair to see." 
 
 His warm and impulsive nature carried him 
 in his convivial habits, and in his attachments 
 to woman, too far; and it cannot be denied 
 that they became frailties. It may, perhaps, be 
 said of him, that he was one that " loved not 
 wisely, but too well." 
 
 His passional destiny was that of all great 
 poets — boundless longings, never satisfied, and 
 a heart yearning for an eternity of love, mocked 
 by the fickleness of man, and the changes of 
 time. The world presented to this child of 
 genius the lure of pleasure's pouting lips, and 
 dimpled cheeks, and laughing eyes; but as he 
 
CINCINNATI. 
 
 567 
 
 madly i-ovelled through the golden hours, and 
 clasped its glittering shadows to his heart, un- 
 earthly music from his other and far-off home 
 vfliispered in his ear — 
 
 " That pleasures aie like poppies spread — 
 We seize the flower, the bloom is shed ; 
 Or like the snow-fall in the river, 
 A moment white — then gone for ever; 
 Or like the borealis race, 
 That flit ere you can point their place; 
 Or like the rainbow's lovely form, 
 Evanishing amid the storm." 
 
 But these frailties, the very excesses of the 
 noblest qualities, are but the spots upon the 
 sun of his genius. They doubtless add to our 
 sympathy, pity, and love for the man. Let the 
 tears of millions who have wept in generous 
 sympathy over his honest toil and well-sung 
 woes, blot for ever the record of his follies from 
 the tablets of time ! Pqf ish the heart that can- 
 not say, " with all his faults we love him still," 
 and that " he is a man for a' that." 
 
 Scotchmen ! You may well be proud to-night. 
 Millions of hearts this hour do homage to your 
 ploughboy poet. Be prouder still, Scotchmen ! 
 Kab Burns deserves, their homage! The his- 
 tory of your race, even from the far-off cloudy 
 glories of the past, stands clustered " thick 
 with blushing honours." Your country's brows 
 are wreathed with many fair, immortal flowers 
 — but far the rarest flower in all that .wreath of 
 glory bloomed this night " a hundred years 
 ago." 
 
 The concert, at which Messrs. Crawford and 
 Dempster and Mrs. Bentinck sung a number of 
 excellent songs, and Mr. Greenfield recited 
 " Tam o' Shanter," passed off with great success. 
 A novel feature was the singing of " Scots wha 
 hae " by the Highland Guard of Chicago. 
 Later in the evening a banquet and ball at the 
 Tremont House terminated the festivities of the 
 day. The speakers at the banquet were, Mr. 
 W. B. Egan, Mr. Wm. James, Mr. R. T. Mer- 
 rick, Mr. J. Grant Wilson, Mr. W. Bross. Alto- 
 gether the proceedings of the day gave the ut- 
 most satisfaction to all concerned, and will long 
 be remembered in Chicago. 
 
 A large number of toasts, speeches, and songs 
 followed. Friendly messages were received by 
 telegraph from various parts of the country, 
 and were responded to in a suitable manner. 
 The party was distinguished by great cordiality 
 of feeling, and after passing a very happy even- 
 ing separated about two o'clock in the morning. 
 
 CINCINNATI.^— The centennial anniversary 
 was celebriited at the Burnet House by the 
 Burns Club of this city. The banquet was 
 spread in the ladies' ordinary, to which the 
 members of the Club and many invited guests 
 
 repaired early in the evening. The apartment 
 was neatly decorated. On the north wall, the 
 American and British colours were tastefully 
 displayed, forming an arch above the presiding 
 host ; on either hand the pilasters and caps of 
 the windows were relieved by our national 
 colours ; and over the capitals of the columns 
 at the grand entree, a clever design, consisting 
 of the clan tartans of Scotland, neatly enfolded 
 one with another, formed an appropriate canopy 
 for a bust of Burns by John C. King, which 
 was placed in a niche between the portals vis- 
 a-vis with the President. David Gibson, Esq., 
 presided, assisted by 1st Yice-President, Joseph 
 F. Torrence, and 2d Vice-President, Judge J. 
 B. Warren, Peter Clarke, Treasurer, and Theo- 
 dore Chamberlain, Secretary. Governor Wil- 
 lard of Indiana, and Hon. Thomas Corwin were 
 seated on either side of the President, and 
 other guests were assigned the usual positions 
 of honour. 
 
 The President introduced the business of the 
 evening in a spirited speech. He said: Wel- 
 come, my friends, to our annual festival in hon- 
 our of the memory and genius, and unmistak- 
 able manliness of Burns, the master of heart 
 language and the type of liberty. An hundred 
 years ago to-night Burns was ushered into ex- 
 istence, and with him as noble a spirit as e'er 
 gave the world assurance of a man. Burns had 
 not only a most wonderful power of penetrating 
 into the characteristics and motives of men, but 
 he had also the rare quality of expressing that 
 power so happily and faithfully in his immortal 
 verse, that time only can outlive it. He who, 
 on the 25th day of January, 1759, saw the first 
 glance of day in " the auld clay biggin' " in 
 Ayrshire, has now the whole earth for a resi- 
 dence, and immortality for a reputation. How 
 really true is his noble sentiment : 
 
 "The honest man, though e'er sae poor. 
 Is king o' men for a that 1 " 
 
 That glorious expression endears him to the 
 world, and especially in his native land makes 
 his name a household word. 
 
 The speaker then gave some reminiscences of 
 a visit to the birthplace of Burns, and con- 
 cluded as follows: 
 
 Let us now, my friends, recur to him, his 
 lowly birth, his struggles under adversity, his 
 indomitable courage and perseverance, his force 
 of character, his love of independence, and let 
 us, above all, in celebrating the memory of 
 Eobert Burns, as a poet and delineator of na- 
 ture, endeavour in all our acts and thoughts to 
 feel that in making him anew our symbol of 
 Poetry and Genius, we best aid the love of 
 song and natural talent in this our great Be- 
 public. 
 
568 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 Numerous excellent speeclies were delivered 
 in proposing and responding to the several 
 toasts, and a number of excellent songs were 
 sung. 
 
 CLEVELAND, Ohio.— The Scots lads and 
 kisses gathered in great numbers at Chapin's 
 Hall to celebrate the hundredth birthday of the 
 people's poet. The bonnie lasses with their 
 soncy faces, were crowded thick through the 
 hall, while " every lassie had her laddie," and 
 good "braw lads" they were too. The hall 
 was tastefully decorated for the occasion with 
 Scotch and American national flags and em- 
 blems. At eight o'clock the literary exercises 
 commenced with a few remarks from the Pre- 
 sident, William Lowrie, followed by a masterly 
 recitation of Halleck's beautiful tribute to 
 Burns, given in Professor Edgarton's happiest 
 manner. The American Quadrille Band struck 
 up the inspiring tune of " Scots wha hae," after 
 which W. B. Hall sang the plaintive ballad of 
 " Annie Laurie," with considerable taste and 
 feeling. Mr. John C. Grannis, the orator of 
 the evening, delivered a masterly eulogy on the 
 memory of Robert Burns. At the close of this 
 address Bayard Taylor came on the platform, 
 and was introduced to the audience. He made 
 a few remarks relative to the genius and popu- 
 larity of Burns, closing with the anecdote 
 which appears in Allan Cunningham's biogra- 
 phy of the poet, of his having at a festival re- 
 fused to drink the healtli of Pitt, giving instead 
 the health of " a far greater man than Pitt — 
 George Washington." Mr. Taylor gave a brief 
 account of the festival, at which he was pres- 
 ent, on the " banks of bonny Doon," to give a 
 public reception to the three sons of Robert 
 Burns, to which the audience listened with 
 close attention. 
 
 The hall being cleared for dancing, a large 
 crowd immediately dashed impetuously into the 
 exciting evolutions of a Scotch reel. Dance 
 after dance followed, until supper was an- 
 nounced, when the crowd marched down into 
 Stacey's supper rooms, where an excellent ban- 
 quet was spread. Short, pithy speeches were 
 made, and fun and enjoyment unlimited reign- 
 ed at the table. The party afterwards adjourn- 
 ed to the hall, where the dance was kept up 
 until a late (or early) hour. 
 
 DAVENPORT, Iowa The Scotchmen of 
 
 the city of Davenport were determined not to 
 let the centennial anniversary of the birth of 
 Robert Burns pass by uncelebrated. They 
 formed a Burns Club, electing Robert Little, 
 of Long Grove, President. Messrs. Hunter, 
 
 Davidson, M'Kay, and several other gentlemen 
 interested themselves most actively in the fes- 
 tival, and on the evening of the 'J5th some fifty 
 couple sat down to a substantial and elegant 
 repast at Bailey's Hall, Robert Little presiding. 
 Merriment and enthusiasm were the order of 
 the evening. Among the company present, 
 there were one from the Orkney Isles, two 
 from Forfarshire, seven from Dumfries, two 
 from Perthshire, three from Ayrshire, one from 
 Renfrew, one from Kincardine, three from Lan- 
 cashire, England, one from Devonshire, Eng- 
 land, one from Shropshire, England, two from 
 Yorkshire, one from Kinross-shire, two from 
 Mid-Lothian, one from Northumberland, one 
 from Aberdeenshire, one from county Louth, 
 Ireland, one from Fermanagh, one from Kerry, 
 and one from Derry. 
 
 DETROIT, Mich. — A grand celebration 
 was held in the Michigan Exchange, Detroit. 
 In the course of an eloquent address, the Pres- 
 ident, Mr. James Black, said^-I wish you to 
 contemplate for a moment what a day this has 
 been, and what a night this is all over the 
 world,^-the admirers of Burns, gathered toge- 
 ther wherever they are, in joyous groups, to 
 hold the centennial jubilee of his natal hour, to 
 emulate each other in the cordial interchange 
 of song and sentiment, attuned to his illustrious 
 name, surrounded as we are now with touch- 
 ing memorials of his fame and works. This 
 celebration has no parallel in the annals of lit- 
 erature. The world, I believe, has never be- 
 fore witnessed such an oblation at the shrine 
 of genius. It will do more to arouse and pre- 
 serve the nationality of Scotland than a thou- 
 sand monuments to Wallace or Bruce. It will 
 excite a renewed interest in the language of 
 the " Doric Muse," and tend to silence for ever 
 the vulgar affectation of being ashamed of the 
 simple but expressive dialect of the " Land of 
 Burns." In Scotland it will be observed with 
 enthusiastic homage. From the ducal palace 
 to the lowly cottage, the busy city to the quiet 
 hamlet, there will be but one loud acclaim to 
 the mempry of the bard of Coila. 
 
 DUNMORE, Luzerne Co., Pa.— -The anni- 
 versary was celebrated at Dunmore by a sup- 
 per and ball, at the Green Grove Hotel. Mr. 
 Wm. Bryden presided on the occasion, and Mr. 
 James M'Millan officiated as Vice-president. 
 
 FALL RIVER, Mass.— In brilliance this 
 celebration exceeded even the most sanguine 
 expectations of its promoters. Soon after eight 
 o'clock the meeting was called to order by the 
 
JERSEY. 
 
 569 
 
 Presiilent, Hon. N. B. Borden, and the throne 
 of grace was addressed by Rev. C. A. Snow, 
 after which the company, numbering some 250, 
 sat down to wfell-loaded tables, furnished in 
 Scotia's ancient style. An admirable oration 
 was delivered by the Rev. A. D. Milne. Other 
 speeches followed, with toasts and songs, and 
 two original poems for the occasion. The hall 
 was then cleared for dancing, and the festivi- 
 ties were kept up until the " wee sma hours." 
 
 JERSEY. — The centennial anniversary of 
 Robert Burns' birthday was duly celebrated in 
 Jersey City. The Burns Club of that city 
 and others met at the Atlantic Hotel, to cele- 
 brate the occasion, A recherche supper was 
 served up at nine o'clock, which was duly dis- 
 cussed. The dining-hall ^as tastefully deco- 
 rated with the American, English, and Scotch 
 banners. 
 
 The President of the Burns Club, Mr. David 
 Lindsey, opened the post-prendial exercises of 
 the niglit by the following remarks: — One 
 hundred years ago to-day there appeared on 
 tlie stage of this world a wonderful and singu- 
 lar being, whose transcendent genius in future 
 years was not only to excite the admiration 
 and delight of his own countrymen, but a vast 
 portion of civilized mankind — whose beautiful 
 and truthful lays, adapted to every passion, 
 and taste, and every sentiment of the human 
 heart, has met with a response of sympathy 
 and feeling such as has seldom pertained to the 
 lays of any minstrel that has flourished either 
 in ancient or modern times. The advent of 
 this highly gifted person we have assembled 
 here to-night to commemorate. His delightful 
 melodies are now chiming in harmonious strains 
 in every civilized nook and corner of the civi- 
 lized world, wherever a native of Auld Scotia 
 is domiciled. The popular estimation of the 
 admirable productions of the Scottish bard 
 will not decrease; his transporting lyre will 
 improve in its charms as time advances ; our 
 children and our children's children will hail 
 with delight and pleasure the natal day of 
 Burns, and with equal enthusiasm and joy sing 
 his matchless songs and strain their sides with 
 mirth at his inimitable lampoon, as it is quoted 
 at every festival of his birth. We Scotchmen 
 may be deemed a nation of egotists. Well, be 
 it so. Who would not be proud to belong to 
 a nation that could produce such a genius as 
 Burns? "The love of glory," they say, 
 " creates heroes ; the contempt of it, great 
 men." The latter part of the axiom will apply 
 strictly to Burns. He never became great by 
 the love of glory, for he was the child of im- 
 
 pulse. He accomplished that which no hero 
 over did — a bloodless victory, a peaceful con- 
 quest of the human heart. Born an enthusias- 
 tic patriot in all that concerned the glory of 
 Scotland, he fancied himself in his early youth 
 a soldier of the days of Wallace and Bruce; 
 he loved to strut after the bagpipe and drum, 
 read of the bloody struggles of his country for 
 freedom and existence " till a Scottish preju- 
 dice was poured into his veins that pervaded 
 all his composition to the last hour of his life." 
 Except Shakspeare, none had drawn from life 
 such variety of characters, with so much origi- 
 nal purity, as our favourite bard. With no 
 classical attainment, fostered by no helping 
 hand, with no other assistance than his own 
 brilliant genius and what nature dictated, he 
 produced the most touching strains that ever 
 came from the pen of a human minstrel. Tak- 
 ing the vast arena of man's social condition, he 
 fearlessly entered the lists, and with no sparing 
 hand pulled the hypocrite from his hiding 
 place, and chased the miser with an epitaph to his 
 grave. The dignified position, that all men are 
 born free, found in Burns a distinguished and 
 bold advocate, for he illustrated in himself a 
 true specimen of the character of an indepen- 
 dent and an honest man. The same tender 
 feeling that cared for disturbing the daisy in 
 the furrow, or the tiny mouse from its taber- 
 nacle of seclusion, could be strung to the high- 
 est pitch of the enthusiastic sentiment of a 
 warrior and a patriot. Conceive during the 
 hard-contested conflicts in the Spanish penin- 
 sula a knot of our countrymen resting on their 
 muskets in a romantic valley, singing with sten- 
 torian lungs, "Bruce's Address to his army;" 
 and in another quarter a party enjoying them- 
 selves with the memory of a home they never 
 may see, singing the never-to-be-forgotten air 
 of " Auld Langsyne." Such is the charming 
 and refreshing variety of Burns' productions, 
 that they apply with truth and force to every 
 trying incident in human life. Well may we 
 be proud that Scotland produced such a man ! 
 (Applause.) 
 
 " The Queen of England" was then given as 
 a toast, and drank with three enthusiastic 
 cheers. 
 
 "The President of the United States" was 
 then drank amid cheers, with applauding cries 
 of " Cuba." 
 
 "The land we live in" was the next toast; 
 it was drank with the usual honours. 
 
 " To the Press " was the next toast drank. 
 
 The gentlemen present then joined in sing- 
 ing "A man's a man for a' that." 
 
 " The Memory of Sir Walter Scott," the next 
 toast, was responded to by Mr. J. D. Miller. 
 He complimented the Scotchmen generally. 
 
570 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 and Burns particularly. Jersey City, he thought, 
 owed much to Scotchmen. He closed by ofl'er- 
 ing the toast — " Scotland and America : may 
 amity and good faith ever exist between them." 
 
 " The Land of Cakes " being given, was re- 
 sponded to by Mr. Clarke, by the singing of 
 " My heart's in the Highlands." 
 
 Mr. James Lawson, by request, then sung an 
 original song appropriate to the memory of 
 Burns, which was received with loud applause. 
 
 " The Judiciary of the State of New Jersey" 
 being offered, Judge Neefus responded. 
 
 " Sir Colin Campbell, now Lord Clyde," 
 whose distinguished services in India have re- 
 ceived the just praise of all civilized nations, 
 and particularly of Scotia's sons, was drank 
 with applause. 
 
 Mr. Jas. Shipley followed with the song, 
 " Best, Warrior, Rest." 
 
 The rest of the night was passed in agree- 
 able exercises similar to the preceding. 
 
 KEOKUK, Iowa.— The members of the 
 Burns Club celebrated the centennial birthday 
 of the Scottish Bard on Tuesday evening. 
 Speeches were made by Messrs. Reid, Ander- 
 son, Bruce, and Fulton, interspersed with sev- 
 eral songs, by Messrs. Beggs, Wilson, and Cul- 
 bertson. The night was passed with glee till 
 the " wee short hours ayont the twal," when 
 the happy party, after singing "Auld Lang- 
 syne," broke up, each member wishing the 
 other many such joyous meetings. 
 
 LAWRENCE, Mass.— The hundredth an- 
 niversary of the birth of Scotland's and the 
 world's sweet poet, Robert Burns, was beseem- 
 ingly honoured by his admirers in this city, in 
 a grand banquet and social reunion, at the Pa- 
 cific House. We cannot but express the unal- 
 loyed satisfaction and heartfelt pleasure we felt 
 on the occasion. The cup of social good feel- 
 ing overflowed, and the happiest spirit sparkled 
 through the whole enthusiastic company. The 
 festival was a gratifying tribute to true genius 
 and manly worth. It will be pleasurably trea- 
 sured up in the memory of every participant. 
 The company numbered about 160 persons. 
 
 LONSDALE, R. I. — The Scotchmen of 
 Lonsdale, accompanied by their wives and 
 families, assembled to celebrate the centennial 
 anniversary. The number of Caledonians in 
 the place is limited, but not a single man of 
 them was absent, and all seemed to vie with 
 one another in contributing to tlie harmony of 
 
 the meeting. " The Memory of Robert Burns" 
 and all the usual toasts, with a number of unu- 
 sual ones, were regularly proposed and appro- 
 priately responded to ; and though the gather- 
 ing was numerically insignificant, the deficiency 
 was more than made up by the genuine sincer- 
 ity every one seemed to display. Some of 
 Burns' sweetest songs were very sweetly sung, 
 as were also a great variety of other beautiful 
 lyrics "of the land of braw lasses and leal- 
 hearted men." Somewhere in the neighbour- 
 hood of that hour which struck and prevented 
 Death from imparting the full particulars of 
 Hornbook's fate to Burns, the party broke up, 
 determined, if it was the first time they had 
 seen such a celebration in Lonsdale,, it would 
 certainly not be the last. 
 
 MILWAUKEE.— A meeting of Scotchmen 
 was held in one of the parlours of the Newhall 
 House for the purpose of electing officers for 
 the St. Andrew's Society. Arthur M'Arthur 
 was called to the chair, and after the meeting 
 was fully organized they proceeded to the elec- 
 tion of office-bearers. 
 
 At this stage of the proceedings Mr. James 
 Kerr entered the room, dressed in a beautiful 
 Highland costume of the Royal Stuart clan, 
 and was received with rapturous applause. 
 Supper being announced, a committee was 
 appointed by Judge M'Arthur to wait upon the 
 President and escort him to the chair. The 
 tables were beautifully decorated with fanciful 
 pyramids; and models in confectionery of the 
 " auld clay biggin," " Tam o' Shanter and his 
 gray mare Meg," his "Monument" on the 
 banks of the Doon, and other designs from his 
 works — the handiwork of Brown, the Scotch 
 pastry-cook of the " Newhall." At the north 
 end of the hall hung a painting of a " Scotch 
 Drinking Scene," by Mr. Andrew Kerr of this 
 city, also of a Scotchman, over which was sus- 
 pended a Scotch gill-stoup. At the south end 
 of the hall, and above the Chairman, the Brit- 
 ish and American flags were gracefully en- 
 twined together, and underneath, two portraits 
 of Burns ; to the right and left of the Chair- 
 man hung two beautiful paintings — " The Cot- 
 tage," and the " Monutnent" over the Poet's 
 remains at Dumfries — painted expressly for the 
 occasion by Mr. Kerr. Upwards of 150 sat 
 down to table. Supper over, the President 
 proceeded to make a few remarks preparatory 
 to opening the order of regular toasts. 
 
 Judge M'Arthur responded : — On the 25th 
 day of January, 1759, about two miles from 
 the ancient town of Ayr, near the " banks and 
 braes o' bonnie Doon," was born the greatest 
 
MILWAUKEE— MOUNT AIRY. 
 
 571 
 
 poet that ever sprang from the people. On the 
 25th January, 1859, we are met to celebrate 
 that event. We are met here far from the 
 glens and mountains of Scotland, in the heart 
 of the American continent, to celebrate that 
 day, and join hands and voices in enthusiastic 
 recognition of the undying fame of Robert 
 Burns. Scotchmen ! where are they not ? 
 They are everywhere. When the Englishman 
 in despair had reached the top of the Egyptian 
 pyramid, a Scotchman was there to present 
 him with his snuff-box. But, Sir, wherever 
 there are found Scotchmen, whether on the 
 banks of Lake Michigan, the Hudson, the Nile, 
 or the Granges, they are met to-night to cele- 
 brate the memory of the greatest poet of grand 
 auld Scotland — and the first sons of America 
 unite with them — all lift up their voices in one 
 mighty diapason of praise. And why ? They 
 appreciate the genius of ^urns. He was not 
 made a poet, but came from the hands of na- 
 ture ready made. He was born a poet — he 
 came as the daisy comes, from its native hill- 
 side. Scotland had waited long for a poet, and 
 at last came Burns. Burns had a soul which 
 flew out to all living things with sympathy. 
 He e'en had an admiration for the deil ! But 
 there was one thing he hated, and that was 
 hypocrisy. He lived in an age when there was 
 much affectation in religion. Everybody saw it. 
 Burns saw it ; but nobody dared to say it, un- 
 til Burns held it up to eternal scorn. There, 
 too, was the " Cottar's Saturday Night," a po- 
 em which I will compare with any Iliad of any 
 land. There, too, was the " Address to the 
 Deil." By Milton that personage had been in- 
 vested with a horrible grandeur, and the Deil 
 was believed in then. But Burns had a kind 
 word for even His Satanic Majesty, and the 
 humorous manner in which he wrote of him, 
 caused what had been the great fear of Scotch- 
 men to become the laughing-stock, and he put 
 the Deil in the same book with " Holy Willie." 
 There was another epic ; — I refer to his " Vi- 
 sion," — the most beautiful vision that ever 
 flashed upon human eyes. Some people have 
 complained of the absence of great characters 
 in Burns' poems, but it was because he dealt 
 with nature and humanity, and was a man of 
 the people. But there was heroism in his po- 
 ems. Burns was worthy of our admiration, 
 and he has it undivided, now and always. 
 While living he was not only a poet, but a man, 
 in every sense of the word. It was he who 
 wrote " A man's a man for a' that." When he 
 departed this earth, he could not look back and 
 recall a single violation of his truth or honesty. 
 I will close by repeating the sentiment I start- 
 ed with, " The Memory of Burns." 
 
 A beautiful poem for the occasion, read by 
 
 Professor B. J. Dorward, was received with 
 immense applause. 
 
 MOBILE. — The anniversary was celebrated 
 at Mobile by a banquet, to which about 200 
 guests sat down. W. C. Easton, Esq., presid- 
 ed, and was worthily assisted by the Vice- 
 Presidents, Messrs. James Bruce, David Gum- 
 ming, John Graham, John Pride, and David 
 Reid, and by the Secretary, Mr. William Ham- 
 ilton. The Chairman was supported on the 
 right by the Rev. Mr. Meikle, himself a native 
 of Ayrshire, who inaugurated the festivities of 
 the evening by asking a blessing, and on the 
 left by W. G. Clark, Esq., of the Advertiser. 
 Rev. Mr. Meikle responded to the toast of the 
 evening in a very interesting speech, giving a 
 rapid sketch of the birth, education, and life of 
 Burns, with some particulars touching locali- 
 ties made memorable by his songs, and occa- 
 sionally interweaving with his remarks pertinent 
 lines from the poet, recited with the genuine 
 Scotch accent. His remarks were listened to 
 with attention and gratification. The other 
 regular toasts were responded to by W. T. 
 Walthall, Esq., W. G. Clark, Esq., Rev. H. N. 
 Pierce ; Hon." A. B. Meek, and Hon. Percy 
 Walker. Volunteer toasts and speeches then 
 followed. The Very Rev. James M'Garahan 
 being called upon, expressed the high gratifi- 
 cation he experienced in participating in the 
 festivities of the occasion. Rev. H. N. Pierce 
 made probably the most interesting remarks of 
 the evening, as they pertained to the localities 
 associated with the history and the poetry of 
 Burns ; and especial enthusiasm was excited 
 by his graphic sketch, from personal recollec- 
 tion, of the road which Tam o' Shanter trav- 
 elled on that awful night, the events of which 
 the bard has immortalized. Hon. Percy Walk- 
 er, J. M'Caskill, Esq., of Wilcox county, and 
 others more than we can mention, or even re- 
 member, were among the impromptu speakers. 
 Excellent songs were sung by Messrs. Watt, 
 Robb, Cumming, Groves and others, and an 
 efficient band of music contributed its inspiring 
 strains to the enjoyment of the evening. 
 
 MOUNT AIRY, Germantown, Pa.— The 
 admirers of Burns celebrated his centenary at 
 the residence of Mr. Andrew Campbell, Mount 
 Airy. The meeting was organized by calling 
 Mr. Dunlop to the chair — Mr. Andrew Cassidy 
 acting as croupier. After a few appropriate 
 remarks from the Chairman, the introduction 
 of " twa guid Scotch haggises " was greeted 
 with a hearty round of applause by a company 
 of sixty persons who had assembled to honour 
 the memory of Scotland's favourite bard. Mr. 
 Charles Hai'kison delivered the address to the 
 
572 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 haggis in real characteristic style. On the re- 
 moval of the cloth and the introduction of tlie 
 mountain dew, the Chairman announced the 
 toast of the evening, " The Memory of Burns." 
 Drank standing. Mr. Antony Haig responded 
 in an eloquent address on the life and charac- 
 ter of the poet. Numerous other toasts, speech- 
 es, recitations and songs followed, until the 
 company soon began to find the truth of the 
 poet's lines, that " Time flew by wi' tentless 
 heed," and at a late hour the company sepa- 
 rated, well pleased that they had spent a night 
 that would tend to keep the memory of Scot- 
 land and Scotland's bard ever green in their 
 hearts. 
 
 NATCHEZ, Miss. — The anniversary was 
 celebrated in the city of Natchez, by a large 
 party of Scotchmen and their friends, number- 
 ing upwards of a hundred in all. The festival 
 took place at the Mansion House, the principal 
 room of which was tastefully fitted up for the 
 occasion. The chair was ably filled by An- 
 drew Brown, Esq., one of the oldest and most 
 respected inhabitants of Natchez. As a preli- 
 minary to the festival the Chairman repeated 
 the well-known grace by Burns. Among the 
 ingredients of the feast was of course a haggis, 
 or rather two of them, made by the fair hands 
 of two ladies of Natchez. A fine band of mu- 
 sic was in attendance, and played at intervals 
 during the evening, adding materially to the 
 general enjoyment. The Chairman introduced 
 the subject of the evening in a few brief and 
 appropriate remarks, after which the regular 
 toasts were proceeded with, and were respond- 
 ed to in excellent speeches by Colonel Forbes, 
 Hon. Peter Alexander, and other gentlemen. 
 Mr. R. C. Evans and Captain Shanks, the 
 Vice-Chairman, in answer to calls made on 
 them by the company, delivered excellent 
 speeches. The meeting altogether passed off 
 ■with great success, and left a most favourable 
 impression on all who had the good fortune to 
 be present. 
 
 NEWARK, N. J.— The banquet given by 
 the Burns Club in honour of the centennial 
 anniversary of Burns was one of the most bril- 
 liant and agreeable entertainments ever given 
 in that city. Thomas Eraser, Esq., the Presi- 
 dent of the Club, the successful competitor for 
 the Baltimore prize poem, occupied the chair, 
 supported on the right by Mayor Bigelow and 
 Joseph HoUingsworth, Esq., and on the left by 
 Messrs. James B. Hay and Joseph Robinson. 
 After the more substantial viands had been dis- 
 
 posed of— which included a haggis, imported 
 from Ayrshire— the cloth was removed, and 
 various toasts and sentiments given and re- 
 sponded to, -poetry recited, and songs sung. 
 The speakers were the President, Mr. HoUings- 
 worth, ex-Alderman John Lewis, Mr. P. B. 
 Jones, Dr. John J. Craven, Mr. J. M. L. Gard- 
 ner. Mr. John C. Durning, Mayor Bigelow, 
 and others. The company numbered about 
 200. 
 
 NEWBURGH, N. Y.— The Centenary Fes- 
 tival in honour of Scotland's great poet will 
 long be remembered as one of the rarest intel- 
 lectual treats of which Newburgh has ever been 
 the theatre. 
 
 The place of meeting was the Court House 
 to the old Presbyterian Church, and at an early 
 hour the edifice was packed to its utmost capa- 
 city. Promptly to the hour named, the orator 
 of the evening took his place upon the platform, 
 on which were a number of the clergy and pro- 
 minent laymen. Of Mr. Jack's tribute to the 
 great poet we cannot speak in too high terms 
 of praise. It was worthy of the theme, and 
 was listened to with most delighted attention. 
 
 The festivities of the occasion included a 
 dinner in the evening at the Orange Hotel, 
 which was numerously attended, and passed off 
 with great iclat. 
 
 NEWHAVEN, Conn.— The celebration of 
 the centennial anniversary at the Tontine was 
 the most successful gathering of the kind ever 
 held in this city. For several years the Scotch- 
 men in Newhaven, with many Yankees, have 
 been in the habit of commemorating Burns' 
 birthday by festive meetings, and this hun- 
 dredth anniversary was properly deemed wor- 
 thy of a fuller and more hearty demonstration, 
 in concert with the lovers of Burns throughout 
 the world. The supper was laid for about two 
 hundred persons. Mr. James Craig, the Pre- 
 sident, introduced the toast of the evening with 
 some excellent and appropriate remarks. Mr. 
 George Mure Smith responded in an excellent 
 speech, and in response to the toast of " Scot- 
 land" Mr. Brydon delivered an address full of 
 stirring and patriotic sentiments. Mr. Donald 
 G. Mitchell, in admirable terms, responded to 
 tlie toast of " The Literature of America." 
 Numerous other toasts and speeches, with 
 songs interspersed, prolonged the enjoyment of 
 the evening, and at a late hour the company 
 separated after singing " Auld Langsyne." 
 
 NEW ORLEANS.— A goodly number of 
 " brither Scots," with a sprinkling of invited 
 guests, convened in the large room of John's 
 Restaurant, in Carondelet Street, to pay a mark 
 
NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 573 
 
 of honour to the memory of Robert Burns, 
 vvliose hundredth birthday it was. The chair 
 was taken, at the request of all the company, 
 by William Mure, Esq., British Consul resident 
 in this city, Messrs. Maxwell and Macaulay 
 acting as croupiers. On the Chairman's left 
 sat A. M'Alpin, Esq., of Cincinnati, who for 
 twenty-five years has been the President of the 
 Caledonian Society of that city. 
 
 The supper was abundant and elegant, and 
 the wines wore of the best. The national 
 haggis and the oaten cake were not forgotten, 
 neither was the " Glenlivat," which came in 
 among those "wee, short hours ayont the 
 twal," of which Robin so feelingly sang. The 
 banquet having been discussed with obvious 
 relish, the Chairman rose, and proposed the 
 first toast of the evening, with a few becoming 
 remarks. It was — " Her Majesty, tlie Queen ; 
 God bless her ! " which was duly honoured, 
 one of the guests present leading off the British 
 National Anthem, which was joined in by all 
 present. 
 
 " The President of the United States " was 
 the next toast, and it was properly received ; 
 one of the guests taking occasion to say, that 
 without disparagement of the other qualities of 
 the President, he had one good one, and that 
 was, "his name was Scotch." 
 
 "The land of cakes and the land we live in: 
 may nothing ever separate them but the broad 
 Atlantic." This was responded to by Dr. Mac- 
 aulay, in a feeling and eloquent manner. 
 " The name of Robert Burns, whose centenary 
 birthday we are met to commemorate." This 
 toast was drunk with "all the honours," and 
 the company joined in singing Burns' song, 
 " Ye Banks and Braes o' bonnie Doon." Mr. 
 James Burns made a very interesting and elo- 
 quent speech in response, sketching the career 
 and character of the great poet with exceeding 
 felicity. 
 
 Then " The Parish Schools of Scotland, the 
 grand auxiliaries to individual and national 
 greatness," were duly remembered ; and " The 
 Memory of Allan Ramsay, James Hogg, and 
 Walter Scott," was drunk in silence. The 
 next toast was, " The Scottish Soldier and the 
 Scottish" Matron ; the bravery of the one was 
 exemplified at Balaklava and Inkermann ; the 
 heroism of the other at Lucknow," which was 
 enthusiastically received. The Chair then pro- 
 posed " The Memory of the three great W's : 
 Wallace, Washington, and Wellington;" after 
 vfhich one gentleman sang " Scots wha hae wi' 
 Wallace bled." 
 
 " The Mothers of Scotland " were next re- 
 membered, with the sentiment, " To them her 
 sons are indebted, by early discipline and judi- 
 cious training, for whatever success they have 
 
 achieved." Of course this toast and sentiment 
 were duly honoured. 
 
 The tenth and last regular toast was the 
 following : — " Benjamin Franklin — the Printer 
 and the Philosopher ; his early career was typi- 
 cal of his future greatness." 
 
 The Chair called on Mr. Ottis to respond to 
 this toast, which he did in a few remarks. 
 
 The Chair then announced that he had re- 
 ceived from the Secretary of the Burns Club, 
 of New York, who were then commemorating 
 the day in that city, the following telegraphic 
 despatch, addressed to the company present : — 
 
 " We have selected the following as a toast 
 and a sentiment to be drunk all over America, 
 at ten o'clock precisely: — Kindred associations 
 throughout the world — may they preserve the 
 songs and disseminate the sentiments of Robert 
 Burns, 
 
 "Till man to man, the warld o'er, 
 Shall britliers be, and a' that I " 
 
 Vair Clirehcgh, Secretary." 
 
 Making some allowance for difference of time, 
 the company complied with the suggestion in 
 this despatch, and gave the sentiment it con- 
 ains " a real Highland welcome." 
 
 Then the Chairman stated that he had re- 
 ceived the following telegraphic despatch, dated 
 that day, from the Secretary of the Burns Club 
 of Montreal : — 
 
 " The Burns Club of Montreal desire to be 
 remembered in your festivities to-night : though 
 distance divides us, we are animated by tlie 
 same spirit, reverence and pride for and in the 
 name of Burns, and love to bonnie Scotland ! 
 Please reply." 
 
 The Chairman said he had taken upon him- 
 self to reply as follows : — 
 
 " The Committee of the Burns Festival in 
 New Orleans cordially reciprocate the kind 
 sentiments of the Burns Club of Montreal, and 
 desire to be remembered in their festivities. 
 The electric flash blends our feelings in one 
 current, as the magic songs of Burfis unite the 
 hearts of his countrymen throughout the world." 
 
 After the enthusiasm excited by the reading 
 of this electric correspondence had subsided, 
 volunteer toasts were announced ; and then 
 ensued an hour or two of " modest and becom- 
 ing mirth," and intellectual enjoyment com- 
 bined, in the course of which a good deal was 
 said and sung. To a toast in compliment to 
 the chair, in his official position as British Con- 
 sul, that gentleman" made a feeling and eloquent 
 reply. Mr. M'Alpin of the Cincinnati Caledo- 
 nian Society, being toasted, spoke eloquently 
 on the prevailing theme of the occasion, and 
 Mr. Thorburn made some sensible remarks in 
 the same \ein. Mr. Stewart, in the course of 
 
57i 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY, 
 
 the evening, sung "Annie Laurie," and at a 
 reasonable and seasonable hour the company 
 separated, (first singing "Auld Langsyne,") 
 ■with the mutual assurance to each other that 
 they had had " a first-rate time I " 
 
 NEW YORK.— The Burns Centenary cele- 
 bration in this city was auspiciously com- 
 menced on Monday evening with an oration by 
 the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher in the Cooper 
 Institute. There were three thousand people 
 present, and among the audience were several 
 of the most prominent citizens of New York. 
 Although the hour for the commencement of 
 the lecture was eight o'clock, between six and 
 seven the doors were besieged by large num- 
 bers of ladies and gentlemen eager to gain ad- 
 mission. The lecturer met with a very enthu- 
 siastic reception, and throughout the course of 
 his address, which occupied an hour and a 
 quarter in delivery, was warmly applauded. 
 Mr. Beecher having been introduced by the 
 President of the Burns Club, Mr. Cunningham, 
 spoke as follows ; 
 
 I come upon your invitation, gentlemen of 
 the Burns Club, friends and fellow-citizens, to 
 celebrate with one-lialf of the civilized world, 
 and with the whole world of letters, the birth 
 of a farmer's boy, who became a ploughman, 
 a flax-dresser, an exciseman and gauger, and 
 who was reputed also to have become a poet. 
 One hundred years ago, January 25, 1759, 
 Agnes Brown Burnes gave to the world her 
 son, Robert Burns. The father and the mo- 
 ther were Scotch. The son only took Scotland 
 on his way into the whole world. (Laughter 
 and applause.) While we allow Scotchmen a 
 , suitable national pride in their chief poet, we 
 cannot allow the world to be robbed of their 
 right and interest in Burns. And yet there 
 never was born to that land, so fertile in Men, 
 a truer Scotchman ; and it is the peculiar ad- 
 miration and glory of the man, that in spite of 
 obscurity, bred to all the local influences, Scotch 
 in bone, in muscle, in culture, and in dialect, 
 he rose higher than the special and national, 
 and achieved his glory in those elements which 
 iniite mankind, and make all nations of one 
 blood. While men of science ai'e groping 
 about the signs of external man, and debating 
 tlie origin and unity of races, a poet strikes the 
 fundamental chords, and all races, peoples, and 
 tongues, hear, understand, and agree ; so that 
 the poet is, after all, the true ethnologist. The 
 human heart is his harp, and he who knows 
 how to touch that with skill, belongs to no 
 country, can be slnit ia by no language, nor 
 sequestered by any age. He belongs to the 
 world and to tlie race. 
 
 The father of Burns, William Burnes — the 
 
 poet contracted the name when he published 
 his first volume — was a genuine man in his 
 way. He had a head, and a heart, and a pair 
 of hands, all of which were kept exceedingly 
 busy in prolonging a desperate fight for life 
 and comfort. He was a man of stern probity, 
 of the deepest religious convictions, and of an 
 indomitable will. He expected much of all his 
 family, but was sterner with himself than with 
 any other. His only amusement was specula- 
 tive theology, but that did not injure his 
 morals, for he was a man of scrupulous inte- 
 grity to the last — clean to the very fountain of 
 honour ; yet was irascible, and when unduly 
 thwarted, violent in temper. He held up his 
 head like a brave swimmer in a rough sea, 
 until the waves fairly beat him down. William 
 Burnes never prospered. His son says of him, 
 " Stubborn, ungainly integrity, and headlong, 
 ungovernable irascibility, are disqualifying cir- 
 cumstances in the path of fortune." It is not 
 the rigour of integrity which stands in any 
 man's way. It is the indiscriminate stiffening 
 of everything by the rigour of pride saturated 
 with conscience ; for God has built the human 
 form to combine the utmost stifihess with the 
 utmost lifeness. There are bones for stiffness, 
 and there are joints for limberness. So with 
 the character. It is to be built upon the stern- 
 est elements of truth and justice, but some- 
 where there must be lifeness and pliableness. 
 If there are no joints in the character, no sup- 
 ple motion, and if the tastes, opinions, and 
 prejudices, likes and dislikes, are all solidified 
 into a multiplex conscience, no man can get 
 along in life. It was a little too much of this 
 ossification which made William Burnes too stiff 
 to fight well. 
 
 Some parents seem to be the mere antece- 
 dents of their children.^ As ships sometimes 
 are built far up the stream where timber 
 abounds and only float down and out of the 
 estuary, so it would seem of some men that they 
 owe their natures to their grand-parents or 
 some body far up the stream of generations. 
 Burns' father possessed very much the same 
 character as his son. The same moral honesty, 
 the same pride, the same violence of feeling, 
 the same penetration of men, the same breadth 
 of understanding, the same impatience of re- 
 straint from without, the same unfitness for 
 thriving in worldly matters, the same longing 
 for wealth, for its independence, and contempt 
 for the means of getting wealth, belonged to 
 the father and the more illustrious son. Only, 
 besides the father, Robert Burns carried in him 
 a great deal of the mother; and if he had car- 
 ried more he would have been better, for the 
 father is the bush and the mother is the blos- 
 som, and the fruit germ is always in or under 
 
NEW YORK. 
 
 oto 
 
 the blossom. Agnes Brown was a woman of 
 humble birth ; she brought along with her from 
 that dim source of human life, wherever or 
 whatever it was, the seed of many rare and 
 precious faculties. Central and strong was her 
 heart. It had that deep nature which religion 
 always gives. She was calm, gentle, and of a 
 heavenly temper. She was a good house- 
 keeper, which is a very brave and noble thing 
 in woman, and a thing often requiring more 
 mind and tact than to govern a nation, as na- 
 tions are governed. But while she wrought 
 and arranged, she chanted and sung, for Burns' 
 mother was the mother of Burns' poetry. Her 
 songs and ballads were in great store and of a 
 moral aim. The song which she loved most to 
 sing and Burns most loved to hear, was " The 
 Life and Age of Man," comparing the periods 
 of human life to the months of the year ; and 
 Burns says of his grand-uncle that during many 
 years of his blindness he ha'd no greater enjoy- 
 ment than that of crying, while his mother 
 sang that ballad to him. Ah, how many sweet 
 sounds there are in this world, how many 
 sounds of air and water, how many songs of 
 birds and sounds of musical instruments ; but 
 when all is said, neither has man invented any 
 musical instrument, nor has nature in all her 
 choir and orchestra anything which for sweet- 
 ness is like a mother's voice singing through 
 the house, while she labours — songs, hymns, 
 and ballads — the children sleep, dream of 
 angels, and awake and say, "Mother!" With 
 such a father and such a mother, Burns could 
 not help himself. The father of Burns had 
 just built, and poorly built, a clay cottage on 
 the banks of the Doon, county of Ayr, and 
 scarcely had the poet learned to live, that is, to 
 cry, before a rude storm beat down the tene- 
 ment. That storm never spent itself, but blew 
 after him all his life long. He was wont, in 
 the diiys of his trouble, with gloomy playful- 
 ness, to attribute the violence of his passions to 
 the tempest which ushered himself into the 
 world ; and these passions certainly succeeded 
 in blowing down the clay-built tenement in 
 which he himself dwelt. As a child we have 
 little record of him except his own reminis- 
 cences in his various letters. He was not pre- 
 cocious. His earlier years seem to have been 
 purely receptive. He was unconsciously re- 
 ceiving his education. It was a good educa- 
 tion. There was no Latin nor Greek in it; 
 but as he did not intend to sing in these 
 tongues, there was no special reason in his case 
 for learning them. They were dead languages ; 
 he was a living man — a living singer. His 
 father and mother taught him morals and reli- 
 gion. An old servant, Jenny Wilson, took 
 charge of his imagination, fired and fed it by 
 
 such a collection of tales and songs concerning 
 devils, fairies, brownies, spunkies, warlocks, 
 wraiths, apparitions, cantraps, giants, enclianted 
 towers, dragons, and other trumpery, as I sup- 
 pose no poet had ever received before or since. 
 But Burns' imagination was not superstitious, 
 notwithstanding such a beginning ; it was emi- 
 nently simple, natural, and transparent ; so 
 that these tales only stimulated but did not 
 subdue, nor even educate his imagination. They 
 fell upon his young fancy as coarse fertilizers 
 upon the farmer's field, which enter the earth 
 black and noisome, but reappear as flowers, 
 seeds, and fruit. Nature was also at work in 
 his education. I mean the physical world 
 without him held up to him clouds or cloudless 
 heavens, morning and evening, rivers, thickets, 
 rocks and ravines, birds, flowers, and harvest- 
 fields, and whatever else comes into the ear- 
 gate or the eye-gate. Some natures gain no- 
 thing from this great schoolmaster. Nature. 
 They are like dogs in Raphael's studio, or in 
 Michael Angelo's house ; they get meat there, 
 but never learn to paint or to carve. But 
 other men are sensitive to all that nature does, 
 as if God stood visibly before them and showed 
 his hand while drawing forms and laying on 
 the colours ; and Burns was one of these. But 
 great pains was taken with young Burns to 
 give him all the advantage of the school-learn- 
 ing that the times, the neighbourhood, and his 
 parents' scanty means could supply. A Scotch 
 farmer's house is itself no mean school. There 
 is learned at least a deal of local history and 
 legendary lore which books are not apt to con- 
 tain. There the child is taught to ponder and 
 dispute in speculative theology — a practice 
 which in education is of wonderful power. 
 Whatever we may think of the truth or the 
 wisdom, of the elements of speculative theology, 
 no man can be from his childhood taught to go 
 forth in these wide-reaching views of divine 
 government and human destiny, without hav- 
 ing a deep place in his nature touched ; and 
 no man can mount to the great speculations of 
 Free Will and Divine Decrees, and do battle 
 with them without gaining both dialectic skill 
 and some arousing of the imagination. But 
 though Burns declined from the rigid faith of 
 the kirk, and leaned towards new lights, yet 
 he had breathed an atmosphere which affected 
 his mjnd to the end. After attending in suc- 
 cession the schools of Mr. Campbell and Mr. 
 Murdoch, at nineteen he spent a short time at 
 school at Kirkoswald, where he learned mensu- 
 ration, engineering and what not. In the 
 meantime Burns had read Bunyan, who if once 
 read will be remembered for ever. He says — 
 " Tiie idea I formed of modern manners and 
 literature and criticism, I got from the Specta- 
 
576 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENARY. 
 
 tor. These with Pope's works, some plays in 
 Shakspeare, Dickson on Agriculture, Locke on 
 tlie Understanding, Stackhouse's History of the 
 Bible, Boyle's Lectures, Allan Eamsay's works, 
 Taylor's Scriptural History of Original Sin, a 
 Select Collection of English Songs, and Har- 
 vey's Meditations, formed the whole of my 
 reading." These books were well enough, for 
 in sooth neither schoolmaster nor books made 
 Robert Burns. He did not derive his tempes- 
 tuous nature from books. His tender love, his 
 sympathy, his personal relationship to whatever 
 in nature was beautiful, his penetration of hu- 
 man life, his mournful melancholy, his love of 
 man, of liberty, of power, and grandeur ; the 
 spots of Burns' works, you shall not find in 
 any of these books. They are good books. 
 It is the reader who makes a good book. They 
 were great books when Burns read them ; but 
 you shall not find his teachers there. It was 
 the created and unwritten book of G-od that 
 taught Robert Burns. Let us look at him at 
 fourteen. He was a coarse, awkward, grace- 
 less, lubberly boy ; of a silent way, not given 
 to mirth, not quick, and utterly unlike a poet. 
 But he knew how to work. As early as four- 
 teen he became skilful as a ploughman, and at 
 fifteen he was the head workman on his father's 
 farm. Let it be said here that Burns was never 
 a lazy shiftless man, who took to poetry as a 
 fair excuse for neglecting hard work. No man 
 ever worked more patiently or uncomplainingly 
 tlian did he ; and though for years he fought 
 desperately against discouragement on his fa- 
 ther's farm, when he afterwards became a 
 farmer for himself, he never shrank from toil — 
 the rudest, coarsest, and most uncongenial to 
 his poetic temperament. 
 
 But we must not anticipate. Burns is now 
 twenty ; but his hand is on the harp. His life 
 is fairly begun — the sad life of a glorious man 
 full of noble impulses stumbling in a rough 
 way, full of the most congenial and tender 
 affections, grasping mankind by the heart, and 
 aiming in all his essential works to crown his 
 human life with goodness. But before we 
 venture upon that career of mingled good and 
 ill, we must stop and ask what Burns was — for 
 there are some who press upon him vehemently 
 with the sins of his life, and some who as rashly 
 defend them at the expense of good morals. 
 
 That he violated his own moral sense, his 
 own solemn and bitter words do show. Diffi- 
 cult indeed is it to equal the awful solemnity 
 of Burns' bitter words. He was his own Rhada- 
 manthus. He carried conviviality to excess, 
 violated his own principles of virtue, and grafted 
 license upon love. 
 
 Burns is not helped when we dehy these 
 mournful facts of liis sad life, or when we pal- 
 
 liate them to a degree which shall make them 
 less guilty in a poet than in every man. Let 
 them stand if they are facts. We must recog- 
 nize them. In drawing his character, while we 
 give it all the lights, we must not shrink from 
 the fidelity of the shadows also. But although 
 immoralities are never to be excused by what a 
 man is not, yet what a man is will determine 
 the severity and leniency of our condemnation. 
 How a ship behaves upon the sea depends not 
 alone upon the skill of those who manage her, 
 but also upon the way in which it was built. 
 How was Burns built ? Burns was endowed 
 with a masculine understanding, clear and pene- 
 trating, that saw things by their whole, intui- 
 tively, and not in detail. His mind was logical 
 in thought, not in things. He was wiser as a 
 thinker than as an actor, for the part of the 
 mind, which is the ground of the instinct which 
 gives management, tact, and thrift in the com- 
 mon things of life, was not eminent in him. 
 He inherited a pride, which wrought in him a 
 most intense sense of personality, which gave 
 him a very high ideal of manliness, which in- 
 spired an undying longing for a well-earned 
 glory, which made him suspicious of all above 
 him, and a patron and protector of all below 
 him — a pride which, acting in one way, sus- 
 tained him under a load of ill success, and 
 which, turning inward, ate his heart out, because 
 he could not rise. I- know not from which 
 parent he took his heart; from both of them, I 
 think. He was generous, like his father, who 
 was more kind to others than to himself. He 
 had the depth and tenderness of his mother's 
 heart, but not her calmness and evenness. Her 
 heart lay tranquil, like one of the sweet lakes 
 of Scotland. His beat as the ocean beats and 
 surges on the western shore of Scotland. It 
 has been the fashion to speak of Burns as hav- 
 ing light fancy, easily kindled by the glance of 
 beauty, and as easily extinguished. Nothing 
 can be more untrue. No heart was ever truer 
 or more enduring in its affections. He never 
 loved to cast off"; but each love was but another 
 link, not always golden, of that long chain of 
 which his heart was the immoveable staple. He 
 loved men, he loved animals, and whatever 
 grew, if it only grew in Scotland. His loving 
 nature was wonderful. No man can form any 
 estimate of either the good or bad that was in 
 him, who does not study Burns' heart, whose 
 tides were as deep as the ocean's, and sometimes 
 as tempestuous. That he was more susceptible 
 to women than men is not strange. The same 
 thing has happened before, and though he best 
 loved woman, woman was not the only subject 
 of his affection. In his better moods, universal 
 being circled into his affections. His nature 
 overspread universal human life, as the great 
 
NEW YORK. 
 
 577 
 
 arch overspreads the world with benign bright- 
 ness by day and drops down upon its mute 
 dews by night. And to this we must add that 
 peculiar kind of emotion, which you may call 
 fancy, imagination, or poetic vision — that divine 
 element of the soul which teaches it to see the 
 soul of things, and not their material bodies, 
 which clothes everything it looks upqp with 
 beauty and grace, which works with sounds, 
 forms, and movements, and evolves a subtle 
 grace in them all. The soul that has this divine 
 element is as a divine wardrobe ; the eye, ear, 
 and mind are almoners going forth and clothing 
 all things with a radiant apparel. Besides 
 these faculties there were two other elements 
 which largely influenced Burns' life and deter- 
 mined his character. The first is his heredi- 
 tary taint of melancholy. The other was his 
 temperament. From his earliest life, and in all 
 his poems, we see that (^k and desponding 
 tone which so wonderfully contrasts with other 
 salient traits of his character. At times it 
 seems as if the great world of despondency 
 swung round between him and the sun, and he 
 lay in fearful eclipse, hopeless, gloomy, wretched, 
 and tormented. Had his life been successful, 
 it may be believed that with vigorous health, 
 and with praise which would gratify his pride, 
 and with full opportunity to put forth his un- 
 vexed powers, he would ha-ve risen above this 
 malady. But strong in youth, it grew stronger 
 when evil habits broke his constitution and 
 poverty was pinching him with want more and 
 more. And his own moral nature adding re- 
 morse to despondency, this natural hypochon- 
 dria became almost a fatal malady. Nor is it 
 less important that we should consider his tem- 
 perament, for on that depends much of the 
 credit which some men have both for prudence 
 and self-control, and the reverse. We believe 
 that later physiologists agree in this, that in the 
 human system there is a portion of the nervous 
 matter, whose function is to produce general 
 sensibility without regard to the speckl facul- 
 ties of the mind. Thus, a sound of music fall- 
 ing upon two ears, fills one with the most 
 thrilling sensibility, while the other receives it 
 calmly; not that the musical faculty is more 
 acute in one than the other, but that the whole 
 nervous system receives more readily. This 
 fact becomes more apparent in morbid states of 
 health. The sounds which are of no conse- 
 quence at other times fill the whole mind with 
 excessive emotion ; so that in estimating the 
 power of feeling in any man, we must look to 
 the development and combination of the sepa- 
 rate faculties of mind in their normal creative 
 power, and then next to the general sensibility 
 of the whole nervous system, under the influence 
 (if which the special faculties are attempered. 
 
 Some men with strong minds and hearts have a 
 low temperament and are deficient in general 
 sensibility. Their feelings are gradually worked 
 up ; they have an equable nature ; they heat as 
 iron heats. Some men heat as powder heats ; 
 tliat is, a touch and explosion. It is not a 
 trouble to some men to maintain an equable, 
 temperate medium ; they are by nature cool, 
 unimpassioned, and unexci table. The sins of 
 such men are usually the sins that collect upon 
 the not-doing side of life, moth, mildew, mold, 
 mistletoe, rust. But such men are unfit judges 
 for those who have imperious sensibilities. 
 Men who heap thunder as if it were the hand of 
 a friend knocking at the door are not fit to 
 judge .of men in whose ear the same hand 
 knocking at the door sounds like thunder. 
 Robert Burns was eminently a man who had 
 this excessive sensibility. He overflowed with 
 strength of feeling. His capacity for gene- 
 rating sensibility was prodigious. His one na- 
 ture carried enough for twenty common men of 
 mere force of feeling. He never trickled drop 
 by drop prudentially, but he gushed. He never 
 ran a slender thread of silver water ; he came 
 down, booming, all broad, like one of his own 
 streams, when a shower has touched and broken 
 upon the mountain ; and there never was any 
 proportion between the cause and the effect ; a 
 mouse, a flower, a hare had him in their power 
 whatever time his heart was opened. The daisy 
 which went under when he ploughed was not 
 so much subjected to the iron ploughshare as 
 he was to the touch of the daisy's moist look. 
 All the powers of his nature were subjected to 
 this same sudden overflow. He thought as 
 dragoons charge. He felt life as prairies feel 
 autumnal fires, with their leaping flames out- 
 running the fleetest deer and all before them, 
 and leaving, alas, too often ashes and smoke 
 behind them. He suffered as if fiends possessed 
 him, and enjoyed as if angels carried him in 
 their bosom. There he stands, like the moun- 
 tains of his own land — often capped with storms, 
 oftener shrouded with mists, and scarred with 
 ravines; often thundering with the sound of 
 rushing waters which dashed down the valley, 
 tearing up roads and sweeping away bridges. 
 But there, also, birds brooded and sung ; sweet 
 flowers found foot, room ; pure lakes and rock- 
 bound brooks looked silently up to God ; the 
 spice bush, and vines purple with berries, and 
 grass, and moaning pines and wind -waved 
 larches — these all held fellowship — the stern 
 and the gentle, the rugged and the beautiful, 
 the pure and the turbid, the massive, and the 
 sweetest, tenderest littleness of beauty ! Strange 
 fellowship of opposition in the one man! The 
 world has never seen his like ! Now, our pro- 
 blem is — how was this very sensitive creature 
 
578 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 — proud, loving, ambitious, yearning, ringing 
 with every imagination, with a head better for 
 thought than for things, with a heart that every- 
 body could kindle and nobody put out — how 
 was he to make his way upwards in life, from 
 poverty and wretchedness into large success ? 
 It is not the question, how shall a man carry a 
 small cup half full without spilling, but how 
 shall a man carry a great cup brimfuU, over a 
 rough road, and in a stormy night without 
 spilling? It is not, how well a machine can 
 raise just steam enough to get along ; but how 
 an engine shall get along that makes more 
 steam than it can overwork or cast off, trembling 
 with inward intensity as it runs with open 
 throttle and open furnace doors, singing at every 
 seam and hissing at every rivet ? The question 
 we propound to you, is not what is right, what 
 is duty — all are agreed as to that — but what 
 shall this Robert Burns do ? With that nature 
 of his, compounded of such astonishing oppo- 
 sites — with the profoundest melancholy, and a 
 sociability varying from a smile to roaring 
 revelry — with an overflowing heart of kindness 
 and love, and a pride as high and stern as the 
 lordliest monarch on his throne — with an un- 
 derstanding so clear and practical that no shams 
 or cant could for a moment deceive or mystify 
 it — with an imagination so strong and trans- 
 parent that it gave another nature than its own 
 to everything, and almost to every person — 
 with an honour and conscience so high that he 
 would sooner have died than spoken a falsehood 
 or broken a plighted word ; and with such a 
 fancy, that all things were magnified and dis- 
 torted — his friends were angels, and his enemies 
 devils ; homely faces, handsome ; simple and 
 common natures, divine ; good men, hideous ; 
 and upright men, wicked — with such a keen 
 relish for life, that he thrilled all his companions 
 with merriment, as a drum wakes a camp, and 
 yet despising the world, and walking above 
 men, as shadows — yearning for immortality! It 
 is one of the strangest, the richest, and most 
 remarkable of human histories the world has 
 ever recorded. 
 
 Gilbert, the eldest brother, the plain honest 
 brother ; Robert, the wonderfully compounded 
 man, were at school together. Robert was the 
 dunce, Gilbert was the merry and witty one ; 
 Robert was as little known to himself as to 
 others. One thing was plain ; he was no sen- 
 timental laggard. His father had a hard farm 
 and a desperate strife for a livelihood. Robert 
 made at fortune with a resolution, industry, and 
 patience which would have conquered, if it 
 could liave been done by fine furrows and the 
 handsome cast of the hand in sowing seed. At 
 the age of thirteen, he assisted in all the 
 labours of the farm. At fourteen, he feared 
 
 no competitor with scythe, sickle, or plough. 
 At fifteen, he was' the principal labourer on 
 the farm; and at this age he would appear 
 to have had the very stuff out of which to 
 have made a plodding yeoman. He speaks 
 of his sufferings, and of his doom as the tramp 
 and moil of a galley-slave. In this way, 
 and aH this time, he was seizing everything in 
 his way, and pushing in every direction, 
 studying all the nicer shades of the language, 
 a critic, as he styles himself, in verbs and sub- 
 stantives. In his labours he carried with him 
 a book of National Songs. He pored over 
 these Scotch ballads, every word of which was 
 to him like the voice of a spirit, calling him by 
 name. Next Burns goes to school at Kirkoswald 
 to learn surveying. He is nineteen ; he is un- 
 folding, and with very little to help him, and 
 with no one to understand him. He is full of 
 all manner of strange things of a most contrary 
 description, but all alike in being strong and 
 impetuous. Here his social nature unfolds, 
 and his intuitive sense of character displays 
 itself He learns to read men, and a yet more 
 dangerous literature, for his studies were all 
 stopped short by falling in love with a damsel liv- 
 ing next door. He went out to take an observa- 
 tion of the sun, saw her, and stopped. (Laugh- 
 ter.) He goes home, hungering for letters and 
 improving his style by every diligence, and 
 opening correspondence with every man who 
 could write a creditable letter. His soul was 
 struggling, and it had no helper. Again, he 
 is at home upon his father's farm at Lochlee. 
 He is twenty years of age, and reading Mac- 
 kenzie and Sterne, both sentimentalists, one 
 poor and feeble, and the other strong and evil. 
 That great nature, all alive, had no legitimate 
 channel yet. No man said to him, " God sent 
 you, Burns, into life to be a poet ; " but every 
 man said to him, " Burns, you are born to be a 
 farmer." Burns thought so too. He tried to 
 be one. All his understanding, conscience, 
 and filial piety were forcing him into a kind 
 of life which was both uncongenial and un- 
 natural. Is it surprising that nature, denied 
 in her highest endowments, should re-act some- 
 where, and that Burns, who in his social life 
 possessed a power of conversation which gave 
 him superiority to all about him, should some- 
 times overflow with revelry ? 
 
 But affairs were dark at Lochlee. The farm 
 will do better with flax, and Robert goes to 
 Irvine to learn flax dressing, while his father 
 and Gilbert remain at home to raise the crop. 
 He is twenty-two years of age, with a soul fully 
 awake, and all his powers beating in him for 
 some natural exercise ; his poetry, his love, his 
 rugged patriotism, his philosophic meditations, 
 and his rare and exquisite sensibility for natural 
 
NEW YORK. 
 
 579 
 
 beauty, — are all set down to break flax and 
 hatchel it. This is a good work for a poet. 
 Why, yes, poets, .artists, and geniuses can do 
 anything, if they only know that they are ar- 
 tists, poets, and geniuses ; and that a homely 
 tool is the mere means by which they are to 
 attain to better things. But if they do not 
 know their mission, if they are coming and 
 going with all the moods of contraband sensi- 
 bility, ignorant of their mission and supposing 
 that life's business is flax dressing, and that 
 they are wasting their life-power in that en- 
 grossing and delightful business ; is it strange 
 that there should be such rebellion 1 
 
 This many-sided but all insided man had not 
 yet concentrated himself on anything that was 
 appropriate to him. The forces he was striving 
 to use were secondary, but those which were 
 Ills real and predestined elements were only 
 allowed to play alternatively. So he was in- 
 verting his life on the v^y threshold, and aim- 
 ing at the wrong thing consciously, and only by 
 stealth employing the glorious elements for 
 whose very sake he had been born into the 
 world. What a strange position ! At one time 
 he appears as a disputant at Calvinistio theology 
 — a good occupation — at another time rollick- 
 ing with high fellows at a smuggling life, more 
 full of force and brave daring than of moral 
 honesty. At another he is in love and jilted ; 
 then. lamenting his fate; then, yet worse, he is 
 obliged to endure public censure for the viola- 
 tion of rectitude, which no man despised more 
 than he. Next, he is writing to his father, and 
 his very sincerity in contrast with his vain ways, 
 makes it seem the more extraordinary. He 
 says : — " The weakness of my nervous system 
 has so debilitated my mind, that I dare neither 
 review the past events nor look into futurity, 
 for the least anxiety or perturbation produces 
 the most unhappy effects upon my whole frame; 
 and sometimes, when for an hour or two my 
 spirits are alightened, and I glimmer into 
 futurity, I am quite transported at the thought 
 that ere long, perhaps very soon, I shall bid 
 eternal adieu to all the pains, uneasiness, and 
 disquietudes of this weary life ; for, I assure 
 you, I am heartily tired of it. But if I do not 
 deceive myself, I could contentedly and gladly 
 resign it." 
 
 This letter was dated the 23d of December. 
 Three days afterward his mind was won back 
 so that he consented to join in a carouse to 
 welcome in the New Year; and as the merri- 
 ment of that occasion ran high, a spark caught 
 the flax, and the work of six months was burned 
 in as many minutes. 
 
 The next two years, his twenty-third and 
 twenty-fourth, his outward life was dull; his 
 real life, sociality, good and bad. His poetry 
 
 was good in the main ; but it was yet poetry 
 as relaxation — as a resource from unprofitable 
 life. He says : — " My passions once lighted 
 up raged like so many devils until they got 
 vent in rhyme. Then the conning over my 
 verses, like a spell, soothed all into quiet." 
 
 With all that flow of soul in him ; with his 
 rebounding from the highest conviviality to the 
 lowest despondency ; with his yearnings and 
 longings for, he knew not what ; with a sensi- 
 bility that every object caused to tremble ; 
 with an ambition underneath them all, which 
 tossed and rocked him as the ocean swells and 
 rocks the boats and ships in the bay, — he was 
 yet trying to make himself think that he was 
 to be a farmer. He bitterly felt this, what two 
 3'ears afterward? he plainly expresses — " Oh ! 
 for a little of the cart-horse part of human 
 nature!" 
 
 Here was one of the most wonderful men 
 ever born, who, though not humble in the esti- 
 mate of himself, never dreamed of his real place ; 
 and, in his most noble audacity, never asserted 
 for himself a tithe of what the world now 
 eagerly heaps upon him. 
 
 Here was this brave fellow, with his heart 
 hot and his head inspired with all manner of 
 fancies, tender and sublime, who was endea- 
 vouring in the most patient and conscientious 
 way possible, not to be what he was made for, 
 and to be what he was not fitted for. 
 
 James Gray, who taught the High School .at 
 Dumfries, says of Burns — " In our solitary 
 walks on summer mornings, the simplest fLoweret 
 by the way-side, every seat of rural simplicity 
 and happiness, every creature that seemed to 
 drink the joy of the season, awakened the sym- 
 pathy of his heart, which flowed in spontaneous 
 music from his lips ; and every new opening 
 beauty, or the magnificence of the scene before 
 him, called forth the poetry of his soul." 
 
 It was not his fault that God made him a 
 poet. It was not his fault that his heart was a 
 heart upon which nature played. It was not 
 his fault that he did not know whore his 
 strength lay. 
 
 At the age of twenty-five his father died, 
 and his brother Gilbert, himself, and his 
 mother had taken a farm. 
 
 Now he means to settle this vexed question. 
 Now he means to be a farmer in earnest, to 
 thrive and do well. " I had entered upon this 
 fai-m," he says, " with a full resolution — Come, 
 go to ! I will be wise. I read farming books, 
 I attended markets, I calculated crops, and, in 
 short, in spite of the devil and the world and 
 the flesh, I believe I should have been a wise 
 man, but the first year, from .unfortunately 
 buying bad seed, the second from a late harvest, 
 we lost half our crops." 
 
580 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 No, not yet. Burns could not be a farmer 
 first, then a poet. He would never thrive until 
 liis real genius had had a full opportunity of 
 expression. When once he had poured his life 
 forth in its true channels, and had felt that at 
 length he had touched the aim of his being, 
 then he might have become secondarily a good 
 farmer; but not now. And thus while he 
 bought poor seed for farming, he was sowing 
 good seed for poetry. For besides his bitter 
 theological invective, he this year planted for 
 immortality such poems as Hallowe'en, and the 
 Cottar's Saturday Night. Though he had a 
 late harvest of his land, it was early and good 
 in his brain. 
 
 At length, at twenty-six years of age, he 
 ventured to write "Eobert Burns, Poet;" and 
 even then it was a title of honour, and not his 
 real name. Even now, his being a poet is 
 something aside from the real purpose of his life. 
 On the first of August, 1786, he published the 
 first volume of his poems, by which he realized 
 One Hundred Dollars. One Hundred Dollars! 
 Many an enterprising publisher would have 
 been glad to give him a thousand — for that 
 matter, ten thousand — dollars for one of them. 
 
 He liad got into great trouble. The mother 
 of his babes was not his wife. Persecution 
 hung over him; his farming labours were dis^ 
 astrous, and he determined, as the last resort 
 of a broken-down and discouraged man, to go 
 to Jamaica as an overseer of a plantation. I 
 think I see Eobert Burns on a plantation, with 
 a whip under his arm. I think I see Robert 
 Burns following a gang of slaves, and chanting 
 " A man's a man for a' that." Poor Burns was 
 in a very bad way, but he was not as bad as 
 that. 
 
 A new era dawned. By the fame of his 
 published poems, he was summoned to Edin- 
 burgh, and for nearly a year he was courted, 
 and honoured, audi feted, in that splendid me- 
 tropolis of the north, by men who then at- 
 tracted universal attention, and yet became 
 more eminent for being the friends of Burns. 
 
 His modesty, his self-possession, his wonder- 
 ful conversation, before which learned and 
 practised talkers bowed and acknowledged that 
 the ploughman was their master; his brilliant 
 wit and overflowing humour; his wonderful 
 insight into human life; his passionate earnest- 
 ness and eloquence, his sweetness, and good- 
 heartedness; all his social qualities show that 
 if Burns had from the first been plated in 
 favourable circumstances, there would have 
 been fewer shadows to mar the brilliancy of a 
 fair fame. It is abundantly plain that if he had 
 found as many friends to establish him in life, 
 as he found afterwards to build his monument, 
 the world would not have had such a melan- 
 
 choly story of his sufl'erings and death. But 
 so it is. This world is made for men who need 
 no help while alive; and there are always 
 reasons found for not helping men whom the 
 world afterwards mourns to the end; and yet, 
 while they mourn, their tears fall upon other 
 men who are just as much neglected as those 
 for whom they weep. 
 
 Burns with the profits of his book now takes 
 a fiirm at EUisland, about forty miles from his 
 own. He married Jean Armour, whom he had 
 long loved, and would have married before, if 
 her father had consented. Burns now being a 
 man of reputation, a national poet, turns from 
 the dissipations of Edinburgh to become in 
 earnest a farmer. The illusion is not out yet, 
 for he says to a correspondent, " as, till within 
 these 18 months, I never was the wealthy 
 master of 10 guineas, my knowledge of business 
 is to learn; skill in the sober science of life is 
 my most serious and hearty study." This was 
 very well, you say. Every one can but wish 
 tliat being so much, it had been more, and that 
 snug, practical sagacity had been added to his 
 poetical temperament. A man must have two 
 natures to be a poet and a prosperous business 
 man. They seldom are united ; yet, as it was. 
 Burns vowed most solemnly and most foolishly 
 two impossible things, namely, that he would 
 forego [boetry and all its temptations, and em- 
 brace industry in all its drudging particulars, 
 and " Heaven be my helper," for it will take a 
 strong effort to bring my mind to the routine 
 of business. I have discharged the army of all 
 my former pursuits, fancies and pleasures. So, 
 now, we shall have Eobert Burns without an 
 eye, except for profits. No more flowers are 
 to grace his vision, no more clouds are to sail 
 above his head, no more brooks to rush along 
 under fringing bushes, no more heart-throbs of 
 patriotic fervour, and no more deep and sad 
 OLit-lookings upon human life, no more humor- 
 ous conceptions of human folly and fashion. 
 Eobert Burns forswears all this. The mouse 
 may find no house, the hare may die in the 
 thicket, the birds may interpret their own 
 musical lingo; as for Burns he is going to lay 
 aside poetry and attend to the crops. Thus 
 this great soul, with the whole fitness of life be- 
 fore it, dare not embrace it, and with the whole 
 unfitness of his nature makes a covenant with 
 business for life. It turned out as one might 
 imagine; and not a great Way to N«w Year's 
 day, 1789, he writes : — 
 
 " I have some favourite flowers in spring, 
 among which are the mountain daisy, the hare- 
 bell, the fox-glove, the wild brier-rose, the 
 liudding birch, and the hoary hawthorn, that I 
 view and hang over with particular delight. I 
 never hear the loud, solitary whistle of the cur- 
 
NEW YORK. 
 
 581 
 
 lew in a summer morn, or the wild mixing 
 cadence of a troop of grey plovers, in an 
 autumnal morning, without feeling an elevation 
 of soul like the enthusiasm of devotion or 
 poetry. Tell me, my dear friend, to what can 
 this be owing ? " 
 
 Ah, indeed, to what ? It is not to farming 
 evidently that it is owing. And these symptoms 
 of backsliding from farming to poetry ended in 
 open apostacy, for within four days after this 
 Burns writes a letter to Dr. Moor. "The 
 character and employment of a poet were 
 formerly my pleasure, but are now my pride. 
 * * * Poesy I am determined to prosecute 
 with all my vigour." 
 
 His doubts becoming confirmed that his 
 farming would not be remunerative much 
 against his taste, and repugnant to his nature, 
 he thought of becoming an exciseman ; but he 
 says, his wife and children, reconciled him to it. 
 Fifty pounds a-year are the temptation. Fifty 
 pounds a year ! Acknowledged to be the first 
 poet of Scotland, driven to destitution, and to 
 taking a most dangerous occupation for his 
 family's sake, that he might be sure of bread ! 
 His fears that he should make poor work with 
 the farm were soon more than fears. He writes 
 to a friend in December, 1789 : 
 
 "I am vfriting you on a farm. * * * My 
 poor distracted mind is torn, and so jaded, and 
 so wrecked, so be-deviled with the attempt to 
 make one guinea do the business of three, 
 that I detest, abhor, and swoon at the word 
 business." 
 
 There's a man to make money ! (Laughter.) 
 He writes to Mr. Hill : — 
 
 " I want a Shakspeare ; I want likewise an 
 English Dictionary, Johnson's, I suppose, is 
 best. In these and all my prose commissions, 
 the cheapest is always the best for me." 
 
 The duties of exciseman were just the kind 
 to spoil a farmer, and we must add to spoil a 
 man. For although it was not, as he terms it, 
 a pleasant task, yet to be on horseback mainly, 
 under the whole heaven, dashing' to and fro 
 amidst beautiful scenery, and meeting jovial 
 men, and being entertained by those jovial men, 
 who would gladly fill an hour with a man of 
 Burns' genius, overflowing gayety, and strong 
 common sense, was as pleasant as it proved 
 dangerous. 
 
 His stay at Ellisland was short. He removed 
 to Dumfries in 1791, to be occupied solely 
 with the excise duty. Here he dwelt five 
 years. Let those who have a heart for morbid 
 .anatomy pursue the desponding poet in his 
 uncongenial occupation. While rebounding 
 from it into convivialities and pleasures which 
 liis whole moral nature condemned with boiling 
 indignation, and which almost literally seethed | 
 
 him in remorse. The English tongue lias no 
 language of remorse that surpasses Burns' in 
 some of his letters. But I have no heart for 
 such scenes. The last five years of his life 
 were wonderfully fruitful of exquisite poetry. 
 It was from Dumfries he sent more than a 
 hundred songs which will live as long as the 
 human heart shall inspire the lips. His last 
 letters were to friends beseeching some small 
 levies to save him from jail and his family from 
 starvation, and the money was refused. Yet 
 so scrupulous was this man in respect to his 
 expenses, that when he died he owed no man 
 a penny in the world. 
 
 At length on the 21st of July, 1796, Robert 
 Burns was permitted to depart out of that 
 mortal tenement to give to the dust again that 
 body which for thirty-seven years bore one of 
 the most wonderful natures that time has ever 
 known. No man has ever dreamed of making 
 Burns a saint, and no one need dispute his 
 moral claims. No man can write anything 
 upon his weaknesses and faults and sins which 
 will not seem pale and lifeless beside his own 
 recorded words. There is nothing in the Eng- 
 lish language in testimony of domestic virtues 
 more earnest, wholesome, and conscientious 
 than his own. There are no wailings more 
 agonizing for the violations of purity : no suf- 
 fering that unites in its expression such simple, 
 heartfelt confession of wrong with such plead- 
 ings against an indiscriminate judgment against 
 him ; and neither moralist nor judge can ever 
 add anything to the effectiveness of Burns' 
 condemnation of those errors which clouded 
 his life, eclipsed his joy, and at last ended his 
 career. For my own part, in pursuing the 
 necessary investigation for this task, which the 
 partiality of his countrymen (and now my 
 countrymen) have imposed upon me, I vibrated 
 continually between smiles and tears, between 
 admiration and sorrow, between wonder and 
 pity, between reverence and condemnation. 
 But amidst all these oppositions and conflicting 
 opinions, steadily from the beginning Burns 
 has grown upon my heart. I have felt at every 
 step more and more tenderly the sorrow of one 
 that loves, and when I have laid him in the 
 grave it was with the grief of one who buries 
 a brother or son. No man could keep com- 
 pany with him, even with the shadows of this 
 wonderful creature, and not feel his power. 
 His vitality is beyond all example ; his fullness 
 inexhaustible; his richness beyond all terms. 
 Every letter, every sentence, teems, untrained, 
 irregular and wild, yet you feel that he is mas- 
 ter even in your criticisms, and in your judg- 
 ments you find and feel that he is superior. 
 There was more put into the making of Burns 
 tlian in any man in his age. That which he 
 
582 
 
 THE BUENS CENTENAKY. 
 
 has given to us of himself does by no means 
 express or interpret the whole of what he was. 
 A great deal of his nature is like undug gold 
 and unwashed diamonds. His songs and 
 poems are like gold which you find in the Cali- 
 fornian rivers, scattered particles, indicating 
 how rich are the veins from which they were 
 disintegrated. His letters are as wonderful as 
 his poems, and his conversation is regarded as 
 richer than either. While a half idiot was 
 picking up, in London, every little contemp- 
 tible acorn that fell from the rugged branches 
 of that gnarled old oak, Johnson, I would that 
 some dainty Ariel could have waited upon the 
 inspired ploughman, and stamped into record 
 the inexhaustible flow of his wonderful and 
 rapturous conversation. But -for the most part 
 it fell upon wasteful ears of men, unfit to know 
 its worth. The multitude of Burns' thoughts 
 and most brilliant expressions hang in the past 
 as crystals and white stalactites hang in unex- 
 plored caves, wonderfully beautiful, but for 
 ever hidden in darkness. Such is the vitality 
 of Burns, that there is not a place where he 
 put his foot, where there has not sprung up 
 historical flowei's ; and men, eminent before, 
 have added to their eminence if Burns took 
 them by the hand. The spots that were hoary 
 with historic glory were destined to receive 
 additional attraction if Burns visited them and 
 touched them with his pen. Such vital force 
 and such richness of soul had he, that there is 
 no spot on the face of the last ten years of his 
 life that was not crowded with memorials. His 
 foot-prints, now a hundred j'ears old, are yet 
 warm. Artists, poets, historians, laymen of 
 every name follow them with eager enthusiasm 
 and with full cry. Alive, his cry of dying de- 
 spair could not wring a pitiful ten pounds from 
 indebted hands to save him from ruin. To- 
 day, he has made the world rich. Alive, he 
 could not earn food and raiment, nor control 
 his livelihood ; but since the dropping of the 
 flesh, he has clothed millions with garments of 
 joy, and fed them with the food of manhood 
 and sturdy courage. His life was a failure 
 until he died. Ever since it has been a mar- 
 vellous success ; and death, that overthrew him, 
 like the wind that scatters the dry seeds from 
 the autumn boughs and whirls them away over 
 the land, lias scattered his thoughts into all the 
 earth to live and grow, while there is soil in 
 the human mind to receive the seeds of genius. 
 Had he known the future, it would have con- 
 soled his heart, so yearning for sympathy, so 
 longing and hankering for a true fame amidst 
 the ignoble struggles of his battling life. Tiiat 
 sturdy soul felt the true meaning of manhood 
 and the superiority of manhood to the mere 
 trappings of place and adventitious glory ; and 
 
 he walks crowned with praise and wreathed 
 with loving smiles in all the habitable globe. 
 He is the Inseparable companion of the Scot 
 wherever he goes, and where is there a nook 
 or isle of the earth where the Scotchman does 
 not go to make much out of a little, and make 
 it easy ? Wherever he goes Burns goes with 
 him. He is read in the camp, in the-tropical 
 forest, by the glare of torches in the South, 
 and the light of the aurora-borealis in the 
 North. There is not a white hawthorn that 
 blossoms in any spot upon the globe that has 
 not been made dear by Burns ; and Scotland 
 in her joys and sorrows, and in her whole heart 
 is known throughout the earth as much by the 
 songs of Burns as by her boasted sons, noble 
 as they are, and by her historians. Strange 
 the power of the unfleshed spirit. Burns shows 
 that it is not books that teach men to wrestle 
 with the passions of the human life, but a heart. 
 There is this rough-clad son of earth touching 
 the marrow of things in his cold and seques- 
 tered nook, pondering over things which sad- 
 dened the heart of the great legislator, which 
 tinged Homer's view of life and which engaged 
 the minds of Plato and Socrates and every 
 thinking man to the advent, and since then ; I 
 think the worst things of Burns were written 
 early — his bitter invectives and raillery. As 
 he lived to see real trouble and to struggle 
 with the stream of life, his stream of poetry, 
 with some sad exceptions, run clearer. His 
 most exquisite songs, his finest delineations of 
 nature, his most noble strains and thoughtful 
 appeals were the fruits of his middle and later 
 life. But it seems a mockery almost to speak 
 of the later periods of a life which ended before 
 most men's lives are earnestly begun. At forty 
 men are fully men. Burns had been dead 
 three years, when the number of forty was 
 counted from the day of his birth. And had 
 it pleased Him who wielded this bright star in 
 our firmament, to have permitted it to be ad- 
 vanced, until it filled out its orbit here, 
 what might we not have inherited? Had his 
 life reached as far as his father's or mother's, 
 we should now be speaking of those works we 
 have from his hands as the mere first-fruits of 
 his labours. All we now possess peradventure, 
 would then have seemed like his own harebells 
 and daisies. To him it was given to lift up 
 the lowlj'. No finer genius has ever delineated 
 the external forms of nature. No poet has 
 ever better sung the humours of his fellowmen. 
 He lifted up the superstitions of the tiuie and 
 gave them beauty ; and gathering up the lower 
 thoughts of men, and shedding the light of his 
 genius upon them, has made them beautiful 
 for ever. He danced with witches in the kirk- 
 I yard, and followed with them through the grim 
 
NEW YORK. 
 
 583 
 
 air. Ho liung flowers even upon tlie brow of 
 Satan ; Milton did the same, and I think the 
 reverence of the one, and the veneration of tlie 
 other was about alike. But all these were the 
 mere externals of poetry. The life and power 
 of his work was in that deep moral element 
 which pervaded his nature and gave out such 
 sacred grandeur, and which lilted upon the 
 eternal future such trembling and agonizing 
 glances. The power of Burns' songs consists in 
 their moral tone. If that were dissolved from 
 them, they, too, would dissolve and fall in 
 pieces. It is not wit nor humour, nor pathos, 
 which was the centre of Burns. When you 
 look upon a tree, it is not the wood — the root, 
 which strikes the eye; it is the thousand 
 branches and ten thousand leaves and buds and 
 blossoms. And yet that sober, solid centre of 
 wood is that which enables the tree to support 
 so many boughs, to shake so many leaves, and 
 shed its perfume abroad. Thus it is with Burns. 
 Some leaves fall from his boughs, worm-eaten ; 
 some of the branches may be maimed or cank- 
 ered, but the great tree, the centre, the sub- 
 stance, stands up hearty, healthy, human, and 
 divine. Some have supposed that our solar 
 system in its vast traverses of space strikes at 
 times aerial streams of warmth or cold, making 
 some years memorable over others for their de- 
 gree of heat or cold which attends them ; so 
 the world seems to swing through vast cycles 
 of ideas. The time in which Burns lived was 
 eminent for the outburst all over the civilized 
 world of the spirit of liberty. Tliis divine spi- 
 rit came forth as did Lazarus from the sepul- 
 ^ chre, bound hand and foot, and in the habili- 
 ments of the grave. Liberty in politics ran 
 wantonly into license, and liberty in religion 
 went into blind infidelity. Yet the spirit of 
 liberty pervaded the world ; and no man in all 
 that period was a more faithful apostle of liberty 
 than Burns. It did not develop itself in poli- 
 tical theories or philosophical speculation. It 
 did not touch the external forms of society at 
 all ; it went to the root of all things — the 
 ineradicable worth of man as a child of God — 
 a frail experimental creature of time, a linger- 
 ing, wistful, expectant of a better state. The 
 dignity and rights of the individual inspired 
 Burns, and burned like an unquenchable fire 
 upon the altar of his soul. He had no enmity 
 to kings, but always first and last in his earliest 
 poetry as well as in the latest, he bore witness 
 with all the fidelity of an apostle and power of 
 the poet to the fundamental doctrine that 
 essential manhood is the only greatness, and 
 that nothing can exalt a man but himself, and 
 nothing degrade him but himself. Through 
 his whole life, this life for man was eminently 
 not for him, who had wealth, learning, influence. 
 
 l)osition, and power, but for man in his simple 
 nature as given by God. No tenderer heart 
 ever cheered the sorrowful and the needy. No 
 poet ever poured upon the heart more balm 
 or fragrance than he. No name has ever made 
 manhood more resonant in virtues or moi'e 
 nobly invested man with honesty, reliance, pa- 
 tience, contentment, and self-respect, than 
 Burns. His poems are a torch that never goes 
 out to all who are in dark places; and no man 
 harassed by trouble, distracted by temptation, 
 overcome by passion and plunged in remorse, 
 but will find language for his woes in the poe- 
 try of Burns. He himself has felt the sins and 
 ills of the flesh, and no man, among the school 
 of poets, ever was so true to his kind, rejoicing 
 with those that rejoice, and weeping with those 
 that weep, and the nation which read Burns 
 in the nursery could never have tyrants in the 
 Parliament House. The men who drink at 
 Burns' spring will be too sturdy for oppression, 
 too courageous for power to tamper with, and 
 with too much self-respect for blandishments 
 and bribes. Burns had pre-eminently this love 
 for man in all his moods, weaknesses, sorrows, 
 joys, ho])es, and fears for life, and for eternal 
 life. He is universal in his sympathy. He 
 loves the very shoe-latches of the poor Scotcn 
 peasant. He loves the very daisy his shoe trod 
 upon. Terrible often with rage that sounds as 
 thunder in the mountains, yet it is love both 
 personal and general that marks the poems of 
 Burns, and that gives them their wondrous 
 vitality, and will never let them die so long as 
 a soul yearns, or hearts desire to be tenderly 
 cheered. Finally, to-night let us give to the 
 memory of Burns something of that food of 
 love and praise which his own soul hungered 
 for, his life long, and never had. If he has 
 faults, let us, like them of old, walking back- 
 ward with reverence and aflfection, cast a man- 
 tle upon them. If every man within these 
 twenty-four hours the world around who shall 
 speak the name of Burns with fond admiration 
 were registered as his subjects, no king on earth 
 would have such a realm. Finally, could each 
 feeling be changed into a flower, and cast down 
 before his memory, a mountain would arise, 
 and he would sit upon a rose of blossoms now 
 at length without a thorn. (Applause.) 
 
 Dinner or the Burns Club at the As- 
 TOR House. — The Burns Club of the city of 
 New York, which always celebrates the birth- 
 day of the Bard of Scotland in a style appro- 
 priate to the merit which attaches to his name 
 and the traditions of his country, gave to the 
 festivity of yesterday an unusual importance, 
 the day being the centennial anniversary of the 
 poet's birth. The presiding officers of the 
 club, in order to invest the affair with greater 
 
584 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 eclat, temporarily resigned their seats to Wtn. 
 C. Bryant, who acted as honorary chairman, 
 and the British Consul, Mr. Archibald, who 
 filled the vice-president's chair. The dinner 
 came off in the ladies' ordinary of the Astor 
 House, and it is unnecessary to say that the 
 provision of the table was unsurpassed— every 
 conceivable delicacy, in and out of season, in 
 these latitutes, being represented, wines of the 
 most delicious quality, and good old usque- 
 baugh, that would have tempted Diogenes. 
 The room was superbly decorated for the occa- 
 sion with pictures and flags. At the head, 
 over the Chairman's seat, was the portrait of 
 Burns, supported on each side by those of 
 Washington and Franklin, the whole richly 
 draped with the flags of many nations. At the 
 other end of the room, fronting the orchestral 
 gallery, was a large oil painting, by the artist 
 Dick, of Burns at his plough, receiving from 
 the Genius of Poesy the mantle of her art. 
 The figures are life-size, and the picture, in 
 many respects, though probably hurriedly exe- 
 cuted, is a most effective one. On either side 
 of the room hung pictures of Tam o' Shanter 
 in full flight — the " Return from Labour," in 
 the Cottar's Saturday Night, and the Kiggs of 
 Doon, with the cenotaph of Burns in the dis- 
 tance — all combining to make the appearance 
 of the banquet room not only exceedingly beau- 
 tiful, but when, added to the rough, bold dia- 
 lect in which the bard loved to sing, that dur- 
 ing the evening trembled in the atmosphere, 
 made the scene rich with the associations of 
 the land of Burns, Wallace, Bruce, Scott, and 
 those, whether heroes of the sword, the harp or 
 the pen, who had maintained the national hon- 
 our, the literature or the song of Scotland. 
 
 The ornaments of the table were equally- 
 handsome and appropriate as the decorations 
 of the room. They consisted of five illustra- 
 tions, elegantly executed, of the " Cottar's Sa- 
 turday Night," comprising the principal scenes 
 in that famous poem ; besides Highland Mary, 
 Burns' Monument, Highland Tower, Lyrique 
 Cottage, Tam o' Shanter, Scotch Pavilion, 
 Temple of Worth. 
 
 In front of the guests' table stood on pedes- 
 tals busts of Burns and Walter Scott, the brows 
 of the former bound with a laurel wreath. The 
 colours of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the 
 United States, were draped about the room. 
 Among the invited guests present were W. C. 
 Bryant, Fitz-Grreene Halleck, G. C. Verplanck, 
 H. W. Beecher, Charles Gould, Dr. John W. 
 Francis, P. Cooper, Mignot, D. F. Tiemann, 
 S. Osgood, H. Greeley, J. C. King, Parke 
 Godwin, Wm. T. Thayer, F. T. Brady, W. H. 
 L. Barnes, R. S. Willis, and Dr. Bellows. 
 
 William Cullen Bryant, Esq., presided, and 
 
 Mr. Archibald, British Consul, oflaciated as 
 Vice-President. 
 
 After dinner, Mr. J. Cunningham, as Presi- 
 dent of the Burns Club, presented Mr. William 
 Cullen Bryant as the Honorary President, and 
 Mr. Edward M. Archibald, Vice-President. 
 He said the thanks of the Club were due to 
 these gentlemen, and to the Press of the city 
 and country, as well as to Mr. Swann, who 
 telegraphed the messages between this and 
 other clubs, and to Mr. John Horn for a simi- 
 lar offer. Mr. Cunningham then read letters 
 from Washington Irving, the Hon. James 
 Buchanan, the Rev. John Thompson, the Rev. 
 George W. Bethune, the Rev. E. H. Chapin, 
 Henry W. Longfellow, O. W. Holmes, Bayard 
 Taylor, Edward Everett, and many others. 
 
 Mr. Bryant then rose to address the com- 
 pany, when he was greeted with a storm of 
 enthusiastic applause that lasted for several 
 minutes. He spoke as follows : — On rising to 
 begin the announcement of the regular toasts 
 for this evening, my first duty is to thank my 
 excellent friends of the Burns Club, with whom 
 I do not now meet for the first time, and whose 
 annual festivities are among the pleasantest I 
 ever attended, for the honour they have done 
 me in calling me to the chair I occupy — an 
 honour the more to be prized on account of the 
 rare occasion on which it is bestowed. An 
 honour which can be conferred but once in a 
 century, is an honour indeed. This evening 
 the memorj' of Burns will be celebrated as it 
 never was before. His fame, from the time 
 when he first appeared before the world as a 
 poet, has been growing and brightening, as the 
 morning brightens into the perfect day. There 
 never was a time when his merits were so freely 
 acknowledged as now ; when the common con- 
 sent of the literary world placed him so high, 
 or spoke his praises with so little intermixture 
 of disparagement; when the anniversary of his 
 birth could have awakened so general and fer- 
 vent an enthusiasm. If we could imagine a 
 human being endowed with the power of mak- 
 ing himself, through the medium of his senses, 
 a witness of whatever is passing on the face of 
 the globe, what a series of festivities, what suc- 
 cessive manifestations of the love and admira- 
 tion which all who speak our language bear to 
 the great Scottish poet, would present them- 
 selves to his observation, accompanying the 
 shadow of this night in its circuit round the 
 earth ! Some twelve hours before this time he 
 would have heard the praises of Burns recited 
 and the songs of Burns sung on the banks of 
 the Ganges — the music flowing out at the open 
 windows on the soft evening air of that region, 
 and mingling with the murmurs of the sacred 
 river. A little later, he might have heard the 
 
NEW YORK. 
 
 585 
 
 same sounds from tlie mouth of the Euphrates ; 
 hvter still, from the southern extremity of Africa, 
 under constellations strange to our eyes — the 
 stars of the Southern Hemisphere — and almost 
 at the same moment from the rooky shores of 
 the Ionian Isles. Next they would have been 
 heard from the orange groves of Malta, and 
 from the Winter colony of English and Ameri- 
 cans on the banks of the Tiber. Then, in its 
 turn, the Seine takes up the strain ; and what 
 a chorus rises from the British Isles — from every 
 ocean-mart, and river, and mountain-side, with 
 a distant response from the rock of Gibraltar! 
 Last, in the Old World, on its westernmost 
 verge, the observer whom I have imagined 
 would have heard the voice of song and of glad- 
 ness from the coasts of Liberia and Sierra Leone, 
 among a race constitutionally and passionately 
 fond of music, and to which we have given our 
 language and literature. In the New World, 
 frozen Newfoundland ha^ already led in the 
 festival of this night ; and next, those who 
 dwell where the St. Lawrence holds an icy 
 mirror to the stars ; thence it has passed to the 
 hills and valleys of New-England ; and it is now 
 our turn on the lordly Hudson. The Schuyl- 
 kill will follow, the Potomac, the rivers of the 
 Carolinas ; the majestic St. John's, drawing his 
 dark, deep waters from the Everglades ; the 
 borders of our mighty lakes, the beautiful Ohio, 
 the great Mississippi, with its fountains gushing 
 under fields of snow, and its mouth among 
 flowers that fear not the frost. Then will our 
 festival, in its western course, cross the Eocky 
 mountains, and gather in joyous assemblies 
 those who pasture their herds on the Columbia, 
 and those who dig for gold on the Sacramento. 
 By a still longer interval, it will pass to Aus- 
 tralia, lying in her distant solitude of waters, 
 and now glowing with the heats of midsummer, 
 where I fear the zealous countrymen of Burns 
 will find the short night of the season too short 
 for their festivities. And thus will this com- 
 memoration pursue the sunset round the globe, 
 and follow the journey of the evening star till 
 that gentle planet shines on the waters of China. 
 Well has our great poet deserved this universal 
 commemoration — for who has written like him 1 
 AVhat poem descriptive of rural manners and 
 virtues, rural life in its simplicity and dignity 
 — yet witliout a single false outline or touch of 
 false colouring — clings to our memories and 
 lives in our bosoms like his " Cottar's Saturday 
 Night 1 " What humorous narrative in verse 
 can be compared with his "Tam o' Shanter?" 
 From the fall of Adam to his time, I believe, 
 there was nothing written in the vein of his 
 "Mountain Daisy;" others have caught his 
 spirit from that poem, but who among them,all 
 has excelled him ? Of all the convivial songs I 
 
 have ever seen in any language, there is none 
 so overflowing with the spirit of conviviality, 
 so joyous, so contagious as his song of " Willie 
 brewed a peck o' maut." What love-songs are 
 sweeter and tenderer than those of Burns ? What 
 song addresses itself so movingly to our love of 
 old friends and our pleasant recollections of old 
 days as his " Auld Langsyne," or to the do- 
 mestic affections so powerfully as his " John 
 Anderson 1" You heard yesterday, my friends, 
 and will hear again to-day, better things said of 
 the genius of Burns than I can say. That will 
 be your gain and mine. But there is one ob- 
 servation which, if I have not already tried 
 your patience too far, I would ask your leave to 
 make. If Burns was thus great among poets, 
 it was not because he stood higher than they 
 by any pre-eminence of a creative and fertile 
 imagination. Original, affluent and active his 
 imagination certainly was, and it was always 
 kept under the guidance of a masculine and 
 vigorous understanding ; but it is the feeling 
 which lives in his poems that gives them their 
 supreme mastery over the minds of men. Burns 
 was thus great because — God breathed into 
 him, in larger measure than into other men, the 
 spirit of that love which constitutes his own 
 essence, and made him more than other men — • 
 a living soul. Burns was great by the great- 
 ness of his sympathies — sympathies acute and 
 delicate, yet large, comprehensive, bound- 
 less. They were warmest and strongest to- 
 ward those of his own kind, yet they over- 
 flowed upon all sentient beings — upon the ani- 
 mal in his stall, upon the " wee, sleekit, cowerin' 
 timorous beastie," dislodged from her autumnal 
 covert ; upon the hare wounded by the sports- 
 man ; upon the very field flower, overturned by 
 his share and crushed among the stubble. And 
 in all this we feel that there is nothing strained 
 or exaggerated, nothing affected or put on, 
 nothing childish or silly, but that all is true, 
 genuine, manly, noble ; we honour, we venerate 
 the poet while we read ; we take the expression 
 of these sympathies to our hearts, and fold it in 
 our memory for ever. tAnd now, having said 
 all I purposed to say — to your weariness, I fear 
 — I proceed to give out the first regular toast, 
 a toast in which if you do not heartily join, I 
 shall wonder why you are here. I give you " The 
 Day we celebrate " — a day " which makes the 
 whole world kin," uniting by sympathetic emo- 
 tion men of all degrees, in every land, in hon- 
 ouring the memory and the genius of Robert 
 Burns — one of " the few, the immortal names 
 that were not born to die." 
 Music—" Auld Langsyne." 
 
 Despatches were then read from Washington 
 and Baltimore, conveying sentiments of cordial 
 esteem and aff°ection. 
 
586 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 The Hon. James T. Buady was introduced 
 to respond to the toast, and concluded a graphic 
 sketch of the life and character of Burns as 
 follows : — 
 
 A century has passed since his birth — a busy 
 century, full of new and wondrous achievements, 
 and events. It has noted many changes, im- 
 portant in themselves and their consequences. 
 What had been deemed imperishable has passed 
 away ; what considered famous, become, in 
 many instances, unknown. Iconoclasts, inno- 
 vators, reformers, are busy all over the world. 
 Even Russia is breaking the chains of serfdom. 
 What some men call unrest is agitating the 
 planet we inhabit. But the light, and the 
 power of true and beneficent genius, such as 
 instructs and pleases man in his peaceful and 
 silent hours — these still abide. The lustre of 
 Burns' fame sliines unalterably, even like that 
 of tlie stars. (Applause.) Tacitus and Sallust 
 are renowned as historians ; but we can never 
 feel certain that they were not more loyal to 
 their patrons than to veracity. Not so with 
 Burns. The poet is a man of at least three 
 existences: one is a tribute to duty, another to 
 society, the third to his inspiration. Lockhart, 
 Wordsworth, Sir Walter Scott, liave memorial- 
 ized Burns in the Old World. American poets 
 have rejoiced to do him justice. One of these 
 presides here to-night, toward whom, as a poet, 
 I may not say what the future will certainly 
 utter ; but I claim the privilege of repeating 
 some lines from one usually denominated the 
 " Quaker Poet," wliom I could not admire if, 
 like the presiding officer of this assemblage, he 
 did not sympatliize with human freedom in all 
 its forms and conditions. Here the speaker 
 read some verses for the occasion by Mr. John 
 G. Whittier. 
 
 After a song, " The Birthday of Burns," 
 sung by Mr. William Park, tlie President an- 
 nounced the next toast: — "The Genius of 
 Burns. — Risen above the dust and clouds of 
 earthly frailty and misfortune, it shines, a fixed 
 star in the heavens, and sings as it shines, to 
 cheer the heart of friendship and love, mercy 
 and truth, liberty and luimanity; an hjindred 
 years are proof that its light belongs not only 
 to his own day, but to all time; and not only 
 to Scotland, but to mankind." Music — " Ye 
 banks and braes o' bonnie Doon." 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Osgood responded as follows : 
 — The subject given me by this sentiment, Mr. 
 President, has one fault, as uncommon as it is 
 weighty. It is the fault of being too good, so 
 good that it speaks too well for itself to need 
 anything to be said for it. Surely the genius 
 of Burns has sung itself into the human heart, 
 and if any man questions its quality, the best 
 answer to the question is a strain of the poet's 
 
 own music, that will be quite sure to set tlie 
 doubter himself singing in unison. But good 
 as the topic is of itself, without any added 
 words, I am in for a speech, and my great hope 
 is that the man, with the occasion, may give 
 a little inspiration to lips not claiming the 
 " faculty divine," as the touch of a master hand 
 gives life to the pipes of the organ, and wrings 
 melody from dull lead and wood. Upon this 
 principle it may not be presumptuous in me 
 to speak here to-night; and if your presence, 
 honoured sir, in the chair, might call for modest 
 silence from others upon that gentle art poetic 
 in which you are our master, why maj' not this 
 fact work quite the other way, and lead a poor 
 proser to hope that he may catch a little of 
 your fire by sitting near enough to the chair to 
 feel the electric spark from that direction. Al- 
 though wooden tables may not venture, as they 
 are said to do, to move and talk under the 
 action of departed spirits, surely our heads must 
 be worse than wooden if we are not mediums 
 now, and our brains are not entranced, and our 
 tongues are not electrified by the spell of this 
 hour, when the voice of Bryant calls on us to 
 commune with the spirit of Burns. 
 
 The sentiment, sir, says that the genius of 
 Burns belongs not only to Scotland but to man- 
 kind. Whether mankind really owns the pro- 
 perty or not, it is very clear that it has taken 
 possession and does not mean to let go. Wo 
 have got the poet by heart, and we mean to 
 keep him there. If Scotland has him, we have 
 him too, and if she tries, as she will not do, to 
 keep him to herself, she cannot show her trea- 
 sure without renouncing her monopoly or with- 
 out opening her coffer to the nations, and so 
 giving to every one that hath an eye or an ear, 
 a gift in its own nature of universal meaning 
 and worth, those words winged as doves and 
 precious as "apples of gold in pictures of 
 silver." What better proves that this bard be- 
 longs to us all than this occasion itself? We 
 meet here, men of every trade, profession, 
 country and creed, to keep this festival of a 
 plougliman's birth, and whilst we hold our 
 genial fellowship together, we catch thrills of 
 kindred feeling from brethren in all the groat 
 American cities whose greetings covne flashing 
 along the electric wires ; and perhaps before 
 the night is through the Atlantic cable may 
 wake up at the thrill of so many harp-strings. 
 The silent De Sauty may bring to us, through 
 the cold bed of the ocean, some pulses of the 
 heart of old Scotland, that shall make us, here 
 on the banks of the Hudson, brothers all with 
 the poet's own countrymen, now met on the 
 Frith of Forth, by the waters of the Tweed, and 
 th^ banks and braes o' bonnie Doon. In fact, 
 no literary festival that ever took place on earth. 
 
N£W YOllK. 
 
 587 
 
 probably, had so broad an interest as this ; and 
 over the whole globe, wherever our tongue is 
 spoken, or British or American institutions are 
 known, there will be some genial souls to speak 
 tenderly with us the great minstrel's name. If 
 the drum-beat of Britain circles the world con- 
 tinually, and the sunrise in every longitude is 
 saluted with the reveille of her armies and 
 fleets, who shall tell the circle of the heart-beat 
 of her language — our language as well as hers ? 
 Wherever that great heart beats this night, its 
 blood quickens at the name of Kobert Burns. 
 
 New York, surely, has rightly her part in 
 this great festival, and nowhere this side of the 
 Atlantic has Scotland so many sons and friends 
 as here. But, Mr. President, I must not slight 
 my mission, nor fail to say something of the 
 poet's genius. What genius is, it is hard to 
 define, and even the men that have most of it 
 do not always seem to J^now what it is. A 
 Yankee ought to be good at guessing ; and, as 
 a full-blooded one, of the Bunker Hill breed, I 
 will venture to guess that genius is that which 
 makes a man see into things and makes others 
 see into them. There is genius in every sphere 
 of thought and action, from constructing steam- 
 engines to commanding armies — from calculat- 
 ing eclipses to composing symphonies. But 
 whatever the sphere, we expect a man of genius 
 to see into the matter in question, and so to 
 shape the matter by his own mind that others 
 also may see into it. Poetic genius is that 
 which enables the possessor to see feelingly the 
 soul of things, and so to make them over in 
 thought and word, that others too may see. 
 Thus the poet, as the name denotes, is a 
 " maker " — a " seer," indeed, but also a 
 " maker " — making the real life of things to 
 be visibly seen by his art. A true poem is a 
 living work, and its art brings out the life of 
 the indwelling .and ever-ruling spirit, as trees 
 and flowers bwng out the life of nature. Such 
 genius, of course, is a native gift — born, not 
 made; to be nurtured, indeed, by education, 
 but created, npt by man's art, but by God's 
 power. It is at once a sense and a force ; a 
 " vision and a faculty divine ; " a gift of seeing 
 and of shaping ; and, like all senses and all 
 forces, it is to be traced to native organization. 
 It works from within outward, with spontane- 
 ous life ; anil, unlike mere talent, it takes its 
 possessor quite as much by surprise as it does 
 the world ; so that its best products are more 
 involuntary births than laboured manufactures; 
 and, when most elaborated, the labour is more 
 upon the dress than upon the body of the crea- 
 tion. In this sense Burns was a genius, and 
 as soon as he could see and think for himself 
 he felt and betrayed the secret of his gift* It 
 mattered little what he looked upon ; he saw 
 
 the soul ill it and made it speak its soul to 
 others, and under his eye the daisy or the 
 mouse beneath his ploughshare was more elo- 
 quent than the Alps or the Oceans are to men 
 of common mould. The characteristic of his 
 genius I need not undertake to describe mi- 
 nutely after such masters in criticism as Carlyle 
 and Lockliart have gone over the field. Fol- 
 lowing a simpler philosophy of criticism than 
 theirs, let us say that Burns' genius was quite 
 as remarkable for its susceptibility as for its 
 power, and that he was at once mastered by 
 his subject and master of it. His sense was 
 alike genial and clear, alive to every touch of 
 feeling, and open to every aspect of truth. His 
 will was earnest and manly, eager to follow 
 every hint of nature and humanity — determined 
 to speak out his downright convictions in his 
 words. So he had both kinds of genius ; that 
 which is mastered by a subject or surrenders 
 itself to external influences, and also that which 
 masters a subject and makes it speak out the 
 poet's own manhood. In this he is more of a 
 poet than his great countryman Scott, who is 
 so absorbed by his theme as to lose his own 
 personality and so became the minstrel of the 
 old ages instead of the hero of the new age. 
 Burns was both minstrel and hero, and his best 
 poems, while they may rehearse old times, are 
 shaping the new times, and not only singing 
 songs, but striking blows for the days of liber- 
 ty and humanity that are to come. It is this 
 manly earnestness that makes Burns the peo- 
 ple's poet, and they love him not only because 
 he feels for their sorrows and with their joys, 
 but because he believed in making the sorrows 
 less and the joys more. With all his frailties, 
 his genius was heroic as it was tender, and 
 something of the bloodof Bruce and Wallace, 
 that he celebrated in his verse, beat in the 
 poet's own fiery veins. In his earnest man- 
 hood he deserves to be named in the same 
 breath with his brother bard, who was born 
 the same year with himself — Friedrich Schiller. 
 Heaven surely was bountiful one hundred years 
 ago, in sending to the banks of the Neckar and 
 the Ayr two such souls as Schiller and Burns. 
 In both, poetry gained a genius and liberty a 
 prophet. 
 
 Look now a moment at the fruits of hia 
 genius, and consider their form and their sub- 
 stance. The form of a man's thought has 
 much to do with expre^ing its nature and 
 shaping its power. With Burns the form was 
 not a costume put upon his thought, but a life 
 out-spoken. He spoke as he was moved, with- 
 out pedantry or afiectation, and the familiar 
 airs and homely language of his people won 
 new melody and eloquence upon his lips. He 
 did not study versification in grammar and 
 
588 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 ihetoric, but listened to tlie airs of old Scot- 
 land, that seemed part of the breath of the na- 
 tion, and he gave back these airs enriched with 
 his own precious thought and sentiment, as 
 some spice island welcomes the rude sea- 
 breezes to its aromatic groves, and wafts them 
 away, no longer common air, but fragrant as 
 Araby the Blest. He did not hunt the dic- 
 tionaries for high - sounding words, nor the 
 classics for stately sentences, but spoke his 
 mind in the plain language of his farming 
 neighbours, and found that common speech was 
 more full of vitality and beauty than any scho- 
 lastic dialect, even as the common earth yields 
 more blossom and fruit than the pavements of 
 polished marble. So he formed his matchless 
 style — or rather, so he let his style grow, and 
 the sincerity and force of his genius spoke itself 
 out in his word. 
 
 The substance of his works corresponds with 
 the form, and is to be found in every line that 
 oomes in earnest from his pen. He everywhere 
 shows the same gentle, brave heart ; the same 
 clear, manly sense at work to bring us nearer 
 to nature and to man — sometimes nearer to 
 Ijrod. How marvellous is his naturalness ! I 
 refer now not so much to his wonderful natur- 
 alness in language as in his thought. He talks 
 to Nature as a friend, and as such she answers 
 him; and river and mountain, flower, bird and 
 beast, that to so many have a dead language or 
 a dumb cipher, spoke to him their mother 
 tongue. His favourite flowers chat with him 
 like children — the daisy, the harebell, the sweet- 
 brier — whilst the Doon and the Ayr sing to 
 him like old friends, and the Highland hills 
 stand up before him like ministering priests of 
 God. The animals talked to him and through 
 him in a marvellous way, and what he has said 
 of the mouse, the dogs, the old mare, the old 
 sheep, the wounded hare, bring the brute crea- 
 tures nearer our hearts, and preach trumpet- 
 tongued, that neglected part of the Gospel — 
 mercy to the races below us. 
 
 And what aspect of humanity has not been 
 illustrated by his pathos and humour, his keen 
 wit or stout manhood 1 But why dwell upon 
 the theme, and try to treat at length a subject 
 that the whole night would not exhaust ? Time 
 is taking the sceptre of judgment out of our 
 hands, and the century has already passed 
 its sentence upon the bard. 
 
 By the crucible <Jl time, the merely selfish 
 or individual element is purged away, and the 
 imiversal and human qualities rise into light. 
 Tried by this test, Burns' private follies sink 
 into comparative oblivion, and his genius rises 
 to its place among the providential men of his 
 race, by the same law that lifts the oak above 
 the bramble and swings the globes in their 
 
 orbits. Ho had a work to do in a most mo- 
 mentous age — the age of the great conflict be- 
 tween old dynasties and new anarchies — and 
 the first principles of constitutional right were 
 on both sides assailed. The new age of freer 
 and truer humanity was at hand, and a great 
 poet was to be the spring bird to sing out the 
 better times of promise and fruit. On one 
 side were the autocrats with their ghostly ad- 
 visers, and on the other side such mobocrats as 
 the Robespierres and Murats, with their coun- 
 sellors, more steeped in atheism and material- 
 ism than they. Between the two ranks stand 
 the champions of constitutional liberty, under 
 such leaders as Chatham and Burke, Washings 
 ton and Franklin, and the great thinkers and 
 authors who have striven for a social order, 
 humane and reverential. Among these men 
 Robert Burns has a providential name and 
 place, and he is one of the builders of the new 
 civilization of freedom and humanity. Whilst 
 men were disputing whether there was any 
 human soul and human right, and Atheism 
 was wrangling with ghostly priestcraft, and 
 meeting blind credulity with as blind unbelief, 
 the Scotch ploughman came into the field of 
 debate with his songs of liberty and humanity, 
 and taught the people by heart that there is 
 more mind in man than the schools teach him, 
 and a worth, too, that kings cannot make nor 
 mobs unmake. Though not a theologian, he 
 belongs to the teachers of positive faith, and as 
 his countryman, Thomas Reid, by his "Philo- 
 sophy of Common Sense," rebuked the pre- 
 vailing intellectual scepticism that was making 
 men into materialists, Burns, by his poetic fire, 
 did the same good work for the common people, 
 and set the philosophy of common sense to 
 music. He is one of the great teachers of the 
 belief — now so vital and so mighty in public 
 opinion — that there is something in man more 
 than what schooling puts into him, and that 
 the greatest of all wrongs is to crush down the 
 rights and instincts of a human soul. He sang 
 this principle of the great creed of humanity to 
 moody multitudes almost ripe for bloodshed, 
 and at his word they yielded their madness for 
 mercy as Saul of old was refreshed by David's 
 harp, and was well. In giving the Anglo-Saxon 
 race the love of liberty without anarchy, and 
 bringing into social and civil life a genial sense 
 of right, Robert Burns was a servant of Provi- 
 dence. His notes were, indeed, often meri'y, 
 and sometimes trifling; but his great songs are 
 marches, not dancing tunes, and by their cheer^ 
 ing music our humanity has marched on more 
 stoutly its appointed way. Honour, then, to 
 the genius of Burns. Pity, much pity for the 
 man — pity for him who pitied every creature, 
 from tlie little mouse to the great devil, auld 
 
NEW YORK. 
 
 589 
 
 Nickie Ben himself! But no pity for his 
 genius, so imperial as to demand our homage 
 and to clothe us with its purple and gold ! It 
 is Grod's gift to us, and in common with all 
 like gifts of Providential minds, it proves our 
 birthright to a domain beyond aught that we 
 can make to ourselves. We are great, brethren, 
 not in ourselves alone, but in our race, in that 
 humanity which God has given, and all ages 
 are enriching, and which needs heaven as well 
 as earth to hold its treasures. Under the spell 
 of this great name, acltnowledge to-night the 
 common bond of humanity, and as the same 
 music that has charmed millions now sweeps 
 through this hall with its pathos and joy, let it 
 touch within us the chord of brotherhood, leav- 
 ing no human soul on earth or heaven out of 
 the circle of its fellowship. All our great 
 poets are singing for us still, and the morning 
 stars shall cease their song before those eternal 
 melodies are hushed. 
 
 Mr. President, I give a closing sentiment: — 
 ''The Poets of our Humanity, — great in what 
 they have done^ — greater still in what they are 
 to do for us. They not only charm our quiet 
 hours, but nerve us to work and to wait for 
 the good days coming, with a hand and heart 
 of welcome to every friend of God and man 
 in all time." 
 
 Mr. George Simpson sang the song " Of a' 
 the airts the wind can blaw," with general sat- 
 isfaction, to the toast of "Kindred Associations 
 throughout the World, — may they preserve the 
 songs and disseminate the sentiments of Burns, 
 'till man and man, the vvarld o'er, shall brithers 
 be, and a' that.'" 
 
 Adam Nobrie, Esq., of the St. Andrew's 
 Society, responded. He said the Society over 
 which he had the honour to preside was in- 
 cluded in the last toast, and he was proud to 
 return thanks for the honour. The name of 
 Robert Burns awakened in all hearts the same 
 sentiments of pride and admiration. The 
 name of Burns was a household word in every 
 Scottish home, and his songs were sung in 
 every home and workshop, and by every fire- 
 side. He claimed an equality with the rest of 
 mankind in celebrating the fame and genius of 
 Burns, and alluded to the fact that such an 
 assemiilago as this in the New World could be 
 gathered to do honour to his memory, and 
 that the greatest American poet should preside 
 on such an occasion. In conclusion, he ex- 
 hibited a lock of the poet's hair, which was 
 gathered from the brows of death, when the 
 poet's tomb was opened to receive the remains 
 of his wife. (Cheers.) 
 
 Song— "A Man's a Man for a' that," by Mr. Wm. 
 Robertson. 
 
 Telegraphic despatches from Newhaven, 
 
 Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Boston 
 were here read, and elicited considerable ap- 
 plause. 
 
 The next toast was — " Scotland." 
 
 Mr. Chas. Gould responded. 
 
 "America — ^Where the dignity of self-gov- 
 ernment ennobles the humblest citizen, and 
 the march of civiliza.tion is commensurate with 
 the extent of territory : while she studies to 
 advance the one, the other can never be re- 
 tarded." 
 
 Mayor Tiemann, to whom this toast had 
 been assigned, having retired, Mr. Guilian C. 
 Verplanck responded. 
 
 The toast of "The Queen and the President,'' 
 whose names were most appropriately conjoined, 
 were acknowledged with excellent taste and 
 feeling by Mr, Archibald, who was loudly 
 called on to respond, and was received with 
 great cheering. 
 
 Mr. Archibald said that if he displayed 
 any reluctance in responding to the call which 
 had just been made upon him, it was because 
 he yielded to it somewhat in derogation of a 
 well-known rule by which the Queen's health 
 is rarely if ever responded to. Hers was a 
 name which could best answer for itself where- 
 ever it was pronounced. This was perhaps an 
 occasion on which it might be fitting to make 
 an exception. But indeed they had put upon 
 him a hard task to speak in praise of one who 
 was above all praise; one who reigned supremo 
 not alone over the liberties and fortunes, but 
 in the hearts of all her subjects, and whose 
 name was hailed with acclamations of pro- 
 foundest respect whenever it was pronounced 
 through the whole world ; one who, whether 
 as a Queen, a wife, or a mother, commanded 
 our highest admiration, our most heartfelt af- 
 fection. To Scotchmen she should be doubly 
 dear; for, true to the Scottish blood in her 
 veins, see how she loves yearly to revisit 
 her Highland home — to tread the heather — 
 and to wander by the romantic banks of the 
 Tay and the Don, rendered classic by the 
 sweetest of Scotland's poets. See how she 
 delights to clothe herself and her children in 
 the tasteful hues of the Scottish garb, and to 
 make herself familiar with the homely joys and 
 destiny obscure of the humblest of her subjects. 
 This day, which was also the anniversary to 
 her Majesty of an interesting OTmestic incident, 
 would, he was sure, be celebrated by her in 
 honour of Scotland's favourite bard with not 
 less fervour than by the veriest Scot in her 
 wide-spread dominions. It was pleasing to see 
 the name of their beloved Queen and that of 
 the Chief Magistrate of this great country thus 
 associated on such a day as this, when the 
 hearts of the people of the two countries beat 
 
590 
 
 THE BUKNS CENTENARY. 
 
 in harmony, and when they celebrated in uni- 
 son a poetic fame which was their common in- 
 lieritance and their common property. What 
 could he more do than, as the unworthy represen- 
 tative of her Majesty there that day, to thank 
 them as he did, from the bottom of his heart, 
 for the honour with which, in this great city 
 of the Western World, where she claimed no 
 allegiance, they had received as they ever re- 
 ceived the name of the Queen. Though he 
 had no right or claim to speak on behalf of the 
 President of the United States, he hoped it 
 would not be considered presumptuous in him 
 to thank them also for the enthusiastic manner 
 in which they had received the name of their 
 worthy and able Cliief Magistrate. 
 
 " The Poets and Poetry of Great Britain 
 and Ireland — Sanctified in the past by the 
 genius of a Shakspeare, a Burns, and a Moore 
 — may their successors continue to advance 
 the march of Intellect, of Civilization, and of 
 Ereodom." 
 
 Mr. William Young, of the Albion, replied. 
 
 The next toast was — "The Poets and Poetry 
 of America, engraven on the scroll of fame — 
 ' Loved at home, revered abroad ' — may their 
 influence ever be exerted in favour of Truth, 
 Virtue, and Independence." 
 
 Dr. Francis responded. 
 
 After the close of Dr. Francis' remarks, Mr. 
 Bryant arose to retire. The President of the 
 Club made a few complimentary remarks, and 
 Mr. Bryant's health was drunk with the High- 
 land honours, the gentlemen standing on their 
 chairs with one foot on the table, cheering 
 vociferously for Mr. B. He expressed his 
 thanks for the kindness with which he had been 
 treated, and withdrew. 
 
 A delegation of three from the Burns' Anni- 
 versary Club then entered the hall. They pro- 
 posed an appropriate sentiment, which was duly 
 honoured. 
 
 The next toast was— "The Press." 
 
 Mr. Greely said that it seemed but just 
 that the admirers of Burns should honour the 
 Press, for he would not have been known as he 
 is had it not been for the Press. They say 
 there were great kings before Agamemnon, 
 and great poets before Homer — but what does 
 the world know of them ? They perished in 
 the same age in jvhich they were born. In its 
 liour ,the Press lias owed much to Burns. It 
 has learned to take the side of the friendless 
 against tradition and against the privileges of 
 the higher classes. This character it owes to 
 the spirit of Kobert Burns. It is well that the 
 Press is deemed worthy of the commendation 
 of his friends. Such recognition will cheer 
 the journalist and inspire the poet. Mr. G. 
 closed with the following sentiment : — " The 
 
 Peasant Poet — great in what he lias done for 
 the unprivileged million — greater in what he 
 has taught them to do for themselves." 
 
 Among the toasts subsequently offered and 
 responded to, were the following : — 
 
 « The Heroes of Scotland." Mr. Nicholson 
 replied. 
 
 " The Memory of Washington." In silence. 
 
 " The Lasses." Richard Bell, Esq., replied. 
 
 The responses to these and to volunteer 
 sentiments detained the company until an ad- 
 vanced hour in the morning. 
 
 Mozart Hall. — The centenary festival of 
 Robert Burns' birth was celebrated enthusias- 
 tically and worthily, by about three hundred 
 Scotchmen, with a liberal sprinkling of Ameri- 
 cans, at Mozart Hall. David B. Scott presid- 
 ed. Messrs. James Gray and Thomas Miller 
 were vice-presidents. The large room was ap- 
 propriately decorated with American and Brit- 
 ish flags. A portrait of the poet, adorned with 
 the national thistle and festoons of evergreens, 
 was conspicuous as a transparency. 
 
 After the dinner, the Chairman, in proposing 
 the first toast, " The Birthday of Burns," com- 
 menced his address with a glance at the poet's 
 history. He was born in an Ayrshire cottage, 
 in poverty, but not in disgrace. Though po- 
 verty fringed his cradle, it was a cloud with a 
 silver lining, and from that cradle came forth 
 the man who, more than all men, was to assert 
 to the present and future generations the real 
 independence of the race, and, in particular, 
 that independence which was ever the mark 
 of the Scottish character. The genius of this 
 peasant bard had made the Doon as celebrated 
 as the Tiber. He was the poet of universal 
 humanity, the patriot-bard, in whose verse every 
 sorrow, every wrong, every outraged feeling of 
 our individual nature, found a tongue. 
 
 A song, "Rantin Robin," by Mr. James 
 Gibson, followed, after which, 
 
 Professor Nairne responded eloquently to 
 the second toast, — " Tlie Songs and Poetry of 
 Burns : age cannot wither nor custom stale 
 their infinite variety," — as follows: I am called 
 to respond, Mr. Chairman, to the songs and 
 poetry of Burns. The songs and poetry of 
 Burns ! Myriads and millions of hearts have 
 been thrilling to them for more than seventy 
 years — ever since this republic took her place 
 among the nations — and the rapture of these 
 countless hearts — the multitudinous response 
 of three generations of Christendom — I am ex- 
 pected to gather up in the fourth part of one 
 short hour, and to utter in the vfords of one 
 feeble tongue ! From all the ends of the earth 
 ^from out the long darkness of the polar night, 
 where Scottish prows have been the most ad- 
 venturous; from the burning deserts and wizard 
 
NEW YORK. 
 
 591 
 
 streams of Africa, where Park expired, and 
 Cumrning hunted, and Livingstone preached 
 the gospel ; from the gorgeous plains and mys- 
 tic mountains of India, where Leyden sang, 
 and Ramsay ruled, and Duff yet lives ; from 
 wherever Caledonians have found new homes — 
 and that is everywhere, though no men love 
 their own country with a fonder intensity of 
 love ; — from every region under the whole sky, 
 as well as from the hills and glens, the feudal 
 towers, and straw-roofed cottages of Scotland, 
 the sweet echoes of these Ayrshire melodies are 
 coming, and what Scottish soul does not catch 
 the gatiiering joy without being exhorted by a 
 brother Scotsman to listen ? They are coming 
 from the sunny South, where the broom and 
 the heather are not forgotten among gayer 
 blossoms, and the memory of the gowan is 
 dearer than the present splendour of the cactus; 
 they are coming from the Canadian wilderness, 
 wliere tlie winter is sterner than ever visited 
 Ben-Nevis or Schichallion ; they are coming 
 from the Orient, where the song of the night- 
 ingale does not compensate for the notes of the 
 mavis and the Untie ; they are coming from the 
 West, where the forests are grander, and the 
 rivers broader, but neither of them so enchant- 
 ing as the " banks and braes o' bonnie Doon." 
 They are coming from the grassy burn-side ; 
 they are coming from the purple moor ; they 
 are coming from the daisied meadow ; they are 
 coming from the pastoral strath; they are com- 
 ing from the harvest field, where the sickle still 
 flashes, and where Burns picked the thistle from 
 the hand of his first love; they are coming from 
 the ancient spinning-wheel; they are coming 
 from the play-ground of the school-boy ; they are 
 coming from the workshop of the artisan ; they 
 are coming from the gilded drawing-room and 
 the bower of beauty; they are coming even yet 
 from the battle-fields of Spain and the stonny 
 bivouack of "Waterloo; they are coming, like the 
 solace of sadness, from the drear encampment 
 at Sebastopol ; they are coming, like the voice 
 of hope, from the forlorn and famishing garrison 
 of Lucknow ! The whole air is filled with their 
 music. They are even now in our cars like an 
 omnipresent harmony ; and there will they ever 
 be, as the tones of a mother's love are round 
 about the child whom she- has commended to 
 the mercy of Heaven ! These songs and these 
 poems are the inspired breathings not merely 
 of the man Burns, but of all broad Scotland ; 
 for the concentrated feeling of the land took 
 possession of the poet's soul, and poured itself 
 from the poet's lips. In no case within the 
 wide range of literature has there been such a 
 complete identification of individual genius with 
 the heart of a whole people. The romantic love, 
 the proud poverty, the sturdy independence, 
 
 the manly piety, the loathing of hypocrisy, the 
 quaint humour, the passion for natural beauty, 
 the stern enthusiasm — all belong to Scotland as 
 a nation, and all found their oracle and inter- 
 preter in Robert Burns. Wiien he spoke, he 
 spoke, as it were, from the national heart to the 
 separate hearts of the nation. His words were 
 the words of the general mother of Scotsmen, 
 and hence it is that the souls of all her children 
 leap to the strains of her chosen representative 
 son. When he goes to other countries for a 
 model, and tries to imitate the classical, lie is 
 usually feeble. When his foot is on his native 
 heath, and his tongue articulates his native 
 language, his full strength returns, and he is 
 once more the Caledonian Apollo ! 
 
 But it is not to Scotsmen only that the songs 
 and poetry of Burns are beautiful and true. 
 Strange to tell, they are as popular with native 
 Americans as they are with native Caledonians. 
 At the university of Edinburgh, during my 
 time as a student, there were many young men 
 from this country, and I knew not one of them 
 who was not as familiar with Burns as I was 
 myself. They quoted him as often as they did 
 Shakspeare, and oftener than any of their own 
 poets, and they sang his songs with as much 
 spirit iis they chanted " Hail Columbia." 
 
 My knowledge of Americans in Scotland led 
 me to expect a love for the songs and poetry of 
 Burns in this country — and I have found it to 
 be even more general and hearty than that 
 which surprised me at home. The South is 
 quite as enthusiastic for Burns as the North. 
 He is regarded on this side of the Atlantic as 
 the peculiar genius of his native land. Even 
 the glory of Sir Walter Scott becomes less lus- 
 trous beside the halo that here encompasses the 
 Ayrshire ploughman, — and Scotsmen receive a 
 kinder welcome and a warmer grasp because 
 they are compatriots of the peasant bard. To 
 quote Burns in the British Parliament would 
 call up a smile ; to do so in our Senate or 
 House of Representatives, would be nothing 
 wonderful. Whence comes this American re- 
 lish and admiration of Burns, it is somewhat 
 difficult to say. The scenery of Scotland, in 
 which the poet revels, does not resemble the 
 scenery of America. The birken shaw, the 
 broomie knowe, and the glen o' green breckan 
 are not to be found here ; and the puny rivers 
 of Scotland — the Doon and the Ayr, the Earn 
 and the Yarrow — that Burns celebrates, are 
 mere brooks when compared with the Hudson 
 or even with the Mohawk. The Scottish dia- 
 lect, which alone Burns perfectly knew, and in 
 which all his best poetry is written, must pre- 
 sent to the American nearly as much difficulty 
 as a foreign tongue. Though Burns could strip 
 off the trappings of a lord, and view him as a 
 
592 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 mere man, he had a sovereign contempt for 
 the almighty dollar, and the aristocracy of 
 money was the object of his implacable scorn. 
 The love which he celebrates is the least calcu- 
 lating of all passions, and he never fails to 
 launch the lightnings of his ire at the man who 
 courts a woman for her tocher, or the woman 
 who marries a man just because he is rich. 
 The frequent coarseness of the Scottish ver- 
 nacular, although it conveys nothing amiss to a 
 native, behooves to shock the fastidious delicacy 
 of Americans ; nor can they fully appreciate 
 the wit and the inimitable drollery that palliate 
 and go far to excuse the blemish. The man 
 who has never admired the sweetness and puri- 
 ty of the golden Ayrshire butter, as it goes to 
 market — each pound in its own fresh green 
 leaf — can experience nothing but disgust at the 
 " kail-blade" in " Death and Doctor Horn- 
 book;" but to a Scotsman, the fun of the con- 
 trast, and the fierce sarcasm of the allusion, are 
 so overpowering, that the oflfensiveness of the 
 expression is positively forgotten. With all 
 these drawbacks, and more that might be en- 
 umerated, it is astonishing that Burns should 
 stand so higli, as a poet, in American esteem. 
 There must be in these writings a charm over 
 and above those touches of nature which make 
 the whole world kin — ^for it is a charm that en- 
 trances Americans in particular. That charm 
 is evidently the grand independence of the 
 man, his proud self-reliance, his claim to the 
 lofty nobility of nature in virtue of his simple 
 manhood ! 
 
 Brothers of Scotland ! Men of Scottish 
 blood ! Fellow-countrymen of Robert Burns 
 who, one hundred years ago, opened on the 
 light of day the most glorious eyes that ever 
 blazed in the looks of genius ! let it be our en- 
 deavour to maintain the same noble indepen- 
 dence and the same inflexible honesty in this 
 our adopted and adoptive home! Whoever 
 may do a mean thing or wink at a base one — 
 whoever may pollute his palm with a bribe, or 
 shout in the train of a schemer — whoever may 
 cheer the souls of tyrants by bringing self- 
 government into disgrace — whoever may aim a 
 stab at the heart of freedom by profligate am- 
 bition — whoever may dabble the bright locks 
 of liberty in the dirt by vulgar scrambling for 
 the spoils of partizanship — let it not be said of 
 any man whose forefathers spoke the language 
 of Burns, that he ever shared in the plunder, 
 or soiled his soul with the villany that would 
 desecrate for lucre this last and noblest asy- 
 lum of the free ! 
 
 " Princes and lords are but the breath of kings ! 
 An honest man's the noblest work of God ! " 
 
 The third toast, " The Memory of Burns," 
 
 was drunk in silence. The fourth, " the Land 
 of Our Adoption," was responded to by the 
 Hon. James W. Gerard, after which Burns' 
 song, " The Rigs o' Barley," was sung by Mr. 
 M'Dougal. 
 
 The fifth toast, « Our Native Land," elicited 
 a good speech from Dr. Hislop, which was fol- 
 lowed by one of the poet's best convivial 
 melodies, " Rattlin', Roaring Willie," sung by 
 Mr. Miller. 
 
 The remaining toasts were in order as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " The Genius of Burns." Responded to by 
 Mr. David S. Coddington, and by Mr. Poole, 
 with the song of " Ye banks and braes o' bon- 
 nie Doon." 
 
 " The Queen." Drank with acclamation, the 
 audience rising and giving many vociferous 
 cheers. 
 
 " The President," drank in the same way. 
 
 " The Mayor and Common Council," hon- 
 oured by Mayor Tiemann with an appropriate 
 reply. 
 
 Several other toasts followed, interspersed 
 with songs, and at a late hour the meeting dis- 
 persed — not into thin air, but into substantial 
 individualities, each of which conveyed to a 
 genial home an appreciative memoi-y of the 
 hundredth birthday of Robert Burns. 
 
 AuLD Langsknb Association. — The Auld 
 Langsyne Association held their Centenary 
 Festival at No. 683 Eighth-avenue. About 
 200 persons sat down to supper, which was 
 prepared after the most approved Scottish 
 fashion. David B. Kerr, Esq., officiated as 
 President, and Mr. J. E. Webster as Vice- 
 President. 
 
 When the guests were all seated, the Presi- 
 dent called to order and began the festivities 
 of the evening by reading the " Address to a 
 Haggis." 
 
 " Fair fa' thy honest sonsie face, 
 Great chieftain o' the puddin' race." 
 
 After which the party "fell to" and did full 
 justice to the repast, the "Haggis" being the 
 most prominent and popular article upon the 
 table. EveVy one ate " Haggis." An old gen- 
 tleman, with his bagpipe, enlivened the interval 
 by playing a variety of appropriate Scotch airs. 
 When the supper had been disposed of, the 
 President again called to order, and said : 
 
 Gentlemen of the Auld Langsyne Associa- 
 tion : I am pleased to see you here on this oc- 
 casion ; the sea-son has passed over our heads 
 once more, and we are again assembled on the 
 25th of January, 1859, to do homage to genius 
 and true worth. I feel happy to preside over 
 such a company as the present, in which are 
 assembled so many gay faces and grey heads of 
 
NEW YORK. 
 
 593 
 
 intelligent men. I have anotlier pride, gentle- 
 men, which certainly ought to give me much 
 satisfaction, and that is, that I have the honour 
 to preside on the centennial anniversary of the 
 birth of Robert Burns ; a satisfaction which I 
 never shall live to enjoy again. It would be 
 almost insulting to you were I to attempt to 
 state to you what Burns was, for " Ye a' ken 
 him yoursel'." Professor Wilson has said that 
 Burns was by far the greatest poet that ever 
 sprung from the bosom of the people and lived 
 and died in a humble condition ; and no coun- 
 try on the face of the globe could have pro- 
 duced such a man but Scotland ; he will for 
 over be the true representative of the genius of 
 his country. That is authority enough for me ; 
 you " ken the rest," for Burns speaks to you in 
 your own language ; he speaks to you in such 
 a way that every one of you understands him. 
 He sings simply, not in the duets of the French, 
 or in the demi-semi-quaiwers of some Italian 
 masters who sing, but never can touch the 
 heart. This is the one hundredth anniversary 
 of the birthday of Robert Burns. Where are 
 the emperors, kings, loi-ds or dukes of the day 
 of Burns ? They are gone, I may say, beyond 
 that bourne whence no traveller returns. But 
 Burns lives ; he is this day known from one 
 end of the world to the other, and is receiving 
 homage which the greatest potentate on the 
 face pf the earth may envy. The regular toasts 
 were then announced : 
 
 " The day we Celebrate" — Responded to in 
 a song sung in admirable style by Mr. Robert 
 Anderson—" There was a lad was born in 
 Kyle." Also, by Messrs. Dewhurst, Hay, and 
 Boyd — " We come again with songs to greet 
 you." Mr. Wm. Hodge sang an original song, 
 the whole party joining in the chorus. " The 
 President, and the land we live in ; " " The 
 Queen and the. land we left;" "The Memory 
 of Burns," and there were others to the memory 
 of Washington, Wallace and Bruce, Sir Walter 
 Scott and Tannahill, which were appropriately 
 responded to in speeches and songs. Tiie fes- 
 tivities were continued until an early hour this 
 morning. 
 
 Caledonian Curling Club. — The mem- 
 bers of the Caledonian Curling Club of New 
 York, along with a number of their friends of 
 both sexes, numbering in all about 200, had a 
 social and pleasant meeting at the Philadelphia 
 House, Eighth Avenue. Mr. Taylor, Presi- 
 dent of the Club, occupied the chair ; and Mr. 
 Kellock acted as Croupier. The toast of the 
 evening was acknowledged by Mr. J. M'Kech- 
 nie, in an animated and eloquent speech. This 
 was eminently a hearty gathering of honest 
 Scotsmen, a large proportion of those present 
 being natives of Ayrshire. The proceedings 
 
 ended with a dance at an advanced hour of the 
 morning. 
 
 The Celebbation at Cameron's. — A very 
 interesting celebration of the centennial anni- 
 versary of the birthday of Robert Burns came 
 oflF at Cameron's dining rooms, corner of Pine 
 and William streets. Over 100 persons sat 
 down to supper, and Mr. Robert Anderson was 
 unanimously called upon to preside during the 
 evening. The room was gaily decorated with 
 flags of the United States, and others display- 
 ing " the thistle," which were purposely got up 
 for the occasion. Over the Chairman's head 
 was suspended a half-length portrait, which was 
 also specially got up for the occasion, and 
 painted by Mr. Thom, son of Thom the, cele- 
 brated sculptor, while a half-length likeness of 
 Washington hung gracefully over the head of 
 the Vice-President. W^hen the cloth was re- 
 moved the Chairman read a long and eloquent 
 paper, eulogizing the character and biography 
 of Burns. In the paper very effective argu- 
 ments were deduced to show that the charac- 
 ter of Burns, though maligned and misrepre- 
 sented by those who neither knew nor under- 
 stood it as it should be known and understood, 
 is still recognized by the world as that of a 
 great and moral man. It was strikingly shown 
 in the paper how Burns understood and deli- 
 neated human nature and everyday life, by ex- 
 tracts from some of his poems. 
 
 The first regular toast was : " The Day we 
 Celebrate," which was received with great 
 enthusiasm, and followed by one of the gentle- 
 men present singing, " A man's a man for a' 
 that" in a very animating style. 
 
 The other regular toasts were : " The Presi- 
 dent of the United States," " Queen Victoria," 
 "The Press," and "Woman"— all of which 
 were responded to by speeches short and ap- 
 propriate. The toasts were also interspersed 
 by the singing of patriotic and comic songs by 
 various members of the company, with a very 
 enlivening effect. Among these songs was 
 " Uncle's Sam's farm," wbich was sung in such 
 a manner as to create great laughter and mer- 
 riment. 
 
 When tne regular toasts were disposed of, 
 volunteer toasts, songs and sentiments were the 
 order of business till the " wee small hour o' 
 morning" informed the company that they 
 could no longer mingle in the social celebration 
 of the centennial anniversary of the birthday 
 of " Scotia's favourite bard." 
 
 Everything connected with the celebration 
 passed off well, from the appearance and subse- 
 quent disappearance of the well-known and 
 better tasted "haggis" to the close of the fes- 
 tivities. 
 
 2p 
 
594 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 NORWICH, Conn. — The anniversary was 
 celebrated at Apollo Hall, Norwich, by a party 
 of about two hundred persons. John T. Ad- 
 ams, Esq., acted as Chairman. At eight o'clock 
 supper was announced, and, after the delivery 
 by Mr. Crawford of the address to the " chief- 
 tain o' the puddin' race," it was done ample 
 justice to by the company. The usual toasts 
 tlien followed, introduced and responded to by 
 appropriate speeches, with which songs alter- 
 nated in due proportion. Having enjoyed 
 themselves to their hearts' content, the compa- 
 ny separated shortly after midnight. 
 
 PALMYRA, N. Y— The centennial anni- 
 versary of the birth of Scotia's great Bard, 
 Robert Burns, was celebrated by the Excelsior 
 Society of Palmyra, at the residence of J. C. 
 Lovett, Esq. Two spacious rooms and the hall 
 were filled to repletion — and never was a more 
 highly gratified audience assembled together in 
 this place. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA.— This very interesting 
 occasion was celebrated by a banquet at San- 
 son! Street Hall. The participants numbered 
 about three hundred gentlemen, embracing the 
 Burns Club of this city and an assemblage of 
 the bar, the clergy, the judiciary, and our pro- 
 minent citizens in general. Colonel Rogers, 
 President of the Burns Association, occupied 
 the post of honour, supported by Vice-Presi- 
 dent Johnston and other officers of the Club. 
 The banquet was a unique affair. It embraced 
 viands to suit all palates, and included the hag- 
 gis and other dishes, which the sons of Scotia 
 discussed with the liveliest possible apprecia- 
 tion. The table was handsomely ornament- 
 ed with fanciful designs in confectionery. 
 Mr. Fitzgerald replied to the toast of the even- 
 ing, " The Memory of Robert Burns." We 
 extract a few passages from his eloquent speech : 
 
 To-day many millions of people are talking 
 of Robert Burns. To-day " his name is great 
 in mouths of wisest censure." Wherever the 
 English language is spoken there the name of 
 Burns is lovingly mentioned — there his letters 
 are read and songs sung, and his praise, un- 
 stinted, is pointed out. Burns was a man of 
 eminent impressibility. He saw and appreci- 
 ated nature in all her forms of expression. 
 The softest breath of summer, the sweetest 
 odours of the new-mown hay, the variegated 
 rainbow, vale and mountain, streamlet and 
 ocean, sunshine and cloud, the whirlwind and 
 the storm, all were seen and remembered, and 
 faithfully described by him. He knew man by 
 heart, and painted him with the cunning of a 
 
 master hand. He sounded the springs of 
 thought, and acquired a thorough knowledge 
 of the nature and character of m^n. Do you 
 doubt this, read the Cottar's Saturday Night, 
 Holy Willie's Prayer, Tam o' Shanter, The 
 Jolly Beggars, the Address to the Mouse, The 
 Winter Night, The Wounded Hare, Hallowe'en, 
 Auld Langsyne, and a hundred others, appeal- 
 ing to every fancy, tragic or humorous, pathetic 
 or lively, satiric or sentimental, witty or affec- 
 tionate. Robert Burns was a sincere and im- 
 passioned man. He sings to the whole people 
 sweetly, cheerily and truthfully. We know 
 he sings naturally, because his strains go to the 
 heart, softening and humanizing it ; and that 
 is the secret of his wonderful popularity. His 
 strains reach the universal heart of the world, 
 and the response is a burst of joyous, irrepres- 
 sible applause. 
 
 Several other toasts and speeches followed, 
 and numerous songs by members of the com- 
 pany, amongst others by Messrs. M'Intyre, 
 Frasier, and Robb. Altogether the evening 
 was a very pleasant one, although there were 
 present no illustrious orators, nor pretentious 
 speechmakers. 
 
 PITTSBURGH,— The admirers of Robert 
 Burns are numbered by the hundred in Pitts- 
 burgh. Some of our best citizens are either 
 Scotchmen born or of Scotch descent, and 
 there are few of them, no matter what their 
 nativity, that do not revere the name and ge- 
 nius of Scotland's Poet. The guests at the St. 
 Clair numbered about four hundred, and Mr. 
 Joseph Coltart was called to the chair. Messrs. 
 D. D. Bruce, James A. Gibson, John Brown, 
 James Lockhart, George Darsie, Rody Patter- 
 son, and William Hanna were chosen Vice- 
 Presidents ; Messrs. A. Leggett, John Swan, 
 C. Arbuckle, R. H. Patterson and R. C. Gray 
 were elected Secretaries. Following the edi- 
 bles came the drinkables, and here we have to 
 notice a feature in the entertainment that has, 
 doubtless, left its impression on a majority of 
 the guests. We refer to the monster punch- 
 bowl which was placed in the centre of the 
 dining-room, and which, though it had a capa- 
 city of some fifteen gallons, was filled repeat- 
 edly during the night, and emptied as often. 
 In short, the company eat and drank like men 
 bent on enjoying themselves, and that they 
 fully carried out the purpose for which they 
 met, we believe all interested are amply satis- 
 fied. 
 
 PITTSTON, Pa.— The centennial anniver- 
 sary of Burns was celebrated by a grand festival 
 and ball. The Chairman was Mr. John M'- 
 Dougall, and the vice-chairmen represented six 
 
PORTAGE CITY— POTTSVILLE. 
 
 595 
 
 different nationalities. In responding to tlie 
 toast of " The Pennsylvania Coal Company and 
 the Mining interests of Wyoming Valley," Mr. 
 John Richards, in a capital speech, gave the 
 following remarkable and excellent sentiment : 
 " The Black Diamonds of Wyoming Valley and 
 the Poems of Robert Burns — may they continue 
 ever to gladden and cheer the fireside as year 
 after year unfolds their exhaustless wealth." 
 
 Thomas Dickson, Esq., of Scranton, also 
 made an excellent speech, from which we give 
 the following extract : — Little indeed of sun- 
 shine was there to lighten up the dark and 
 dreary corners that marked the path of the Po- 
 et's pilgrimage from the cradle to the grave. 
 Educated a peasant, his aspiring mind was ever 
 shrouded in thick gloom, and while the strength 
 of his intellect enabled him to penetrate it, and 
 look into the light beyond, poverty and the 
 circumstance of birth had woven a web— ^the 
 meshes of which enclosed liim so securely, that 
 it was impossible for him to break the bonds 
 that bound him to his destiny. And but for 
 his eminently social cast of temperament he 
 might have lived and died a gloomy misan- 
 thrope, and to those social qualities his coun- 
 trymen and the world are indebted for the 
 many bursts of wit and humour that originated 
 in his fertile imagination, and which have re- 
 volutionized the whole character of his coun- 
 trymen — who have been changed by the inspir- 
 ing and stirring efforts of his genius, from a 
 proverbially canny, cautious, suspicious and 
 ascetic race, to a people whose company upon 
 an occasion of this kind is really very desira- 
 ble, and the many noble qualities he possessed 
 has left a mark and produced an influence upon 
 the destinies of his countrymen that can never 
 be counteracted. While Scotland glories in 
 many sons well known to fame, whose names 
 are household words— whose heaven-born effu- 
 sions must ever thrill upon the heart, and beat 
 through the pulse of Scottish nationality, and 
 which will be handed down by posterity to a 
 glorious immortality, yet the brightest gems in 
 the diadem that encircles her brow, must ever 
 bear the name of Robert Burns ; and to him 
 will ever be assigned the highest niche in the 
 temple of fame. His were the words that 
 breathe and thoughts that burn. Among the 
 sons of song, none have found deeper or more 
 true response, because his, of all others, is dis- 
 tinguished by the rarest and greatest excellence 
 and sincerity? His effusions gush from a liv- 
 ing soul, hence, they live in the memories of 
 men, and hence, in all lands men do homage 
 to the Peasant Bard. It is upon occasions like 
 the present, that the power and influence of 
 the departed poet makes itself felt, and it is 
 exceedingly gratifying to Scotchmen, that, in 
 
 this, the land of their adoption, the admirers 
 of Burns are as numerous, and as enthusiastic 
 as in the land of their nativity. And my 
 American friends will permit me to say, that 
 while Scotchmen are, almost without exception, 
 proud of the name, and think that the sun 
 never shone upon a spot as highly favoured, in 
 every respect, as the brown heather and the 
 blue hills of Scotland — yet, they will ever be 
 found in the front rank whenever and wherever 
 the liberties of this Republic are in danger ; 
 and I firmly believe that a man that is contin- 
 ually cursing and disparaging the land that 
 gave him birth, never will, and never can, be a 
 trustworthy citizen of any country. 
 
 The ball, after supper, was conducted with 
 much spirit, and the most thorough apprecia- 
 tion of the occasion was evinced in the whole 
 proceedings. 
 
 PORTAGE CITY, Wis.— The Burns Fes- 
 tival was held here. Upwards of two hundred 
 met at the festive board — " every Jockie had 
 his Jenny" — and the presence of the ladies in- 
 spired the whole meeting with enthusiasm and 
 delight. J. P. M'Gregor, Esq., President of 
 the Columbia County Bank, presided. The 
 unusual sight of ladies mixing with the gentle- 
 men as if at a private supper will have a happy 
 effect hereafter at festive parties. Those in- 
 clined to dance had opportunities to relieve 
 their limbs in Scotch reels, country dances, and 
 Virginia break-downs, and prolonged their de- 
 parture to the long hours just before sunrise. 
 
 POTTSVILLE, Pa.— The Festival in Potts- 
 ville was a happy success. Early in the even- 
 ing the Pottsville Cornet Band, after parading 
 through Centre and other streets, took their 
 position in the saloon of the Town Hall. Here 
 they discoursed excellent music, while the 
 guests seemed literally to pour in. It was tru- 
 ly a beautiful sight to see the sturdy yeomanry 
 of our region throng the halls — their wives and 
 children with them. A sprinkling of " Glen- 
 garry" and "Balmoral" bonnets upon the 
 heads of the muscular Scotchmen was observa- 
 ble, while the ladies had donned the plaids 
 with peculiar taste. Mothers with their in- 
 fants, by their presence, paid homage to the 
 immortal poet's shrine, and one father, his in- 
 fant child but five weeks old, in his arms, came 
 to the President and remarked, with the pecu- 
 liar pride of feeling which only a father could 
 feel, " Behold the youngest Scot that has at- 
 tended the Centenary 1 " General good feel- 
 ing and social courtesy prevailed throughout 
 the entire evening, and while we heard many 
 rejoice, the only regret expressed was that the 
 time from dark to daylight was so short. 
 
596 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 PROVIDENCE, R. I.— The centenary was 
 celebrated by two social parties at this place. 
 In Brown Hall a festival was held under the 
 auspices of a committee of management. Wil- 
 liam M. Rodman, A.M., Mayor of the city, was 
 Honorary Chairman on tlie occasion. The 
 party was a numerous one, upwards of two 
 hundred being present, of whom nearly one- 
 half were ladies. It was conducted on tempe- 
 rance principles, which did not interfere with 
 the enjoyment of the occasion. Toasts, speech- 
 es and songs, with the additional attraction of 
 national airs on the bagpipe, afforded enter- 
 tainment to the company, and a happier or bet- 
 ter conducted assemblage was never convened 
 on any occasion. 
 
 In the same city, at Weybosset Hall, the 
 committee in charge of the celebration made 
 their arrangements for " an old-fashioned fes- 
 tival," in a manner which, apparently, gave en- 
 tire satisfaction to all who participated therein. 
 The number present was but little short of 
 three hundred, at least a hundred more than 
 was originally calculated for. Mr. Dugald 
 Campbell acted as President of the evening, 
 and opened the proceedings with an address on 
 Robert Burns full of poetical and patriotic sen- 
 timents, which were responded to with enthu- 
 siasm, evincing the pleasant and loving memo- 
 ries of tliose present for the land of their 
 nativity. The Vice-President, Mr. Robert 
 Hendrie, being then called for, made some in- 
 teresting remariis of a historical nature, giving 
 some of the chief incidents in Burns' career. 
 Numerous toasts and speeches followed, relieved 
 by a number of excellent songs and airs per- 
 formed by an instrumental band which was in 
 attendance. At twelve o'clock the hall was 
 cleared for a dance, with which the proceed- 
 ings terminated. 
 
 ROCKFORD.— The hundred birthday anni- 
 versary of the world's great poet, Robert 
 Burns, was celebrated by the Burns Club of 
 this city, with a banquet at the Holland House. 
 At half-past seven o'clock supper was announced 
 and about two hundred persons sat down to a 
 most sumptuous feast. The divine blessing 
 was invoked by Rev. J. M. Faris. After an 
 hour spent amid 
 
 " The clang of plates, of knife and fork, 
 That merciless fell like tomahawks to work," 
 
 the cloth was removed, and the band played 
 " The Blue Bells of Scotland." The President 
 of the Club, William M'Gregor, Esq., greeted 
 the audience in behalf of the Club, and wel- 
 comed them to another feast — " a feast of rea- 
 
 son and a flow of soul " — in the following 
 brief address: 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen — Why such an assem- 
 blage around this festive board ? The reason is 
 assigned when we know that this is the centen- 
 nial anniversary of the birthday of the poet of 
 Scotland. One hundred years ago this day in 
 an auld clay biggin, on the banks of auld Her- 
 mit Ayr, first breathed the breath of life the 
 peasant poet of nature, Robert Burns. He first 
 looked upon the light whose name was to be- 
 come the household word for his countrymen — 
 whether in their native or in foreign lands. 
 The national idol of Scotchmen at home or 
 abroad. It is the event we have assembled this 
 evening to celebrate, and in the goodly number 
 I see here present I read the influence our 
 poet's genius yet exerts, and ever will exert 
 upon the hearts of his countrymen. And how 
 can it be otherwise ? His sweet strains have 
 lulled our infant slumbers — are associated with 
 our earliest remembrances in the dear old home- 
 stead — and have with their own enthusiasm in 
 riper manhood made us love old Scotia still 
 more. As his inimitable name leads us by the 
 " Banks o' the Dee," or along " Old Coila's 
 Hills and streams," or through the " Fruitful 
 vales and spreading hawthorns of the lovely 
 Nith," or o'er the " Bonnie Braes of Yarrow," 
 we own the power of his genius. It holds in 
 its hand the heart of every Scotchman^r-for his 
 varied songs are but the pulsations of his coun- 
 try's heart. Himself the impersonation of her 
 poetry and passion — her patriotism and her 
 love of truth — her occasional recklessness and 
 fervour, and her deep, all-pervading religious 
 sentiment — Burns has honoured Scotland, pea- 
 sant poet though he was, and it is fit that Scots- 
 men everywhere should honour him. Their 
 honour is a tribute due to exalted genius raising 
 itself, unaided and alone, over the mountainous 
 pressure of adversity weighing it down on every 
 side, to an eminence attained by few with all 
 the aid which literature, and leisure, and learn- 
 ing could give them. 
 
 It is fit respect, then, that we should honour 
 the memory of Robert Burns. We instinctively 
 and irresistibly do honour to his name as with 
 electric power it thrills our very hearts, and 
 wherever we be it carries us back again to our 
 dear native land, and with it we laugh beside 
 " Alloway's auld Haunted Kirk," or weep by 
 the " Banks and Braes and Streams around the 
 Castle o' Montgomery," or kindle into more 
 ardent patriotism as we listen to the " Bruce at 
 Bannockburn," or bow in humble reverence 
 again in the home of our childhood, when 
 
 " Kneeling down to heaven's eternal King, 
 The saint, the father, and the husband prays." 
 
ROCKFORD. 
 
 597 
 
 He is pre-eminently tlie poet of Scotland, 
 not only because superior to all her other poets, 
 but because he is to us what he cannot be, and 
 speaks to us as he cannot speak, to any other 
 people ; he spoke to us as none other can, and 
 we would not exchange our peasant poet, our 
 Ayrshire ploughman, for any of the lords of 
 song in any land. You may have your Byron, 
 and your Shakspeare, and your Wordsworth, 
 ay, and your Milton, too, we shall keep our 
 Burns, and feel that in honouring him we 
 honour the country of his birth and of our 
 own. 
 
 I congratulate you, gentlemen of the Burns 
 Club, on the favourable auspices under which 
 we hold our first anniversary. The number of 
 ladies and gentlemen that have favoured us 
 with their presence, on this occasion, is sufficient 
 evidence of the hold the name that we honour 
 has upon the people. With these few remarks, 
 ladies and gentlemen, I have the honour to in- 
 troduce to you Dr. William Lyman, who has 
 been elected Honorary President for this occa- 
 sion. 
 
 Dr. Lyman arose and responded to the com- 
 pliment as follows: 
 
 Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen — I oc- 
 cupy the position assigned me, with a high 
 appreciation of the honour mingled with a dis- 
 trust of my ability to perform its duties in a 
 manner appropriate to this assembly and the 
 occasion. This is no ordinary festive meeting, 
 convened for the cultivation of the amenities of 
 social life, or to while away the passing hour 
 with music, sentiment, and song. An hundred 
 years ago to-day, " a Lad there was, in Kyle 
 was born ;" none of the ceremonials which mark 
 the advent of scions of royalty surrounded that 
 humble cot; no merry peals were rung from 
 chiming bells; .no deep-mouthed cannon in 
 thunder tones announced to an expectant na- 
 tion the glad tidings — a, prince was born — but 
 then and there a prince was born, the prince of 
 song, heir of a richer heritage than ever fell to 
 the lot of first-born of royal Stuart, Tudor, or 
 Bourbon line. Scotland's Robert Burns, the 
 world's immortal poet, the sweetest bard that 
 ever struck with gentle hand the poet's lyre, or 
 trilled a lay of living song. Scotsmen, it is 
 your privilege to rejoice to-night, and glory in 
 the recollection of the land of your birth, that 
 land made closer by the genius of your Scott 
 — vocal with the heart music of your Burns. — 
 A century has passed since his birth ; a century 
 that has seen the ephemera of literature sport 
 their hour in the sunshine of fashion and pass 
 away, while the anniversary of the birthday of 
 Burns is celebrated more generally than the 
 natal hour of any who ever trod our earth, the 
 meek and lowly Nazarene alone excepted. 
 
 To-night the world rejoices ; wherever civiliza- 
 tion has left her foot-prints, there grateful offisr- 
 ings are made at the shrine of the genius of 
 Robert Burns, who drank inspiration from na- 
 ture as a fountain head, " then seized his lyre 
 and poured its strains sublime, deap and impas- 
 sioned down the tide of time." 
 
 The Honorary President announced the regu- 
 lar toasts: — 
 
 1st Toast, " The day we celebrate, and a' 
 wha honour it." 
 
 Responded to by Hon. Anson S. Miller, as 
 follows : — 
 
 We celebrate the centennial birthday an- 
 niversary of Scotland's favourite poet, and 
 multitudes throughout the world delight to 
 honour it. — Like the generous poet's sympathy, 
 this celebration is co-extensive with the race. 
 Civilized men in every land and sea have 
 saluted this sunrise with a wonderful unanimity 
 of joy ; and from the earliest dawn of the 
 morning, this day, circling the whole globe, 
 has been gladdened by one continued jubilee. 
 
 What a sublime spectacle is presented by this 
 world-wide homage to the memory of the illus- 
 trious dead ! How noble in the living, is this 
 spontaneous tribute of the heart, not to rank 
 and richer, not to pomp and power, but to 
 merit, and genius, and excellence ! Of all the 
 mighty conquerors and kings, whose glory ever 
 reached a day like this ? 
 
 One hundred years now hallow the memory, 
 and crown the fame of Robert Burns. In the 
 century past how have pride and ambition been 
 humbled, what mutations have overthrown 
 governments, how have the highways of human 
 progress been paved with fallen thrones, how 
 many celebrities have gone into oblivion, what 
 bubbles of reputation have burst, how many 
 flashing meteors have vanished in darkness, 
 how few of the renowned have stood the test of 
 all-trying Time; while the brightening name of 
 Burns, in an age of knowledge and illumina- 
 tion, has shone in beauty and splendour, and 
 his genius enlivened the world of mind with a 
 radiance as enduring as the stars ! 
 
 Gladly would I speak of the genial inspira- 
 tion of Burns, his manly and magnanimous na- 
 ture, his adoration at the shrine of woman's 
 love, his soul fraught with visions of beauty, 
 and eloquent with "the faculty divine," his 
 charming poetry and powers, his genuine wit and 
 humour, the rarest natural endowments,his songs 
 of freedom, grand marches of advancing civili- 
 zation, prophetically sounding the key-note of 
 the pppular sentiments of our country and our 
 age, his uniform afiection for man, irrespective 
 of external conditions, his fidelity to the prin- 
 ciple of equal rights, his ardent love of liberty, 
 and hatred of oppression in every form, his 
 
598 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 early and lamented death, the sun of his earthly 
 day going down in clouds, before his intel- 
 lectual noon ; but brevity is necessary, and 
 many are to be heard who will do these topics 
 ample justice. 
 
 In conclusion, Mr. President, and country- 
 men of Burns ; — We thank you for the bounti- 
 ful arrangements in this delightful festival. — 
 You have judged, rightly in not circumscribing 
 it by nationality. Burns is the common pro- 
 perty of the race ; he addressed the universal 
 human heart, and his mission was to mankind. 
 His poetry is at home here, known by heart, 
 cherished household words, full of the free 
 spirit of our declaration of rights, the magna 
 charta of American liberty. We revere Burns, 
 therefore, not merely as the poet of Scotland, 
 but of freedom and humanity. 
 
 You may well be proud of Scotland, the 
 morality, intelligence, and inborn heroism of 
 her people, her noble institutions, eharitjible, 
 educational, and religious, her enterprising sons 
 and goodly daughters, in every portion of the 
 habitable globe, her illustrious names in every 
 department of excellence, and her glorious old 
 history. We honour them all. Burns, in his 
 iirth, belongs to you, in his works and fame, 
 to us all, and to future ages. The brilliant 
 luminary rising in the meridian of Scotland, 
 adorns the whole firmament with undying 
 lustre ; and we bless God for the cheering 
 light ! 
 
 This is a happy day for the dear okl country. 
 Her whole domain, her highlands and lowlands, 
 her lakes and her rivers, her mountains and 
 glens, her cities and villages, her hamlets and 
 cottages, are vocal with gladness. Her citizens 
 of all classes, the high and the low, the rich 
 and the poor, — for Burns is beloved by them 
 all, — are celebrating the day with unbounded 
 enthusiasm. Vast assemblages, with their 
 orators and poets, are enjoying "a feast of 
 reason and a flow of soul." 
 
 How your friends and kindred wish you 
 were with them, in the festivities of this, their 
 great holiday of the century ! Let them be 
 well assured, however, that you and your 
 neighbours and your fellow-citizens of this land 
 of your adoption, this republic of the western 
 world, celebrate the day also ; and that the 
 name of Burns links our hearts to theirs by the 
 ties of profound veneration. 
 
 Mr. John Belford then sung, " There was a 
 lad was born in Kyle." 
 
 2d Toast, " The Memory of Robert Burns, 
 Scotland's favourite and Immortal Bard." . 
 
 Responded to by Rev. T. G. Smith, with 
 genuine Scotch pathos. 
 
 3d Toast, " The Land of our Birth." 
 
 Responded to by John B. Young. 
 
 4th Toast, "Queen Victoria — that good 
 woman — that pattern of all that is virtuous and 
 noble — may she never be forgotten by Scotch- 
 men, wherever they may be situated." 
 
 Band played "God Save, the Queen," and 
 Mr. J. B. Young sang "Are ye sleepin', 
 Maggie ? " 
 
 5th Toast, " The President of the United 
 States — the Governor, of the State of Illinois, 
 and the land we live in." 
 
 To this sentiment, His Honour, Mayor 
 Perry, responded. 
 
 At the close of the Mayor's speech, the Band 
 played "Hail Columbia," and Mr. John Belford 
 sung the song — " A man's a man for a' that." 
 
 6th Toast, " The Press." 
 
 Responded to by E. A. Bird, of the De- 
 mocrat. 
 
 7th Toast, " Great Britain and the United 
 States — may they ever be, as they ever ought 
 to be, friends each to the other." 
 
 Dr. R. P. Lane responded to this sentiment. 
 
 Many other toasts were given, "songs were 
 sung, and the hour of twelve having arrived, 
 the entire company joined hands, and sung 
 " Auld Langsyne," and then dispersed. 
 
 The dining hall was soon cleared, when the 
 Quintette Band appeared and furnished music 
 for the merry dance, which was kept up very 
 far into the " wee hours ayont the twal." 
 
 Taken all in all, this festival was an honour 
 to the city, and to the gentlemen who had it in 
 charge. 
 
 It might not, perhaps, be inappropriate to 
 add, that the dining hall, on this occasion, was 
 beautifully decorated with evergreens, portraits 
 of Washington, Burns, &c. Conspicuous, also, 
 among the adornments, was a fine picture of 
 Burns, composing his " Cottar's Saturday 
 Night." 
 
 ROXBURY, Mass. — The centennial anni- 
 versary was duly celebrated in this city by a 
 number of the Poet's countrymen and admirers, 
 together with their wives and sweethearts, by 
 a social gathering and supper at the residence 
 of Mr. John Graham, Sudbury Street. The 
 proceedings of the evening were commenced 
 by a call from the Chairman, Mr. J. Cunning- 
 ham, on Mr. J. Rollo, who read the " Address 
 to the Haggis." After an address was deliv- 
 ered by the Chairman, suitable to the occasion, 
 numerous toasts, sentiments, and songs were 
 given, and responded to by different members 
 of the company present during the evening, till 
 the near approach of the " wee short hour ayont 
 the twal " warned us that it was time to sepa- 
 rate. The whole affair passed off pleasantly, 
 and will be long remembered by all who were 
 present as an evening of unalloyed enjoyment. 
 
SAX FRANCISCO. 
 
 599 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO— About half-past se- 
 ven on the evening of the 25th of January, the 
 skirl of the bagpipes was heard on Montgo- 
 mery street. The piper proceeded towards the 
 Oriental Hotel, playing the " Gatherin o' the 
 clans," and other tunes. By the time he reach- 
 ed the Hotel his followers had increased to a 
 goodly number. As the guests had to remain 
 some time in the reception room before dinner 
 was announced, we had an opportunity of exa- 
 mining the fine military-looking figure of the 
 old piper, (shpwn off to advantage in the garb 
 of old Gaul,) and his magnificent set of silver 
 mounted bagpipes. 
 
 On dinner being announced, the piper pre- 
 ceded the guests to the tune of tlie " Camp- 
 bells are comin'," and took his place at the 
 further end of the dining room where the band 
 was already assembled. She room was hand- 
 somely decorated with flags and pictures, and 
 the guests, in number upwards of 100, sat down 
 to a sumptuous dinner, in which the "honest 
 sonsie face" of the haggis was conspicuous. 
 
 George Gordon, Esq., presided, and pro- 
 nounced the toasts. He introduced the first 
 toast, " The Memory of Burns," with a few 
 appropriate remarks, and, at his direction, it 
 was drank standing and in silence. The piper 
 played Burns' Farewell. " This day one hun- 
 dred years ago" he introduced with an address, 
 as follows : 
 
 This day one hundred years ago, a small 
 house stood on the roadside near the town of 
 Ayr ; it was in a newly planted market garden 
 of some six or seven acres ; the land was leased 
 by a thrifty hard working, newly - married 
 Scotsman. The humble cottage had been built 
 by his own hands ; love and poverty furnished 
 it, and in it, one day a century ago, the young 
 wife bore the gardener a son. To her side the 
 rustic mother fondly nestled her firstborn, and 
 the grave husbandman with love and pride bent 
 over them both ; few things could have in- 
 creased their pleasure. But little did they 
 think that when a hundred years had passed, 
 that day, that cottage, and they themselves, 
 would be celebrated all over the world, because 
 of that new-born boy. Yet so it is : that day 
 was January 25, 1759. The boy was Robert 
 Burns, the peasant poet of Scotland, the chief 
 bard of a land of song. 
 
 The speaker related the early poverty and 
 struggles of tJie poet and his family to bar 
 the door on the wolf that snarled around their 
 lintels for many weary years. 
 
 Such were the scenes amongst which the 
 youthful poet first felt within him the stirrings 
 of the mighty spirit, which " wakes to ecstasy 
 the living lyre." Hardly fed — for even at 
 
 twenty-two, when his condition had improved, 
 and he had so risen in the world as to be learn- 
 ing a trade as a flax-dresser, we find him lodg- 
 ing at a shilling a-week, and writing to his 
 father to say " that his meal was nearly out." 
 We have no doubt parritch and oat-cake form- 
 ed the staples of his banquets. Poorly clothed 
 — for when on the farm he speaks of his 
 " clouterly ploughboy carcass, bare at both ex- 
 tremes in all weathers," — head regardless of 
 bonnet, feet disdainful of shoes — with but few 
 books, and not more than a sound country 
 education, and borne down by continual pover- 
 ty; we cannot but wonder how first was kin- 
 dled within him that glorious fervour of feeling, 
 which after smouldering in his bosom for a 
 while, burst out in strains of a pathos so sweet, 
 a humour so exquisite, of a spirit so fiery, so 
 inspiring and exuberant — free as the wind 
 sweeping through his native heather, tender as 
 twiliglit of the summer eve. What fed the 
 passionate emotions of his soul and gave them 
 that over-mastering strength, wliich in after 
 years developed itself in deathless song ? 
 Whence came that tumultuous love of his, that 
 soft well-spring of gentleness, that delicate glow 
 of fancy, that high range of thought, that buoy- 
 ant wealth of fun, that instant perception of 
 the beautiful, the ludicrous, the sombre and the 
 grand ; and that wondrous power of change, 
 which sent every varying sensation and percep- 
 tion sweeping through his mind — from whence 
 he scattered them, like showers of diamond 
 dust through his poems. 
 
 Whence came they ? Ask of him who made 
 the diamond and the sandstone — the gorgeous 
 flower and the humble grass — the stars and the 
 clods. It is enough for us to know that they 
 were the pride of our fathers — are our joy — 
 and will be the heritage of our children. 
 
 It was as if the Espiritu Santo of the torrid 
 zone, magnificent in foliage and superb in its 
 flower with the dove-like petal, had been trans- 
 planted to the miserable northern soil of that 
 hungry farm, and had taken strange root, had 
 become invigorated and imbued by northern 
 force and freedom, had been fed and not killed 
 by their stormy blasts ; and while it retained 
 the luxuriance and bloom of its native tropics, 
 caught the rugged strength and energy of its 
 new home, growing amongst its bleak rocks and 
 on its thin soil, a thing of power and beauty — 
 a living exponent of the deep and passionate 
 impulses which slumber in the grave and prac- 
 tical hearts of Scotland. 
 
 From the age of sixteen, until his twenty- 
 sixth year, when his first volume was published 
 under the modest title of "Poems Chiefly 
 Scottish," we find him, with hardy industry, 
 turning his hand to various labour ; though 
 
600 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 accomplishing little more in a worldly sense, 
 than keeping himself, and aiding to support 
 himself and family. The plough, the seythe 
 and the flail, at which he had few equals 
 and no competitors, always stood between 
 him and want. His leisure, he intended to 
 devote with hearty good will to the acquisi- 
 tion of useful information J but his practical 
 resolutions were for ever upset by the wayward 
 impulses of the imprisoned spirit within him. 
 Worldly motives prompted him to walk steadily 
 in paths of routine ; but he was irresistibly 
 lifted off his feet by the wings of song, which 
 were unconsciously growing out of his soul. 
 Prudence called him to the affairs of life — in- 
 spiration swept him into the regions of imagi- 
 nation. There was a continual struggle be- 
 tween his sense of duty and an overwhelming 
 efiBuence which flooded his mind. He walked 
 through a black sterile glen ; hard toiling, 
 poorly fed, scantily clothed ; with clouds low- 
 ering above him, and chilly blasts around him, 
 but all a-blaze within. The light would burst 
 through ; and it illumined the cold glen, and 
 gilded the rocks, and set the very clouds a- 
 glow. 
 
 During these years, Burns was frequently 
 subject to "fits of profound melancholy. This 
 phenomenon is a very usual accompaniment of 
 the northern imagination. It is the mist, 
 which ever and anon envelops the rugged 
 grandeur of its form — the relapse consequent 
 upon states of high mental exhilaration — the 
 harp unstrung after it has been intensely 
 strained, and wildly swept. Whether this me- 
 lancholy was a consequence, or a cause, of the 
 exquisite tenderness of the muse of Burns, we 
 will not inquire ; but they were intimately con- 
 nected. As the mist condenses, and waters the 
 grass and flowers on the mountain side, softening 
 and freshening their beauty ; the melancholy 
 of the poet bathes the imagery of his songs 
 with touching grace and gentleness. These 
 dark spells gave the minstrelsy of Burns that 
 intermittent character, which distinguishes in- 
 nate and heaven-bestowed genius, from merely 
 educational and acquired dexterity. They 
 came like mighty frosts, congealing the out- 
 ward issues of his song, but leaving the hidden 
 springs open. The visible current disappears, 
 but the waters accumulate within. By and by, 
 something occurs which sets them seething as 
 in a cauldron. His passions, as he himself 
 says, would rage like so many devils until they 
 found vent in song. Internal heat thaws the 
 mute and frozen channels, and away dart the 
 pent-up waters, sparkling and alive. 
 
 There is a fine moral beauty in the faithful 
 tenderness displayed by Burns to his mother 
 and family. The incense of the world did not 
 
 intoxicate him. His head turned to his old 
 home. He lighted it with his fame, and suc- 
 coured it with his savings. Let us imitate our 
 national bard, and aye think of the old home ! 
 If, in the race of life, we have won worldly 
 gear, let us share our blessings with those lov- 
 ing hearts, who tenderly nourished us when 
 we had none but them to shield our helpless- 
 ness. Now has come the day of reciprocation. 
 Now debtors, can we discharge in part that 
 early debt, to which we owe our being and our 
 success, with its long arrear of interest. Now 
 men, rejoicing in our strength, let^us be all the 
 world to those dear hearts, who were once all 
 the world to us ; and sanctify our manhood 
 with our earliest loves. Let us not forget : 
 lest when we are old and feeble, our own loved 
 little ones, working out the justice of God, 
 leave us forsaken. 
 
 We, in distant California, glory in Burns. 
 Let us do as he did. Let us not be niggard 
 of loving letters to those who never begrudged 
 loving words to us. What if we have to forego 
 some festive scene, or burn some midnight oil ; 
 are there not those who have forborne plea- 
 sures for us, upon whose tired faces for our 
 sakes, the watcher's rushlight has shed its pallid 
 rays ? Nor let letters content us. Let sub- 
 stantial mementoes of our love adorn our early 
 homes, little or much as we can — but something 
 always. Haply, the few dollars, or the few 
 hundreds, though little to us, would be mickle 
 to ours. The fire might burn more cheery ; 
 the winter cold be more cosily shut out ; the 
 summer sun more pleasantly enjoyed, be- 
 cause of our care. The mere money would be 
 the least joy. There would be a lustre about 
 every poor guinea not born of gold. The real 
 sterling would not be that of the marts of com- 
 merce. It would be recoined money, stamped 
 and burnished in the mint of a son's or a bro- 
 ther's love. It will fill their little purses and 
 their big hearts at the same moment, because 
 " our Rab sent it." 
 
 After comparing the poetry of Burns with 
 that of the other poets, the speaker said : 
 
 Burns leads us into the quiet sunlight. The 
 sweet smell of nature salutes us, and the fresh 
 dews hang trembling on his leaves and flowers. 
 By rippling streams, on banks and braes and 
 heathery knolls, in the green dell and along 
 the moorland edge, he takes us. Sometimes 
 his spirit apostrophises the storm, as it sways 
 the lofty pines, and sweeps through the forest 
 with a mighty sigh ; but generally it bathes in 
 its tender light something that he can love. 
 His pet sheep, poor Mailie, receives him " wi' 
 her kindly bleat;" his auld mare, Maggie, get- 
 ting a new year feed of corn ; the little mousie 
 rinnin' from her desolated nest in the stubble ; 
 
SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 601 
 
 tlio daisy, "wee, modest, crimson-tippit flower" 
 — all come in for a share of liis glowing kindli- 
 ness. He lifts the latch of a theekit cottage. 
 His eye beams on the patriarchal sire, the 
 kindly wife and mother, tlie blazing ingle, and 
 the open bible. He watches the bairns as they 
 come dropping in "frae service out amang the 
 farmers roun'," with Jenny and her bashful 
 lover amongst them. The plaintive psalm and 
 the solemn prayer ascend to heaven, and the 
 poet's full heart bursts into song. The actors in 
 that scene have long passed away; the husband 
 and the father prays no more ; the bairns have 
 loved and toiled, and now rest ; haply the very 
 cottage has crumbled into dust ; but the scene 
 itself remains. The genius of song shone upon 
 it one Saturday night, and by its own tran- 
 scendent rays transferred it to imperishable 
 plates — flattered in nothing, nor in aught im- 
 perfect — but as it was, a gfoup of humble life, 
 drawn with such exquisite truth that it will 
 stand as long as family love and family prayer 
 endures. This touches our hearts. 
 
 His own heart is welling full and over, "and 
 ilka bird and ilka tree" receives its share. But 
 if a bonnie lassie comes along, as to the queen 
 of love, he turns to her, and investing her with 
 royal robes, woven by his own ardent imagina- 
 tion, pours at her feet the very essence of his 
 devotion and worship. She dies, perhaps — he 
 sees her beyond the stars, and in a transport of 
 passionate longing, throws himself on the sod, 
 agonized by the distance that separates them, 
 and breathes forth his eloquent soul to " Mary 
 in Heaven." He is not long sombre ; sorrow 
 having- found vent in song, like spring clouds 
 after the moisture is discharged in rain, disap- 
 pears, and the sun comes forth again. With 
 the change, his exuberant humour, second 
 only to his love, comes out and disports 
 itself. He addresses " The Deil," and tells of 
 "Tam o' Shanter," — "a louse on a lady's 
 bonnet" calls out his fun and wisdom. And 
 where nothing better happens to evoke his 
 riant humour, it even spends itself on "The 
 Toothache," and "A Tax Collector's Demand." 
 His passionate heart and his redundant fancy 
 continually mingle and effervesce in a tumult of 
 poetry ; pregnant with the tonic of high moral 
 purpose and the spirit of freedom, it has fur- 
 nished a glorious intellectual beverage to two 
 generations past — ^is as grateful to our palates 
 to-day as it was to those of our forefathers. 
 
 No poet of any people has been so deeply 
 loved as Burns. His fame has become so knit 
 with his country that to love Scotland is to 
 love her peasant bard. 
 
 Best thee, noble, leal heart — faithful and 
 impulsive spirit, rest ! Long enough hast thou 
 lived for fame. Thou cam'st like a comet, but 
 
 though thy nucleus disappeared in a brief space, 
 thy track, full of radiance, remains transfixed 
 in glory in the heavens, and is added to our 
 perpetual constellations. Star after star has 
 since appeared ; a crowd of orbs now gem our 
 skies; but in its soft and tender light thy glory 
 still remains, undimmed by time or contact. 
 
 Thou hast taken thy place among the choral 
 band of Poets, who in all time have chaunted 
 the songs of humanity, and have given utter- 
 ance to its loves, its hopes, its triumphs and 
 despairs — to its passions stormy as winter on 
 the summit of Benvoirlich, or soft as summer 
 on the banks o' Doon. Thy voice is heard as 
 a sweet tenor-^scarce heard, indeed, when the 
 swell of mighty notes prevail, when Milton's 
 superb bass rolls out, as from the unseen spheres 
 — when the martial recitative of Scott, or 
 Byron's sonorous baritone peal forth — but ever 
 and anon stealing on the ear with a quiet me- 
 lody, clear, simple, and true, which searches 
 and plays amongst the tendrils of our nature, 
 stirring the fountains of tenderness within us, 
 until tiie unbidden tears come forth, and our 
 touched hearts acknowledge a master's power. 
 
 Gentlemen, I give you, on the centennial 
 birthday of Robert Burns, " This day one 
 hundred years ago." 
 
 In response to the last toast, the band played 
 " There was a Lad was born in Kyle," and Mr. 
 Gordon then pronounced the following toasts, 
 introducing each with an extempore verse : — 
 
 " The Land of Cakes." Band : " Bannocks 
 o' Barley Meal." Alex. Forbes, Esq., responded. 
 
 "The Land we live in." Band: "Hail 
 Columbia." 
 
 Tills toast was proposed by W. Lane Booker, 
 Esq., H. B. M. Consul, who sat on the right of 
 the President. He spoke as follows : — The 
 eloquent and pleasing address of the President 
 has made me forget much of what I intended 
 to say, but the toast of "The Land we live in," 
 allotted to me, is one requiring no effort on my 
 part to ensure it a favourable reception. We 
 live in a country abounding in natural advan- 
 tages. We have a fine climate, a fertile soil, 
 with a greater part of it with its virgin fresh- 
 ness upon it, and we have almost beneath our 
 feet that which, I fear, we place too much value 
 upon — Gold itself. California, as all who lived 
 here or watched the events of the last eight or 
 ten years must know, is a progressive country. 
 Progress, in our case, demands a speedy and 
 constant communication with all parts of the 
 Union. We have done something the past 
 year ; we have one new sea-route, the Tehuan- 
 tepec, and we have stages arriving twice a-week 
 from the East. The opening of stage commu- 
 nication, especially if the routes receive military 
 I protection, under the fostering care of the Fe- 
 
602 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 deral Government, will do much for the coun- 
 try, for what California wants is capital, not 
 capital in money, but in " bone and sinew," 
 and I predict thousands upon thousands of 
 those hardy western sons of toil will, with 
 their families, yearly find their way across. 
 Again, this country may have a little healthy 
 rivalry in the newly discovered gold region, 
 British Columbia ; for we must remember what 
 my friend who preceded me has told us of 
 the strides made by Scotland, and not forget 
 that if the climate be less congenial than that 
 of California, it is at least equal to a large 
 portion of the British Empire, and there is, 
 consequently, no knowing what progress the 
 new colony may make. A rivalry will benefit 
 California, as it will open the eyes of the people 
 out of the State to the fact that this country 
 which has benefited all, in and out of the State, 
 must not be left entirely alone to work out its 
 future. Our Chairman, gentlemen, has alluded 
 to the necessity of our not forgetting our 
 friends at home, and I will call your attention 
 to it. One-half of my time is employed in 
 responding to enquiries from anxious and ne- 
 glected relatives, and in discovering, or en- 
 deavouring to, those inquired for. Usually I 
 find them well-oif and contented, and nothing 
 but a carelessness I warn you all against, has 
 prevented their corresponding with the "old 
 folks at home." If the soul-stirring appeal of 
 tlie President could but reach the hills and 
 valleys throughout the State, I am satisfied 
 there would be many an anxious heart relieved, 
 and many a determination made no longer to 
 let mail and mail pass without some few words 
 of affection being sent to those, far or near, we 
 never ought to forget. I will say no more, 
 but give you — " The Land we live in." 
 
 "The Queen." Company join in the music. 
 Band : " God Save the Queen." 
 
 "The President of the United States." 
 Three times three. Band : " Star Spangled 
 Banner." 
 
 " The Poets of Scotland." Response by J. 
 T. A. Anderson. Band : " Here's a Health to 
 them that's awa." 
 
 "The Poets of England." Band: "Fine 
 Old English Gentleman." Responded to by 
 Mr. C. J. Hughes. 
 
 " The Poets of Ireland." Band: "The Harp 
 that once in Tara's Halls." Dr. Nuttall re- 
 sponded. 
 
 " The Poets of America." " The old folks 
 at Home," by the band. Responded to by Col. 
 Baker. 
 
 " The Memory of the Ettrick Shepherd." 
 " Ettrick banks," by the band. Responded to 
 by J. P. Brodie, Esq., one of the vice-presidents. 
 
 After the regular toasts a number of volun- 
 
 teer and complimentary toasts were offered and 
 drank with enthusiasm. The evening passed 
 away with joviality and good feeling. A num- 
 ber of Scotch songs were sung in fine style 
 and were heartily applauded, and not unfre- 
 quently encored. English and Irish ballads 
 were also given and equally well received. 
 Friendly messages and deputations from kin- 
 dred meetings called forth the good fellowship 
 of the meeting, and were cordially responded 
 to. The meeting then broke up, and with often 
 interchanged good-nights, each wended his way 
 home. Some thirty or forty, whose paths lay to- 
 gether, induced old Campbell and his pipes to 
 march at their head, and not a few quiet streets 
 were astonished to find their echoes aroused by 
 the stirring tunes of old Scotland. 
 
 At Sacramento, Mrs. Branks, of the Union 
 hotel, gave a Scotch haggis, with "reaming 
 swats, that drank divinely." At Placerville, 
 the Scotchmen found each other. At Marys- 
 ville they commemorated the great day, and in 
 every mining camp in California, there were 
 some found who knew who Burns was and how 
 much we owe him, and showed how much they 
 loved him. 
 
 The Tremont Burns Dinner. — The large 
 dining hall of the Tremont House was filled 
 by a jolly company, who sat down at a table 
 loaded with delicious viands and wines. The 
 officers of the dinner party were as follows : — 
 President, James Linen ; Vice-presidents, Gen. 
 M'Dougal and David Jobson ; Treasurer, John 
 Herron ; Secretary, John H. Peacock. 
 
 After an hour had been devoted to the table, 
 the President called the party to order, and 
 the intellectual part of the feast was commenc- 
 ed. The regular toasts were as follows : 
 
 First toast. — " The Immortal Genius of 
 Burns." 
 
 The President, James Linen, Esq., remarked 
 as follows : — My friends, — Nature made the 
 author of " The Gentle Shepherd" a poet, 
 and, as it were out of compliment, she allowed 
 him to live to a green old age, in the full en- 
 joyment of his fame and his riches ; but he was 
 no sooner gathered to his fathers than, as if im- 
 patient to produce a greater than he, she shortly 
 afterwards pointed to a clay -built, straw- 
 thatched cottage on the banks of the Doon, 
 as the birth-place of our own immortal Burns. 
 The grass of the old Gray Friar's churchyard 
 had only waved over the grave of Allan Ram- 
 say one summer when Burns was born. On 
 the 2oth of January 1759, this very day one 
 hundred years ago, he came into the world to 
 fulfil his high and glorious destiny. He was 
 nursed in the lap of poverty, and his journey of 
 life was one of bitterness and neglect. He 
 struggled like a man, however, and towered 
 
SAN FRANCISCO— SCHENECTADY. 
 
 603 
 
 above the circumstances of liis birth. Though 
 not born to titles, or to an inheritance from a 
 long line of distinguished ancestors, he was 
 illustrious by nature, and received the high 
 credentials of nobility from his God — an im- 
 perishable honour, and a gift which monarchs 
 cannot confer, nor the world take away. Burns 
 was emphatically the poet of nature ; a warmer 
 heart never beat within a bosom. He was in- 
 tensely Scottish in his feelings, and his soul 
 bjirned with a devotion to his country which 
 adversity could not chill. He sympathized 
 with all suffering. The " wee sleekit, cowerin, 
 tim'rous beastie," the mouse, he even called his 
 
 " Poor earth-born companion 
 And fellow mortal." 
 
 He mourned the daisy of the field, which he 
 turned up with his plough ; but while he 
 crushed it, the magic touch of his muse gave 
 tlie " wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower" a 
 glorious immortality. 
 
 The Chairman concluded an eloquent speech 
 as follows : 
 
 Come then, my countrymen, come one, come 
 all ; and let this night be dedicated to social 
 conviviality, for the sake of Burns. I hope, 
 however, that we have met for a nobler pur- 
 pose than merely to feast our appetites. Let 
 our social meeting be also an intellectual ban- 
 quet. Let the glorious spirit of Burns himself 
 be present. He is now ranked with the author 
 •of the Iliad and the Bard of Avon, and his 
 name will go down to the latest posterity as a 
 benefactor of the human race. When the 
 splendid monuments that have been erected in 
 honour of the poet shall have crumbled into 
 dust, his memory will live embalmed and un- 
 deeayed in the affections of his countrymen. 
 Up then, my friends, and cordially toast, with 
 three times three, " The Immortal Genius of 
 the Poet Burns!" 
 
 In answer to the above, Mr. Peacock sung 
 " A man's a man for a' that," and he was ac- 
 companied by Mr. Burrage on the piano. Mr. 
 Linen then gave the other toasts as follows : 
 
 2d. " The Land of Burns May the songs 
 
 of her bards be always manly and independent, 
 helping to elevate the lowly and bring down 
 the proud, until both shall meet in good fellow- 
 ship on the platform of humanity." 
 
 Response, a song by Mr. Donnelly—" Scots 
 wha hae." 
 
 3d. " The Land we live in.— May its rapid- 
 ly increasing population be prosperous and 
 happy, and the tone of its literature elevated 
 and refined." 
 
 Response, a song by Mr. Peacock—" Oh Su- 
 sannah." 
 
 4th. By the 1st Vice-President, Mr. Jobson: 
 
 " The Peasant Poet. — Scotland claims him 
 for liis birth ; the world claims him for his 
 worth." 
 
 5th. By the Treasurer, John Heron : " The 
 Press. — The mighty lever in the world tliat 
 will yet overthrow every system of despotism : 
 the medium through which public opinion is 
 directed, and the only saff guard of a free and 
 enlightened people. Tlie history of the past 
 abundantly proves that ' the pen is mightier 
 than the sword.'" 
 
 Response by Col. Baker. 
 
 6th. By the Secretary, Mr. Peacock : " Tlie 
 Poets of America. — Numerous and bright as 
 the stars of heaven, may they shine in the 
 firmament of Poesy, cheering millions by their 
 humanizing and genial influence, and illuminat- 
 ing the diirk and dreary pathways of life in our 
 destined pilgrimage to another and a better 
 land." 
 
 Response by Col. Tracy. 
 
 SAVANNAH, Geo. — The Burns centenary 
 was celebrated here by a fete the most brilliant 
 in every respect that ever transpired in this 
 State. Dr. R. D. Arnold presided. He made 
 a speech replete with humour, wit, fact, and 
 feeling, in response to the memory of the im- 
 mortal bard. William Duncan, a native Scots- 
 man, was Vice-President, and responded to the 
 toast " Queen Victoria." His speech was witty 
 and happy ; and when he sat down the com- 
 pany rose to their feet and gave the good 
 Queen three cheers. The first toast, " The 
 President of the United States," was responded 
 to by Solomon Cohen. The favourite toast, 
 " Auld Langsyne," was responded to by Hon. 
 Wm. H. Stiles, with touches of feeling felici- 
 tously appropriate. "Bonnie Scotland" was 
 the sixth toast, to which Mr. J. S. Hutton, a 
 native Scotchman, responded. " The Harp of 
 Ireland" was the next toast, and to that Mr. J. 
 J. Kelly, a native of the Green Isle, responded 
 eloquently. The "American Poets" was the 
 next sentiment, and Hon. Henry R. Jackson, 
 our late Minister to Austria, responded. C. 
 0. Jones responded to the next sentiment, 
 " Woman," in a chaste and felicitous tribute to 
 the sex. 
 
 Messrs. A. M. Hodge and J. J. Kelly gave 
 some glorious songs. The dinner was a feast 
 for the gods : the wines were the best ever 
 made of grape. The company numbered one 
 hundred gentlemen. 
 
 SCHENECTADY, N. Y.— A large number 
 gathered at the Eagle Hotel on Tuesday even- 
 ing to do honour to the memory of Robert 
 Burns. There were Scotchmen, and descend- 
 ants of Scotchmnn ; there were people, too, 
 
604 
 
 THE BURNS CENTENARY. 
 
 representing other countries, for the 'occasion 
 was one in which it was appropriate for all to 
 participate. Hon. John Sanders was called to 
 the chair. Prof. Foster, ex-Ald. Hunter, A. J. 
 Thomson, Esq., and W. M. Colborne, Esq., 
 were appointed Vice-Presidents. G. D. Ken- 
 nedy, Esq., was chosen Master of Ceremonies ; 
 and I. M. Gregory, Secretary. 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, III. —- The festival in 
 Springfield was one of the most entertaining 
 ever given in that city. The gathering was 
 large and respectable, and several excellent 
 speeches were made, the most prominent of 
 which by Mr. Knox, a native of Scotland. 
 
 ST. LOUIS, Mo.— The celebration in this 
 city of the centennial anniversary of the birth 
 of Robert Burns will be long remembered as a 
 brilliant tribute to the memory of the " Poet 
 Ploughman." It was not left to Scotchmen 
 alone to commemorate the man. Burns belongs 
 to no nation. Humanity claims him and loves 
 him. The hundreds of Americans assembled on 
 Tuesday night, if a correct analysis of their esti- 
 mate of Burns could be made, would find that 
 deeper than their admiration of the unrivalled 
 genius of the poet lay a home-like affection for 
 the loving-hearted, manly Robert Burns. There 
 would be a sad void in British literature if the 
 writings of this laughter and tear-provoking 
 poet were stricken out of it. But a sadder 
 void in the history of humanity would be cre- 
 ated if the large place that Burns fills there 
 were a blank. 
 
 In proposing the toast, " Burns, the Bard of 
 Scotland," Mr. A. S. Mitchell said — Genius 
 was in a remarkable degree the property of 
 Burns. But with genius there was also hvi- 
 manity. Genius and humanity met in the per- 
 son of Burns. Not only were they celebrating 
 the memory of the hale fellow, but of manhood 
 in its most glorious personification. Burns 
 was a poor man, poor indeed ; poverty in the 
 father, in the mother, brother, and in himself. 
 They were all hard workers, that family of 
 Burns. The poet himself a hard worker — 
 working by the year at the rate of seven 
 pounds, — thirty-five dollars for one year's la- 
 bour of the poet Burns. This work in the 
 traces of the treadmill was the condition of hu- 
 manity in its lowest grade, in its most abject 
 state ; but let it be considered that from that 
 grew the infinite. We are wont to censure 
 the world, but after all is not that the source, 
 the agency from which we reap the glory v^hich 
 twines the brow of human nature ? Wine ef- 
 fervesces in the bottle and carries warmth to 
 the heart, but the grape was crushed before it 
 gave the spirit. No music came from the lyre 
 
 until the chords were struck ; no fire flashed 
 from the steel until it came into collision with 
 the granite rock. Suppose he sinned ! With- 
 out sinning there is no repentance — without 
 repentance no pardon, without pardon there is 
 no shout of joy in exultartion around the Al- 
 mighty's throne. Without his sufferings, his 
 errors, his sorrows, his repentance, what would 
 be the record he had left behind hjm? If he 
 sinned he sorrowed ; if he went astray he re- 
 pented. We know the Almighty made him, 
 and we will leave him in the hands of his Cre- 
 ator. 
 
 Numerous other speeches were made and 
 songs sung, and some two hundred and forty 
 souls carried away with them impressions which 
 memory will ever cherish as among the most 
 pleasing memories of the past. 
 
 ST. PAUL. — The anniversary was cele- 
 brated in the capital of Minesota, by a festival 
 at Schiller's Banquet Rooms, by a number of 
 Scotchmen and their friends. Alexander 
 Buchanan, Esq., presided. Toasts were pro- 
 posed and responded to by the Chairman, Mr. 
 L. B. Greig, Ex-Governor Gorman, W. Craw- 
 ford, Robert Eckford, W. G. Fonseca, J. H. 
 Murray, J. Craig, Ex-Governor Rumsey and 
 other gentlemen. Numerous songs enlivened 
 the evening, and a piper in Highland costume 
 varied the entertainment by playing a variety 
 of national airs. " It is the design," says the 
 Miiwsotian, " of the Scotch citizens of St. Paul, 
 among whom are some of our most respected 
 and well-to-do townsmen, to organise a St. 
 Andrew's Society, -and endeavour to bring into 
 our new State an immigration of these thrift)', 
 energetic, hardy, and intelligent class of people. 
 We will welcome them as a valuable accession 
 to our population, for though we know how 
 dear the memory of their native land is, they 
 make good citizens always. 
 
 TREMONT, N. Y.— Though few and far 
 between, the Scots of this village caught the 
 infection of the centennial celebration of the 
 ploughman bard, and resolved to commemorate 
 the event in the usual festive way. A good 
 supper was partaken of at Itner's Hotel, the 
 " chieftain o' the puddin' race " holding a pro- 
 minent place on the table. Supper being de- 
 spatched, the usual national and patriotic toasts 
 were drunk with suitable remarks. Song and 
 sentiment went their merry round till an ad- 
 vanced hour. After singing " Auld Langsyne " 
 with national honours, the company separated 
 highly pleased with tlie entertainment. 
 
TROY— WEST FARMS. 
 
 605 
 
 TROY. — The occasion was celebrated here 
 by a banquet, at wliich about 200 guests were 
 present. At the table at the head of the hall 
 sat Hon. Alfred Wotkyns, Honorary Chairman ; 
 upon his right were William Lindsay, Esq., 
 President of the St. Andrew's Society, General 
 John E. Wool, Rev. Dr. Kennedy, and William 
 Cooper, Esq. On his left, Judge Gould, Hon. 
 Arba Read, Mayor of the city, Hon. John A. 
 Griswold, ex-Mayor Slocum, Thomas T. Read, 
 Esq., and others. Judge Gould responded to 
 the toast of the evening in an able speech, and 
 among the other speakers were General Wool, 
 Rev. Dr. Kennedy, Rev. John Smith, John A. 
 Griswold, B. H. Hall, George William Curtis, 
 &e. The festival was a highly successful one. 
 
 WASHINGTON.— The celebration at the 
 metropolis of the Union w'ks worthy of the oc- 
 casion. Although the Burns club here is in 
 itself small in numbers, such was the enthusiasm 
 among the admirers of Scotland's peasant bard, 
 that nearly one hundred and fifty gentlemen 
 sat down to dinner at the National Hotel, in- 
 cluding many of the most distinguished persons 
 in politics, literature, art, and the drama. The 
 ■chair was taken by Senator Pearce of Maryland, 
 a near connection of the Ramsays of Dalhousie. 
 On his right sat the orator of the day, Mr. 
 Carlisle, Professor M'Leod, and Mr. Cameron, 
 president of the St. Andrew's Society ; on the 
 left the Rev. Dr. Balch (chaplain of the day), 
 Mr. Hannay, president of the club, Mr. D. 
 Dewar, secretary, &c. Mr. Pearce's opening 
 speech of welcome was full of simple and ear- 
 nest feeling ; and his remarks on Burns would 
 make an admirable addition to our volumes of 
 criticism on Scotia's favourite bard. Mr. Car- 
 lisle (who married a M'Leod, and remarked 
 tliat, though not of Scotch descent himself, his 
 children were), responded to "The Memory 
 of Burns" in a speech containing many fine 
 thoughts and animating allusions. Mr. Speaker 
 Orr spoke for America and the devotion of her 
 sons to Burns in that fervid strain characteris- 
 tic of South Carolina orators. The toast of 
 " The Poets of Scotland and America " called 
 up Donald M'Leod, Esq., of Washington who, 
 though born on the banks of the Potomac, was 
 educated at the university of Glasgow, married 
 a Scotch wife, and spent some years at difierent 
 
 ! times in Scotland and other parts of Europe}. 
 His speech was a brief series of sententious 
 notices of Allan Ramsay, Scott, Campbell, 
 Hogg, Wilson, Graham, Motherwell, Moir — 
 prefaced by a touching tribute to Tannahill and 
 Ferguson — and a glowing eulogium on Bryant 
 and Halleck, the former our best descriptive 
 poet, and the latter one of the finest lyrists in 
 any language. Each of the names alluded to 
 by the Professor called forth plaudits, but none 
 received greater cheering than that of Halleck 
 — probably on account of his recitation of some 
 verses from that matchless .piece of American 
 lyric poetry, the lines " To the Wild Rose of 
 AUoway," which he designated as the best thing 
 that had ever been said or sung about Burns. 
 Every line went to the heart of the Scotchmen 
 present ; and the Americans rejoiced that such 
 apt and discriminating eulogy had come from 
 one of the most loved and honoured of Ameri- 
 can poets. Mayor Berret made an excellent 
 speech in reply to the toast to " The City of 
 Washington," and some clever allusions to 
 Burns and the occasion. But the speeches 
 were scarcely more notable than the songs by 
 Messrs. Gilbert Cameron, Ford, Sword, Wood- 
 ley, and Dimitry. About two o'clock in the 
 morning a company of gentlemen of the highest 
 culture — including senators and representatives 
 in Congress, statesmen, orators, poets, wits and 
 humourists — assembled around Mr. Speaker 
 Orr, who, after the retirement of Mr. Pearce, 
 had taken the chair, and sang " Auld Langsyne." 
 It was a memorable spectacle, and a fitting con- 
 clusion to the proceedings of the day. 
 
 A simpler but very Interesting recognition 
 of the centenary was given by Professor M'Leod 
 at his Literary Institute, in the form of two 
 lectures, on Monday and Tuesday, reviewing 
 the Life and Poems of the bard-peasant. They 
 were attended by the elite of Washington. 
 
 WEST FARMS, N. W— The anniversary 
 was celebrated here by a supper, part of which 
 consisted of " the chieftain o' the puddin' race." 
 We had also some of the inspiring beverage 
 that Willie used to brew from the maut. Songs 
 and toasts appropriate to the occasion were 
 given, and the company spent a very happy 
 evening. The chair was occupied by Mr. Wil- 
 liam Mackay, who ably discharged his duties, 
 and Mr. William Howie ofliciated as Vice-Chair- 
 
COPENHAGEN. 
 
 The Centenary of Kobert Burns has not 
 been unobserved here also. On the evening 
 of the 25th, Professor Stephens gave a lecture 
 on this illustrious poet in the University, and 
 concluded by reading a long original poem of 
 450 lines, entitled " The Rescue of Robert 
 Burns in February, 1759." Admission was by 
 ticket, and one shilling sterling each. The 
 
 hall was crowded ; the majority of the audience 
 consisting of the British residents, both gentle 
 and simple, but there being also a great num- 
 ber of strangers present. We observed, besides 
 Danes, also Norwegians, Swedes, and Ice- 
 landers. The whole proceeds were given by 
 Professor Stephens to the fund for building a 
 new English Episcopal Church in this city. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 EDINBURGH ; 
 
 FULI.AHTON AND JIACNAB, PKISTEES, LEITII WALK. 
 
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