Newsletter
February 2000
 100 Burns Facts
Dr.
James Mackay, the worlds leading authority on Burns, presents exclusively
for the World Burns Club, a regular contribution of lesser-known "Burns
Facts" On an ongoing basis, 100 facts will be introduced and made available
within our expert analyses archive. As an introduction to our series Jim
says: -
"More
than two hundred years after his death, Robert Burns continues to fascinate
all manner of people the world o'er. No other poet ever touched such a
chord in the hearts of men everywhere, and no one ever articulated the
range of emotions felt by everyone. Not for nothing has he been dubbed
the "Bard of All Humanity." You don't have to be Scottish to appreciate
his poetry or be entertained by his songs; much of what he wrote was in
standard English anyway, but even the vernacular poetry is couched in
such simple language that, with a little help, it can be easily understood."
"His
great song of parting, 'Auld
Lang Syne' is arguably the most widely sung song in the world,
while 'A Man's
a Man' is regarded today as the great hymn of universal brotherhood.
Many of his lines, from. 'the
best laid schemes o mice an men'...
to...
'man's inhumanity to man', have passed into every day language."
"Burns
the man, however, remains a controversial figure, largely as a result
of the efforts of so many nineteenth century biographers to denigrate
him. Burns the womaniser and drunken debauchee is a powerful image; the
reprobate redeemed by his sublime poetry was a popular impression ! "
"Burns himself wrote that 'Facts are chiels that winna
ding', but in his case it has been a long struggle to set the record straight.
Of course, Burns took a drink and sometimes drank more than was good for
him, but in an age when hard drinking was the rule rather than the exception
His duties as an Exciseman and his responsibilities as a husband and father,
belie the popular image !"
"The
man who farmed 170 of the poorest acres in southern Scotland,.. rode 200
miles a week on Excise surveys,.. wrote up four different sets of books,
..was a voluminous correspondent... and found time to write so much matchless
verse, was a workaholic... not an alcoholic !"
- Was Burns really the
unlettered rustic patronised by the Edinburgh literati, or an exceptionally
well educated (though mainly self-educated) man?
- What was the nature of
his mysterious illness at the town of Irvine in Ayrshire?
- Who jilted him and who,
really, was the girl known to posterity as 'Highland Mary?
- Did Burns really send
a parcel of cannon to the French revolutionaries?
- What was the "Rape
of the Sabine Women" that got him into such trouble with his closest
friend?
"These
and many other questions that are hotly argued to this day will
be presented on regular basis,.... exclusive to The World Burns Club"
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