Burns in Poolewe

Laide Caravan Park

The Bard and I visited lovely Wester Ross this weekend at the invitation of Wester Ross Burns Club. Poolewe village hall echoed to the Burns' story with club members, locals and some holiday makers attending.

Poolewe Hall

Thanks to the ladies who put on a great spread at the interval and a BIG thanks to Ian and Jean to who set the whole thing up and accommodated us in their lovely house over the weekend.

We also managed to visit Inverewe gardens and take in the fantastic array of plant-life there.

Burns and the Ulster Scots: Aughnacloy

The second night of the mini-tour was near Aughnacloy. This time for a wonderful little community, many of whom are farmers. A big thanks to Bertie Graham for setting this up and showing me his farm up on the hill.

The support this time was provided by the local Pipe Band who put on a creditable show, and also some local Country Dancers, who even let RB join them for a Virginia Reel! Then an audience of some 70 or so, listened to the Bard's tale. We had a great evening and stayed on quite late....with all the crowd remaining to the end - always a good sign! A HUGE thanks to Lorana who put me up for the night.

Willie Wastle's wife woos the crowd

.....and that was it.....the second of our fleeting visits to NI.......a superb time, in lovely weather...and hopefully one we can repeat another time.

Burns and the Ulster Scots: Lisnaskea

The Bard meets a Lambeg drum!

The Bard and I travelled to Northern Ireland recently at the invitation of the Ulster Scots Association. It is great to see such interest in the works of Burns over in that part of the world. Outside Scotland, Ireland was the first country to publish the Works of Burns back in the 18th Century.


Lisnaskea High School, in Lisnaskea near Enniskillen, was the venue for a concert including Burns story but also supported by a two local bands - the Brookeborough Flute Band and the Lisnaskea Accordion Band.

Although not huge the crowd was enthusiastic joining in where asked, and were most appreciative of Tam O' Shanter!

Some of the crowd...after the show

With a HUGE thanks to Trevor Watson for setting up the whole event.

Burns for the SNP

The Bard and I were invited to the Sands Hotel in Burntisland recently, by the SNP to help celebrate the Year of the Homecoming. A very enthusiastic crowd of around forty, including some councillors and even an MSP, enjoyed the Bard's story and a selection of his songs and poems - some more well-known than others. They were in great voice especially with Scots Wha Hae. ...seen here.
The hotel supplied a well received Taste of Scotland at the interval, which added to the enjoyment. Many positive comments were received at the end of the evening and particular favourites mentioned were Tam O Shanter and The Gowden Locks of Anna.

Burns in Kirkcaldy

Sunday saw the Bard visit Kirkcaldy Museum for a lunch time show. Fife council are currently hosting a small sub-section of the Murison Collection - a huge library of Burns books and other material - in Kirkcaldy and this prompted the show.
The Murison Collection is normally housed at Dunfermline's Carnegie Library and more can be read about it here
As to Sunday's show.......the turnout was disappointing but those that came were very enthusiastic and had an enjoyable 2 hours listening to the Bard's story and singing some of his songs. The feedback was certainly very positive from those present. Looking back perhaps 12 noon was not the best time to host such a show but we had to fit in with museum opening hours ...with special thanks to Julie for the photo ;o)

Burns in Aberdeenshire: Stuartfield

The mini-tour came to an end in the village of Stuartfield where youngsters were joined by pupils from nearby Auchnagatt. We had a packed room of over 70 very enthusiastic young people who responded very well to pre-questions and took part in the proceedings with much energy.
On balance Auchnagatt were slightly ahead with speed of answers to questions - so well done to them.. I especially recommend the local butchers Beef and Ale pies too!

Well! What a packed 2 days it was but lots of new friends and hopefully the Bard has ignited some enthusiasm in the young people of Aberdeenshire.
My thanks to all schools involved and especially to the HTs for giving me a chance to evangelise in the North East.

Burns in Aberdeenshire: Longside

Next day saw the Bard off to Longside - another village towards Peterhead. A HUGE thanks to Dorothy Simpson - Head Teacher here - who arranged all the visits for me. Longside is a splendid new school with many modern features and we had a large screen and a large crowd in the ultra-modern assembly hall. The youngsters were already well-informed about RB's life and works and managed some interesting responses at the start. They enthusiastically took part and hopefully had a fun morning.