Burns in Kelty

Ceasar and Luath do it again!

The Bard and I made it to Kelty today - a small town in Fife near the M90 and where a room full of P5-7 listened to the life and times of Rantin Rovin Robin.

The young people were very attentive and joined in well with the songs, gaining a 7/10 on my totally arbitrary scale. ;o) As ever the Twa Dugs scored well.....with multiple 'aaahhhhss'

P6 listening well....

Thanks to the teachers for joining in and taking the photos.

Burns in Irvine

The Bard and I were in Irvine recently at the invitation of the Irvine Lassies Burns Club to help them celebrate the Homecoming year. When last there, Burns had an illuminating experience as the workshop he was using for flax dressing burnt down at New Year!

The Bard & the club piano - a story in itself!

What a fantastic night we had in the music room of "Wellwood" - the club house for the prestigious Irvine Burns Clubs. There is so much history in that club it would need a whole day to view all the artefacts alone. More information can be read here on the club website http://www.irvineayrshire.org/burns/

We had a full house of 70 plus who sung their hearts out and seemed to thoroughly enjoy my interpretation of the Bard's story.

One of the stain glass windows in the club

The ladies put on a splendid spread at half time and the whole night flew by. We finished off with a small gathering into the small hours, at the house of Margaret & Davie Cook , who also accommodated Fiona and I. A HUGE thanks to them for their very warm hospitality.

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.

Burns in Aberdeenshire: Strichen

Off in a Northerly direction to the village of Strichen next, where pupils from Kinimonth joined the Bard for an afternoon of story, songs and poems, in a packed hall. Once again behaviour was excellent and the pupils and staff were very enthusiastic about RB's story with some excellent, thought provoking questions at the end.

Burns in Aberdeenshire: Mintlaw

The Bard and I headed off to the North East this week with six schools in Aberdeenshire keen to hear about RB's life, loves and songs.




First up was Mintlaw Primary - based in Mintlaw - a fair size town with another primary and a secondary school - Mintlaw Academy - which serves all the surrounding area. After a warm welcome, and a cup of tea(!) the show took place in the assembly hall with around 50 youngsters. They enthusiastically joined in the singing and were well taken by the Mouse

Burns in Cramond

The Bard and I visited Cramond Yacht Club last Friday. A night arranged way back last year after a chance meeting at Aberdour Festival. The night went very well with a fantastic atmosphere throughout. The crowd, although not huge, was very enthusiastic with many half-time comments and questions. The club room is also in a beautiful spot with views out to the River Forth. The organisers just sent me these comments from the club Commodore....
"
Friday evening's one-man Burns show was a really top-rate entertainment - and in best Reithian style very informative and thought provoking too! I particularly enjoyed the illustrated Tam o Shanter, and that was only a small part of a well rounded production. ......... Thanks very much,
Rob
Commodore"

Burns in Perth

The show made it to the fair city of Perth last night, where an enthusiastic crowd of 60 plus turned out to the prestigious venue of the Salutation Hotel. The show was hosted by Perth Burns Club and they were delighted to see many visitors along especially for the evening. Although the Club normally ends at 9.30, the members were so enthralled with the story we continued until after 10pm finishing with the traditional Auld Lang Syne but, as always with the show, to the original tune Burns intended rather than the one currently in use today. My thanks to Donald and Arthur for organising the chance for me to attend.

Burns for Dalgety Bay Folk Club

Last weekend the show went back to Aberdour - but to the Woodside Hotel this time - to guest for Dalgety Bay Folk Club. I delivered the full show at 2 x 1 1/4 hours and received a good response with many positive comments after. Colin Hay - the organiser - pointed out that the club wanted the show as their contribution to the year of the Homecoming - an excellent sentiment with which I concur and hope that other similar clubs may see likewise. He added that he found the show not only very entertaining but also very informative and that he had learnt much about Burns during the evening. A big thanks from me to Colin and his team for inviting me to Aberdour.

Burns in Todholm Primary

Over 100 pupils listened to the Bard's story in Todholm Primary recently. The searching questions after showed how much they had enjoyed the performance and how well they had listened.

Burns in Strathmiglo

I appeared in the village hall for the youngsters in Strathmiglo recently. They were very enthusiastic and we had about an hour and a quarter of Burns. They have been studying him in class and I was well impressed with the quick look I managed at their pictures and stories.
The usual time for questions brought forward one or two which showed they had been listening. So well done Strathmiglo!

Burns in Bearsden

I recently took the Burns250 show to Bearsden - to the Literary Society no less. What a wonderful evening was had by all!
A very appreciative audience made my part so much easier...and the CDs were in great demand afterwards.
My thanks to Roberta for organising it and to all who came along. We had only time for about an hour and half of Burns so a return visit was suggested and I would be delighted to go back and tell them some about our Bard.