The Lucknow Sentinel, 1987-01-28, Page 5The troth about Robbie Burns
Editor's note: The following article, taken
from the January 24 edition of the Toronto
Globe and Mail, is an historical look at
Robbie Burns and a few misconceptions
about his life. It was submitted to the Sen-
tinel by Frank MacKenzie.
By Marcus Van Steen
"Burns Nicht" is with us once again, and
all over the world thousands of glasses will
be raised in tribute to "the Immortal
Memory". No other writer in history is
remembered so fervently, and so
boisterously, year after year in so many
places, from his native Scotland to the
remotest corner of every continent.
The sad fact is that much of the adula-
tion is misdirected. To many of the
revellers, Robert Burns was not just a poet
who touched the hearts and minds of his
contemporaries. Instead he was a poor,
uneducated ploughman who wrote some
sweet songs and drank himself into an ear-
ly grave. This myth has such deep roots
that a number of scholarly biographies
over the years have failed to dislodge it. To
find out how it started, we must unders-
tand something of the environment in
which Burns lived.
The country into which Burns was born
in 1759 was perhaps the most literate in
Europe, with almost an obsession for lear-
ning. ' His father, who worked as a .
gardener for a neighboring estate, was not
a rich man, but he was able to give his two
sons a classical education. Even a cursory
reading of his poetry makes it clear that
Burns was widely read, had a good
knowledge of English and more than a
passing acquaintance with French and
Latin. He also studied mathem' tics and,
as he wrote to a friend when he was 19: "I
am studying mensuration, surveying and
related subjects and making , good
progress."
On the death of his father, in 1784, Burns
returned home and entered into a farming
partnership with his brother to help pro-
vide for his mother and other members of
his family by farming. But he abandoned
this effort when his first slim volume of
poems was published, to critical acclaim,
in 1786. Burns was lionized in Edinburgh,
which at that time was a renowned centre
of intellectual and literary activity, the
home of such notables as philosopher
David Hume, economist Adam Smith, ' the
editor of the Edinburgh Review Thomas
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Jeffrey, and the younger Walter Scott.
It is interesting to read how people who
had met Burns described him in their let-
ters and journals. Jeffrey wrote in the
Edinburgh Review that the new young
poet was "serious and sober, powerful in
conversation, with ideas far beyond the
commonplace."
Sir Walter Scott, years later,
remembered mainly. Burns's eyes which,
he said, "were large and dark and glowed,
literally glowed, with feeling."
Agnes td Mclehose, a cultured and in-
telligent woman who was separated from
her wealthy Edinburgh husband, found
Burns to be "thoughful, with a strong im-
agination and a generous nature." Burns
and Mrs. Mclehose carried on a vigorous
and romantic correspondence for several
years, much in the manner of George Ber-
nard Shaw and Ellen Terry.
There is not mention in contemporary
documents of anyone ever finding Burns
under the influence of alcohol. Indeed,
there is evidence that he was far more
abstemious than most of the people with
whom he associated. In his letters from
Edinburgh to his brother, he complains
more than once that he found it difficult to
avoid occasions of revery among the
hard -drinking gentlemen of the day.
In fact, there is good reason to believe
that, apart from the period after he first
left home at the age of 19 to study
mathematics, he indulged very little in
alcohol. For one thing, he complained fre-
quently of a delicate stomach. And it is dif-
ficult to imagine that the vast quantity of
poems, songs and letters he wrote during a
short lifetime could have been the work of
a drunken reveller.
It was the pious and bigoted clergy and
their followers who pinned that label on
him. In Burns's day, the Church of
Scotland had degenerated from its
Calvinist and Presbyterian origins to
become a spiritual and social tyranny. The
Kirk Sessions had dictatorial power, and
used it to persecute those guilty of such
sins as failing to attend church, engaging
in any wordly activity on the sabbath, fre-
quenting taverns or indulging in "sins of
the flesh."
Burns became a prime target not just
because he wrote about such things as li-
quor and love, but mainly because he
wrote in a style that could be understood
Turn to page 6 •
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to: HURON COUIITV
PORK PRODUCERS
Take notice that the 1987
Annual Meeting of the
HURON COUNTV,
PORK. PRODUCERS
ASSOCIATION
will be held on....
Wednesday, February 11, 1987
at 1 P.M.
Legion Hall, Clinton, Ont.
for the purpose of the proper
business ,of the Annual
Meeting:
The election of three (3)
County, Alternate for a two
year term. This election will
be held between the hour of
2:00 and 3:00 p.m.
Guest Speaker:
Bob Sinclair
WAYNE FEAR LLOYD STEWART
President Secretary
Treasurer
Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, January 28, 1987—Page 5
A04'11 ey,
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