Burns' Supper

The Newliston Arms was the venue of a splendid Burns Supper held by the Rotary Club of South Queensferry on 26th January. Junior Vice-president Sandy Mackenzie presided over a thoroughly enjoyable celebration of the Bard featuring the considerable talents of club members and their partners. Robbie Brechin's spirited Address to the Haggis set the tone for the occasion. Norman Watson accompanied by his partner, Sheena, sang a selection of songs during the programme and led the whole company in a rousing medley of Burns favourites at the close of the evening.

The Immortal Memory was proposed by Matt Purdie. After confessing that he had attended countless Burns suppers but never given the Immortal Memory, Matt went on to deliver a witty and masterly summary of Burns's life and times. Few were aware that Burns, as a member of the Dumfriesshire Volunteers, had a military funeral. It was the largest Scotland had ever seen with four times the population of Dumfriesshire attending. Burns's youngest son was born on this sad day.

Matt also put Burns into historical context. Memories of the Forty-five Rising, in which Matt's own family was dispossessed, were barely a generation old and still influential in Scotland. The French and American Revolutions stirred Burns's egalitarian instincts and his poems and songs found their way across the Atlantic with the clearances. Because everyone can identify with some of Burns's sentiments, the Bard remains popular all over the world. Politicians of widely differing views can all find something in Burns to support their opinions.   

Robbie Brechin then gave a colourful recitation of Death and Dr Hornbrook, perhaps a lesser-known work based on a caricature of Burns's old tutor John Wilson.

David Hull proposed the Toast to the Lassies, revealing the results of some judicious internet research which included the splendid Burns expression 'the friendship of the thighs'. After a ballad by Norman Watson, David's wife Pam replied in equally robust fashion on behalf of the lassies, admitting that Burns proved that women can't resist romantic men.

Robbie Brechin's closing poem, Address to the Unco Guid, was received with universal approval and the evening ended with Auld Lang Syne.

In his closing remarks, Junior Vice-president Sandy passed on good wishes from President Graham and his wife Linda who could not attend because of a family bereavement. He also thanked Enrico Prentice, who was also unable to be present, Liz Mackenzie who had stepped into the breach, Alistair Rarity, and everyone who had contributed to the success of the evening.