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By Peter D Wright
Lyke Scots, the warld
owre, we tryst at hame ilka Janwar fir ti mynd o a chiel wha haes
liggit i the mools fir owre twa hunner yeir. A chiel wha tyauvit aw
his days as a fairmer sinsyne as a gauger - hard darg then as nou.
Gin he haed bin nocht bit a fairmer or a gauger, aiblins evin his
ain kin twa hunner yeir oan wad hae kent nocht about him. Sum o
thaim micht hae redd up thair forefowk an fun names, dates, whaur
thai bade an aiblins thair daillie darg, gaun back to a chiel cryed
Robert Burns.
We aw hae forefowk
wha hae liggit fir owre twa hunner yeir i the mools. A ken frae ane
o ma faither's kizzens at his faimilie fir the hinmaist twa hunner
yeir flittit atween the Glens o Founland, Huntlie toun and Inverurie.
Bit apairt frae the fack at thare war a wheen o thaim cawed Peter, A
ken nocht about thaim. Aiblins thai luikit lyke ma faither an his
aunties, bit A dinna ken.
Bit o the chiel we
honor ilka Janwar we ken juist about athin warth kennan. We ken hou
he luikit, we ken his forefowk, we ken whaur he bade, we ken o his
daillie darg, we ken o his mairrage, o his lou trysts, o his bairns,
an we ken his thochts an ideals frae his monie skreeds, poems an
sangs.Fir we ar spikkan o a chiel wha wis a genius. A cheil wha
still spiks ti Scotland an the warld the day. Scotland an the warld
still sing his sangs an reads his poetrie.
We hae aw drank wi
him, lauchit wi him, grat wi him - we aw think at we ken him. The
umquhile Orkney makkar George Mackay Brown skrievit at his faither
an his billies spikkan o Burns as gin he wis still alieve an amang
thaim. Weill throu his poetrie, sangs an skreeds, at is vera mukkil
the case. Whan ye lig yir haun oan his wark, ye feel gin ye touch
the chiel hislane. Burns ligs i the herts an mynds o Scots the day
juist as he did twa hunner yeir sinsyne.
Our auld fier Dr
Robert D McIntyre tuik mukkil delicht in tellin a tale o his
graunnie wha as a yung quean kent an auld chiel wha kent Burns'
kithend. 'What did thai think o him?' she spiert at him ae day. His
repone says it aw - 'Thai revered him.'
In onie poll o gryt
Scots o the past, Robert Burns maun staun heid an shouders owre aw
ithers. He myndit his ain kithend at thai war Scots whan Mither
Scotland cuid hae bin lost i the incorporatin Union. He mynds us o
that fack the day. Throu Allan Ramsay an Robert Fergusson, in
particklar, he fun his poetic vyce i his Mither Tung. The fack at
Burns skrievit i the Scots Leid haes keppit it ti the fore i the
face o the encroachin Suddren. He gied us our National Anthem,
'Scots Wha Hae', an the warld an International Anthem, 'A Man's A
Man', alsweill as the International pairtin sang, 'Auld Lang Syne.'
(Aiblins fir neist Hogmanay BBC Scotland wull tell thair sangsters
at is 'Auld' no 'Old' Lang Syne!).
As Scots we awe our
makkars a mukkil debt, fir thai hae owre the centuries taen
Scotland's side, frae John Barbour ti Hugh MacDiarmid, bit nane mair
sae nor our National Bard, Robert Burns. Gin the day evir daws whan
Scots dinna revere an haud Robert Burns i the heichmaist staunan,
then Scotland wullna be warth a docken. A Toast ti Burns is a Toast
ti our auld respeckit mither - Scotland - fir Burns an Scotland gaun
thegither.
Notandum : Taen frae
'Immortal Memory' ti Peebles Burns Club 25 Janwar 2003
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