BASICS OF THE CLUB
The Robert Burns Club of San
Diego is a tax-exempt non-profit corporation and has been a member of the
international Robert Burns World Federation since 1977.
Meetings are held at 7:00 P.M.
on the second Thursday of the month at the Imperial House Restaurant,
Membership is open to men and
women on an invitational basis. Dues are $35/year.
THE ANNUAL BURNS SUPPER
The primary
event of the year is the annual Burns Supper which commemorates the 1/25/1759
birth of
The last Burns Supper will be
held on January 26, 2008 at the Admiral
Baker Clubhouse with a feast at a traditional Scottish banquet complete
with haggis, an “immortal memory”, Burns' poetry and song, highland
bagpiping and drumming, highland dancing, ballroom dancing, and a door prize
and raffle. The entertainers for the
evening were Helix Highlanders Pipe Band with solo performances by its pipe major, highland-dance
troupe Highland Fusion accompanied
by piper Robert Burns, and general dance band Burnett's Bliss.
The 2007 Burns Supper was held
on January 27, 2007 at the Town & Country Hotel & Convention Center
in
The 2006 Burns Supper was held
on January 28, 2006 at the Town & Country Hotel & Convention Center
in
The 2005 Burns Supper was held
on 1/29/2005. The entertainers for the evening included actor Charles Spratley giving the Immortal Memory, Helix Highlanders
Pipe Band, highland-dance troupe Highland Fusion, and general dance
band Our Song.
The 2004 Burns Supper was held
on 1/24/2004. The entertainers for the evening included famed Scottish
recording artist and singer Alex Beaton, Stirling
Bridge Pipe Band, highland-dance troupe Highland Fusion, and
dance band Our Song.
The 2003 Burns Supper was held
on 1/18/2003. The entertainers for the evening included acclaimed-and-published
The 2002 Burns Supper was held on
1/26/2002. The leading entertainers for the evening were Tom Ray with an
amazing recitation, Highland Fusion, the Stirling
Bridge Pipe Band, and the Sean McVicker Band
with songs and music for general dancing (ballroom, rock, and Scottish country
dancing). Nearly 300 persons attended.
The 2001 Burns Supper was held
on 1/27/2001. The leading entertainers for the evening were Scotland's Alex
McDonald (and friends) providing a moving portrayal of the life and times of
Robert Burns in drama and song, traditional celtic
singer and fiddler Patric Petrie accompanied by
fiddler Kathleen Paseka-Burns,
singer-instrumentalists The McDougalls, Highland
Fusion, the Stirling Bridge Pipe Band,
and the Sean McVicker Band. Nearly 300 persons
attended.
The 2000 Burns
Supper was held on 1/22/2000. This event commemorated the 1/25/1759 birth of
OBJECTIVES & PURPOSES OF
THE CLUB
To
foster & promote the study of, proficiency in, and perpetuation of the life
and works of Scotland's National Bard Robert Burns (1759 - 1796) and related
Scottish culture and heritage.
To
sponsor and promote Burns Nights, research, study, competitions, ceilidhs, concerts, poetry readings, lectures, games,
gatherings, and meetings reflective of the life and works of Robert Burns and
Scottish culture and heritage.
To provide publicity about events advancing the objectives and
purposes.
To be a member of the international Robert Burns World
Federation of
To promote deserving organizations through a program of charities
and benevolences consistent with the objectives and purposes.
To
lease, purchase, or otherwise acquire buildings, or other facilities for the
purpose of carrying out the objectives and purposes.
To carry on and conduct educational and charitable activities
consistent with the objectives and purposes.
To
pursue the objectives and purposes through the vehicle of a club reflective of
clubs in which Robert Burns was a member.
MORE ON ROBERT BURNS
He was born in Alloway near Ayr in
By modern standards. Robert had
the sketchiest of education, but at an early age he was proficient in the three
"Rs" and well-grounded in the principles of
Presbyterian theology. He read what he could lay his hands on and understood
what he read. The only real mystery concerning Burns, whether in boyhood or
manhood, is that of the "quality" of his genius. He was surcharged
with emotion, awareness and sensibility. He belongs to the company of the
"supremely great" - Beethoven, Shakespeare, and Rembrandt.
Basically, Burns was a
humanitarian and thus he was a libertarian and egalitarian. Overall, his
sympathies were for the poor and the oppressed. He detested all manner of
cruelty, oppression, and the arrogance of privilege and "mere"
wealth. Many other worthy poets have had similar feelings, so this in itself is
not enough. But Burns could look and laugh at a' that; and, he laughed with
life, never against it.
Burns knew the nature of man and
woman, as opposed to simply the bare elements of their existence. His
experience was fundamental and therefore universal. It is this supreme quality
that makes Burns the first "world" poet. Robert Burns embraced all
humanity and humanity, in turn, has embraced him.
“Princes and lords are but the
breath of kings, An honest man's the noblest work of God.” (Robt. Burns)
Burns was a many-sided genius.
There is no more flaming satire than Holy Willie's Prayer. There
Is no greater tale than Tam 0' Shanter.
If A Man's a Man for a' That is the
We remain baffled to know how he
did what he did. No academic analysis of his poems and songs, in relation to
their meter or their antecedents, tells us anything beyond purely academic
interest. Explain the mystery, the ramifications of human life, love, emotion,
and intellect, then perhaps you can explain Robert Burns.
Burns is not for those who
mourn, are faint-hearted, lack faith in humanity, put their trust in party
politicians, who love without passion, or hate without compassion. Burns' poems
and songs sing of the richness and strangeness and wonder of life. For in a
world corrupted, bedeviled, and bewildered, Burns firmly believed in the
perfectibility of the human race.
Robert Burns died on July 21,
1796. At his funeral ten-thousand mourners from all walks of life, followed his
bier to its resting place. He was 37 years of age.
"His presence haunts this
room tonight. A form of mingled mist and light from that far coast. Welcome
beneath this roof of mine! Welcome! This vacant chair is thine, Dear guest and ghost!" (Henry
SOUND & CREDITS
The background
illustration is from an 1828 portrait of the bard by Alexander Nasmyth.
Double-click the icon to hear
the traditional Scottish folk song Ye Jacobites
by Name which the bard reworked and published; here performed superbly
by Club member Ray McMahon on his tape Drumalban
which is available for purchase:
*(PC)
BURNS-RELATED SITES
Office Web Site of the Robert Burns Club of San Diego
Robert Burns Association of North America
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact this web site at the following E-mail address:
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