Immortal Memory 3: Holy Willie’s Prayer

Posted on January 20, 2011 by literarylee

Burns wrote Holy Willie’s Prayer after a friend, Gavin Hamilton, won a contentious lawsuit the local parish of Ayr filed against him.  His friend, a lawyer, was at one point responsible for collecting a poor tax in the parish.  He came up a few pounds short and the parish accused him of stealing the money.  He said that not everyone could afford the tax, thus the discrepancy. Continue reading →

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Immortal Memory 2: A Brief Burns Bio

Posted on January 20, 2011 by literarylee

Robert Burns was born 200 years and almost 6  months before me on January 25, 1759 to a gardener and his wife in Ayr, in the southwestern part of Scotland.  When Burns turned six his father, William, hired a tutor to teach Robert and his brother Gilbert at home.  Though he did not attend school much, Burns was fairly well educated and read.  Shortly after that, his father rented a farm to try to increase his income, but was not successful. Continue reading →

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Immortal Memory 1: Introduction

Posted on January 20, 2011 by literarylee

(One of the central elements of a Burns Supper is the Immortal Memory toast to Burns.  Leading up to that someone gives a speech on Burns, his life and work.  Here’s the intro to what I’ll be saying on Saturday evening.)

Robert Burns was quick to see when a person’s words and actions didn’t mesh.  He hated hypocrisy.  I think he searched for the reality in people.  He wanted authenticity.  He was especially keen to point out discrepancies between what leaders, whether of church or government, said and what they did.  After all, it was the leaders who often held such sway over those who had little influence or resources. Continue reading →

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A Blizzard is Coming

Posted on January 19, 2011 by literarylee

Usually, I will try to vary what I write from day to day in The Life Literary.  This being Burns Supper crunch-time, I’m afraid an even heavier Burns-ish storm than what’s already blown in this week is going to hit this site tomorrow and continue for a few more days.  All I can say is, it won’t go on forever. Continue reading →

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Posted on January 19, 2011 by literarylee

Take Note!!  Tartans and Colors: High standards.

(Weary of word play?)

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At The Scottish Walk

Posted on January 19, 2011 by literarylee

The Scottish Walk parade is an early December, Alexandria, Virginia tradition we enjoy.  This historic, colonial American town with a rich Scottish heritage is one place where a kilt-wearing man fits right in!  Many (20? 30?) Scottish Clan organizations march in the parade, motley or dapper groups of 10 to 50 folks young and old, men and women, wearing their clan tartans and liberally dispersing holiday greetings.

Kilts, kilts everywhere!

Bagpipe bands and dog clubs (for example, 150 Scottish Terriers… with owners…walking down the street in one big tail-wagging (not the owners) pack as well as the Irish Wolfhound Club, the Greyhound Rescue Society, and about a dozen others), the Scottish Country Dancing club, various Celtic and Highland games organizations, a Renaissance troupe, a few school bands and a few wealthy Old Town residents driving their classic cars, all add a particularly Alexandria touch to the proceedings. Continue reading →

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This Is Not The All Things Scottish Blog

Posted on January 18, 2011 by literarylee

The Life Literary will be about much more than Robert Burns, haggis and kilts.  It will be (and even this Burns-tide, is) about living literarily.  I will write about and model many ways to do that in the coming weeks and months.  It’s just that in this time before we host our third annual Burns Supper, the reading and writing I’m doing anyway is about these things.  So they end up here.

For me,  living literarily includes reading and writing deliberately, seasonally, content that fits the moment.  And let me tell you, this moment is all Burns.

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Fellow Burns Supperians:

Posted on January 18, 2011 by literarylee

(I sent this, a few days in advance, to the folks we invited to our Burns Supper.  I am finding that literary events can be more interesting and fun for participants if they have some background info and can prepare a bit.)

The big event is right around the corner.  I want to mention a few things before the clock strikes 6 this Saturday  (5-5:30 arrive/appetizers, 6:00 dinner begins…if you haven’t confirmed with John or me, please let us know if you can attend).

Why a Burns Supper?
Participants celebrate the life and work of the great Scottish poet, Robert Burns, similarly to how a small group of his friends celebrated it a few years after his death in 1796.  We will be continuing a venerable tradition repeated every year on or near the anniversary of his birth, January 25, by groups large (300+) and small (ours).  One of the things I love about Burns is how down to earth he was.  His themes include love and life, pain and joy, human relationships, food, drink and more. Continue reading →

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Auld Lang Syne II (My subtext)

Posted on January 17, 2011 by literarylee

I think I truly heard Auld Lang Syne (which means times gone by) for the first time last year, though I’d heard the familiar chopped up version of it many New Years Eves gone by.  It moved me so that I wrote after the performance:

Hot tears streamed down my face.   I sat in the Kennedy Center audience listening to a beautifully-voiced Scotsman sing Auld Lang Syne, Red, Red Rose and Ae Fond Kiss.  Each speaks of tender love, wistful longing, nostalgic hope.  Why did those steamy rivers flow from my eyes, my heart, my soul?  What freedom do I want to gain or regain, what precious acceptance lost, for what  real-ness do I thirst?  Maybe I only hope for peace, the recognition I’m not under a threat but a promise.

Hearing the song sung (all the verses) with passion about life and the hope that things long past need not be long lost, I regained a little more hope and joy, two things that maybe, just maybe were not gone for good but still there, available, for me to take back.

The song enhanced my life at that moment.  The words urged me on a bit, opened my awareness, healed.  That’s part of what living literarily is all about.

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Auld Lang Syne I (Burns’ Complete Text)

Posted on January 17, 2011 by literarylee

Robert Burns 
(word meanings below)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne! Continue reading →

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