Celebrating bard's 250th anniversary
THE Ulster-Scots Community Network will mark Robert Burns' 250th anniversary in Belfast with a series of events celebrating the bard's life and legacy while highlighting the historic links between Scotland and Ulster.
Running from today until January 30, the Belfast-Burns 250 Programme is organised in partnership with Belfast City Council, the Arts Council for Northern Ireland and the Ulster-Scots Agency – and according to a spokesman will appeal to all tastes and all sections of society.
Poetry, dance, drama, live music, cookery and educational events at a variety of venues will combine to provide a unique opportunity for celebration throughout our capital city.
The legacy of Burns and the cultural traditions associated with the Ulster-Scots people are part of the cultural fabric of Northern Ireland.
A French royalist migr who wrote about his travels through Ireland in the year of Burns’ death in 1796 said: “Belfast has almost entirely the look of a Scotch town, and the character of its inhabitants has considerable resemblance to that of the people of Glasgow.
“The way of speaking and even of dressing is much more Scotch than Irish.”
Robert Burns’ first volume of poems known as the Kilmarnock Edition was published in July 1786 and extracts from it appeared in the Belfast News Letter just three months later and his writings were subsequently a regular feature in the paper.
The first edition of Burns’ work published outside Scotland was produced in Belfast in 1787 and found its way into many Ulster homes.
The language of Burns was the language of Ulster.
The writer and broadcaster Sam Hanna Bell reflected on a copy of Burns’ work found in the small farmhouse he occupied, saying: “The only pages of the poet unthumbed were the glossary.”
Belfast has a formidable collection of important Burns documents.
Andrew Gibson, a native of Ayrshire, governor of the Linenhall Library and a president of the Belfast Scottish Association, assembled one of the world’s best collections of Burns literature.
The Gibson collection, totalling over 2,000 volumes, was purchased by public subscription in 1901 and placed in the Linenhall Library.
Burns’ granddaughter, Eliza Everitt, lived in Belfast and following her death her family further augmented the Linenhall collection by donating additional materials which had been in her possession.
Further details on festival events are available by contacting the Ulster-Scots Community Network on 028 9043 6710.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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