By Frank R. Shaw, 1320 Twelve Oaks Circle, Atlanta, GA,
30327-1862 USA
This past August, I had the
honor of speaking at a symposium sponsored by the University
of South Carolina honoring Dr. G. Ross Roy on his 80th
birthday. The festivities also included the University’s 15th
anniversary of the G. Ross Roy Collection of Robert
Burns, Burnsiana & Scottish Poetry. The symposium was
aptly named “Robert Burns In His Time and After.”
I have spoken at many events in my life and, to say the least,
this was a singular honor for me.
Robert Burns is the common
denominator. He brings people together from all walks of life.
To love Burns, you have to love your fellow man. Burns did! I
do not do it as well as Burns, but I think Ross Roy does. From
time to time, I speak bluntly, too bluntly if the truth must
be told. Sometimes the Shaw in me causes me to throw a stiff
arm or say something too strongly that, many times, I later
regret. After all, Charles Bascombe Shaw and his wife, Mattie
Norvelle Rogers Shaw, who bore him ten children, named their
baby “Frank”. There are times when I’m not proud of the fact
that I have lived up to being “frank”. Sometimes, “too frank”.
Enough said.
I’ve never seen Ross without a
smile on his face, a kind word on his lips, a merry twinkle in
his eye, a chuckle in his voice, and a warm, welcoming hand
extended to shake. If anyone comes close to being the
consummate gentleman that Ross Roy is, Burns included, then
more power to them. I’ll never make it, but maybe you will!
I’ve said all that to say this
- they came from near and far to pay tribute to Ross Roy on
his 80th birthday. They came from down the street
and across the pond. They came from the states of South
Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, California, Indiana, New
York and many from the auld country - Scotland. They came by
car; they came by plane. They rode together; they rode alone.
They came for one reason and that was to say to Ross and his
wonderful wife, Lucie, “I love you!” or “Thank you for what
you have done for all of us who love Burns and Scottish
literature”. I remember someone telling me a couple of years
ago that if Ross was not the top Burns scholar in the world,
he sure was in the top three. When I inquired who the other
two were, the reply was “I don’t know!” Friends from all over
simply came to pay tribute to the greatest Burns scholar in
the world.
It is for this reason that I
have chosen to dedicate the following to Roy and Lucie Roy. I
chose to pay tribute to a man who has given so much to so many
over the past 50+ years. There is a song from my youth by Phil
Spector written in 1958 that reminds me of Ross Roy - “To
know, know, know him is to love, love, love him, and I do”.
The lyrics were written for such a man as Ross Roy!
Unapologetically, the song expresses my feelings. If the above
sounds a wee “mushy”, too bad. As my daughter-in-law, Denise,
(one of the best things to ever happen to our little family)
says to my two darling grandchildren, Ian and Stirling, when
she draws the line with them, “Get over it! That is the way it
is!”
Burns Scholar Ross Roy
Celebrates
80th Birthday
August 20, 2004 was a special
day for Burns scholars around the world - America’s beloved G.
Ross Roy celebrated his 80th birthday. Participants
gathered at the University of South Carolina in Columbia to
join the festivities honoring Professor Roy and Lucie, his
beloved wife. The program speakers paid personal tribute to
Dr. & Mrs. Roy at a dinner the night before the symposium at a
local hotel.
The birthday celebration was
held in conjunction with another festive occasion, the 15th
anniversary of the G. Ross Roy Collection of Robert Burns,
Burnsiana & Scottish Poetry at the University of South
Carolina’s Thomas Cooper Library. The University’s Department
of Rare Books & Special Collections, headed by Dr. Patrick
Scott, also presented an exhibit entitled “Robert Burns in
His Time and After” displaying many books, poems,
pictures, songs and other items about and by Burns.
The G. Ross Roy Collection
consists of approximately 15,000 volumes of which nearly 5,000
are on Burns. The Roy Collection is considered the best Burns
collection in North America and, in this writer’s opinion,
rivals those in Glasgow and London. The University acquired
most of the vast collection from Professor and Mrs. Roy in
1989.
Not satisfied with just
donating their magnificent collection, the Roys established a
fellowship in honor of Professor Roy’s grandfather, Ormiston
Roy, who taught his young grandson his love for Burns and
other Scottish writers. The fellowship provides opportunity
for scholars to spend five weeks during the summer studying
Burns or other Scottish authors. Fellowship recipients this
past summer were Thomas Keith of New York City and Dr. Carol
McGuirk of Florida Atlantic University, both noted Burns
scholars.
A surprise for those in
attendance at the symposium was the unveiling of three copies
of the 1786 Kilmarnock edition of Poems, Chiefly in the
Scottish Dialect that were displayed side by
side in an enclosed case. Dr. Patrick Scott indicated this was
an historic occasion in that it was the first time in over a
hundred years that three Kilmarnocks had been publicly
displayed together. The University through the largesse of Dr.
& Mrs. Roy owns one of the three copies, and the other two are
owned by K.D. Kennedy (Raleigh, NC), and Susan and Frank Shaw
(Atlanta, GA). Many of the Burnsians in attendance had never
seen one Kilmarnock in their lifetime, and here they were able
to view three in one setting.
Featured speakers included
Kenneth Simpson, Gerard Carruthers and James Mackay from
Scotland. Others on the program were Thomas Keith from New
York, Jonathan Pons of Missouri, Carol McGuirk of Florida,
Esther Hovey from California, Thorne Compton of South
Carolina, and Frank Shaw from Georgia. The symposium also
featured two films on Burns, The Romance of Robert Burns,
produced in 1937, and the 1959 film Robbie and His Mary.
A unique commemorative Burns
keepsake was given to all symposium attendees. It featured a
numbered title page of the Kilmarnock Burns from Professor
Roy’s collection and was printed by English Professor Scott
Gwara at the University’s Maxey Press.
According to University
records, Dr. Roy started teaching at the University of South
Carolina in 1966. He founded Studies in Scottish Literature,
a scholarly journal, in July 1968. He was told at the time
that he would be lucky to find enough information for one
volume. Interestingly, I just received my 2004 hardback copy
consisting of volumes XXXIII and XXXIV.
Dr. Roy was awarded an
honorary degree from Edinburgh University in 2002 for his work
regarding Robert Burns. He is also an honorary president of
the Burns World Federation and is an honorary member of the
Atlanta Burns Club. Professor Roy will be honored March 11-13,
2005 at St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, NC
during the Charles Bascombe Shaw Memorial Scottish Heritage
Symposium.
In conclusion I say, “Thank
you, Professor Roy, for your scholarship, the books you have
written and edited, the countless articles you have published,
your warmth, your ready acceptance of anyone who shows
interest in Burns or other Scottish writers, and for the
wonderful books collected during your lifetime that are now
available for students to research. More importantly, thank
you for being a scholar and ‘one of us’. Burns, had he known
you, would have written more than one poem about you with pen
on paper or diamond stylus on a windowpane. He would have been
proud to have such a loving and scholarly friend as you.”
(FRS: 12-29-2004)
Shaw, Roy, Kennedy
Lucie and Ross Roy
Three Kilmarkocks
