|
Edited by Frank R. Shaw,
Atlanta, GA, USA email:
jurascot@earthlink.net
If you were to scan through
the Robert Burns Lives! series from the time we started this incredible
journey a few years ago, you would see the articles by and about Dr. Ross
Roy far outnumber those of anyone else. That’s the way it should be. Ross
Roy is in a category by himself. This wonderful octogenarian has many
colleagues but few peers when it comes to scholarship regarding Robert
Burns, Caledonia’s Bard!
Recently, my wife Susan and
I made the journey from Atlanta to Laurinburg, NC, to see another
prestigious honor conferred on Dr. Roy. Accompanying him was his lovely
wife Lucie and his good friend, Patrick Scott. It is an honor to bring you
the following story about one whose company I enjoy and whose friendship I
cherish.
North Carolina College Honors G. Ross Roy
The St. Andrews
Presbyterian College Scottish Heritage Center recently paid tribute to the
scholarship of Dr. G. Ross Roy. Professor Roy was presented the annual
Scottish Heritage Center Award during the Charles Bascombe Shaw Memorial
Scottish Heritage Symposium held March 11-13, 2005, for his outstanding
contribution to the Scottish community. The symposium, which includes
speakers from Scotland and America, is under the able leadership of Bill
Caudill, Director of The Scottish Heritage Center, and is held annually on
the campus of St. Andrews College.
Dr. Roy is a world renowned
Robert Burns scholar. He is retired from the University of South Carolina
where he taught English and Scottish Literature. Over his lifetime, Dr.
Roy built the “most notable” Burns collection outside of Scotland and
London and gifted it to the University of South Carolina several years
ago. Dr. Roy edited and published two volumes of The Letters of Robert
Burns, which are used universally by Burns scholars. Professor Roy has not
slowed down and continues to produce a masterful series of journals that
he began in 1963 on Studies in Scottish Literature with Volumes XXXIII and
XXXIV being published in 2004. Lucie Roy is Associate Editor of the
series.
For over 50 years,
Professor Roy has served the Scottish community with many contributions to
academic journals on Scottish Literature and Robert Burns. His numerous
awards include the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Eighteenth-Century Scottish Studies Society and his election as Honorary
Life President of the Robert Burns World Federation. In 2002, the
University of Edinburgh recognized his work regarding Scottish Literature
with an honorary doctorate.
Dr. Roy earned Masters
degrees from the University of Montreal and the University of Strasbourg
and Doctorates from the University of Montreal and the University of
Paris. Professor Roy joined the faculty of the University of South
Carolina in 1965 after holding various teaching posts in Canada, Alabama,
and Texas. He was named Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English and
Comparative Literature at USC in 1990 and continues as Curator of Scottish
Literature at the university.
As already mentioned, Dr.
Patrick Scott, his faithful friend and colleague of many years, also
attended the ceremony in Laurinburg. Dr. Scott, a Burns scholar in his own
right, is Director of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Thomas
Cooper Library and Professor of English at the University of South
Carolina. The two men spoke at the symposium on the topic, “How Later
Generations Made a Burns Poem Their Own: Two Hundred Years of ‘Tam O’
Shanter.’”
Following receipt of the
award at St. Andrews, Professor Roy wrote to me in a letter, “The award is
particularly meaningful to me because it recognizes my Scottish
achievement, something to which I have devoted a large part of my academic
life.”
Our heartiest
congratulations to Professor Roy, a friend of Robert Burns and a friend to
his fellow Scotsman. (FRS: 5-16-05)
Ross and Lucie Roy displaying the 15th Annual
Scottish Heritage Award that he was presented
(L-R) Professor Ross Roy; Frank Shaw; Lucie
Roy; Dr. John Deegan, President, St. Andrews Presbyterian College; Bill
Caudill, Director, The Scottish Heritage Center; and Dr. Patrick Scott,
Director, Rare Books and Special Collections, University of South
Carolina.
Professor Roy enjoying the lunchtime break
(L-R) Dr. Patrick Scott and Professor Ross
Roy during their presentation, "How Later Generations Made a Burns Poem
Their Own: Two Hundred Years of 'Tam O' Shanter'" |
