Edited
by Frank R. Shaw, FSA Scot, Dawsonville, GA, USA
Email:
jurascot@earthlink.net
This is an unusual
presentation in that the Robert Burns World Federation has begun
distributing a newsletter and, yes, you will find Issue 1 below. It’s the
first time I have felt the necessity to include an organization’s newsletter
on our web site. I do so for several reasons, and I have been given
permission by Mike Duguid, Editor of The Robert Burns Federation Newsletter,
to put the entire newsletter on the pages of Robert Burns Lives!. The
federation is seeking new members and among the many benefits of a
membership is the annual Burns Chronicle produced by friend and colleague
Bill Dawson who has done an outstanding job since he became editor. Now we
have a newsletter as well. Their annual meeting is worthy of your time, and
I have been able to attend two of them - in Atlanta and Ayr. I have been a
member of the federation for years and find the Chronicle an indispensable
research source when writing an article or preparing a speech on Burns.
Some of our readers are already members, but let me encourage those who are
not to consider this resourceful avenue.
All you have to do is contact
the federation office for the necessary information. Believe me when I tell
you that your participation is not only needed by the federation but will
become an interesting part of your life, especially those who have a desire
or the need to learn more about Robert Burns. I have worked hard over the
years to collect every issue of the Burns Chronicle and probably have 99% of
them. You might even find yourself collecting them one day! I would like to
congratulate the federation for reverting back to the practice of publishing
only one annual volume - some things are best left “the old way”!
There is a brief article on
page 3 of the newsletter below on Robert Burns Lives!. I’m never comfortable
accepting compliments, and this is no exception, but I do thank Mike for
allowing the article to appear in his newsletter, particularly in the first
ever issue when there are so many more speakers with more intriguing topics.
Also you will find a photo of the Burns Club of Atlanta that I am
particularly proud of which I was so fortunate to take on January 3, 2003
after a rare blanket of snow in Atlanta. The picture appeared on the program
of ROBERT BURNS: AT HOME AND ABROAD, A One-Day Conference Hosted by the
Centre for Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow on January 12,
1013. In addition, I would like to thank administrative assistant Corinne
Buivenga, (pronounced “bouffin hah”) for sending me the newsletter in a Word
document format so I could transfer and share it on our web site.
It is with humble thanks and
appreciation I bring you Chapter 166 of Robert Burns Lives!. (FRS: 3.6.13)
I wasn't able to include the
newsletter in here due to formatting issues but have converted it to a pdf
file which you can...
Download here |