Robbie Burns: Drink a toast to a progressive man

Barry McClatchie pays tribute to Scottish poet Robert Burns*

Thousands of people, from all walks of life, all over the world celebrate 
the immortal memory of Robbie Burns — the aristocracy, the gentry, the 
military, the masonic order, political parties, Burns clubs, trade unions 
and working people.

In Robert Burns we have a poet who straddles class barriers and who is 
toasted by a great diversity of people who might agree with Burns when he 
said: "Whisky and Freedom Gang Thegither".

They might all have a common liking for whisky, which many of us here do, 
but, unlike Burns, some among the aforementioned have precious little 
liking for freedom — especially the freedom for working people.

Burns suppers should not be used as an occasion upon which to hang 
political theories nor to draw political parallels, but now, as in Burns' 
time, nationalism and the role of the Scottish Parliament are major issues.

Burns was, on this issue and on every other, first and foremost a radical. 
He knew and understood the national question.

We now have a new Scottish Parliament and Burns would have been an active 
campaigner in support of it.

Nevertheless, he would have used his talents against them should they step 
out of line, as he did when writing about our last Scottish Parliament in 
"A Parcel Of Rogues In A Nation".

"Farewell to a' our Scottish fame"
"Farewell our ancient glory"
"Farewell even to the Scottish name"
"Sae famed in martial story!"

"Or would or had I seen the day"
"That treason thus would sell us."
"My auld grey head would lie in clay"
"Wi' Bruce and loyal Wallace!"

"With Pith and Power, till my last hour,"
"I'll mak' this declaration:"
"We've bought and sold for English gold"
"Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation!"

Today, it might have read: "Bought and sold by Brussels gold" or Bought and 
sold by US gold" or, perhaps, even closer to mark, "Bought and sold by 
multinational gold".

Some of the groups I previously mentioned misconstrue Burns' nationalism 
and view it with tartan-tinted glasses — and through a sentimental mist — 
The Glories of Auld Scotia.

But ask them to resist the cuts in expenditure, to oppose cuts in staff and 
job losses, rent increases or to oppose bus and rail fare increases or help 
create a new Scotland and they would run a mile. Burns would not have.

However, it is clear, as people in the trade union and labour movement, 
that we have a special responsibility not to utter nonsense in Burns' name, 
but to show a true respect and admiration for one of the greatest Scotsmen 
of all time.

This can and should be done by placing Burns in his historical setting and 
times.

The greatest event of this period was the French Revolution. This was not 
only an economic and political revolution, but it also profoundly 
influenced artists of that period — Mozart, Wordsworth, Blake, Burns and 
others.

Let me quote one passage from Wordsworth and one from Burns on the French 
Revolution.

Wordsworth described it in glorious terms:

"O pleasant exercise of hope and joy"
"For mighty were the auxiliaries which"
"then stood on our side;"
"We who were strong in love,"

"Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive"
"But to be young was very heaven."

Burns celebrated the Revolution in his "Tree of Liberty" — or "Tree of 
France" — in his evergreen words:

"Heard ye o' the Tree of France"
"Around it a' the patriots dance"
"Weel Europe kens the fame o' it"
"It stands where once the Bastille stood"
"A prison built by Kings, man"
"When superstition's hellish brood"
"Kept France in leading strings, man"
"Upon this tree there grown sic fruit"
"Its virtues a' can tell, man"
"It raised man aboon the brute"
"It makes him ken himself, man."

The French Revolution changed people's lives, but also changed their 
thoughts and ideas as well. The slogan and ideas of the French Revolution -
- liberty, equality, fraternity — encouraged people to question the 
structure and the whole fabric of society.

So, when Burns wrote "A Man's A Man For A' That" he was not just stating a 
lofty sentiment, but giving expression, at that time, to a new 
revolutionary truth.

In the words of the poem, he wrote:

"A Prince can mak a belted knight."
"The man's the gowd for a' that."

He was declaring to the people in "hodden gray", who were looked upon as an 
inferior species by the "belted earls", that there were no longer natural 
superiors, no longer stations in life and proclaiming the right of the 
common people to share the fruits of the earth.

Burns' own life is described by his brother Gilbert.

"To the buffetings of misfortune, we could only oppose hard labour and the 
most rigid economy. We lived very sparingly. For several years, butcher 
meat was a stranger in the house", he wrote.

"My Brother, at the age 13, assisted in the threshing of the crops of corn 
and, at 15 years of age, was the principal labourer on the farm."

Burns put it in more apt terms, "the cheerless gloom of a hermit with the 
unceasing toil of a galley slave".

Experience shows that poverty can have varying effects on people.

It can produce the effect of acceptance and that it is right. It can 
produce compassion for fellow human beings and a total dislike of the 
system and the people who support it.

And, perhaps most importantly, it can produce people with the urge and 
desire to change the system that is responsible for that poverty.

There is no doubt about Burns' reaction to poverty. In his "Epistle To 
Davie," he says:

"t's hardly in a body poor"
"tae keep at times frae being sour"
"to see how things are shared"
"How best a' chiels are whyles in want
"while loafs in countless thousands rant
"and ken na how to ware it."

No appraisal of Burns would be possible without a mention of religion.

In Burns' day, the spiritual police of Calvinism, with its doctrine of the 
elect, was never far away. Woe betide anyone caught with their trousers 
down — either literally or metaphorically speaking — as they were 
immediately rushed to the cutty stool.

Burns' trousers were down on a regular basis, but he seemed to avoid public 
ridicule.

In the struggle between the Auld Lichts and the New Lichts, Burns sided 
with progress — made fun of the devil and, in his own brilliant and 
satirical way, shows up the Holy Willies of the day.

By placing Burns rightly in his own class, time, setting and, by no means 
least, in character, we are better able to appreciate Burns' poetry and 
song.

The biting satire of "Holy Willie's Prayer", the maudlin sentimentality of 
"Cottar's Saturday Night" and the basic down-to-earth realism of the "Twa 
Dugs" justifies our pride in Burns, most appropriately described by 
Wordsworth as a "man speaking to men".

"Burns, through his works, certainly did that all his life", wrote the lake 
poet.

Let us consider with pride the now most translated poet worldwide, whom the 
reviewers said wrote in an unknown language and provincial dialect.

Burns would have been lost to Scotland's cultural heritage — a heritage 
which has become a most important factor in the struggles of today.

We should honour Burns, his tremendous work in rescuing Scots songs from 
obscurity and neglect and for his wide range of songs.

Robert Burns was a remarkable man, a progressive thinker, a radical, and we 
should salute him for his forward-looking ideas.

Most of the current struggles are a continuation of past struggles. Take 
the women's struggle. Over 200 years ago, Burns was declaring:

"While Europe's eye is fixed on mighty things"
"The fate of empires and the fall of kings"
"While quacks of state must each produce his plan"
"And even children lisp the Rights Of Man"
"Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention"
"The Rights of Women merit some attention."

We should honour Burns for his belief in a better future for humanity in 
his inspiring words:

"The golden age we'll then revive"
"Each man will be a brother"
"In harmony we all shall live and"
"Share the earth together"
"In virtue trained enlighten youth shall"
"Love each fellow creature"
"And future years shall prove the truth"
"That man is good by nature"
"Then let us toast with three times three"
"The reign of peace and liberties."

Let us conclude by paying a tribute to Robert Burns, this brilliant Scots 
poet, farmer and exciseman, the son of Agnes and William Burns — 
Caledonia's Bard, who, almost single-handed, climbed Everest and 
established a base for native Scottish literature and, in so doing, made 
himself known to peoples and generations all over the world.

Let us raise our glasses and salute Robert Burns on his terms — the terms 
that he has made ours.

"For Auld Lang Syne, my dear"
"For Auld Lang Syne."
"We'll take a cup of kindness yet,"
"For Auld Lang Syne."

* * *

* This is an abridged version of a speech delivered at the Burns Night 
Celebration held by the Communist Party of Ireland in Belfast.

Acknowledgements: Morning Star, Britain's daily paper of the left.