Robert Burns

[Chas]

Burns most likely never did wear a kilt, but he certainly wrote about John Highlandman in a number of his works, and mentions plaids, tartans and so forth. I don't think it's right to so easily dismiss discussions of Burns here just because "he never wore a kilt".

I also find it somewhat disconcerting that those of us who are Burns aficiandos are also dismissed as "not having original thoughts", Chas. Burns is still very alive in his works, which even after over 250 years. He still "speaks" to people around the world. For those of us who love studying his life and works, there are always new ways to look at Burns -- you may not see the value of discussing Burns, but please don't easily dismiss those of us who do enjoy & admire him.

And honestly -- how many ways can you say -- "nice kilt!" -- before it gets old?

Respectfully,

Todd

Todd, that's not what I am saying at all. I am sorry if it has come across that way, it was never my intention. I am glad you responded, as it gives me a chance to expand my original thought. I think that you hit the nail on the head with the 'nice kilt' comment. For the majority of us, any comment we could make would fall into that category.

Burns is too important to be lightly dismissed, but by the same token is, in general, too difficult to be properly understood by most of us. In the main, he wrote in Scots (a foreign language) or in English with a Scottish dialect (as good as a foreign language). It would do him no service, nor the reader, to misunderstand his meaning. What is required is either a primer or someone to lead the reader gently to understanding.

Besides yourself, there are a few Burns scholars within the membership. Working as a team, or as the nominated spokesperson, what I envision would be an essay or treatise on one of Burns' works. A translation to start and then an explanation as to what he meant - with historical context.

Once we have the work in an easily digestible form, then we can comment. Hopefully the comments would be pertinent and insightful. Without proper tuition and guidance, we would be lost in a hopeless morass of ignorance.

Unless some undiscovered letters come to light, what is known about the man is known. I cannot see that having a forum of random unstructured postings would benefit anyone. After all it is not as if anyone is going to say "When I met Rabbie last week, he told me that..."

One the one hand it could be a great benefit to understanding the evolution of the kilt and it's historical context, on the other, it could be a great mess.

Regards

Chas