| Bob
Murray
email murray@stamp-shop.com
5 Inverleith Gardens Edinburgh EH3 5PU Tel. 0131 552 1220 Fax 0131 478 7021 |
| Page last updated Thursday 24 January 2002 © Robert Murray 2001, 2002 |
| Robert Murray Stamp Shop,
Edinburgh Established 1977 Retail shop, auctioneers, mail order www.stamp-shop.com |
|
Robert Burns, Scotland's national
poet, is celebrated each year on 25 January by the holding of Burns'
Nights throughout the world. This page is here to tell you that
Burns Night-and-a-Half
is
25 July
This page has been set up to promote the idea of an annual Burns
Night-and-a-Half, to be held on 25 July, exactly six months after the
traditional
25 January Burns Night which marks the birth date of Robert Burns.
| Background The Scots are a stupid bunch ! The French have Bastille Day in July (outdoor parties and fireworks), Aussies have their Christmas in midsummer (barbies, beach parties), in the USA they organised their Independence to be in summer so that the anniversary would always be suitable for outdoor celebrations. What do the Scots celebrate ? Hogmanay (when it's winter) - Christmas (during the winter) - Burns Night (jings ! that's in the winter as well). Some folk do Saint Andrew's Day or Guy Fawks Night (both November) and Hallowe'en (in balmy late October). So let's celebrate Robert Burns's half-birthday. The 25th of July 2003 will be his 244-and-a-halfth birth anniversary. |
| The Idea I would encourage people to hold garden parties, or barbecues, or similar outdoor social gatherings. Hold them to celebrate Robert Burns. Sing some of his songs, play some of the tunes he used, read some of his verse. Talk about him and his ideas. Have a good time - have a party ! No need to have a haggis, or a piper, or speeches, or a formal programme. Even just one person who is willing to sing a song and read a verse can make the whole event. My dream is then of the Burns Night-and-a-Half becoming
a publicly
recognised and popular event throughout Scotland. |
| The Burns Night-and-a-Half Band A few Edinburgh amateur musicians (all students at A.L.P. night classes - and one tutor) got together for A Burns Night-and-a-Half in July 2002. We had a garden party in Juniper Green (just outside Edinburgh) and played music, and drank, and chatted, and sang a song or two, have formed themselves into a little (terribly loose) band, and are making the band available, free of charge, to attend and play at two or three events on the evening of 25 July. They are (in alphabetical order); Elaine Benger (bodhran), Patty Kelly (fiddle), Hilary Kerr (accordion), Bob Murray (guitar and voice), Helena Spiers (fiddle), Jamie Taylor (fiddle), John Wallace (whistle), Martin Wilson (mandolin), and George Winter (fiddle). |
| A Little History From 1992 to 1997 Democracy for Scotland maintained a Vigil For a Scottish Parliament permanently for five years. In order to brighten the tedium, there were parties and celebrations from time to time. One of the dayes always celebrated was Burns Night, but the 25th January, outside on a pavement, was always pretty cold. So A Burns-Night-and-a-Half was started in July each year, and much more pleasant it was too. May the idea continue ! |
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