Robert Burns and a Few Others
21-Jul-2023
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| Scotland |
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| Dumfries & Galloway |
Driving down from Findochty to Dumfries on Friday – a tiring 260 miles – we saw more sunshine than any other day for a week, but the dark clouds returned as our journey ended.
Dumfries, with a population of 45,000, is the largest town and administrative centre of Dumfries & Galloway, the third largest of Scotland’s 32 Council Districts and the third least densely populated mainland district
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| Findochty, Dumfries and the Dumfries & Galloway District |
We checked in to the Hill Hotel and sought restaurant advice from our friendly landlady. Unlike
some Scottish towns, Dumfries apparently offers a wide choice, but it was
Friday night and Scotland has more diners than restaurant seats, so we went
where we could get a table. After several phone calls we found a 7.30 niche at a
large pub/restaurant in the town centre.
The 12-minute walk (dry on the way down, drizzle on the return) was welcome exercise after our long sit, and provided some orientation.
The Cavens Arms offered a typical pub menu at reasonable prices, the food was
well-cooked and the young, friendly staff worked hard ensuring the right plates
and drinks arrived in timely manner on the right tables.
22-Jul-2023
The Robert (Rabbie) Burns Walking Trail
Robert Burns, Scotland's national poet, spent the last few years of his short life in and around Dumfries. Although born and brought up in Ayrshire, Burns is
a co-opted ‘Doonhamer’ (Dumfries people call themselves Doonhamers because they live so far south that every journey ends with a return ‘down home’). Perversely, we joined the town’s Burns Walking Trail, at a site with no Burns connection.
The Dumfries Fountain
In 1832 a cholera epidemic struck Dumfries, the mass grave in St Michael's Churchyard names 400 victims, though there may have been many
more. Cholera returned, with equal devastation, in 1848. Although it was six years before
John Snow proved the connection between Cholera and contaminated water, many in Dumfries
believed that a clean water supply could solve their recurring problem.
A pipeline was built from nearby Loch Rutton, water started flowing in October 1851 and a fountain was erected in the High Street to
celebrate the event.
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| Dumfries Fountain - the 1882 version |
That fountain was replaced by something much grander in 1882. It has recently been refurbished, and the boys who seem to be squeezing
water out of dolphins laid over their knees or between their thighs (yes, it
does look a bit odd) have been re-gilded.
The Midsteeple
In England it would be unusual, maybe impossible, to find a steeple unattached to a church, but this is the second
free-standing, non-religious steeple of this brief Scottish sojourn. Every
burgh must have a tolbooth, and in 1707 Dumfries decided to replace theirs with
something more impressive, and this is it.
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| The Midsteeple in Dumfries' rain-dampened High street |
Designed by Tobias Bachop in ‘Scottish Renaissance’ style it stands a short step along the High Street from the fountain. It once held the borough council chamber, and in July 1796 Robert Burns' body lay here prior to his burial. It is now a ‘ticket office and meeting place'.
The Robert Burns Statue
The other side of the Midsteeple is a marble statue of Robert Burns. Designed by Amelia Paton Hill and made by Italian craftsmen in Carrara,
it was unveiled in 1882. Burns is accompanied by his Scots Collie, Luath,
though the depiction suggests the Scots Collie was an unknown breed in Italy.
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| Burns Statue, Dumfries |
Like all such works, Burns head provides a convenient perch for a seagull, when this photo was taken, though there was probably a pigeon next in the queue.
The Friary and Friar’s Vennel
The Greyfriars (Franciscan) Friary was dissolved in 1569 and later demolished, but it played a part in Scottish History.
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| Robert the Bruce and his Queen Forman Armorial (1562) so maybe no at exact likeness |
The instability is known as the First Scottish War of Independence, the winner was
Robert the Bruce. Two events, one in Dumfries in 1306, the other in 1307
contributed to his success.
By 1306, natural selection had whittled down the Scottish claimants to two, John Comyn and Robert the Bruce. They met to discuss their differences in the chapel
of Greyfriars monastery, roughly where the Burns statue now stands. Robert the
Bruce comprehensively won the argument by pulling out a knife and stabbing
Comyn to death.
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| The Death of Comyn by Philippoteaux The tartans and kilts are 300 hundred years too early |
The
Bruce thus became an insecure King Robert I. Fortunately for him Edward I of England
died the next year. His son, Edward II lacked his father’s military and leadership skills and his Scottish
ambitions were destroyed by Robert I at Bannockburn in 1314.
Although the friary is long gone, the lane leading from the Burns Statue to the River Nith is still known as Friar’s Vennel (vennel
is a Scottish word for a narrow lane).
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| Friar's Vennel, Dumfries |
Mr Rain-jacket stepped past me as I pressed the shutter. I cursed quietly and took several more shots without him. To my surprise the best was the first, his rain-jacket making a clear statement.
The Devorgilla Bridge
Friars Vennel reaches the river at the Devorgilla Bridge.
Alan, Lord of Galloway, died in 1234 without legitimate male issue and his daughter Devorgilla (a Latinization of the Gaelic ‘Dearbhfhorghaill’) succeeded him as Lady of Galloway. She funded Dumfries' Franciscan Friary, and also the first bridge on this site (c1270). That wooden structure was replaced by the current stone bridge in 1432. One of four Nith footbridges in Dumfries it remains in use and still bears her name.
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| The Devorgilla Bridge, Dumfries |
Lady Devorgilla married into the Balliol family of Barnard Castle in County Durham. Her husband founded Balliol
College, Oxford as penance after losing a land dispute with the Bishop of Durham.
Being much richer, Lady Devorgilla provided the endowment. The list of Balliol
College Alumni embraces a staggering array of the Great and the Good (four Nobel
laureates and the King of Norway, among them). It also includes Boris Johnson.
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| The misty River Nith from the Devorgilla Bridge, Dumfries |
Descended from Kings of Scotland, Devorgilla might have been a contender for the throne had she not died (aged 80ish) only months
before the Maid of Norway. As it was, her son John Balliol did briefly become King, unfortunately,
the Toon Tabard (Empty Coat) as he was known, lacked her fibre.
The Old Bridge House
At the other end of the bridge is the Old Bridge House Museum. The house was built in 1660, making it the oldest house in Dumfries though
it is 200 years younger than the bridge.
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| The Old Bridge House Museum, Dumfries |
In the early 1900s the council became the landlords and divided the house into two 3-room apartments. John and Annie Black moved
into the upper flat in 1910. There was no electricity, running water or
sanitation but they managed to raise six children here. John Black was a
decorator who died when he fell and cracked his head (he liked a drink, perhaps
a little too much). Annie, aka Granny Black was well known locally as an (unqualified)
midwife and layer out of the dead. There is a photograph of her in her parlour,
alongside that of her son John who joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers in World
War I and died in France in 1917.
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| Granny Black and her son John |
Granny Black lived here until her death in 1955. Much of the information about her comes from her grandson James Murray. Born in nearby Moffat, he is now 93 and during an illustrious career was professor of
Applied Mathematics at the Universities of Oxford and Washington, quite a
journey from the Old Bridge House in two generations.
The other rooms contain period clothes and furniture…
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| Old Bridge House Museum, Dumfries |
…though one downstairs room houses the equipment of a 19th century Dumfries dental surgery. The foot-powered drill scares me.
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| 19th century dentist's equipment, Dumfries |
The Robert Burns Centre
200m along the riverbank, strategically close to the weir, is the town’s old mill. It is now the Robert Burns Centre. It is not a particularly remarkable building, but that is not my excuse for having no photograph. If only I had an excuse!
Downstairs we were greeted by two helpful and knowledgably staff members, and one of them accompanied us to the collection upstairs. ‘What do you know about Robert Burns?’ she asked as she she set the short film. ‘Very little,’ I replied.
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| Robert Burns by Alexander Naysmyth (1787) Scottish National Gallery |
This is what I did know. Burns born in the 18th century in Ayrshire, He was a farmer and exciseman, and became
Scotland’s national poet. I know Burn’s night is the 25th of January and Lynne
and I celebrate it every year, not, I am sorry to say out of veneration for
Burns but because a) it is the only time haggis is widely available in
Staffordshire, and b) it is an excuse for a night off from ‘dry January’. I
can also mumble something about a wee tim'rous beastie, occasionally (mis)quote
O wad some Power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us! and
sing a verse of Old Land Syne.
And this is what I learned. Burns died in 1796, aged only 37 probably from a rheumatic heart condition, aggravated by the long rides in
all weathers required by working as an exciseman.
He saw himself as a songwriter more than a poet. The centre had recordings of forty or so songs and Lynne chose to play ‘Charlie is my Darling.’ She used to sing it at junior school and was amused to discover they had sung only the first and last verse - much of the rest being 'unsuitable'. Several (maybe all) the many volumes of The Complete Songs of Robert Burns are on YouTube. This link is to Volume 1
He was born in near poverty in 1759. His father was a farmer who needed his labour on the farm from a young age, but did not neglect
his education.
In 1784 his father died, Burns first child was born in 1785 to his mother’s servant, but before the birth he was involved with Jean
Armour, the daughter of a respectable stonemason who gave birth to twins in
1786. At the insistence of her father, they went through a traditional form of
marriage.
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| Jean Armour, portrait from Burns cottage by John Alexander Gillfillan 1822 Burns died young, his portraits show a young man but the only portrait of the 'Belle of Mauchline' show her much later in life |
The following year he was involved with a Mary Campbell and then accepted a job on a Jamaican sugar plantation. To raise funds
for the voyage he published his first book of poems, which sold well enough for
him to give up the Jamaican enterprise and go to Edinburgh. How his poetry and
reputation would have changed had he spent several years working for slave
owners is a matter of conjecture.
After a tumultuous four years he married Jean Armour (who by now had born him a second set of twins) properly in 1788 and moved to a farm
at Ellisland near Dumfries. The farmland was poor and Burns worked as an excise
man in addition to farming and writing to support his family. They quit the
farm in 1791 and moved to the house in Dumfries we will visit later. Burns
died there in 1799.
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| The sword carried by Burns as an exciseman, and his 'exciseman's trunk' |
He continued to stray from the marital bed, though always returning to Jean Armour (as she seems to be known, not Mrs Burns). Burns acknowledged three illegitimate children while Jean bore him 9 - three surviving to adulthood. She took in in his last illegitimate daughter after his death, raising her as her own.
John Laurie’s House
A further 200m along the river is a short terrace of sturdy stone houses. No 1 Welldale Terrace was the childhood home of John
Laurie. Born here in 1897 he attended Dumfries Academy and studied architecture
before army service in World War I. On returning home he trained as an actor and enjoyed a long and busy career, becoming a household name in his later years as Private Frazer in the long running and still much repeated BBC sitcom Dad’s Army. He died in 1980, because, as Private Frazer would have said, ‘We're doomed! We're all doomed!’
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| John Laurie's childhood home, Welldale Terrace, Dumfries |
The Burns Mausoleum
A suspension footbridge crosses the Nith outside John Laurie’s house.
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| Dumfries suspension bridge |
St Michael’s church is near the other end. This version was built in the 1740s, but there has been a church on this site for over
a thousand years.
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| St Michael's Dumfries |
Robert Burns died 227 years and one day before our visit. All Dumfries came out to say farewell - except his wife, she was busy
giving birth to their ninth child. His coffin was carried through crowded
streets and he was laid to rest in the north west corner of St Michael’s
churchyard.
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| The original site of Burns' grave |
The churchyard looks full. The large slabs jostling for position are mostly memorials to the well-heeled of the 18th and 19th
centuries. No doubt, they were all outstanding citizens, but when every memorial
strives to be outstanding, none stand out, so William and Dorothy Wordsworth had
great difficulty in finding Burns’ grave when they visited in 1803.
Money was raised for a larger memorial and in 1815 he was dug up and moved to a new mausoleum designed by James Wyatt. It is not
great, but it would look less awful if it was not so out of place in a Scottish
churchyard.
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| The Burn's Mausoleum, St Michael's Dumfries |
In 1834 Jean Armour died and Burns was dug up again so she could be interred with him. On this occasion they made a plaster cast of
his skull, now kept in the Burns centre. Weird or what?
Burns House
Between the church and Burns’ house is a statue of Jean Armour. She stood by him more steadfastly than he deserved, and showed remarkable compassion to his ‘irregular’ offspring. She deserves a statue and it is a shame it came as late as 2004.
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| Jean Armour, opposite St Michael's Church |
Their house had six rooms and was comfortable, as 18th century houses go, but was not large – poetry does not pay, even for the national poet. Burns lived here from 1791 to his death in 1798, Jean Amour stayed on until her own death, 38 years later.
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| Burns' House, Dumfries |
The parlour looks convincing….
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| Burns' parlour |
…as does the kitchen...
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| Kitchen, Burns House, Dumfries |
...but the furniture is of the right period but not Burns’ originals. An earlier drawing of the room in which Burns died, suggests this is
the right room, but wrong bed.
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| The room where Burns died |
The desk in his tiny writing room is one he used, though never in this house. The diamond tipped stylus with which he signed
his name on the window is still here, as is his signature.
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| Burns writing room |
Farewell to Robert Burns
That finished the Burns Trail, so we found a café for a belated sandwich and cup of tea. It would be perverse to leave Burns without an example of his work, and as we were still near the river, I offer you this poem:-
The Banks O’Nith (1789)
The Thames flows proudly to the sea,
Where royal cities stately stand;
But sweeter flows the Nith to me,
Where Comyns ance had high command.
When shall I see that honour'd land,
That winding stream I love so dear!
Must wayward Fortune's adverse hand
For ever, ever keep me here!
How lovely, Nith, thy fruitful vales,
Where bounding hawthorns gaily bloom;
And sweetly spread thy sloping dales,
Where lambkins wanton through the broom.
Tho' wandering now must be my doom,
Far from thy bonie banks and braes,
May there my latest hours consume,
Amang the friends of early days!
Part 1 Falkirk
Part 2 Banff and Macduff
Part 3 Pitmedden Gardens and Haddo House
Part 4 Lossiemouth to Elgin
Part 5 A Rainy Day in Dumfries (1) Robert Burns
Part 6 A Rainy Day in Dumfries (2) Caerlaverock Castle
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