|
Edited by Frank R. Shaw, FSA Scot, Greater Atlanta, GA, USA
Email: jurascot@earthlink.net
Visiting Ellisland Farm
By Gerry Carruthers
The Robert Burns Ellisland Trust is a new,
membership-based charity that took control of Ellisland Farm and its
assets on 20 April this year. To mark the formation of the new Trust,
the Board Secretary, Professor Gerry Carruthers, led an exciting virtual
seminar titled “Burns@Ellisland” on Friday, 5 June. Professor Carruthers,
who is Francis Hutcheson Chair of Scottish Literature at the University
of Glasgow and one of the world’s leading experts on Burns, discussed
new research and answered questions using the online video conferencing
platform “Zoom.” Joan McAlpine MSP, Chair of the Robert Burns Ellisland
Trust, chaired the event. The seminar can be viewed at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9wyqU9ZWxM
The seminar looked at Burns’s crucial
Nithsdale social relationships and at the writing of ‘Auld Lang Syne’
and ‘Tam o’ Shanter.’ It examined Burns’s mental, physical and
imaginative health. As Professor Carruthers explained, “Ellisland speaks
deeply to the psyche of Scotland’s national poet and, once we grasp this
history, we begin also to realise the potential for Ellisland as a major
heritage site for the future.”
Professor Carruthers’ initiative marks a turning point in the long life
of Ellisland, built to the poet’s design back in 1788 when he set up
home with Jean Armour following their marriage. It remained a working
farm and was purchased in 1922 by Mr George Williamson, who bequeathed
it “in trust” to promote appreciation of Burns. In the 1990s, The
Friends of Ellisland charity formed to support the trust through
fundraising and development. The dedication and hard work of The Friends
is greatly appreciated by the new board and by everyone who loves
Ellisland.
The Vision Statement for new Trust outlines the key ambitions for the
future:
“The Robert Burns Ellisland Trust is committed to conserving and
promoting the site as one of the most significant locations in the life
of Robert Burns. We are ambitious to increase understanding of Ellisland
as central to Burns’ artistic development, where he composed Auld Lang
Syne and Tam o’ Shanter. We will enhance awareness of its environmental
importance as the best place to see the natural world through the poet’s
eyes. We will increase appreciation of Ellisland as Robert Burns’s first
marital home with Jean Armour and the foundational site for European
Romantic song.”
The Trust invites all Burnsians to share in this vision and looks
forward to hearing your views and working with you to make it a reality.
Having inherited a very precarious financial situation, the Trust’s
first objective is to get the estate on a sound financial footing. This
will establish a platform for bringing to fruition their visionary plan
for the long-term sustainability of the property, elevating its
importance in the Burns story to the level it deserves but has never
achieved. There has been an encouraging increase of 25% in membership of
the Friends of Ellisland following the seminar but the immediate
challenge is to raise sufficient funds to prevent the closure of
Ellisland, which just cannot be allowed to happen. The seminar should
help dispel any doubts about the importance of the site and also about
the determination of the new Trust to raise the profile of the property
and secure its short, medium and long-term future.
Donations can be made at
https://www.justgiving.com/robertburnsellislandtrust or by becoming
a "Friend of Ellisland." Details of membership can be found at:
https://www.ellislandfarm.co.uk/support-us/
Note from the editor: All of us would do well to send a gift of
money to assist with all the expenses above to ensure the farm is well
tended and backed with proper monetary support. I urge you to do it now
and also down the road when more money will be needed. This is a
wonderful project that we all can support. Dig deep!
Fond Memories of an Ellisland visit with
son Scott, his wife Denise, and our grandchildren
Ian Bascombe and Stirling Elizabeth Shaw
Susan and I visited Ellisland several times
throughout the years, and we always left Scotland wishing our visits
could have been longer and had included our son, Scott, his wife Denise
and their children Ian and Stirling. Our dream was realized in 2009 when
we visited with Les Byers, the farm’s curator at the time. Les welcomed
us with open arms and a huge smile of welcome, and from him we learned
many interesting and important facts about Burns. Our family visit was
the highlight of all our trips to Ellisland, and I will always be
grateful for Les’s warm hospitality to our family. He had a way with Ian
and Stirling that endeared him to our little ones. Yes, holding the
authenticated Burns sword was like magic!
If you are so inclined, it is an easy place
to stop off on your way from Glasgow to Dumfries. Susan and I never had
difficulty finding a good place to spend one or more nights on our
journey, and the same goes for restaurants. The people of the area were
simply wonderful to talk with, and we were always welcomed with a smile
when we asked for information in the stores or on the streets of
Dumfries. It is a visit Susan and I hope to make from time to time in
the future before we reach the age of no travel, the Good Lord willing,
but it is hard for me to believe any other visit will ever outshine our
time there with our little family! Scott, Denise, Ian, Stirling, Susan
and I all had a most marvelous time at Ellisland Farm.
(October 7, 2020) |
