At a recent meeting, the club held its annual Burns Lunch at the Willowbank Hotel. President Ray Young was in the chair, Bill Young addressed the haggis and Bernie Rafferty proposed the toast to the Lassies. Out of the traditional order for reasons that became obvious, our guest speaker, Drew Cochrane spoke to the Immortal Memory, which included acting out Tam O’ Shanter, stopping occasionally to tell a few mostly relevant jokes and galloping around on Meg.
Drew had been the UK’s longest serving newspaper editor at the Largs & Millport Weekly News . The paper described him as one of the town’s most erudite and colourful characters, who had celebrated half a century writing for his local newspaper.
Drew’s performance was excellent and had everyone following the exploits of Tam really closely. Here are some photos to let you see the fun.
Here is a good version of Tam O’ Shanter together with a translation for those that need it.
Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in a “light Scots dialect” of English, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.
Why not join us at our next meeting?
New members are always welcomed at the Club. If you are 50 or over, retired, or nearing retirement, (men only, I’m afraid, sorry ladies) you can attend three meetings as a guest and find out what a relaxed and friendly time we have. That’s plenty of time to decide whether to become a Club member or not. Please check out our programme and email info@largsprobus.org.uk if you wish to attend as a guest, or to enquire about joining.
Largs Probus Club will next meet in the Willowbank Hotel on Wednesday 4th February at 10am when Fraser Sutherland will give a talk on Humanism.