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Article THE ANNALIST ← Page 3 of 6 →
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The Annalist
Only one other piece of a Masonic character appears in his published poems , and the original of which , in the poet ' s handwriting , is in possession of Mr . Gabriel Neil , Glasgow , with the following note appended : " This song , wrote by Mr . Burns , was sung by him in the Kilmarnock Kilwinning Lodge , in 1786 , and given by him to Mr . Parker , who was Master of the Lodge . " It is intituled ,
THE SONS OF OLD KILLIE . T UNE—Shaivnbo ;/ . Ye sons of old Killie , assembled by Willie , To follow the noble vocation ; Your thrifty old mother has scarce such another To sit in that honoured station . I ' ve little to say , but only to pray , As praying ' s the ton of your fashion ; A prayer from the muse , you well may excuse , 'Tis seldom her favourite passion .
Ye powers who preside o ' er the wind and the tide , Who marked each element's border ; Who formed this frame with beneficent aim , "Whose sovereign statute is order ; Within this dear mansion may wayward contention . Or withered envy ne ' er enter . May secrecy round be the mystical bound , And brotherly love be the centre I
Such are the few Masonic emanations of the muse of Robert Burns , Professor Dugald Stewart furnishes us with some idea of his general conduct and address within the walls of the Lodge . In the summer of 1787 there was a meeting of the Mauchline Lodge of Freemasons , at which the poet presided in person , and the philosopher was one of his visitors . " He had occasion , " says Mr . Stewart , " to make some short unpremeditated compliments to different individuals , from whom he had
no reason to expect a visit , and every thing he said was happily conceived , and forcibly , as well as fluently , expressed . If I am not mistaken , he told me that in that village , before going to Edinburgh , he had belonged to a small club of such of the inhabitants who had a taste for books , when they used to converse and debate on any interesting questions that occurred to them in the course of their reading . His manner of speaking in public had evidently the marks of some practice
in extempore elocution" We wish the worthy metaphysician had reported some of the speeches of that evening , as well as sought to analyze the mediate or immediate causes of the chairman ' s facility of delivery . Doubtless Burns had often made eloquent addresses , both at Masonic and other meetings , whether in the capital or in the country , long after his first attempts in the little debating society . His strong native sense and fine feelings were quite enough , with such practice , to enable him to
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Annalist
Only one other piece of a Masonic character appears in his published poems , and the original of which , in the poet ' s handwriting , is in possession of Mr . Gabriel Neil , Glasgow , with the following note appended : " This song , wrote by Mr . Burns , was sung by him in the Kilmarnock Kilwinning Lodge , in 1786 , and given by him to Mr . Parker , who was Master of the Lodge . " It is intituled ,
THE SONS OF OLD KILLIE . T UNE—Shaivnbo ;/ . Ye sons of old Killie , assembled by Willie , To follow the noble vocation ; Your thrifty old mother has scarce such another To sit in that honoured station . I ' ve little to say , but only to pray , As praying ' s the ton of your fashion ; A prayer from the muse , you well may excuse , 'Tis seldom her favourite passion .
Ye powers who preside o ' er the wind and the tide , Who marked each element's border ; Who formed this frame with beneficent aim , "Whose sovereign statute is order ; Within this dear mansion may wayward contention . Or withered envy ne ' er enter . May secrecy round be the mystical bound , And brotherly love be the centre I
Such are the few Masonic emanations of the muse of Robert Burns , Professor Dugald Stewart furnishes us with some idea of his general conduct and address within the walls of the Lodge . In the summer of 1787 there was a meeting of the Mauchline Lodge of Freemasons , at which the poet presided in person , and the philosopher was one of his visitors . " He had occasion , " says Mr . Stewart , " to make some short unpremeditated compliments to different individuals , from whom he had
no reason to expect a visit , and every thing he said was happily conceived , and forcibly , as well as fluently , expressed . If I am not mistaken , he told me that in that village , before going to Edinburgh , he had belonged to a small club of such of the inhabitants who had a taste for books , when they used to converse and debate on any interesting questions that occurred to them in the course of their reading . His manner of speaking in public had evidently the marks of some practice
in extempore elocution" We wish the worthy metaphysician had reported some of the speeches of that evening , as well as sought to analyze the mediate or immediate causes of the chairman ' s facility of delivery . Doubtless Burns had often made eloquent addresses , both at Masonic and other meetings , whether in the capital or in the country , long after his first attempts in the little debating society . His strong native sense and fine feelings were quite enough , with such practice , to enable him to