“If one were to ask a Greek today about romantic writers and personalities of the late 18th and early 19th century, the chances are that Lord Byron would be at or near the top of the list. Whilst Byron also enjoys a public profile in the UK – even if not the same as here in Greece – it is more likely that the name mentioned would be that of Scotland’s most famous poet and romantic – Robert “Rabbie” Burns. Uniquely, with the possible exception of Shakespeare, Burns has assumed a cultural status and prominence more than 220 years after his death, that reaches across the globe.
That was the opening line of the British ambassador in Athens, Matthew Lodge, in the special Burns Supper, held by the British Embassy on Friday evening in the historical building of Amalias 36, with its neoclassical elements fitting properly the joyful event.
Every year, since 1803, Scots all around the world (plus anyone keen to Scotophilia) get together and celebrate the life and the poems of the great Robert Burns. The official date is the 25th of each January, as the man himself was born on that special day in 1759. Let us not forget that there are over sixty statues of Burns in cities across the world, most of which are located in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The placement of these statues reflects both the trajectory of nineteenth and early twentieth century Scottish migration and the universal appeal of Burn’s poems. Only twenty of these can be found throughout Scotland. For anyone who’s addicted to strange statistics, it is worth noting that, after Queen Victoria and Christopher Columbus, Robert Burns has more statues dedicated to him around the world than any other non-religious figure.
But who exactly was Robert Burns and how come he remains relevant in the 21st century?
Robert Burns was born in 1759 and lived only for 37 years – they were, however, enough in order for him to become Scotland’s national poet, leaving behind a legacy of timeless poems, while he also served as one of the first ethno-musicologists in history, as he was traveling all around the country, collecting traditional song and airs, on a mission to save them from oblivion, by rearranging them or writing lyrics along their melodies.
According to Guinness World Records, his song “Auld Lang Syne” («times long past»), is the third most popular British song ever! While it was written as a farewell song meant to be sung every New Year’s Eve, it became a Christmas classic with more than 250 recorded versions still booming from any sound system every December!
Robert Burns was considered to be a lady’s man or, to be more precise, a ladies’ man. It is no wonder that his love songs can still send even the most cynic person shivers down his/her spine. His second most wide-known song is “A Red Red Rose” (1794), the title of which was used for Burns’ film biopic, starring Michael E. Rodgers, back in 2004, depicting his reduction to poverty when, among other misfortunes, his many social marital affairs finally caught up with him. It is an amazing song with lyrics that Bob Dylan acknowledged as causing “the biggest effect on my life”. He was not the only American to pay his respect, though: John Steinbeck had admitted that in order to conceive the title of his great novel “Of Mice and Men”, he was influenced by the poem “To A Mouse”, while J.D. Salinger had disclosed that the poem “Comin’ Through The Rye” which was the inspiration behind the classic “Catcher In The Rye”.
The most unexpectedly warm reception was to be met with in the Soviet Union, where Burns’ anthologies were selling more than 600.000 copies and his figure was used on a national stamp in 1956, while to this day he is adored in Russia, as the archetypal Poet of the Common People.
You can make your own celebration, raising a toast to the immortal memory of Burns. All you need is some food (haggis, neeps and tatties is the original combination but any vegetable soup or smoked salmon would do), traditional music (if you don’t have bagpipes in handy, just pick any Scottish musician, from Hamish Imlach to Eddi Reader), a bold narrator willing to read out loud the famous “Address to a Haggis”, dancing, preferably in folklore attire and groove, and of course, Burns’ preferred spirit of choice, whisky! Worst case, if it is too late to secure anything else, just go with the latter and you will do Burns Night the only justice the Great Scotsman would probably demand!
As Ambassador Lodge said, “many of the themes are ageless and cross the boundaries of time and geography. Think Scot’s hospitality and Greek “philoxenia”, haggis and “kokoretsi”, and whisky and “tsikoudia”. Perhaps the spirits of Burns and Byron were not that different after all.”
