One of the most enjoyable events in recent weeks was the show, “Sparkling Sopranos”, with Cheryl Easton and Audrey Lowrie, presented at St. George’s Church Hall on 23^rd October in aid of the charity, Cruse Bereavement Care, Scotland.

Cheryl, perhaps better know as Jean Armour from “Tea with Clarinda” introduced a fun-packed programme of songs and duets with Audrey Lowrie, from light operetta in the first half and Hollywood musicals in the second.

The audience enthused to numbers from “Princess Ida” by Gilbert & Sullivan, taking on the way, old favourites from “La Traviata” and “A Nightingale sang” to “Guys and Dolls”, “Showboat” and “My Fair Lady”. Cheryl’s strong voice was well complemented by Audrey’s rich but restrained vocals and both came together in incandescent and lively duets. Sympathetic accompaniment was provided by Scott Miller who also accompanies the Male Voice Choir and from John Lowrie, Audrey’s son who is studying music at RSAM in Glasgow.  It was interesting to note the number of ladies in the audience who seemed to know Ted Murray. An unexpected bonus was the raffle prize won by the writer which drew some derisory comments from John Caskie but I put that down to jealousy.

A most entertaining evening which raised much-needed funds for a very worthwhile cause.

Saturday morning at Cumberland Street Day Centre to find Ted Murray again, this time behind the book counter at the National Trust Coffee Morning. Again to my surprise, won two prizes at the Tombola Stall although one was a bottle of alcohol-free wine, but never mind. Had arranged to meet David Baird in the afternoon but, due to a leak, he failed to materialise.

Looking forward to the Winter Lecture on Thursday 29^th and the Hallowe’en Supper on the 30^th. Aint life grand.

DS

MERRILY DANCED THE FIDDLE!

I was delighted and honoured to accept a kind invitation to be a special guest when the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra performed at their debut concert in Dumfries. Under the guidance of the musical director John Mason MBE and conductor Blair Parham the orchestra were in great form playing a varied selection of tunes old and new and suitable for all tastes. John Mason in his own inimitable style conducted the first few sets of tunes before handing over to compere for the evening Jim McColl of Beachgrove Garden fame, Jim had the audience in roars of laughter with his ‘couthy’ one liner stories. It was the first time I had seen both John and Jim perform in concert for years and I was taken aback how aged they both looked, although they still gave their all. Young Blair Parham has the John Mason style about him when conducting and gets the most out of both the orchestra and the audience with his enthusiasm. Soloists were Dennis Heggarty a superb tenor from Ayr and Belfast lass Debra Stuart who included in their performances songs of Burns. Burns was of course highlighted very much with many tunes having a Burns theme to them and the famed ‘Tam o Shanter Overture’ arranged by none other than John Mason. Another highlight was the involvement of the Dumfries and Galloway police pipe band that joined the orchestra for surely one of the best renditions of Highland Cathedral anyone will ever hear! This brought proceedings round to the interval when I was introduced to the musical director John, conductor Blair, other members of the orchestra and soloists for refreshments and a friendly chat. John reminded me of the time he conducted the ‘Strings of Scotland’ in the Academy hall for a Howff concert and still had, and showed me, the programme and the souvenier beer mat the club presented him with after the event.

The second half of the show was equally thrilling and included some Highland dancers from the Myra Shuttleworth School of dancing. I entertained with Myra many years ago and she is still the best Highland dancer Dumfries has ever seen and I’m sure her girls who danced at the SFO concert will follow in her footsteps.

The Star o’ Rabbie Burns and Auld Lang Syne sang by both soloists and performed by the orchestra and the pipe band brought the evening to a close all too soon. It was the orchestra’s first ever gig in Dumfries and with the applause and appreciation they received from the capacity audience I am sure will have let them know that we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

I have also this month chaired the committee meeting of the Howff executive and met with the secretary to outline the Halloween Supper programme. I compered the retrial party of Shirley Bell retiring chief executive of the RBWF and enjoyed the ‘first’ Whistle competition and entertainment laid on by Thornhill Burns Club at Friars Carse Hotel.

JOHN M CASKIE

PRESIDENT

BURNS HOWFF CLUB

20TH OCTOBER 2009

Blogging is habit forming and I’ve missed the opportunity in recent weeks due to technical problems but here goes from where I left off.

The president covered the excellent concert by Scocha on 19/09/09 and I’ve had lots of positive comments since including some from the band. Hopefully we might be able to bring them back to Dumfries on some future date.

The day after was the Horse Ploughing Match at Ellisland organised by the Friends of Ellisland. Several members were charged to man the car parks and receive admission fees. This was great fun as we all wore the club’s new high visibility vests. Under the command of pp Bert Hastings, Godfrey Bedford, Ted Murray, Derek Paterson, Bill Welsh and I, were posted at the entry points. David Miller and George Templeton marshalled the cars into place as they arrived.  We were kept busy from 8.30am onwards reaching a climax about 11. Only two drivers were guilty of incivility on being advised of the car park charge and they were both old farmers so allowances should be made. The weather and attendance exceeded expectation and an enjoyable day was had by all. I caught sight of the patron, Joanna Lumley, from a distance. She was accompanied by bodyguards.

The first Winter Lecture of the season was on 24^th September when 11 members and friends made their way to Broughton House, Kirkcudbright, for an evening visit to the former home of the Glasgow Boys” artist, A. E. Hornel. We were warmly welcomed on arrival by the custodian, Sally Entwhistle. After a walk round the extensive gardens, pursued by mosquitoes, members were conducted on a tour of the magnificent house, which is in care of the National Trust and one of the best period homes in Scotland. Hornel was a tireless collector of Burns memorabilia and books and the Burns material was set out for our inspection.  An excellent supper at Selkirk Arms Hotel followed.

Sunday 27^th was the rewarding visit from the teenagers (and chaperones) from St. Petersburg which the president covered in his excellent blog. Wednesday 30^th, met up with the librarian and an advisor on applications to the Lottery Heritage Fund to discuss the club’s proposal to restore the ancient Centenary Banner, now in a fragile condition. The application form is a nightmare as, according to the accompanying guidelines, successful applicants are more likely to be from ethnic minorities or otherwise deviants. This is known as “social inclusiveness”. Pleased to report that the application was mailed on 15^th October.

In the meantime, a party from Alloway Burns Club visited on 3^rd October. A team of members spent an enjoyable afternoon conducting a ten-cent tour taking in the Mausoleum and Burns Statue. The visitors whose ages ranged from the teenage to the ancient expressed much appreciation.  Monday 5^th October, met up with JVP Frank Manson at lunchtime to look into the future. Excellent coffee and biscuits.  Excom meeting that evening for the provisional issue of Hallowe’en Supper tickets. Needed a drink after that but out to the Easterbrook Hall on Friday evening to attend the farewell function for Shirley Bell, retiring as chief executive of the WRBF. This was an interesting night, expertly MC’d by President Caskie, with speeches, mercifully brief, of the “backslapping” variety but the entertainment was of a high order and included “Young Burnsian” Holly Little. Earlier that day, the treasurer and I met with Mac Creedon at Solway Offset to discuss the printing of the commemorative book to accompany the Scots Language Competition. This is now taking shape and promises to be most impressive. Wednesday 14^th, met president John at the Globe to discuss the programme for the Hallowe’en Supper and other matters. Whilst there, three visitors from Dalry, Ayrshire, appeared and were told the story of the club and the “hidden room”.

Friday 16^th, was the “Whistle” reciting competition at Friars Carse. Four competitors sang and recited their way through the poem/song. The winner was Willie Horne who will recite “Tam O’ Shanter” at the Anniversary Dinner in 2010. Reciting competitions are not the writer’s scene but superb half-time entertainment was supplied by Lionel McClellan, well known to the club and Kirsten Easdale, from Helensburgh, vocals and guitar.  Saturday 17^th, met up with the treasurer at the Globe to discuss matters of gravity, with a pint and a nibble. We were pleased to be joined by Hector Davidson, a Doonhamer and Burnsian, now resident in London, who was at the club table at Murrayfield during the Federation conference at Edinburgh. Hector expressed regret at the removal of the iconic Burns heads from the “Welcome to Dumfries” road signs and promised to write to the papers. We wished him the best of luck.

During the past few weeks, with the help of Gordon Johnston, I have been assembling some club photographs for Peter Westwood’s “big issue”, the special edition of the Burns Chronicle to be published early next year as a record of the “Year of Homecoming”. Some of these should bring a smile and evoke memories of things past. In compiling the narrative, I read through some old minute books. One had an account of the Anniversary Dinner in 1895. No fewer than 22 toasts were proposed and drunk and Mrs Smith served bowls of soup on retrial at 6.00am the following morning. Perhaps members were more adventurous in those days!

D. Smith

BOWLING!  FOLK! (Sport and music) September (Part one)

Apologies to regular ‘Bloggers’ for the recent non activity by myself. There have been minor technical problems with the blog site and although I have had these scripts written couldn’t paste, however, here they are.

After the hectic but most enjoyable conference it was back to normality in September and looking forward to a ‘quieter’ month, Work commitments meant I had to miss the SSCBA meeting on Saturday 12^th and also the ploughing match at Ellisland on Sunday 20^th which I have heard had been a great success and a great family day out for all.

Sunday 13^th September we at the Howff welcomed members of the Dumbarton Burns club for out annual bowling match; this took place at the Dumfries Bowling Club on Newall Terrace by kind permission of the Dumfries Bowling Club. After an enjoyable day’s bowls we retired to the Globe where a High Tea was served and I presented our visitors with the ‘Jack Trophy’. It was agreed however that the game ended in a ‘draw’. The mutual friendship of both clubs was very evident on the day and I personally look forward to attending and representing the Howff at the Dumbarton Burns Club’s St Andrew’s Night and Burns Supper later in my Presidential year.

Folk group Scocha have entertained at the Howff on many occasions, however, this year we invited the full band (5 piece) to appear at the Theatre Royal in Dumfries on 19^th. The theatre

unfortunately wasn’t full to capacity but the 150 people who did attend all thoroughly enjoyed the vibrant performance of the guys, they included many Burns songs in their programme and the standing ovation at the end  assured them that after their first gig in Dumfries the audience hoped that it wouldn’t be their last! A small refreshment with some of the band members in the Globe afterwards rounded off a super night.

Although these were my only two ‘Burns themed events at the beginning of September, calling bingo numbers at the local hall’s prize bingo night, entertaining at the Lochfoot Women’s Rural 80^th Birthday, the Greyhound Rescue fund raising ceilidh and the Kirkpatrick Juxta Church Harvest Supper and acting Quiz Master at the Lochar Inn Sports Quiz my ‘quieter’ month had all of a sudden got a bit busier than I first thought.

JOHN M CASKIE

PRESIDENT BURNS HOWFF CLUB

SEPTEMBER 26^TH 2009