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Monday, 25 January 2016 17:33

Greenock and the Bard

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We hope that you all have a wonderful Burns Supper tonight of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. In celebration of the Bard, please see connections that Greenock has with the great man himself.

 

1. The Robert Burns Club in Greenock is also known as the "Mother Club" since it was the first club in existance. It was so early in fact (1801) that they got Burns' birthday wrong and were celebrating on the wrong date. 

 

2. Robert Burns's literary financier was a chap called the Earl of Glencairn who had a residence at Finlaystone Country Estate. Burns would have visited the area a number of times to have a few cheques signed ;-)

 

3. We all know that Burns was a bit of a philanderer and had many an extra marital affair. It was once such romance with a servant girl names Mary Campbell, otherwise known as Highland Mary who nearly had Rabbie running away to Jamaica (there were other reasons too of course). The departure point was to be the Port town of Greenock and Mary who was orginally from Argyll, was already in the town nursing her brother who was suffering from Typhoid. As legend goes, Burns was on his way to meet his love and run away but when he arrived he found out that she too had succomed to the infection and had sadly passed away. Burns was said to have been heart broken. Mary was buried in the graveyard of the Old West Kirk, although she was later moved to the Greenock Cemetery where you can visit her to this day.

Read 6504 times Last modified on Monday, 25 January 2016 17:48
Catriona Stevenson

Catriona is the main tour guide and loves nothing more that to throw on her tartan trews and tour around the Scottish Highlands.

Favourite Tour: Glencoe and Inveraray Tour

 

 

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