Club pay homage to Bard with night of poetry

The Kilbryde Burns Club kicked off the new year with their traditional members participation night.

President John Mitchell got the evening started by asking Jim King to lead the assembled company on the accordion as they sang‘A Guid New Year’.

The evening’s entertainment continued with a wealth of participants performing their favourite Burns songs, verses and anecdotes.

President John’s wife, Olive, started the members’ contributions by reciting ‘A Country Lad’.

The company then sang‘A Man’s a Man’, which was followed by past president, Jim Leslie, singing the beautiful love song,‘The Lea Rig’.

Brian Keenan then recited‘Willie Wastle’with his good friend Willie Anderson providing a light-hearted English translation of the poem.

Ian Ross provided the company with a very interesting critique of the Burns song ’Now Westlin’Winds’.

Jim King continued the entertainment by playing a selection of Scottish tunes on his accordion with the company singing along.

Jim Cameron then sang‘Bonnie Wee Thing’and was followed by John Mitchell reciting a poem from the north east of Scotland entitled‘Sna’.

May Lobban then recited the‘The Wee Cock Sparra’, made famous by Duncan McRae.

John Hutchison then entertained the company with a work by Scottish poet Hamish Henderson, before Jim Leslie brought the first half to a close by leading the company in singing‘Wild Mountain Thyme’, with guitar accompaniment.

The second half started with the company singing another Burns favourite, ‘Scots Wha Hae’, and then continued with Jim Donoghue reciting Thomas Campbell’s‘Lord Ullin’s Daughter’.

Brian Keenan returned and recited ‘The First Epistle to John Lapraik’.

Isobel Brodie recited a self-penned poem‘Life Wi’Ma Man’and was followed by a short amusing talk by Allan Nicol which he had titled ‘Affluenza’.

Denys Docherty then sang ’ Rattlin’ R oar in’ Willie’ with his guitar and was then joined by Jim Leslie as they both played and sang ‘Killiecrankie’.

Jim King returned with a second selection of tunes on the accordion, to bring the entertainment to a close.

The evening was compered as seamlessly as ever by president John Mitchell and culminated with the company singing the traditional‘ Auld Lang Syne’, with Jim King providing the accompaniment on the accordion.

The next meeting of the club is the 20th annual Burns Supper, which will be held on Monday and promises to be an excellent evening with well-known Burnsian entertainers and, of course, the traditional Burns Supper meal.

Doors at the Village Bowling Club, Maxwell Drive, will open at 6.30pm to ensure a prompt start.