Spotlight on club’s talented performers

Burns enthusiasts kick off the new year in style

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

President John Mitchell got the evening going by quoting a passage from the Robert Burns poem ‘Winter a dirge’.

Jim King started the entertainment off with a Scottish medley on the accordion and soon had the members and their friends singing along with the wellknown tunes. This was followed by the company singing ‘Green grow the rashes, O’.

The evening’s entertainment continued with Willie Anderson reciting the poem ‘The cremation of Sam McGee’ by the British/Canadian poet Robert W Service, who was also known as the Bard of the Yukon.

Isobel Brodie then recited the Burns’ poem ‘What can a young lassie do with an auld man’, and Denys Docherty sang ‘The rigs o’ barley’ with guitar accompaniment. Jim Donoghue then recited an amusing poem about a golf ball.

Past president Wendy McNab delivered a talk that had been written by honorary member and past president Harvey Littlejohn’s late wife, Chris, regarding Burns’ wife Jean Armour and Agnes McElhose. Harvey followed this tribute to his wife by singing ‘Ae fond kiss’.

The first half was brought to a close by the company singing ‘A man’s a man for a’ that’.

The second half started with Jim Leslie singing ‘The lea rig’ with guitar accompaniment. Harvey returned to deliver a short talk on the Rev William Auld (Burns’ Daddy Auld), minister of the Kirk at Mauchline.

May Lobban then recited ‘The reekin’ lum’ and was followed by the company singing ‘My luve is like a red, red rose’.

Vice-president John Haining entertained the audience with funny anecdotes culminating in a poem about the ‘Tobermory Treasure’ made famous by Andy Stewart. Isabel Davidson enthralled the audience with her rendition of ‘A highland lad’.

Jim Leslie and Denys Docherty returned together to sing and play ‘Wild mountain thyme’.

The company’s final contribution was the Burns song ‘John Anderson, my jo’ before 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 concluded with the company singing the traditional ‘Auld Lang Syne’ with musical accompaniment by Jim King and Denys.

The next meeting of the club is the 21st annual Burns Supper, which will be held on Monday night and promises to be an excellent evening with wellknown Burnsian entertainers and, of course, the traditional Burns Supper meal.

Doors at the Village Bowling Club, 10 Maxwell Drive, will open at 6.30pm to ensure a prompt start.