Galashiels Burns Club

Founded: 1908Federation No: 187


Commemorating a Century of Burns in Galashiels

By DAVID KNOX – and published in the Border Telegraph, Wednesday, May 22, 2013


NEXT week marks the centenary of one Galashiels’ most iconic landmarks.
The Burns statue at the bottom of Lawyer’s Brae was unveiled on Saturday, May 31, 1913.
Thousands turned out on that day to witness the ceremony - and also the official opening of the new Corn Mill Square over the road.
Exactly 100 years on, members of the Galashiels Burns Club will once again hold a ceremony at the foot of the Brae.
Song, poetry and pipes will accompany the laying of a wreath upon the bronze bust.
Russell Robertson, Secretary of Galashiels Burns Club, told the Border Telegraph: “We don’t expect to get the crowds that they did at the statue’s opening ceremony, but we have invited a few guests to join members of the Burns Club.”
Robert Burns visited several towns across the Scottish Borders in the 1780s.
It remains unclear if he ever spent time in Galashiels, but it is certain that for well over a century his work and life has been celebrated by a loyal and appreciative bunch.  And he did pen the town’s favourite lines - Braw Braw Lads.
The Galashiels Burns Club was founded in 1907 with the annual Supper, held every January, being the highlight of their calendar.
The idea for a permanent memorial to Burns was first mooted the same year by the committee of the town’s Cycle Parade.
They had already raised cash to purchase ornamental pillars for the foot of Roundtree Bridge and the search for a new project was quickly steered towards the nation’s favourite poet.
After three years of banking the profits, a total of £120 was in place for a fitting statue.  Further donations were collected before the plans went out to tender.  The Laird of Gala gifted an area of land at the entrance to the recently widened Bank Street.
And following an invitation for designs, of which 40 were received, it was decided to award the contract for the Burns Memorial to sculptor F Doyle Jones of Chelsea.


George Hope Tait, Chairman of the Burns Memorial Committee, above. And, below, crowds of onlookers are pictured at the 1913 unveiling of the Burns Memorial at Lawyer's Brae in Galashiels 		Mr Robertson added: “George Hope Tait was instrumental in most of the civic activities around that time and would have been heavily involved in both the Burns Memorial and the other improvements being carried out around Galashiels.
“We thought it would be fitting if we invited direct descendants of George Hope Tait to our ceremony.”
George Hope Tait, who was Chairman of the Memorial Committee, welcomed the massed gathering on Saturday, May 31, 1913.
In his address to the crowd, Mr Hope Tait said: “To be associated, however distantly, with Burns is regarded as noteworthy and interesting; to be specially identified and selected as a theme for his divine art is an honour that the world might envy.”
The new Burns statue was covered by a Scottish flag ahead of the ceremony.
Music was provided by the Territorial Army band as well as a children’s choir.
The Memorial bears the simple inscription of 'Burns’ below the bust with 'Braw, Braw Lads’ inscribed on the granite base, which was sculpted by G Sutherland.
Mrs Harry Murray of Glenmayne, wife of the President of Galashiels Burns Club, was given the honour of unveiling the Galashiels Burns Memorial.  Mr Murray addressed the gathering following the unveiling.  He said: “This is a proud day for the Burnsites of Galashiels, and it ought also to be a proud day for the inhabitants generally of this most important burgh.
“We are met together for the purpose of unveiling to all who care to look at it, and, I trust, to admire it, a memorial to one of the greatest of Scotchmen, a patriot in the right sense, a lover of his country, and a friend of all the nations and all of the peoples in the world.”
The current President of Galashiels Burns Club, Keith Cowan, will be joined by David Sanderson and Grant Lees to perform this month’s centenary ceremony.  The ceremony will start at 7.45pm on Friday, May 31, beside the Burns memorial and will be followed by a reception at the Royal British Legion.





For an account of the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns given by the President of The Galashiels Burns Club, Mr H. S. Murray, at the 1913 Annual Supper on Friday, 24 January, as recorded in the book  'Burns on the Borders – A Galashiels Episode'    CLICK HERE


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