En:The Masonic Genius of Robert Burns - Addendum

Addendum

Source: Ars Quatuor Coronatum, Vol. 5, 1892, p. 53-55,
LODGE QUATUOR CORONATI, NO. 2076, LONDON.

Having been requested to make a few remarks on the eloquent prelection which our talented Brother Dr. Richardson has delivered on "the Masonic Genius of Robert Burns," I feel I cannot allow the opportunity to pass without expressing in the first place my warm thanks to him for his very interesting sketch of the Masonic career of Scotia's Bard, and in the second place without subjecting some of his remarks to a measure of criticism. But before doing so I would add my commendations to those of the other brethren, and must congratulate the learned doctor upon the admirable apothegm he has given us in his exordium, viz., "Orders are composed of men born to aptitudes befitting the order," which is, I think, a very happy and true rendering of the axiom previously formulated, that "In an order or fraternity like Masonry there is a true, a deep, and subtle genius which holds it together: and that the Order may be held together there must be, in a greater or lesser degree, the same kind of genius in every individual member," from which he deduces the truth that "Masonry was akin to Burns' native genius, it was to him that touch of nature which makes all akin." It was this "one touch of nature," this inborn feeling or perception of the universality of the brotherhood of man so frequently expressed in his works, which constituted his Masonic genius. For instance, we have in the following lines, which are most characteristic of the writer, the fundamental principle or spirit of Masonry :-

"A' ye whom social pleasure charms,
Whose heart the tide of kindness warme,
Wha hold your being on the terms,
' Each aid the others,'
Come to my bowl, come to my arms,
My friends, my BROTHERS."

And again in the manly lines of the song beginning "Is there for honest poverty, wha hangs his head and a' that," this feeling finds expression in the noble aspiration :-

" Then let us pray that come it may-
As come it will for a' that-
' That sum and worth o'er a' the earth May bear the gee, and a' that,
For a' that, and a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man to man, the warld o'er,
Shall brithers be end a' that."

Herein lies the great secret of Burns' universal popularity: not only his love of nature, which is a common attribute of all poets, but by his intense love of human nature, he was endowed with a deeper sympathy with humanity enabling him to strike a chord in all onr hearts which vibrates in unison with that which thrilled his own, deepening our sympathies towards our fellow men and enlarging our hearts in universal love. This is, without doubt, the keystone of the great arch of Burns' Masonic genius.

Our poet's family name, as Brother Richardson observes, was not always Burns but was originally Burness, and it may interest the brethren that on the 25th of May, 1786, he announced to the brethren of the Lodge at Tarbolton that he intended assuming in future the shorter name of Burns, and he accordingly signed the minutes that evening for the first time by the now familiar and world-famous name of Robert Burns. Brother Richardson informs us of his regular attendance in the Lodge, and mentions that he attended to his duties nine times in the year 1785 and the same number of times in 1786, and we find the minute book bearing ample and valuable testimony as to his assiduity as a Mason, for page after page is filled with his band writing and his autograph as Depute Master, thus making the little vokme of this out-of-the-way Lodge more valuable than the records of the most ancient Lodge in the world.

We come now to Burns' appearance in Edinburgh amongst the brethren there, and here I would take objection to the statement that on the 1st of March, 1787, Bro. Alexander Fergnsson of Craigdarrock, the Master of Canongate Kilwinning Lodge, " dignified him as Poet Laureak of the Brotherhood, and assigned him a special poet's throne." There is nothing to warrant this assertion, which has been frequently made and as frequently contradicted, but the idea is a popular one and forms the subject of a well-known picture by the late Bro. Stewart Watson which has done much to perpetuate the fallacy. AB. Bro. Richardson says, Burns was assumed a member of Canongate Kilwinning Lodge on the 1st of February, 1787, the minutes of the meeting being in the following terms: "The Right Worshipful Master, having observed that Brother Burns was at present in the Lodge, who is well known as a great Poetic Writer, and for a late publication of his Works, which have been universally commended, and submitted that he should be assnmed a Member of this Lodge, which was unanimously agreed to, and he was assnmed accordingly," but the minutes contain no reference to his having been laureated by the Lodge. Bro. Murray Lyon, in his well-known History, says, " The 1st of March, 1787, is mentioned by Masonic writers as the date of the scene which has been pourtrayed by the artist. But neither the minutes of that date, nor of any other during Burns' lifetime contain any record whatever of the existence of such an office as Laureate of the Lodge or of that distinction being conferred on Burns. The first mention in Canongate Kilwinning minutes of this once having been held by the Poet is found under date February 9th, 1815, when the Lodge resolved to open s subscription among its members to aid in the erection of a "Mausoleum to the memory of Robert Burns, who was a member and Poet Laureate of this Lodge,' " a very evident afterthought which is repeated in the minute of the 9th of June, 1815, and again in that of the 16th of January, 1835, which chronicles the appointment of Brother James Hogg, the " Ettrick shepherd," to the "honorary office of Poet Laureate of the Lodge, which had been in abeyance since the death of the immortal Brother Robert Burns.' "

Dr. Richardson, like a skilful physician, delicately touches a tender spot, when he says he knows our poet's faults and is "not blind to his sins of emotion." Some persons there are who have not this delicacy, and I am sorry to say there are many who do not deal so gently or kindly with our brother's memory as he would have done himself in the case of rtn erring brother, for does he not counsel us to do so in these well-known lines ?-

"Then gently scan your brother man,
Still gentler sister woman ;
Though they may gang a kennin' wrang
To step aside is human ;
One point must still be greatly dark,
The moving Why they do it,
Ancl just as lamely can ye mark
How far, perhaps, they me it.

Who made the heart, 'tis He alone,
Decidedly can try us,
He knows each chord-its various tone,
Each spring-its various bias ;
Then at the balance let's be mute,
We never can adjust it ;
What's done we partly may compute,
But know not what's resisted."

Let us exercise towards his memory then that charity which we, as Masons, profess to admire and cultivate, and leave, as he himself would have us leave, the judgment of our actions to the Maker of the heart. Like Dr. Richardson I, too, from my earliest years have been acquainted with the works of the poet, and have studied them, and sighed over tho short sad story of his life in my maturer years, and the more I study the more I appreciate "the God-made king," and thank the Giver of all good who

" - sent his singers upon earth,
With songs of sadness and of mirth,
That they might teach the hearts of men,
And bring them back to heaven again."

and not the least among them " To charm, to strengthen, and to teach," is our poet brother, Bobert Burns.

One more point and I have done, and sorry am I to have occasion to note this point ; it is in reference to a certain obnoxious volume of doggerel which is palmed npon an inconaiderate world as Burns' "Merry Muses." I would humbly suggest that the mere fact that some of the contents of the book are in the handwriting of Allan Cunningham is no conclusive proof that Burns ever wrote a single line of it, because Allan Cunningham was not acquainted with Burns, he was not the poet's friend; he was a boy of a little over ten years of age when the poet died, and it is not likely that Burns would contract a friendship with a youth of that age, or confide to him songs of such a nature that the rare volume must needs be concealed as a forbidden book to the eyes of childhood. No ! a thousand times no ! I have seen and read the filthy rolume, and there is not one redeeming point in it one can tolerate smut when it is classical or witty, as in the Decameron and some of our ancient masters, but when it is unaccompanied by wit or cleverness or sense or reason it is intolerable: and the halting lines, the spurious rhymes, and contemptible stuff contained in this volume stamp it as the offspring, not of a genius like Burns, but of some grovelling prurient incestuous mind or minds. Like Thomas, I doubt and will not believe until I have ample proof, and not till I see the lines in his own holograph, or with his name adhibited in his well-known hand will I be convinced that our much loved poet, and much maligned by the "unco' guid," ever penned these foul effusions. The songs of our country were dross and worse until the advent of Burns; it was he who, by the refining power of his divine gift, turned them into pure gold, and gave them a free unsullied gift to his countrymen, and I cannot entertain in my own mind for a single moment that he, who had done so much towards purifying the literature of his country, would ever leave it such a degrading legacy as the "Merry Muses," which I maintain is frequently falsely and calumniously, but I trust thoughtlessly, ascribed to him. We know but too well that &ere are stains and splashes on his regal robes, but even in his cups he never degraded his high office, he never deliberately doffed and dragged those robes through the mire. What says his centenary poet?

" Though he may yield
Hard-pressed, and wounded fall
Forsaken on the field ;
His regal vestments soiled ;
His crown of half its jewels spoiled;
He is a king for all."

I am sorry that I am compelled to speak so strongly, but I feel strongly, and think that as this paper has been devoted to the "Masonic Genius of Burns," it is a fit and proper place to enter once for all a protest against the calumny which so often ascribes this foul doggerel to the Bard of Scotland. In conclusion, I feel that we all owe Bro. Dr. Richardson a deep debt of gratitude for his admirable and eloquent address upon " The Masonic Genius of Robert Burns." - W. FRED VERNON.

See also

• main article: En:The Masonic Genius of Robert Burns