Dumfries and Galloway Burns Association 75th Brow Well Gathering Goes Virtual

That the Parliament congratulates the Dumfries and Galloway Burns Association (DGBA) on finding an innovative video message solution to mark the 75th anniversary of the annual club gathering at the Brow Well on the Solway Coast to lay a wreath in commemoration of the death of the National Bard, Robert Burns, on 21 July 1796; recognises that, this year, the newly-appointed President, Fiona Evans, and other club presidents, members, friends, Doonhamers and dignitaries participated in a group recitation, recording themselves reciting lines of the Bards’ poem, Man Was Made to Mourn, which was written in 1784; welcomes the eulogy by Bill Nolan, immediate Past President of the Robert Burns World Federation, and the Brow Well oration by Professor Gerry Carruthers, who is the Francis Hutchison Chair of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow; notes that the Reverend Gerald Moule from Ruthwell Kirk will present a prayer in memory of the Bard, and that Burns Howff Club piper, Callum Watson, will play a lament; further notes that this will be viewable via the YouTube channel, DGBA Burns Association, from 22 July, which was the proposed day of the annual ceremony for 2020; acknowledges that the ceremony has not been able to take place due to the social distancing restrictions in place because of COVID-19; congratulates everyone who participated in the virtual ceremony for 2020, and wishes everyone well in advance of the event in 2021, which will mark 225 years since the death of Robert Burns. R