Henley and Burns Author:John Dawson Ross Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: A CRITIC SCARIFIED. Prom the "Kllmarnock Standard," 21st January, 1899. Our southern neighbours have sarcastically dubbed the twenty-fifth the festival of... more » St. Robert, but the truth is that this particular date in January has come to be regarded as one of the set times of the nation for social intercourse, apart altogether from what at first it was undoubtedly meant to commemorate. The Scot, outwith the bounds of his native country, is proverbially clannish, and eagerly embraces every opportunity calculated to bring together his fellow-countrymen in sufficient numbers to realise to the full the heart-stirring sentiments embalmed in "Auld Langsyne," which might very appropriately be adopted as the National Anthem. Thoughts of home and fatherland cannot of course account for the outburst of enthusiasm in every nook and corner of Scotland at the end of each recurring January—a phenomenon which, in spite of the ridicule and sneering of foreigners, has preserved its spontaneity and fervour undiminished for more thana hundred years. Why is this so ? Had it been mere hero-worship, enthusiasm would inevitably have waned, as the hero receded down the vista of time. It is because the national poet of Scotland is the exponent of the national sentiment and aspirations iu a degree never attained by any other poet, ancient or modern, that he has gained such a hold upon the people—a hold so deep and powerful that Burns and Scotland are with them almost interchangeable terms. He is, par excellence, " the patriot and the patriot bard," uttering in words of fire, easily understood of the people, the deep feelings of the heart which found no adequate expression till he took them in hand for melodious interpretation. Other nations have their national poets who occupy high seats in the Temple of...« less