The Burns' Festivals.
The poet of Ayr, in a letter written by himself, declares, "The poetic Genius of my country found m e as the prophetic Bard Elijah did Elisha—at the plough ; and threw her inspiring mantle over me. She bade m e sing of the loves, the joys, the rural scenes and rural pleasures of m y native soil in m y native tongue ; I tuned m y wild, artless notes as she inspired," and certainly there is an inspiration of homeliness, merriment, and patriotism in his melody that will secure for it an immortality, at least so long as the Scottish land and Scottish tongue have an existence. T h e inauguration of Burns' anniversary celebrations at h o m e communicated its influence to Port Phillip so early as 1845, and on the 24th January of that year the Melbourne Scots— " With love that scorns the lapse of time, A n d ties that stretch beyond the deep,"
Held their first Burns' Festival at the Caledonian Hotel, in Lonsdale Street, where the smallness of the room (50 feet by 15 feet) interfered considerably with the comfort of the arrangements. There were the usual decorations of green boughs andflags,and the tables groaned under the weight of an orthodox Scotch feed, including haggis —" great chieftain of the pudding race "—hotch-potch, cock-a-leekie, and sheep's-head broth. There were a hundred and fifty persons present, and they went into the good things to their hearts' content. In the verandah were posted a Highland piper in full costume, and the ordinary town band, both playing together; but the piper struck out a time of his own, and the inflexibly loud manner in which he stuck to it interfered m u c h with the efficiency of the lesser instruments. There never was such a melange of inharmonious music—or rather sounds—for it was simply a scramble where pibrochs, strathspeys, marches, quadrilles, and waltzes, enjoyed a general run-a-muck, knocking each other about in, if not the most admired, certainly the most amusing disorder. Mr. William Kerr was the chairman, M r . J. S. Johnston, the Vice, both of w h o m delivered very excellent speeches. T h e principal toasts w e r e — " T h e M e m o r y of Burns," "Bonnie Jean," and " T h e Rev. Dr. Lang," for the star of the last-named celebrity was then in the zenith, through the political services he was rendering the province. There was some capital singing by Messrs. Johnston, W . Clarke, Philip Anderson, Lumsden, and M a n n ; whilst a Mr. Elder favoured the company with a recitation. T h e event was in every way as pleasant and successful as could be reasonably desired. O n the 26th January, 1846, the second celebration came off at the Queen's Theatre, and in consequence of the presence in Melbourne of Dr. Lang, it assumed the shape of an important Separation Demonstration, and was very numerously attended, for no less than three hundred and fifty persons (Scotch, English, and Irish) responded to the call. Over the Chair was shown a large bust of Burns, and at the opposite end were " Tarn O'Shanter and Souter Johnny." W h e n dinner was over, ladies were admitted by ticket to the dress circle, to witness the remainder of the performance, which mainly consisted of a long, eloquent, political, and pre-Separation Address from Dr. Lang. T h e Festival for 1847 was held in the same theatre, where the principal performers were Mr. W . M . Bell and Mr. J. S. Johnston. T h e songsters were Messrs. Johnston, P. Anderson, " T o m " Forsyth, and G. Kirk. W h e n the night was well on a Scotch guard, headed by a gentleman known as T h e Honourable Mr. Kennedy," a well-known participant in some of the old outdoor frays, who, with some "bnthers" fresh from over-indulgence in some other place, arrived and on being reiused admittance, attempted to force a way into the building. They were resisted, and in the scrimmage ensuing Mr. J. T. Smith rihe thpntr^ ^r-™,-,w„ • J , 1 , • , . ,, J ,6 - ^tne tnea t r e proprietor) received a head-punching, for which he , , ,% handed Kennedy over to the police, and the " H n n n n n W o » „ ™ e. A .. u-n< , 1 i ' u Lue honourable was fined ten shillings by the magistrate b ' ° next day. F PaVi i0n W3S pitChed 0n an unused area of A • M ^ )"5 'f w*? " ' land adjoining the Auction Mart of Mr. J. W . Bell, a knight of the h a m m e r in Collins Street, somewhere about the recent establishment of Messrs. Detmold, the bookbinders. T h e place was arranged with some
