When: January 27th, 7:00 PM
Tickets: $65 (21 and older only)
More info: [email protected]
A “Burns Night” is a festival of Scottish heritage celebrating the poetry of Robert Burns. Held on or near the 25th of January, which is the anniversary of Burn’s birth (we generally hold ours on the first Saturday in February). A Burns Night is a ritualized feast that normally involves a ceremonial entrance of haggis followed by an evening of Scottish themed dishes and drinks. A toast to the lassies followed by a toast from the lassies is often followed by a reading of the poetry of Robert Burns. In our case, the evening is followed by a dance. We host this evening of frivolity and fellowship as a fundraiser to support our Lodge’s charitable activities (in previous years proceeds have gone to the Salvation Army).
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was initiated an Entered Apprentice in Lodge St. David, Tarbolton on 4 July (ironic date) 1781, at the age of 23. His initiation fee was 12s 6d, and paid on the same date. Like many other times in his life, Burns came into the lodge amidst a controversy. Originally, there had been only one lodge in Tarbolton, chartered in 1771 from the Kilwinning Lodge, which is said to be the oldest lodges in the world (again, another story worth telling, yet for another time).
In 1773, a group broke away from the lodge, forming Lodge St. David No. 174, and the original lodge became St. James Tarbolton Kilwinning No. 178, only to be reunited in 1781, 9 days before Burns’s first degree. However, while St. James was clearly the older of the two lodges, St. David’s name was used, and the seeds were sown for further dissension. Burns in the meantime was passed to the degree of fellowcraft, and raised to the degree of Master Mason on lst October 1781. (Taken From: Robert Burns and Freemasonry, by World Burns Club Member, Todd J. Wilkinson)