{"id":4698,"date":"2017-02-14T13:52:11","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T13:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/?p=4698"},"modified":"2025-12-27T12:24:32","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T12:24:32","slug":"raise-a-glass-to-truth-and-robert-burns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/2017\/02\/raise-a-glass-to-truth-and-robert-burns\/","title":{"rendered":"Raise a glass to truth and Robert Burns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

No alternative facts here. Truth is fearful only to those with something to hide as Pat Sutherland concludes in her skilfully woven tribute to Robert Burns:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Here’s freedom to them that would read.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s freedom to them that would write!<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s nane ever feare’d that the truth should be heard<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they wham the truth wid indite! <\/i><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Rab I Wish You Knew<\/em><\/strong> is a fine toast for a Burns Supper (the last four lines are a direct quote from Here\u2019s a Health to Them That\u2019s Awa<\/a>).<\/span>  And it <\/span>will surely raise a glass in the spirit of Valentine\u2019s Day.  <\/span>There\u2019s warmth and humour in the light of a \u2018lusty man\u2019 and his love \u2018for them a\u2019… the Jeans and Lizzie\u2019s\/ just no wan at a time\u2019. Wry irony in his \u2018mockin\u2019 the unco\u2019 guid\/ then lickin\u2019their boots for patronage\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But <\/span>there\u2019s much that is both timeless and topical in the poem which focuses on the contrast between the poet\u2019s background and his lasting impact on the world. With unease and division spreading across the world there\u2019s potent poignancy in the way Burns’s words can bring people together: \u2018shackled nations\u2019 across the globe singing \u2018that man to man, the world o\u2019er\/shall brithers be\/for a\u2019 that\u2019. In our tuneless time, drumbeats of fear have threatened to drown out such songs in newly shackled nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there\u2019s personal sadness in loss. The unalterable fact of mortality. \u2018Rab deid too soon\u2019. Poetry \u2013 and truth \u2013 persists, for a\u2019 that. And that’s worth toasting any day of the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Rab I wish you knew<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You were a man o’ pairts, Rab,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

a poet wi’ pen, a sophist wi’ plough,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

stoppin’ amang the stour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

tae beg a moosie’s pardon,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

say sorry tae a daisy;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

mockin’ the unco’ guid<\/p>\n\n\n\n

then lickin’ their boots<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for patronage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A  <\/span>lusty man, Rab,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

wi’ charm an’ sweetest words<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you won the lassies,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

faitherin’ bairns across the county,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

keepin’ warm the cutty stool<\/p>\n\n\n\n

for sake o’ cutty sarks,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ge’in’  <\/span>gleefu’ gossip<\/p>\n\n\n\n

tae warpit auld wives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You loved them a’, Rab,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the Jeans an Lizzies –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

jist no wan at a time,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

an’ them that deid or left,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you loved forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Above a’, Rab, a workin’ man,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you filled each year<\/p>\n\n\n\n

wi’ toil;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

tied tae a plough,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

you laboured<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in the futile fields<\/p>\n\n\n\n

an wrote an wrote<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by candle licht<\/p>\n\n\n\n

seein’ your best laid schemes<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

wasted, like sodden acres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You deid too soon, Rab,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

before the word went roon,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

before  <\/span>Rab the Rhymer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

gie’d way tae ‘Scotland’s Bard’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

before, across the globe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

shackled nations sang<\/p>\n\n\n\n

that man to man, the world o’er,<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

shall brithers be for a’ that.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today we toast you<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and a’ your works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the sangs, the poems,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the lassies, the bairns –<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the words that winna dee:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s freedom to them that would read.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s freedom to them that would write!<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s nane ever feare’d that the truth should be heard<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they wham the truth wid indite!<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh Rab, I wish you knew.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Pat Sutherland, aged 75, is a former teacher who took up freelance writing and editing after early retirement in 1992. In 2014 she was<\/span> diagnosed with advanced breast cancer   <\/span>She has returned to writing as a hobby since taking part in an expressive writing programme at Glasgow\u2019s Maggie Centre. This is the first time she has offered a poem for publication and we are delighted she chose Sceptical Scot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Valentine’s Day \u2013 or any other day \u2013 Sceptical Scot is pleased to publish this tribute to Robert Burns and his lasting truth by new writer Pat Sutherland. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":3008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[55],"class_list":["post-4698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4698"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17908,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4698\/revisions\/17908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sceptical.scot\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}