Perth Burns Club

St Andrew's Day

A day of Scottish life and culture

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[left to right] Professor Tom Devine, Harry McGrath, Ronnie Renton, Michael Kidd, Graeme Murdoch, Bill Dawson [President of the Robert Burns World Federation], Dr John Davidson [Vice President of Perth Burns Club], Dr Gerard Carruthers.

On Saturday, November 29, 2008, Perth Burns Club held its annual celebration of St. Andrew's Day - held annually on the nearest Saturday to the November 30 anniversary of Scotland's patron saint.

The event, which was held in the A.K. Bell Library Theatre, York Place, Perth, commenced at 1pm with the fifth annual seminar which again featured a notable line-up of Scottish academics, historians and literary personalities who each gave 40-minute lectures on aspects of Scottish life and culture.

Those who took part were:

• Professor Tom Devine of the University of Edinburgh on "The 'Death' and Re-Invention of Scotland"
• Dr Gerard Carruthers of the University of Glasgow on "Muriel Spark and Scotland"
• Harry McGrath, chairman of Cultural Connect Scotland and former co-ordinator of the School of Scottish Studies at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver who was accompanied by the renowned Scottish freelance photographer Graeme Murdoch for their illustrated presentation of "The Scots in Canada"
• Ronnie Renton and Michael Kidd from the Neil Munro Society on the novels of Neil Munro and Munro's Ayrshire idyll - "The Making of Tam o' Shanter"

The chairman for the afternoon was Mr Bill Dawson, a past president of Perth Burns Club and who is the current president of the Robert Burns World Federation.

In the evening, a traditional Scottish concert was held at the same venue and featured the popular Edinburgh female vocal group The Linties, folk singers Scott Gardiner and Johnny Kemp along with John Napier's fiddle group.