April 14th
Some of the biggest names in the field of Burns studies foregathered (good word, foregathered) in The Henderson Gallery tonight for a fascinating and hugely entertaining talk from Cammy Goodall, making an impassioned case for 'The Cotter's Saturday Night', a poem that has seemingly fallen out of favour with modern audiences.
After a rousingly rich rendition of Fergusson's 'Farmer's Ingle', Cammy led us expertly through the murky underworld of iambic pentameter, trochaic tetrameter, Alexandrines and the Spenserian stanza before bringing us out again into the sunlit uplands with a flawless performance of 'The Cotter's Saturday Night' itself. And what a performance - it is indeed from scenes like these that old Scotia's grandeur springs. Great stuff - and remember, if you missed it Cammy will be appearing alongside David Purdie in a new show about Edinburgh and the Enlightenment at Henderson's this coming Festival.
