The Cotter’s Saturday Night

The Henderson Gallery
In this one hour production I discussed the fall from grace of The Cotter’s Saturday Night, described in the late 50’s by Maurice Lindsay as “The poem by which, a handful of songs apart, Burns is probably best known” (my stress). I explained the piece, contrasting it with Robert Fergusson’s The Farmer’s Ingle, and discussed the use of rhyme scheme, meter and devices of both authors.

Both poems were presented in their entirety. The Farmer’s Ingle was accompanied by a rolling gloss, while The Cotter’s Saturday Night was illustrated with some wonderful images

The Henderson Gallery is a wonderful, bright space, most conducive to evenings such as these. It was a wonderful night and arrangements are already in hand for a further show illustrating some of Burns’s Edinburgh love songs.