A skirl o’ the pipes, a whirl o’the kilt
Come all ye fair lassies and whoe’er ye wilt.
A bit o’ the haggis, a dram o’ the Scotch
We’ll celebrate Bobby, the noblest Scot!
Local translation: The Jacksonville Square will resound with the drone of bagpipes and the sound of poetry and song as the Our Town Bookstore and The Playhouse Theatre join together to celebrate Scotland’s nation poet, Robert Burns, at 7 p.m. on Friday, January 23.
“The event is celebrated all over the world,” said event organizer Robert Seufert, a former professor at MacMurray College. “So we’ve collected a group of local performers to once again bring Burns Night to Jacksonville.” The event is free of charge and will begin at Our Town Books then proceed two doors south to The Playhouse on the Square Theatre where local entertainers Bob Large, Ken Bradbury, Terri Benz, Gabe Knott, Sherri Mitchell, and Robert Seufert will entertain with a short program of Burns’ poetry and song. For further information contact the Our Town Bookstore at 245-2665.
Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759. He was a voracious reader despite being the son of a struggling tenant farmer, and he soon became known as a poet and songwriter. Many of the famous Scot’s most well known poems and songs will be performed during Jacksonville’s own Burns Night.
Tho’ the chill winds may sting on your bonny young face
There’s sure not a warmer nor
friendlier place
Than a merry olde bookshop on a cold winter’s night
A-listenin’ to Bobby’s great
words o’ delight.