Atlanta Burns Club Visit 2009
Atlanta Burns Club Visit 2009
Atlanta Burns Club Visit 2009
Atlanta Burns Club Visit 2009
Atlanta Burns Club Visit 2009
Atlanta Burns Club Visit 2009
Atlanta Burns Club Visit 2009
Atlanta Burns Club Visit 2009
The Inverness Burns Club
NOTABLE EVENTS:
1.
Our 2026 Annual Supper was held on Friday 23rd January in Inverness Golf Club. Click here for bios of our guest speakers. More details are below.
2.
Click Here for photos of our 2026 Anniversary Supper.
3.
A Civic Dinner was held at the Inverness Town House on Saturday 14th September 2024 to celebrate our 75th Anniversary (see below).
​
​
About The Inverness Burns Club
The Inverness Burns Club was formed in 1949 as a club which was
“…..made up of people interested in the works of Robert Burns and in Scottish literature.” and ”….in the Burgh of Inverness”
Inverness (from the Gaelic : Inbhir Nis meaning “Mouth of the Ness”) is regarded as the capital of the Highlands and is the administrative centre of the Highland Council. Inverness gained “City” status in 2001 when the Royal Burgh of Inverness became the City of Inverness.
The 18th century Battle of Culloden which inspired Burns to song and poem took place on nearby Drumossie Moor.
​
Events
1. Our 2026 AGM is being held on Tuesday 19th May 2026 at Inverness Golf Club. One of the main items of business will be the election of office bearers.
​
2. Our 2026 Anniversary Supper was held at Inverness Golf Club on Friday 23rd January.
Meet our Officers
Meet our Officers
News
It's a missing painting story worthy of Sherlock Holmes...
In 1803, the greatest painter of the day, Sir Henry Raeburn, was commissioned to create a new image of the greatest poet of the day, Robert Burns. Burns, who had died a few years earlier, had only ever agreed to sit for one artist, Alexander Nasmyth in 1787 and that painting became the template for every image.
The publishers – Cadell and Davies – paid 20 guineas for the new painting which they planned to use as an engraving in all future editions of Burns' books. Although the painting was delivered a year later, it was never used as planned. In fact - it vanished altogether - setting in motion a mystery which has taken 200 years to resolve.
Dr Bill Zachs, who is director of the Blackie House Library and Museum in Edinburgh, had been searching for the lost Raeburn since he first came to Edinburgh 42 years ago. Last March, he came across a painting in a London auction house, part of a house clearance. With a starting price of £300-£500, he was willing to take a chance it was the lost painting, but others had the same idea, and the bids pushed the final price up to £68,000. It was only then that Zachs could return to Scotland and begin the process of having the work cleaned and verified.
Lesley Stevenson, senior conservator of paintings at the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, is among several experts who have since confirmed the Raeburn attribution. This week the painting went on public display for the first time, alongside the Nasmyth portrait which already belongs to the National Galleries of Scotland.
Zachs is lending the work to the National Galleries of Scotland where it will be free to see until July, when it will transfer to the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Ayr.
Civic Dinner top table guests
Civic Dinner
On Saturday 14th Sept 2024, the Highland Council hosted a Civic Dinner at Inverness Town House to mark the 75th anniversary of Inverness Burns Club. Around 40 members enjoyed a lovely meal rounded-off with a sing song of some of Burns's best known ballads led by Ian Douglas and Sheila Bruce. Deputy Provost Jackie Hendry welcomed the Club to the Town House, and this was followed by a short speech of appreciation by Club President Trevor Nicol. Trevor told the assembly of the links Burns had with Inverness, including his famous visit in 1787 and the granting of the Freedom of the Burgh to his sons in 1845.
Instituted 1949 Federation No. 691
About the visit of Burns to Inverness
The Inverness Connection with Robert Burns
​
In a letter of 7th February 1787 to David Erskine, Earl of Buchan, Burns stated his wish to travel around Scotland: “Your Lordship touches the darling chord of my heart when you advise me to fire my Muse at Scottish story and Scottish scenes. I wish for nothing more than to make a leisurely Pilgrimage through my native country; to sit and muse on those oce hard-contended fields where Caledonia, rejoicing, saw her bloody lion borne through broken ranks to victory and fame; and catching the inspiration, to pour the deathless Names in Song.”