First of all, I must gratefully acknowledge all the contributors for their Memories and to all those hundreds of people around the world who took the time to reply to my letters, e-mails, faxes and phone calls. Their response and continued co-operation made a seemingly impossible job possible.
This is the kind of book that could not have been written at all had it not been for so many others. Since, however, it was based on Burns, I had first call on that high table of Burns doctors – Jim Mackay, Maurice Lindsay, Tom Crawford, Ken Simpson, Marshall Walker and the work of the late Donald Low in Stirling. Without help such as this it is impossible to embark on Burnsiana of any kind.
There is also the assistance received from Margaret Craig at the Burns Federation in Kilmarnock, Donald Nelson at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow and Christopher Neale at the Murison Collection in Dunfermline. They must all have played a part in every book written about Burns over the last decade. Thanks to their assistance I was able to plunder the pages of almost every Burns Chronicle that ever was and any Burns book printed and if information was required locally here in New Zealand, then Janet Copsey and her staff at the Auckland University Library came to the rescue.
Thanks must also go to His Grace, the Earl of Elgin for his introduction to the minutes of the Dunfermline United Burns Club and, for their material help, similar appreciation must be accorded to Dr Alan Riach at Glasgow University, Dr Jim and Elma Connor of London, Ontario (who sent me their book on Canadian Burns Memories), James Skinner OBE of the Paisley Burns Club for invaluable information and Ian Blair of the Channel Islands who told me of the Burns Club of St Louis and their printed collection of Speeches and loaned me his own copy of Ross’s Burns Addresses. In like manner, I must thank Norrie Paton of Campbeltown for his tapes, Colin Hunter McQueen in Glasgow for his general Burns enthusiasm, Frank Ryan in Dumfries for local contacts, Mrs Nancy Norman of Masterton, New Zealand for material and my old friend and fellow-actor, David McKail, in Kent who offered his usual help and encouragement.
Finally I must give my gratitude and total admiration to young Jean Lim of Auckland who transcribed all the material that came in on to disc so that I might work on it on my computer at a near degree of leisure. I am in awe of the speed and accuracy she showed in dealing with several bales of typing.
The Editor is happy to acknowledge the following for use of excerpts and material:
The Burns Federation for use of Burns Chronicle articles in issues up to 2001;
The Burns Club of St Louis, Missouri for use of quotes from speeches in period 1955–64;
The United Burns Club of Dunfermline for use of archive material;
The Paisley Burns Club for programme and brochure material;
Mrs Sheona Low for use of the works of Dr Donald Low;
Mrs Deirdre Grieve and the MacDiarmid Trust for use of quotes from the works of Hugh MacDiarmid;
and those many others who contributed their memories to this collection without reservation.