The notes on the form of the Supper given above are the views of a good man, a good friend and a good Burnsian. His intentions as such, should be regarded, respected and retained, but the ritual of the Supper is by no means Holy Writ, no matter the estimable source. There were no rules at the beginning. Over the years the thing just grew. It had, as has been mentioned, Masonic roots, so the rites have their basis in Masonic ritual, but today, as with most things, anything goes. The only thing to remember is that ultimately the intention is to honour Burns and he must be at the heart of proceedings, whether in the telling of his story or in the recitation or singing of his works.
As an actor, my bias was toward the spoken word and this was no disadvantage when dealing with Burns. He provides such words that often one only has to say them and they work for themselves. The only trouble is that some speakers consider that their own words are superior, their own views more apposite, their own conclusions the only correct ones. Yet, as one finds in discovering Burns, there are layers within layers of meaning and things are not often what they seem. He had the artist’s gift of irony and the subtleties are often only revealed at a second look. We all know that he was a great poet (in his best work) but he was also a fantastic prose stylist in most of what he wrote, and this is what makes him a gift to the performer. Any letter will show his mastery of words, and there is little need to improve on this by paraphrase or re-interpretation.
A good toast is like a good sermon – it is based on a text and it follows it through to a conclusion. It is better not to merely recite the life. That has been done so often that the path hacked out by pedestrian speakers over the years is now a gully that can attract only the unimaginative. The good speaker is nearly always an explorer, that is, he makes his own way. The trouble is that there are so many ways one can go. The best way is to take an aspect and develop it. What that aspect of Burns is is a matter of taste. Often it is a case of following your instinct. If you do you are halfway to being original. You then work it out in relation to your own strengths as a speaker and to your assessment of the kind of audience to whom you are going to speak.
As with anything in communication, it is horses for courses. The whole science of cybernetics is based on educated cunning. You give an audience what it wants but try to surprise them in how you give it. It’s like giving a present. A lot of the pleasure for the receiver is in the wrapping, as long as you remember that the wrapping isn’t the present. Only please don’t make it a mere rag-bag of jokes. That is buying your Memory from the Supermarket. You can do much better if you shop around and anyway, you would be amazed what you can do for yourself if you only take time to think about it.
The length of the Memory is a piece of string. You only use the amount you need. It is often a matter of stamina. If you are tired standing, be assured your audience will be even more tired sitting. It’s all a matter of good manners: never outstay your welcome. The first cough is a signal, the second is a warning. Shuffling feet and whispers are a threat and when all of these things happen at once – sit down. As the speaker of the Immortal Memory you are on your own, but if you lean on Burns he will see you through. After all, he is the whole reason and purpose of your all being there. Everything is there already in his work, you only have to look for it, but try not to overburden your text with quotes. The audience read their Burns at home, they want to know who your Burns is.
Whatever you say, always know before you start how you are going to end because that is what people remember, that is what they take home with them. As has been said, any fool can start a speech, it takes a wise man to finish one. You can take all the time you like at the start but you need to be firm and controlled by the end. You must know what you want to leave with the audience and everything must be geared to that. The best start is a slow one. This is when the audience is most on your side. Don’t panic, take your time. You have everyone on your side at the start, it’s up to you to lose them. There was one famous incident at a Burns Supper in Bridgeton when one particularly pompous speaker, remarked that he seemed to have lost his audience. ‘You have,’ came the immediate and concerted response.
For the most part, the audience is on your side, everyone there wants you to do well. They don’t want to feel embarrassed or made uncomfortable by your uncertainty or undue nervousness. Nerves and stage fright go with the game. Whatever happens, you have to do it, so you might as well do it well. That way, you’ll earn your standing ovation. Oddly enough, the best applause from any audience is silence. At least a kind of silence that is the result of a lot of breaths being held, and then released in an explosion of applause. I have known it only a few times in a long career but one can never forget it. It happened to me in Canada, on a cruise ship, in Perthshire, in Geneva and at a West Sound Burns Supper. You see,
I can count the occasions on the fingers of one hand, yet I’ve been standing on my feet before an audience for 50 years. Yes, silence is golden.
The thing is to get your lines laid out so that they make the best effect. Or you can use someone’s lines. Jack Whyte, a well-known Canadian Scot, told me honestly that he begans his Burns career by trying to remember what he had seen me do in Scotland when he was a schoolboy in Paisley. Anything can spark one off. It is to recognise the starting that is the tricky thing. It can be a complicated operation arriving at a speaking script. Words are not to be wasted. If they come in an avalanche the audience is drowned in sound, if they come too sparingly, the audience is denied continuity and, therefore, starved of any meaning. Bear in mind that a speech is meant to be spoken, not read. Otherwise you might as well distribute a pamphlet. Ideally, if you know what you want to say they will hear what you want them to hear.. The only thing an audience resents is being taken for granted and talked down to.
Finally, as a speaker, the only thing you have to keep in mind is that you are there for their sake, they are not there for yours. If you know your Burns and you know yourself, you will know you have nothing to fear. There are so many more important things in life than making the toast to the Immortal Memory but at the time it doesn’t seem like that. But if it comes from the heart, it will go to the heart.
Good luck, and may Burns go with you.
In ploughman phrase, ‘God send you speed’
The daily to grow wiser
And may you better reck the rede
Than ever did the advisor
(Advice to a Young Friend)