This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Burns legacy to Scotland and the world
21/01/2005
First Minister Jack McConnell, in a special video
message to mark the 246th anniversary of Burns birth on
January 25, 2005, says the poet's message of international
brotherhood is as relevant today as it was more than 200
years ago.
Mr McConnell said:
"Within these walls at the National Portrait Gallery in
Edinburgh are the faces of Scotland's most famous sons and
daughters, many of whom have left their mark on the wider
world.
"And here is the most famous of them all - Robert Burns,
the national bard of Scotland but also the world's
favourite poet.
"His poetry may have been written 200 years ago but his
powerful and radical analysis of poverty and privilege
still resonates strongly today.
"As Scotland prepares to welcome world leaders to the G8
summit in July, it is worth pausing for a moment to reflect
on the message that lies at the heart of Burns work - a
message that is truly international and knows no
boundaries.
"He despised poverty that surrounded him in 18th century
Scotland; relentless grinding poverty that stifles ambition
and destroys lives.
"And he mocked the privileged few who prospered but then
did nothing to try and alleviate the plight of the majority
they left behind.
"If Burns had been alive today, he would certainly have
been at the forefront of the campaign to make poverty
history.
"The words of frustration he wrote on a banknote in 1786
could have been written today to describe the economic
plight of the developing world.
I see the children of affliction
Unaided, through thy curst restriction
"Burns would have argued with passion for an end to the
inequalities between nations that condemn millions across
the globe to a life of misery while those of us living in
Scotland and Europe prosper.
"He would have written, with unparalleled force about
the plight of millions of children in Africa condemned to
die a premature death from hunger, or Aids, or from 'man's
inhumanity to man that makes countless thousands
mourn'.
"And he would have spoken with great eloquence of common
humanity, of the things that unite us regardless of race,
colour or belief.
"2005 is a rare opportunity for the home of Burns to
stand up and again proclaim the eternal message of the
brotherhood of man.
"It is the year that Scotland can show clearly that we
accept our responsibilities as a rich country and will do
all we can to close the appalling gap between us and those
who have next to nothing.
"And I make no apology for reciting once again the
greatest poem ever written about inequality. A poem that is
as relevant about the poverty that stalks the developing
world today, as it was about the poverty that scarred
Scotland all those years ago.
Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet for a' that,
That Man to Man, the world o'er,
Shall brothers be for a ' that.
