Overview
This club took its name from the Gorbals, an area in the south side of Glasgow where, presumably, the members were based. (For more information about the area, see ‘Gorbals , Glasgow. Origins & History‘ on the ScotCities website.)
The group met at 2 Carlton Court, South Side, in 1906, later meeting ‘at various times’ at the Alexandra Hotel (148 Bath Street), to the west of the city centre, in 1908.
In 1904, the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory listed the club’s object as follows: ‘to foster and encourage a knowledge of the works of our National Bard, and the noble aspirations therein contained concerning the universal brotherhood of man’ (‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1904’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1904), p. 148).
From the listing in the 1909 Chronicle, it appears there might have been a shift in the club’s activities, with more of a focus on the social aspect: in this year, the club listed its objects as being ‘[t]o foster and encourage the study of the works of our national Bard and to promote social and intellectual intercourse among the members’ (‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1909’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XVIII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1909), p. 173;
It is currently unknown how many member this club had.
Date of Existence
1902-? Federated 1903
Source of Information
1. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1904’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1904), p. 148;
2. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1906’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XV (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1906), p. 159;
3. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1908’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XVII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1908), p. 143;
4. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1909’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XVIII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1909), p. 173;
5. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1911’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XX (January 1911), p. 171
Repository
Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)
National Library of Scotland (NLS)
Reference Number
BNS19BUR (MLSC) (Annual Burns Chronicle)
General Reading Room (stored offsite), Y.233, available no. 1-34 25th Jan. 1892-Jan. 1925 (NLS) (Annual Burns Chronicle)
Additional Notes
‘BC‘ refers to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, which was published yearly since 1892. Hard copies are available at the Mitchell Library Special Collections and the National Library of Scotland. Many of them have been digitised and are available through the Robert Burns World Federation website: http://www.rbwf.org.uk/digitised-chronicles/.
This list of Burns chronicles as sources of information gives the first year the club was included in the chronicle, and thereafter only for the years where the information is different from the previous year’s listing. In keeping with the scope of this study (1800-1914), only the chronicles published between 1892 and 1914 are included.