Pollokshields is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see Gerald Blaikie’s article, ‘Pollokshields, Glasgow. Origins & History‘ on the ScotCities website). Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of the Pollokshields Parish Church. (For more information about this church, see ‘Shields Road‘ on The Glasgow Story website).

There is little currently known about this society. The only evidence we have to date comes from the syllabi of another literary group, the Queen’s Park U. P. Church Young Men’s Institute, which list the date on which the Pollokshields Parish Church Literary Society was scheduled to participate in a joint debates with them (see below).

Date of Existence

1901?-?

Source of Information

1. (Listed as having a joint debate with the Queen’s Park U. P. Church Young Men’s Institute on 18 January 1904: ‘Syllabus’, 1903-1904, Queen’s Park U. P. Church Young Men’s Literary Institute (Glasgow City Archives, Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Queen’s Park, St. George’s UP, UF Church, Literary Institute syllabus, 1875-1912);

2. (Listed as having a joint debate with the Queen’s Park U. P. Church Young Men’s Institute on 16 January 1905: ‘Syllabus’, 1904-1905, Queen’s Park U. P. Church Young Men’s Literary Institute (Glasgow City Archives, Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Queen’s Park, St. George’s UP, UF Church, Literary Institute syllabus, 1875-1912)

Repository

Glasgow City Archives

Reference Number

The first meeting of this society was held at the Ramshorn Inn (which might be the same as the Ramshorn Bar, 437 Arglye Street, in the city centre) at the end of May 1831. (For more information on this bar, see the entry for ‘The Ramshorn Bar‘ on the Old Glasgow Pubs website). In June of that year, members voted to move their meetings to the Argyll Cafe Coffee House, described in the minutes as ‘the premises in the Argyll Arcade under the Superintendance [sic] of the Temperance Society […] and if convenient, in the same place in time to come on the Evenings for conversation’ (Minute entry, 9 June 1831, Palaver Society Minute Book, 1831-34). This suggests that the group was pro-Temperance.

According to the society’s ‘Rules’, the group’s object was to promote learning amongst its members and to improve their skills in extempore speaking. It is unknown how much the group charged for its entrance fee, as this space in the minutes has been left blank.

Members met weekly on Thursday evenings for debates and for conversation on alternate weeks. At the meetings, there was an eclectic mix of topics covered in the fields of literature, history, science, but religion, particularly ‘Controversial Theology’, was explicitly forbidden.

This society was stricter than other groups in the sense that it imposed fines for a number of different ‘offenses’: a member could receive a hefty fine for: lateness (6d); absence (1s, unless unavoidable); failing to deliver an essay of the required length (2s); and ‘intemperate language’, swearing or ‘abusive ungentlemanlike remarks or behaviours’ (6d, later repealed). There are 46 names listed between 20 October 1831 and 30 April 1835.

Date of Existence

28 May 1831-1834?

Source of Information

Palaver Society Minute Book, 1831-34

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections

Reference Number

891491

Additional Notes

–

Partick is an area in the West End of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see the entry for ‘Partick, Glasgow. Origins & History‘ on the ScotCities website). This was a fairly large Burns club, having 213 members in 1896. Membership would drop in the next year to 113, before rising again to 155 in 1902.

The late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century issues of the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory only offer lists of the office bearers, and the number of members on the roll for the years given above. A more detailed history is available on the club’s website:

‘History
The Partick Burns Club was instituted in 1885 and has met to honour Robert Burns every January since then, with the exception of some years during the First and Second World Wars. The Club was founded by the merchants, trades people and members of the Burgh council and the Presidents up to 1912 (when Partick was incorporated into greater Glasgow) were almost uniquely the Provosts of the Burgh.

The Club survived incorporation into Glasgow and between the wars continued its Annual membership. Thanks to the chain of office the names of the Presidents are recorded, however little else of this part of the Club’s history is known. After the Second World War, the suppers continued, however again, with the exception of the names of Presidents, little else is known […]

Originally and up to the Great War the Supper venues were local hotels and the Partick Burgh Hall itself.’

(‘About Us’, The Partick Burns Club <http://thepartickburnsclub.org/about-us/> [accessed 21/03/18])

Date of Existence

1885-present. Federated 1895

Source of Information

1. (Member’s card for John White Jr Esq; small printed advertisement for Partick Burns Club Annual Dinner, 25 January 1887) (MLSC, Glasgow Scrapbooks, No. 21, p. 136);

2. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘Partick Burns Club’, The Press, 31 January 1891 (on annual dinner of the club, 26 January 1891) (MLSC, Glasgow Scrapbooks, No. 21, pp. 178-79);

3. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1896’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. V (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1896), p. 136;

4. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1897’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. VI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1897), p. 155;

5. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1902’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1902), p. 140;

6. The Partick Burns Club Homepage <http://thepartickburnsclub.org/about-us/> [accessed 21/03/18];

7. ‘Partick Burns Club’, ‘Burns Clubs’, Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burns_Clubs> [accessed 21/09/15]

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC) (Glasgow Scrapbooks, and Annual Burns Chronicle)

National Library of Scotland (NLS) (Annual Burns Chronicle)

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.

Partick is an area in the West End of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see the entry for ‘Partick, Glasgow. Origins & History‘ on the ScotCities website).

The evidence for this group comes from issues of the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory. At the beginning of the twentieth century, this Burns club met on the third Tuesday of the month between October and April (with the exception of January, meeting on or around the poet’s birthday) at the Windsor Restaurant in Partick. In May, members met for the Annual Excursion.

In 1905, the club’s object, or purpose, was to meet for ‘lectures, dinners, excursions, social enjoyment, and study of Burns literature’, and this was expanded to included Scottish literature in 1914 (at least).

(‘Club Notes’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIV (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1905), p. 111)

Date of Existence

26 November 1903-1914? Federated 1904

Source of Information

1. ‘Club Notes’, and ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1905’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIV (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1905), p. 111, p. 159;

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. 160;

3. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1911’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1911), p. 172;

4. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1914’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XXIII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1914), p. 216

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.

Pollokshaws is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see Irene Maver’s article, ‘No Mean City: 1914 to 1950s. Neighbourhoods: Pollokshaws‘ on The Glasgow Story website).

This Burns club had 70 members in 1896, which dropped to 60 in 1899. In the 1906 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, it was reported that the group met at the Lesser Burgh Hall, Pollokshaws. (The Lesser Hall is part of the Pollokshaws Burgh Hall. For a brief history of the building, see ‘Pollokshaws Burgh Hall‘ on The Glasgow Story website).

Meetings were held monthly at 8pm on the last Friday, ‘or other convenient evening’. The club’s object, or purpose, was:

‘[…] to endeavour by subscriptions, donations, and such other means as may be available, to establish a fund which shall be used for the encouragement of the study of Scottish literature amongst the inhabitants of Pollokshaws and district, or for any special educational purpose — purely Scottish — which shall be approved of by the Club at any Annual or Special Meeting; to hold yearly a children’s competition in the singing and recitation of previously selected portions of the Poet’s works, and give medals and prizes for excellence therein to the successful competitors.’

(‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1906’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XV (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1906), p. 161)

Date of Existence

25 January 1886-? Federated 1905

Source of Information

1. (Mentioned in Minutes of Glasgow and District Burns Club: Minute entry, 30 March 1908, Glasgow and District Burns Club, Minutes, 8 November 1907-5 September 1912, p. 18);

2. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1896’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, Vol. V (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1896), p. 141;

3. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1899’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, Vol. VIII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1899), p. 168;

4. ‘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. 161

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC) (Minutes, and Annual Burns Chronicle)

National Library of Scotland (NLS) (Annual Burns Chronicle)

Reference Number

891709 (MLSC) (Minutes)

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

See also Glasgow and District Burns Club.

‘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.

Pollokshields is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see see Gerald Blaikie’s article, ‘Pollokshields, Glasgow. Origins & History‘, on the ScotCities website). Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of the Pollokshields Free Church, located on Shields Road. (For more information on this church, see ‘Glasgow — Pollokshields‘ on the Ecclegen website.)

The evidence for this society comes primarily from the magazine that was produced in manuscript by and for the society’s members (see ‘Additional Notes’ below). In the 1880s, the group met for weekly meetings at the church. In starting a magazine for their society, members hoped to improve the skills they had acquired at the meetings. Members aspired to improve not only their rhetorical but also their writing skills. The magazine, it was said by its editors, could be used as a marker of the progress that each contributor had made in his own work.

Date of Existence

1883?-1887?

Source of Information

1. Pollokshields Free Church Literary Institute, The Essayist. A M.S. Magazine, No. 2, Session 1883-84 (MLSC, G97615);

2. ‘Under the Reading Lamp’, Quiz, April 1885, p. 40 (review of The Essayist) (UGSC, Sp Coll Bh13-y.1-36);

3. (Listed as having a joint debate with the Queen’s Park U. P. Church Young Men’s Institute on 22 November 1886 and on 3 February 1887: ‘Syllabus’, 1886-1887, Queen’s Park U. P. Church Young Men’s Literary Institute (Glasgow City Archives, Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Queen’s Park, St. George’s UP, UF Church, Literary Institute syllabus, 1875-1912, GCA, CH3/1471/45) (Note: the 1886-1887 session is the first year in which joint debates were held between these two societies; there are other joint debates held in subsequent years; see Literary Institute syllabus, 1875-1912 for details)

Repository

Glasgow City Archives (GCA)

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

University of Glasgow Special Collections (UGSC)

Reference Number

(See ‘Source of Information’)

Additional Notes

See also Queen’s Park, St. George’s UP, UK Church Literary Institute, Victoria Free Church Literary Institute, and Queen’s Park Free Church Literary Society with whom they held joint debates.

From the University of Glasgow Special Collections catalogue on the available issues of Quiz: ‘Library Has   v.1 (Mar. 1881:18) – v.36 (July 1898:7) missing vol. 1 no. 7’ [accessed 31 January 2018].

See also entry for The Essayist on our sister website, Literary Bonds.

Pollokshields is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see the entry for ‘Pollokshields, Glasgow. Origins & History‘ on the ScotCities website). The information that we currently have on this society comes solely from the magazine that was produced by and for society members in manuscript (see ‘Additional Notes’ below). In 1890, there were 30 men and women listed as members.

The contributions in the magazine offer few clues about the society that produced them. There is a piece called ‘The Romance of a Literary & Art Circle’ (pp. 11-25) about a fictional literary group called the Lonsdale Art & Literary Cirlce, but it not possible to discern to what extent the group represented in the story resembles the Pollokshields circle.

Date of Existence

1890?-?

Source of Information

Pollokshields Literary and Art Circle, P.L.A.C. Monthly Magazine, May 1890

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections

Reference Number

891359

Additional Notes

See also entry for P.L.A.C. Monthly Magazine on our sister website, Literary Bonds.

Possilpark is a district in the north of the city. (For more information on this area, see Michael Maver’s article, ‘No Mean City: 1914 to 1950s. Neighbourhoods: Possilpark‘ on The Glasgow Story website).

There is little currently known about this club. The few details we have come from the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, which lists the office bearers and the number of members for just two years: in 1896, this Burns club had 100 members, and two years later, this dropped to 70.

Date of Existence

22 March 1892-?

Source of Information

1. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1896’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. V (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1896), p. 142;

2. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1898’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. VII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1898), p. 151

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.

The Provand’s Lordship Literary Club was set up for the preservation of one of the very few medieval buildings left in Glasgow. The group was founded in 1906 and met in this house, and through subscriptions and various fundraising activities, raised money for the building’s preservation. (For more information on this building, see ‘Provand’s Lordship‘ on The Glasgow Story website, and ‘Glasgow Photo Library. Provand’s Lordship‘ on the Rampant Scotland website

In the winter, they held meetings that included hearing talks about various historic Glasgow events and personas. Several volumes of Young’s Scrapbooks contain articles on this club and its activities (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

Date of Existence

1906-?

Source of Information

1. (Prospectus for ‘Proposed Provand’s Lordship Literary Club) (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 14, p. 26a);

2. ‘Provand’s Lordship Literary Club. Syllabus’ (1906-07) (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 19, p. 66a);

3. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘Provand’s Lordship’, (annotated:) ‘Herald. 25 July 1906.’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 14, p. 26a);

4. (Newspaper clipping, annotated:) ‘Provand’s Lordship Literary Club. […] Herald. 28 July. 1906’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 14, p. 28);

5. (Newspaper clipping:) (Provand’s Lordship, with illustration, annotated:) ‘News. 14 Aug. 1906’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 14, pp. 32-3);

6. (Newspaper clipping, annotated:) ‘Provand’s Lordship. […] Citizen. 7 Dec. 1906’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, No. 14, p. 84);

7. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘Provand’s Lordship Club’, (annotated:) ‘Herald. 22 Dec. 1906’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 14, p. 91);

8. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘”Provand’s Lordship”. A quaint Dinner Party’, (annotated:) ‘Citizen. 22 Dec. 1906’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, No. 14, p. 92);

9. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘An Old Glasgow Dinner’, (annotated:) ‘Times. 10 Dec. 1906’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 14, p. 56);

10. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘”Provand’s Lordship”‘, (annotated:) ‘The Bailie. 9 Jan. 1907. W. Young.’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 15, p. 3);

11. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘Glasgow’s Oldest House’, (annotated:) ‘T.P.’s Weekly. November 8, 1907’ (MLSC, Glasgow Scrapbooks, Vol. 5, p. 14);

12. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘Glasgow Provand’s Lordship Club’, (annotated:) ‘Herald. 27 May 1908’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 19, p. 6);

13. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘Provand’s Lordship Club’, (annotated:) ‘Herald. 27 May 1909’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 23, p. 80);

14. (Brochure for application for membership, including newspaper clipping, annotated:) ‘Herald. 4 Dec. 1909.’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 26, pp. 96A-96B);

15. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘Provand’s Lordship Club. The Glasgow Poets’, (annotated:) ‘Herald. 4 Dec. 1909’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 33, p. 14);

16. (Printed illustration of building, with William Young’s handwritten notes) (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, No. 14, p. 99);

17. ‘Provand’s Lordship Literary Club’ (Certificate of Membership) (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 19, p. 31)

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

This list is not all-inclusive; numerous other newspaper clippings in William Young’s Scrapbooks, housed in Mitchell Library Special Collections.

There is little currently known about this society. The only information we have to date comes from a mention of the group in an annual report of the Sandyford Church Literary Association written in 1884, which states that of the five debates held, two of them were joint debates with the Park Literary Institute and Free St. George’s Literary Association.

It is very likely that the name of this society belies its more modest existence: it was not uncommon for relatively small literary societies to give their groups a more prestigious sounding name.

Date of Existence

1883?-?

Source of Information

(Mentioned in ‘Extract from Report submitted to the Fifth Annual meeting of Sandyford Church Literary Association, 7th April 1884’, last submission in Sandyford Church Literary Association MS Magazine)

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections

Reference Number

642424

Additional Notes

See also Sandyford Church Literary Association, and Free St. George’s Literary Association, with whom this society had joint debates.