The evidence for this society comes George Hull’s The Poets and Poetry of Blackburn (1793-1902) (1902).

This Glaswegian literary group was devoted to the study of the poetry and songs of Robert W. Thom (30 December 1816-?). Thom was author of The Courtship and Wedding o’ Jock o’ the Knowe and Other poems (1878), The Epochs: A  Poem (1884), and Poems and Ballads: (Scotch and English) (1886).

The society was running during Thom’s lifetime, but further details are currently unknown.

Date of Existence

(1850s?)

Source of Information

According to the 1882 Glasgow Post Office directory, the object (i.e. purpose for meeting) of this Burns club was ‘the annual celebration of the birth-day of Robert Burns; occasional reunions for the cultivation of social and intellectual intercourse amongst the members; and the encouragement of Scottish literature and music’ (‘Tam O’ Shanter Club’, ‘Miscellaneous’, Post Office Glasgow Directory for 1882-1883… (Glasgow: William Mackenzie, 1882), p. 124).

The club had a good-sized membership in the early twentieth-century (these being the years for which we have evidence). In 1909, there were 72 members, and the group grew to 123 (22 life members and 101 ordinary members) in 1914. Members met on the last Friday (later changed to the last Tuesday) of the month at 8pm between November and May, including, of course, a celebration in January for Burns night. The months in which the members met would change over the years.

Similarly, the venue where the group met would also change. In 1882, members met in the Bridge Street Station Hotel (located just to the south of the River Clyde), in 1894 at Ancell’s (87 Glassford Street; according to the Post Office directory for that year, James Ancell was a ‘restaurateur, pastry cook, confectioner, and soiree purveyor’), in 1896 at the Trades’ House Restaurant (Glassford Street), in 1907 at White & Smith’s Restaurant (Glassford Street), and back to the Trades’ House Restaurant again in 1910.

Date of Existence

1880-1914? Federated 1885

Source of Information

1. ‘Tam O’ Shanter Club’, ‘Miscellaneous’, Post Office Glasgow Directory for 1882-1883… (Glasgow: William Mackenzie, 1882), p. 124;

2. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies, for 1892’, in BC, ed. by John Muir, No. I (Kilmarnock, D. Brown & Co., January 1892, 25 January 1892), p. 131;

3. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1894’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. III (Kilmarnock: D. Brown & Co., February 1894), p. 192;

4. ‘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. 128;

5. ‘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), pp. 145-6;

6. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1907’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XVI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1907), p. 154;

7. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1910), pp. 171-2;

8. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XXIV (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1915), pp. 161-2;

9. (Newspaper clipping, annotated:) ‘Citizen. 25 Nov. 1914.’ (on the opening meeting for the club’s session 1914, also with a musical programme) (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 38, p. 55)

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC) (Glasgow Post Office directory, and all other Sources of Information)

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

Reference Number

(See Source of Information, and below for Annual Burns Chronicle)

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

The Glasgow Post Office directories are available at the Mitchell Library and the National Library of Scotland. Digitised copies are available through the NLS website: https://www.nls.uk/family-history/directories/post-office/index.cfm?place=Glasgow

‘BC‘ refers to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, which was published yearly since 1892. Copies are available at the Mitchell Library Special Collections and the National Library of Scotland. Many of these 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.

From the start, this club was intended to have a small, exclusive membership limited to 13 members. Discussions were to be on literature and art. The first meeting was held on Friday, 15 January 1891 at Moir’s Restaurant on West Nile Street. Attendees at the meeting included A. Mudie, G. Deans, Lou McEwan, David Fulton, George Forbes Dawson, and William Young.

The group appears to have been an informal social club, and there is no evidence for minutes being kept at the meetings, which were held in different restaurants in the city centre where the members met for dinner. Details of the meetings can only be gleaned from the ephemera and newspaper clippings in Young’s Scrapbooks (see below). In addition to the dinners, the club had an outing every year to various sites in the region.

A newspaper clipping from the ‘News’ (presumably the Glasgow Evening News) from 16 January 1904 lists the following members: ‘Bailie [Robert] Sorley; F. T. Barrett, the City librarian; Mr John W. Fraser, formerly of the Baird Trust; the Rev. Alexander Macarthur, of Strone; Mr Neil Munro, the novelist; Mr William Young and Mr David Fulton, artists; three well-known local journalists — Mr Thomas Reid, chief reporter of the “Herald,” Mr Andrew Moodie, and Mr George Deans; Mr D. Thomson, architect; Mr Andrew Wells, art designer; and Dr George Neilson [lawyer and historian].’

(Newspaper clipping, annotated:) (The Thirteen Club) ‘News. 16 Jany. 1904’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 8, p. 34))

William Young (1845-1916), a Glasgow artist, was one of the original members. The numerous scrapbooks in which he collected an eclectic range of materials, particularly on the cultural and social life of Glasgow during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, includes many mementos, ephemera and newspaper clippings on this club.

Date of Existence

20 December 1890-?

Source of Information

1. Dawson, George Forbes Dawson, letter to William Young, 29 December 1890, MS (letter on ‘start of “The Thirteen”‘) (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 1, [p. 21 ], 8a);

2. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘The Glasgow Thirteen Club’, (annotated:) ‘Citizen, 14 May 1892.’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 1 (unpaginated, p. 35));

3. (Newspaper clipping:) ‘The Looker-On’, (annotated:) ‘Evening News. 1 May 1899.’ (‘The Looker-on’, Glasgow Evening News, 1 May 1899, p. 2) (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks Vol. 2, p. 90; Glasgow Scrapbooks, Vol. 2, pp. 38-39);

4. Glasgow Contemporaries at the Dawn of the XXth Century (Glasgow: The Photo-Biographical Publishing Co., [1901]), p. 78 (MLSC, Mitchell (GC) 920.04 GLA 499009);

5. (Two newspaper clippings, annotated:) a. (The Thirteen Club) ‘News. 16 Jany. 1904’, and b.(Glasgow 13) ‘Citizen. 16 Jany. 1904’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 8, p. 34);

6. (Newspaper clipping, annotated:) (Thirteen Club) ‘News. 24 Mch. 1904’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 8, p. 65);

7. (Newspaper clipping, annotated:) (Glasgow Thirteen Club) ‘Citizen. 14 Jany. 1905’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 9, p. 75);

8. (Photograph of “The Thirteen”, by William Young, members identified) (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 11, p. 7);

9. (Newspaper clipping, annotated:) ‘The “Thirteen” Annual Dinner. […] Citizen. 20 Jany. 1906’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 12, p. 82);

10. (Newspaper clipping, annotated:) ‘”The Thirteen” Annual Excursion, 30 May 1908. […] See p. 60. Citizen. 1 June 1908’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 19, p. 9);

11. (Photograph, annotated:) ‘The Glasgow Thirteen Club at Catrine, 30th May 1908’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 19, p. 60);

12. (Note: this is not a complete list: numerous additional newspaper clippings in: MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks (various volumes))

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

Willliam Young (whose Scrapbooks the Mitchell Library Special Collections holds) was a member of the Thirteen Club and the Glasgow Ballad Club, along with several other societies not considered in this project.

This is little currently known about this Burns club. What we do know is that it was a relatively small group by design: according to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, in 1894, the club had 30 members, and in 1897, there was no number given, but it was reported that membership was limited to 40.

The club met at 24 Thistle Street, South Side (just south of the River Clyde), in 1907. According to the Glasgow Post Office directory for this year, the address was the business premises of one A. Kerr, spirit merchant. In 1914, the group met at 9 Miller Street (in Merchant City, in the city centre), the address given for R. W. Cairns, wine merchant, in the Glasgow Post Office directory for the same year.

Date of Existence

10 March 1882-? Federated 1885

Source of Information

1. Memorial Catalogue of the Burns Exhibition. Held in the Galleries of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, 175 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, From 15th July till 31st October, 1896 (Glasgow: William Hodge & Company and T. & R. Annan & Sons, 1898), p. xv; (MLSC, Mitchell (AL) 14A MEM 472108);

2. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies, for 1892’, in BC, ed. by John Muir, No. I (Kilmarnock, D. Brown & Co., 25 January 1892), p. 131;

3. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1894’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. III (Kilmarnock: D. Brown & Co., February 1894), p. 192;

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. 149;

5. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1907’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XVI (Kilmarnock:  Burns Federation, January 1907), p. 155;

6. ‘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. 200

Repository

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

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

Reference Number

(See Source of Information, and below for Annual Burns Chronicle)

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. Copies are available at the Mitchell Library Special Collections and the National Library of Scotland. Many of these 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.

Tollcross is an area in Glasgow’s east end, approximately three miles from the city centre. (For more information about this area, see Gordon Adams’s A History of Tollcross & Dalbeth, a digitised copy of which is available on the East Glasgow History website.)

In 1910, this club’s object (i.e. the purpose for meeting) was for ‘Monthly meetings; tattie and herrin’, Burns anniversary, and beef and greens dinners; also schools competition’ (‘Club Notes’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1910), p. 191). In the following year’s directory, the object was simply listed as being to ‘Promote the study of Burns’s works’.

As the 1910 directory rightly states, over the years this club’s ‘Place and time of meeting, varied [sic]’. In 1911, it met on the second Thursday of the month at 8pm at Hilliar’s Rooms on Main Street, Tollcross. By 1914 (at least), the club was meeting on the first Tuesday of the month at 8pm at the Tollcross Bowlhouse.

Date of Existence

1908-? Federated 13th February 1909 (Note: the 1912 Annual Burns Chronicle gives 5 November 1908 as date of federation)

Source of Information

1. (Newspaper clipping, unattributed, annotated:) ’31/01/11′, in Glasgow and District Burns Club, Minutes, 8 November 1907 – 5 September 1912, p. 192 (MLSC, 891709));

2. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1910), p. 191;

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. 178

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

National Library of Scotland (NLS)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information, and below for Annual Burns Chronicle)

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 Glasgow and District Burns Club.

‘BC‘ refers to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, which was published yearly since 1892. Copies are available at the Mitchell Library Special Collections and the National Library of Scotland. Many of these 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.

This society was one of several classes, clubs and societies formed by the  University Settlement Association, Toynbee House, which was located at 130 Parson Street, Townhead, Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see the entry for ‘Townhead Glasgow. Cathedral Precinct‘ on the ScotCities website). The University Settlement Association was the University of Glasgow branch of Toynbee Hall in London, which was founded in 1884. (For a history of and details of the current work of Toynbee Hall, see their website (‘Our History’, Toynbee Hall <http://www.toynbeehall.org.uk/our-history>. For a more detailed discussion of settlement houses during this period, see Lucinda Matthews-Jones, ‘Centres of Brightness: The Spiritual Imagination of Toynbee Hall and Oxford House, 1880-1914’ (unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Manchester, 2009).

A ‘Memorandum’ written in 1889 by the Honorary Secretary provides a good summary of the association, and provides further details on the  work. Modeled on the work of social work being conducted by Toynbee Hall in London, in 1886, the Glasgow University Settlement Association hired two rooms at 130 Parson Street (located in the Townhead area, in the north of the city) in which to hold discussions and serve tea. Working-class people from the area were invited every fortnight for social evenings.

The same 1888-1889 report gives an account of the first session of the Literary Society. The group was made up of approximately 50 to 60 members. At the meetings, essays were read and debates were held which were followed by discussions. In addition, members practiced extempore speaking. At the end of the session, there was a large social meeting at which there was music and readings.

Date of Existence

1888-?

Source of Information

1. Toynbee House (Glasgow), Report of the University Settlement Association, Toynbee House, 130 Parson Street, Glasgow, 1888-90 (Glasgow: James Maclehose & Sons, [1888?] (UGL, Research Annexe, Store MacLehose 762);

2. Toynbee House (Glasgow), Report for 1901-1902 of Toynbee House, Cathedral Court, Rottenrow, Glasgow ([MacLehose], [1902]) (UGL,Research Annexe, Store MacLehose 784);

3. Toynbee House (Glasgow), Report for 1903-1904 of Toynbee House, Cathedral Court, Rottenrow, Glasgow ([Glasgow: MacLehose], [1903]) (UGL, Research Annexe, Store MacLehose 791);

4. (Newspaper clipping:) Glasgow Herald (24 March 1908) (this article is on the Old Glasgow Club, but mentions this society) (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 18, p. 70)

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

University of Glasgow Library (UGL)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

See also Shakespeare Reading Class (Toynbee House, University Settlement Association).