Overview The Albany Burns Club was founded by a few members of the soon-to-be-defunct Albany Bowling Club in order ‘[t]o keep up the old and valued friendships that were made on its turn’ (‘Club Notes’, ‘ALBANY BURNS CLUB’, in Annual Read More …
Document Type: Annual Report/Chronicle
Auld Clinkum Burns Club
Overview There is very little currently known about this club. According to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, members met on the first Saturday of each month at an establishment on St. Vincent Street (to the west of the Read More …
Bank Burns Club
Overview This Burns club met weekly on Saturday evenings at Mrs. M’Arthur’s in 1883, later the Club Rooms at M’Culloch’s in 1892, both of which are listed as 109 Argyle Street, before moving in 1896 (at least) to Whyte and Read More …
Barns O’ Clyde Burns Club, Clydebank
Overview Clydebank is located to the west of Glasgow and is situated on the north of the River Clyde. The Visit Scotland website offers a brief history of the area: ‘Clydebank is the historic heartland of the Scottish shipbuilding industry […] During Read More …
Bridgeton Burns Club
Overview Bridgeton is an area to the east of Glasgow’s city centre. (For more information about this area, see Gordon Adams’s chapter, [Bridgeton & Dalmarnock], ‘Historical Background‘, on the East Glasgow History website.) The Bridgeton Burns Club’s website gives the group’s earliest Read More …
Caledonia Burns Club (not same as Caledonian Burns Club)
Overview The ‘Club Notes’ in the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory for 1901 includes this club’s Constitution, which gives its objects: ‘The objects of the Club shall be to foster an intimate acquaintance with the works of Burns, and Read More …
Caledonian Burns Club (aka Glasgow Caledonian Burns Club) (not same as Caledonia Burns Club, Glasgow)
Overview There is little currently known about this club. According to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, in 1898, the group met every other Thursday. From 1899 until 1912 (at least), this was changed to every other Tuesday from Read More …
Clarinda Burns Club (currently unclear if this is Glasgow Clarinda Club)
Overview This club was named after ‘Clarinda’, the name adopted by Agnes McLehose (or MacLehose, M’Lehose, Meklehose), whose affair with Robert Burns (‘Sylvander’) is the subject of ‘Ae fond kiss’ (1791). The Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory for the Read More …
Clifton Literary Society (currently unknown if this is the later Clifton Road Literary Society)
Overview Clifton is an area just to the west of Charing Cross. Not a great deal is currently known about this society, which was composed of both men and women. However, their (members’?) location near the West End, along with Read More …
Co-operative Burns Club
Overview This Burns club met on the first Saturday of each month between October and May at 8pm. Its meetings were held at various local restaurants (e.g. in Room No. 10 at M’Culloch’s Restaurant, Croy place, 9 Maxwell Street, at Read More …
Dennistoun Burns Club (not the same as Dennistoun Jolly Beggars Burns Club)
Overview Dennistoun is an area located to the east of Glasgow’s City Centre. (For more information about this area, see Ian R. Mitchell’s article, ‘Dennistoun: No Mean Streets‘ on the Glasgow West End website). There is not much currently known Read More …
Dennistoun Jolly Beggars Burns Club
Overview Dennistoun is an area located to the east of Glasgow’s city centre. (For more information about this area, see Ian R. Mitchell’s article, ‘Dennistoun: No Mean Streets‘ on the Glasgow West End website). There is not much currently known about this Read More …
Free St. George’s Literary Association
Overview Members of this society were most likely part of the congregation of Free St. George’s Church, located on Bath Street in the city centre. (For more information on this church, see ‘Glasgow — St. George’s‘ on the Ecclegen website.) There is Read More …
Gaelic Society of Glasgow (not same as Gaelic Club)
Overview The Glasgow Post Office directory for 1906-1907 provides a list of this society’s objects, its membership requirements, along with its subscription fees: ‘[…] The objects of the Society are: — The cultivation of the Gaelic Language; the cultivation and Read More …
Glasgow and District Burns Club (aka Glasgow and District Burns Club Association, aka Glasgow and District Association of Burns Clubs and Kindred Societies) (currently unclear if this is same as Glasgow And West of Scotland Burns Club Association)
Overview This club was made up of several local and regional Burns clubs: in 1908, one year after its founding, there were 23 clubs, and the group grew to include 40 clubs by 1914. It met at various venues across Read More …
Glasgow Bute Literary Institute
Overview Bute, or the Isle of Bute, is an island in the Firth of Clyde. Bute is also a county that comprises this island and number of surrounding islands. This society is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the stricter Read More …
Glasgow Caithness Literary Association (aka Glasgow Caithness Literary Society)
Overview Caithness is a county in the far north of Scotland. This society is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the stricter sense, county associations were groups whose members (or whose parents) were former residents of counties across Scotland who Read More …
Glasgow Carlton Burns Club
Overview Carlton is a district in the east end of Glasgow. (For more information about this area, see Gordon Adams’s article, ‘Carlton’ on the East Glasgow History website.) This club met on the first Tuesday of the month between October and April. Read More …
Glasgow Carrick Burns Club
Overview Carrick is a district that is now part of South Ayrshire. Members of this Burns club were presumably from this area but had since settled in Glasgow. In the 1890s, the club had 40 members on the roll, and Read More …
Glasgow Central Burns Club (aka Glasgow Central Burns Club and Literary Society, Ltd.)
Overview This club’s object was ‘[t]o promote the study of Burns’s works and other literary and social subjects’. (‘No. 145. -GLASGOW Central Burns Club and Literary Society, Ltd.’, ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Read More …
Glasgow Cowal Society, Literary Department
Overview The name for this society refers to Cowal, a peninsula in Argyll and Bute in the Scottish Highlands, thus its members were almost certainly from the Highlands. This group is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the stricter sense, Read More …
Glasgow Daisy Burns Club
Overview There is not much currently known about this Burns club. The details we have come from the 1912 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory. The group met at the Christian Institute on Bothwell Street (to the west of the city Read More …
Glasgow Foundry Boys’ Religious Society, Wellington Palace Branch
Overview The Glasgow Foundry Boys Religious Society was instituted in 1865, two years before the founding of the Wellington Palace Branch. According to the ‘Plan of Tea Tables and Names of Branches’ in the 1900 ‘Souvenir Programme’ for the annual Read More …
Glasgow Haggis Club
Overview This Burns club was of a (purposefully) moderate size, limiting its membership to 40 in 1894, and expanding this only slightly to 50 in 1897. According to the 1904 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, it was a ‘social’ Read More …
Glasgow Hutchesontown Burns Club
Overview This Burns club was based in Hutchesontown, located to the south of the River Clyde and southeast of the city centre. Members met at 572 Rutherglen Road (premises of R. Young, spirit merchant) on the first Friday of the Read More …
Glasgow Jolly Beggars Burns Club
Overview There is very little currently known about this club. Outwith a mention of this group in the Memorial Catalogue of the Burns Exhibition, the only other information we have to date is from the 1892 Annual Burns Chronicle and Read More …
Glasgow Mossgiel Burns Club
Overview Mossgiel Farm in Ayrshire was the home of Robert Burns. (For more information about the farm, see ‘Mossgiel‘ on The Burns Encyclopedia website.) This Burns club had a modestly-sized membership of 50 in the late nineteenth century. Meetings were held Read More …
Glasgow Northern Burns Club
Overview There is very little currently known about this society. Outwith a mention of the group in the Memorial Catalogue of the Burns Exhibition, the only other details we have are provided by the Annual Burns Chronicle, which are sparse Read More …
Glasgow Orcadian Literary and Scientific Society
Overview The members of this group and/or their parents were originally from Orkney and had since settled in Glasgow. This society is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the stricter sense, county associations were groups whose members (or whose parents) Read More …
Glasgow Orkney and Shetland Literary and Scientific Association
Overview The members of this group (and/or their parents) were originally from Orkney and Shetland, and had since settled in Glasgow. This society is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the stricter sense, county associations were groups whose members (or whose Read More …
Glasgow Primrose Burns Club
Overview In 1910 (the earliest year for which we have any details on this club), members met in the Arcade Café (possibly Sloan’s Arcade Café, 109 Argyle Street), before meeting in the Alexandra Hotel (148 Bath Street, in the city Read More …
Glasgow Queen’s Park (Burns Club)
Overview There is very little currently known about this club. There is only a brief mention of this group in the minutes of the Glasgow and District Burns Club. We learn a bit more from the ‘Club Notes’ of the Read More …
Glasgow Southern Burns Club
Overview There is little currently known about this Burns club. The only details provided by the 1901 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory are its then current office bearers and their addresses, while the 1904 directory is even less helpful, only Read More …
Glasgow St. David’s Burns Club
Overview There is little currently known about this club. From the 1892 and 1895 editions of the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, we know that members met in the Club Rooms located at 163 Ingram Street. This is the address Read More …
Glasgow Sutherlandshire Association
Overview Sutherland is a county in the Highlands of Scotland. This society is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the stricter sense, county associations were groups whose members (or whose parents) were former residents of counties across Scotland who Read More …
Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association
Overview The Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement was founded in 1824. In 1877, it amalgamated with the Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association (aka the G.Y.M.C.A., instituted in 1841, but this date is debatable) to become the Glasgow United Read More …
Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association
Overview The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was formed in London in 1841. (For a history of this association, see ‘History and Heritage’, on the YMCA website.) There is a discrepancy in the records as to the start date of the Glasgow Read More …
Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement
Overview This society was instituted in 1824. In 1877, it amalgamated with the Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association (aka G.Y.M.C.A., instituted in 1841, although this date is debatable) to become the Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association in 1877. In Read More …
Glasgow-Ardgowan Burns Club
Overview Ardgowan is located near Inverkip, Inverclyde, on the west coast of Scotland. It is possible that the members of this club were originally from this area before moving to Glasgow. There is little currently known about this Burns club. Read More …
Glencairn Burns Club, Glasgow
Overview Glencairn is a parish in Dumfries and Galloway. It is possible that the members of this club were originally from this area before moving to Glasgow. In the late nineteenth century, this Burns club met on the first Thursday Read More …
Gorbals Burns Club
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 Read More …
Govan Fairfield Burns Club
Overview This club was based in Govan, an area south of the River Clyde and southwest of the city centre. (For more information about this area, see Gerald Blaikie’s article, ‘Govan, Glasgow. Architecture & History‘ on the ScotCities website.) It is currently unclear if Read More …
Hope Street Free Gaelic Church Literary Society
Overview This society was made up of young men from the congregation of the Hope Street Free Gaelic Church. (For more information on this church, see ‘Glasgow — Hope Street‘ on the Ecclegen website, and ‘Glasgow, 58 Waterloo Street, Gaelic Free Church‘ on Read More …
Kelvinside Literary Association (Kelvinside United Free Church) (later becomes The Young People’s At Home)
Overview Members of this association were most likely part of the congregation of the Kelvinside United Free Church (earlier known as the Kelvinside Free Church) which was located at the corner of Byres Road and Great Western Road in the West Read More …
Kelvinside Parish Church Literary Society
Overview Kelvinside is an area in the West End of Glasgow. The information on this group comes from a magazine founded by and for its own members. This was a Church of Scotland society comprised of both young men and Read More …
Kingston Burns Club
Overview Kingston is an area just to the south of the River Clyde and site of the Kingston Dock. (For more information on this area, see the entry for ‘Kingston Dock‘ on The Glasgow Story website). The Kingston Burns Club Read More …
Kinning Park Burns Club
Overview Kinning Park is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see W. Hamish Fraser’s article, ‘Neighbourhoods. Kinning Park‘ on The Glasgow Story website). In 1908, the Kinning Park Burns Club met at 8pm on the Read More …
Langside (Literary) Society
Overview Langside is an area in the south side of Glasgow. (For more information on this area, see the entry for ‘Langside‘ on TheGlasgowStory website, and ‘Langside & Battlefield. Illustrated Guide‘ on the ScotCities website). There is little currently known about this society. Read More …
Mauchline Society (aka Glasgow-Mauchline Society)
Overview Mauchline is a town in East Ayrshire. Robert Burns lived there for a time on Mossgiel Farm. This group is a type of nineteenth-century county association. In the stricter sense, county associations were groups whose members (or whose parents) were Read More …
National Burns Club, Ltd., Glasgow
Overview This group had its own Club Rooms, which were located at 93 Douglas Street (just off St. Vincent Street, and to the west of the city centre). Later, it had its own library. The ‘Club Notes’ of the 1905 Read More …
Partick Burns Club
Overview 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 Read More …
Partick Western Burns Club (not same as Partick Burns Club, nor the Western Burns Club)
Overview 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 Read More …
Pollokshaws Burns Club
Overview 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 Read More …
Possilpark Burns Club
Overview 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 Read More …
Queen Margaret College Reading Union
Overview This group of young women were — or were previously– students of Queen Margaret College, membership being open to current and former students. (For more information on this college, see’ Queen Margaret College‘ on The University of Glasgow Story website, and ‘North Read More …
Rosebery Burns Club (not same as Kilbirnie Rosebery Burns Club)
Overview This was a fairly large Burns club, with 94 members on the roll in 1893, and it nearly doubled its size in 1902, with 180 members reported. The group met from September until April on Tuesdays at 8pm (later Read More …
Royalty Burns Club
Overview According to the club’s website, this Burns club was formed by a few Glasgow Publicans in 1882. Various issues of the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory published at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries provide more details. Read More …
Sandyford Burns Club
Overview Sandyford is an area located just to the west of Charing Cross. The Glasgow and District Burns Association website gives a brief history of the founding of this club: ‘The clubs’ [sic] motto is taken from the poem “Contented Wi Read More …
Scottish Burns Club
Overview According to the 1915 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, this Burns club had 101 members and nine life members on its roll in 1914. This is the only evidence we have in regards to the size of the Read More …
Shakespeare Reading Class (Toynbee House, University Settlement Association)
Overview 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. Read More …
Shettleston Burns Club
Overview Shettleston is an area in Glasgow’s east end. (For more information on this area, see Gordon Adams’s article on the ‘History of Shettleston‘ on the ‘East Glasgow History‘ website). According to the 1902 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, this Burns club Read More …
Springburn Burns Club
Overview Springburn is a district in the north of the city. (For more information on this area, see Gilbert T. Bell’s, ‘Second City of The Empire: 1830s to 1914. Neighbourhoods: Springburn‘ on The Glasgow Story website.) There is very little currently Read More …
St. Rollox Burns Club
Overview St. Rollox was located in the north of the city in the Springburn area. The area was home of the St Rollox Railway Works, and St Rollox Chemical Works, which was reportedly the largest in Europe. (For more information on Read More …
St. Rollox Jolly Beggars
Overview St. Rollox was located in the north of the city in the Springburn area. The area was home of the St Rollox Railway Works, and St Rollox Chemical Works, which was reportedly the largest in Europe. (For more information on Read More …
Tam O’ Shanter Club (aka the Tam O’ Shanter Burns Club)
Overview 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 Read More …
The Literary and Artistic Society (aka Literary and Artistic Association) (possibly same society as The Literary and Artistic Club)
Overview The information that we have on this group comes mostly from an article written (anonymously) by Thomas Gildard that was published in May 1892 in The Bailie, a Glasgow weekly magazine. The article itself was transcribed by William Young (Glasgow Read More …
The Park Literary Institution (currently unknown if this is same as East Park Literary Society)
Overview 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 Read More …
Thistle Burns Club
Overview 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, Read More …
Tollcross Burns Club
Overview 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 Read More …
Toynbee House Literary Society (University Settlement Association)
Overview 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. Read More …
Wellington United Presbyterian Church Literary Association
Overview A good summary of the history of the Wellington Church can be found on the Discover Glasgow website: ‘The Wellington United Presbyterian Church congregation gained its name from their original church that was located on Wellington Street in the city Read More …
Ye Govan Cronies Burns Club (aka Govan Ye Cronies Burns Club)
Overview This club was based in Govan, an area south of the River Clyde and southwest of the city centre. (For more information about this area, see Gerald Blaikie’s article, ‘Govan, Glasgow. Architecture & History‘ on the ScotCities website.) In 1913, there were 50 Read More …
Youths Reading and Recreation Club (Glasgow Foundry Boys Religious Society, South Cumberland Street Branch) (later became Renwick Halls Branch)
Overview Members of this club were most likely part of the congregation of the Renwick Free Church. To go back a bit to the early nineteenth century, the congregation was known as the Southern Reformed Presbyterian Congregation and their church Read More …