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 stated object as being the:

‘…endeavour, through DONATION, SUBSCRIPTION and other MEANS to establish a fund for the encouragement of the KNOWLEDGE and CULTIVATION of SCOTTISH LITERATURE amongst the children of members, with a view ultimately to found scholarships… and… bursaries at the University, for meritorious Pupils selected from the Bridgeton Elementary Schools, who shall excel in a competitive examination on a portion of Scottish literature previously indicated by the Club.’

(‘History’, Bridgeton Burns Club <http://www.bridgetonburnsclub.org.uk/history.html> [accessed 27/02/18])

Today, the Schools Competition continues to be one of the club’s foremost activities.

In the late nineteenth century, the group met in the Club Rooms at 2 James Street, and later in the Mechanics’ Hall on Canning Street (now part of London Road), Calton. (For more information about this area, see Gordon Adams’s article, ‘Carlton’ on the East Glasgow History website.) Its membership grew from ‘about 250’ in 1894, to 380 in 1914.

Date of Existence

1870-present. Federated 1891

Source of Information

1. Bridgeton Burns Club Minutes, January 1871-23 January 1893 (MLSC, 891421);

2. Bridgeton Burns Club Minutes, 1893-1906 (MLSC, 891707);

3. Annual general meeting [of the Bridgeton Burns Club], Tuesday, 23 March 1993, Marriott Hotel, Argyle Street, Glasgow [agenda and minutes] (3 leaves) (MLSC, Mitchell (AL) BNSf24 BRI 907733);

4. Bridgeton Burns Club Homepage <http://www.bridgetonburnsclub.org.uk/> [accessed 10/05/15];

5. Glasgow and District Burns Club Homepage <http://www.robertburns.plus.com/Association.htm#Glasgow> [accessed 23/09/15];

6. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies, for 1892’, BC, ed. by John Muir, No. I (Kilmarnock: D. Brown & Co., 25 January 1892), p. 130;

7. Minute entry for 27 March 1913, Glasgow and District Burns Club, Minutes, 12 September 1912-30 April 1919 (MLSC, 891709, p. 15);

8. ‘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. 195;

9. ‘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. 133;

10. ‘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. 152;

11. ‘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. 139;

12. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1899’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. VIII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1899), p. 157;

13. (Note: there are numerous articles in the Glasgow Herald on this club; see the British Newspaper Archive <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/>)

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

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

This Burns club sent visitors to and held joint meetings with the following: Rosebery Burns Club, Glasgow Carlton Burns Club, Albany Burns Club, and Sandyford Burns Clubs.

‘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.

Alexander Smith (1829-1867) was a well-known working-class Scottish poet, and was one of the founding members and Secretary of this society. (For more information on Smith, see, for example, ‘Alexander Smith (1829 – 1867)‘ on the Scottish Poetry Library website.) Named after Joseph Addison (1672-1719), co-founder of the influential magazine, The Spectator, this mutual improvement group consisted of approximately a dozen young men who met on Saturday evenings in a coffee house in Candleriggs (in Merchant City, in the heart of the city centre).

Date of Existence

22 May 1847-1852

Source of Information

1. Glasgow Addisonian Literary Society, Minute Book (Note: currently unknown if this is still housed at Dick Institute, Kilmarnock (20/09/17));

2. Brisbane, T., The Early Years of Alexander Smith, Poet and Essayist. A Study for Young Men, Chiefly Reminiscences of Ten Years’ Companionship (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1869) (ML, Mitchell (GC) 821.8 SMI 9/BRI 31794);

3. Kilpatrick, James A., Literary Landmarks of Glasgow (Glasgow: Saint Mungo Press, 1893), p. 248 (MLSC, Mitchell (AL) KIL);

4. Berry, Simon, Applauding Thunder: Life, Work and Critics of Alexander Smith (Inverness: FTTR Press, 2013), [passim] (MLSC, Mitchell (AL) 821.8 SMI 9/BER);

5. ‘Alexander Smith (poet)’, Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Smith_(poet)> [accessed 20/08/17];

6. (Note: several newspaper clippings throughout Young’s Scrapbooks (various volumes, e.g. Vol. 12, pp. 4-5; Vol. 14, p. 13-15) on Smith (MLSC)

Repository

Mitchell Library (ML)

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

Dick Institute, Kilmarnock

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

–

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 Glasgow including the National Burns Club (93 Douglas Street), the Trades House Restaurant (89 Glassford Street), the Christian Institute (Bothwell Street), and the Religious Institution Rooms (200 Buchanan Street). Meetings were held intermittently during the year. The 1911 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory published the group’s objects under its ‘Special features of Club’:

‘To further the interests of the Burns cult by promoting closer union between the Clubs in the district and bringing the members of these Clubs into more harmonious relationship, and to take the initiative in instituting and recommending movements likely to be beneficial to the cult.’

(‘No. 169 — GLASGOW AND DISTRICT Association of Burns Clubs and Kindred Societies’, ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1911’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1911), p. 176)

Date of Existence

8 November 1907-1919? Federated 1908

Source of Information

1. ‘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. 179;

2. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1910), p. 190;

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. 176;

4. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1912’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XXI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1912), p. 180;

5. Glasgow and District Burns Club, Minutes, 12 September 1912-30 April 1919 (MLSC, 891709);

6. Macmillan, Donald, Burns and the war: his message to the nation: an address delivered before the Glasgow and District Burns Association (Glasgow and District Burns Association, [1917]) (MLSC, Mitchell (AL) 6 MCM 557275);

7. McArthur, Archie McArthur, Some Connections Between the City of Glasgow and Robert Burns, compiled by Archie McArthur ([Glasgow and District Burns Association], [1989]) (MLSC, Robert Burns Collection, Mitchell (AL) 11 GLA MCA 907616);

8. ‘Glasgow and District Association of Burns Clubs’, Jean Armour Burns Trust <http://www.jeanarmourburnstrust.co.uk/GlasgowandDistrict.html> [accessed 27/01/18]

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

National Library of Scotland (NLS)

Reference Number

(For Mitchell Library Special Collections materials, see Source of Information; for Annual Burns Chronicle, see below)

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.

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’ club that met on the ‘last Friday of February, March, April, September, October, November, and December, at 8 o’clock’.

The group changed the venue for their meetings several times in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: in 1895, they met at the Cobden Hotel (87 Argyle Street), two years later at Mr [Malcolm] M’Culloch’s (wine and spirit merchant, 13 Maxwell Street), in 1904 at M’Culloch’s Argyle Street premises, in 1908 at the National Burns Club (93 Douglas Street), and finally, in 1914, at Ferguson and Forrester’s (purveyors and wine merchants, 36 Buchanan Street). All of these were centrally located in the city.

Date of Existence

1872-present. Federated 1886

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;

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. 130;

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. 194;

4. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1895’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. IV (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1895), p. 175;

5. ‘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. 151;

6. ‘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. 138;

7. ‘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. 131;

8. ‘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), pp. 202-3;

9. Glasgow Haggis Club <https://www.facebook.com/glasgowhaggisclub> [accessed 23/09/15];

10. ‘Glasgow Haggis Club’, Glasgow and District Burns Association <http://www.robertburns.plus.com/Association.htm#Haggis> [accessed 23/09/15];

11. ‘Donations’, Jean Armour Burns Trust <http://www.jeanarmourburnstrust.co.uk/Donations.html> [accessed 23/09/15]

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

National Library of Scotland (NLS)

Reference Number

Mitchell (AL) 14A MEM 472108 (MLSC) (Memorial Catalogue)

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 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 Young Men’s Christian Association. This organisation was probably the largest of its type in Glasgow during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: to give an example from one report at the end of the nineteenth century, the association’s ‘Synopsis for 1893-4’  reported that on 30 June 1894,  there were then 9,946 members on the rolls (The Annual Report of the Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association. For Year Ending 30th June, 1894 (Glasgow: [?], 1894) (MLSC, GC 267.39 41435).

Upon amalgamation with the G.Y.M.C.A., the Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association divided up the operations of the association according to the location of their societies in the city, for example, the Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Sections, which were then subdivided into further subsections. The amalgamation also involved the union of all the reading rooms and libraries and their collections, with the main, central library being located at 280 George Street.

Many of the subsections had their own literary associations, although, to date, it has not been possible to ascertain the exact number of these societies in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. From the records, we know that the literary association meetings of these subsections were well attended. For example, in 1878, the First, Southern Section (‘Boundaries – On the North, the River Clyde. On the West, Eglinton Street’, thus in the Laurieston area) met in class rooms on 67 Cumberland Street at 8pm on Saturday nights. They reported an average attendance of 50 members, with the maximum attendance for the session being 80. The group’s Annual Report for 1898 notes that the evenings’ activities involved study and conversation on various literary and scientific topics, and did not exclude politics.

Date of Existence

1877-present (as Ypeople, Glasgow)

Source of Information

1. Annual Report of the Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association. 1877 (Note: in same book as Annual Report of the Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association. For 1865-66. (Glasgow: Aird & Coghill, 1866)) (MLSC, Mitchell (GC) 267.3 43136);

2. Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association. Catalogue of the Circulating and Reference Libraries (1873) (MLSC, G018.2 GLA);

3. Catalogue of Library of the George Square Branch of the Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association (1882) (MLSC, G018.2 GLA);

4. Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association. Eastern Section. Library Catalogue (Glasgow: K. & R. Davidson, Printers, [1888?]), (MLSC, G 018.2 GLA);

5. Library catalogue and rules [Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association] (1895) (MLSC, Mitchell (GC), 018.2 GLA 157770);

6. Annual report of the Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association: 1878: adopted at annual meeting and conversazione, held in the Corporation Galleries, on 29th April, 1879 (Glasgow: Central Rooms, Christian Institute, 1879) (UGL), Research Annexe, Store HA03910)

7. (Note: this list is by no means an exhaustive one — there are numerous annual reports and various types of administrative papers available across both the Mitchell Library’s and the University of Glasgow Library’s collections; in addition, there also many newspaper articles on the activities of this association, see the British Newspaper Archive: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/)

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

University of Glasgow Library (UGL)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

See also Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association, and Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement.

The online catalogue of the University of Glasgow Archives Services, Archives Hub, offers a summary of this society and its activities:

‘Administrative / Biographical History
Glasgow University Dialectic Society was instituted in 1861 at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, as a society for the discussion of literary, philosophical and political subjects. The Society, in some form, has been in existence for some years earlier. The Society has been prominent in University life and in 1885 , along with the Glasgow University Medico-Chirurgical Society , helped to establish the Glasgow University Union (GUU).

Originally a male only club, membership is now mixed and open to matriculated members of the University and ex-members upon payment of a subscription. The Society’s main aim is to foster and promote debate.’

(‘Records of the Glasgow University Dialectic Society, student society, University of Glasgow, Scotland’, ‘Administrative/Biographical History’, Archives Hub)

Date of Existence

(few years prior to) 1861-present

Source of Information

1. Records of the Glasgow University Dialectic Society (includes: Constitution and bye-laws; membership card; syllabus) (UGAS, GB 248 DC 38);

2. Records of the Glasgow University Dialectic Society (includes: Board minutes; Society meeting minutes; Membership roll books) (UGSC, GB 247 MS Gen 1307-1310);

3. (Newspaper clipping, annotated:) ‘Citizen, 4 Mch. 1912’ (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 33, p. 55);

4. ‘University Notes’, Evening Citizen, 4 March 1912, p. 10

5. University of Glasgow Dialectic Society Homepage

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

University of Glasgow Archives Services (UGAS)

University of Glasgow Special Collections (UGSC)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

Copies of the Evening Citizen are available at the Mitchell Library and the National Library of Scotland. Digitised issues are available through the British Newspaper Archive: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk.

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 branch of the YMCA.  According to the 1877 ‘Constitution’ of the Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association (GYMCA), the group was founded in 1841. Alternatively, according to the History of the World’s Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations (1955), the Glasgow branch was founded in 1848, when the Glasgow Young Men’s Institute (evidently a separate organisation from the earlier Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement) adopted the name of the Young Men’s Christian Association (see ‘YMCA Scotland. Scotland – National Council of YMCAs‘ on the World YMCA website.)

There is a consensus, however, as to the events that followed: in 1877, the GYMCA amalgamated with the Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement (instituted 1824), to become the Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association.

This was a large and well-organised group that had branches spread across all parts of the city. Its central meeting rooms were on 280 George Street, in the heart of the city. The Annual Report for 1866 includes the group’s ‘Constitution and Rules’, which sets out the object of the group as being the provision of facilities to bring about young men’s improvement in various areas (typically, this included a rather standard list that included intellectual, moral and religious improvement).

The yearly subscription charge was 2s 6d, which was the average for these societies during this period. However, it seems that this fee was subject to negotiation, perhaps being dependent upon personal financial circumstances.

Upon the amalgamation of the Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement, and the Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association, the newly formed Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association was formed in 1877. Its object was also for young men’s improvement.

It was reported that as of 31 December 1877, there was a total of 176 branches of the Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association, with 149 in the city and suburbs, and 27 Country Branches.

Date of Existence

1841-1877

Source of Information

1. Annual Report of the Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association. For 1865-66 (Glasgow: Aird & Coghill, 1866)(Note: the 1867 and 1877 Annual Reports are also bound in this publication, while the 1868-1876 reports are not) (MLSC, GC267.3941443 GLA);

2. Lecture on Revealed Religion, by Professors and Ministers of Various Denominations. Delivered Under the Auspices of the Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association, 1872-73. With Preface by the Rev. Robt. Jamieson, D.D., Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (Glasgow: Geo. Bogie, 463 Paisley Road; Thos. Murray & Son; George Gallie & Son. Edinburgh and Glasgow: John Menzies & Co., [1873]) (ML, Mitchell (GC) 231.74 97614)

3. (Various published lectures given to association, see Mitchell online catalogue);

4. M’Dowall, John K., The People’s History of Glasgow. An Encyclopedic Record of the City From the Prehistoric Period to the Present Day (Glasgow: Hay Nisbet and Co. Ltd., 1899), p. 63 (ML, GC 941. 443 McDo);

5. Binfield, Clyde, George Williams and the Y.M.C.A.: A Study in Victorian Social Attitudes (London : Heinemann, 1973) (ML, Mitchell (SS) 267.3924 BIN);

6. Youde, Kate, ‘Brand Report: YMCA Glasgow Becomes Y People’, Third Sector (8 February 2011) <http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/brand-report-ymca-glasgow-becomes-y-people/communications/article/1053222> [accessed 23/03/15];

Repository

Mitchell Library (ML)

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

See also Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement and Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association.

See also Young Women’s Christian Association (aka Glasgow Young Women’s Christian Association).

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 1824, there were 14 associations connected with this society in Glasgow.

Ralph Wardlaw, D.D. (1779-1853) gave a sermon on the night of 19th September 1824 at the George Street Chapel on behalf of this society. He strongly promoted the formation of an association for young men’s improvement. He was particularly concerned about the young men who grew up in the country and came to the city looking for work. Groups like the Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement offered a lifeline. He also discussed the origin of this society, which was to work as a supplement to Sabbath Schools. He also sets out its object and rules, which was to be the formation of societies in Glasgow and the surrounding region that would encourage mutual improvement in its young male members with a focus on religion. In addition, a library of suitable religious works and biographies was to be instituted.

The ‘Regulations of the Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement’ are given as an Appendix to this Sermon.

Date of Existence

1824-1877

Source of Information

1. Wardlaw, Ralph, Sermon: [for] the Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement (Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement (1825)) (ML, Mitchell (GC), 41446);

2. Wardlaw, Ralph, The divine dissuasion to the young, against the enticements of sinners: a sermon preached in George-Street Chapel, Glasgow, on the evening of Sabbath, 19th September, 1824: in behalf of the Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement (Glasgow: Wardlaw & Cunninghame, [etc.], 1825) (UGSC, Sp Coll T.C.L. 4010);

3. Heugh, Hugh, The importance of early piety: a sermon preached for the Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement: January 8th, 1826 (Glasgow: Printed by W. Lang, for the Glasgow Young Men’s Religious Tract Society, 1826) (UGSC, Sp Coll T.C.L. 3982);

4. Wardlaw, Ralph, Religion the duty, the happiness, and the hope of youth: a sermon, delivered in Greyfriars’ Chapel, Glasgow, on the evening of Lord’s-Day, May 27th, 1838, in behalf of the Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement (Glasgow: Printed for the Society by Aird & Russell, 1838) (UGSC, Sp Coll T.C.L. 3953);

5. Campbell, J., Memoirs of David Nasmith, his labours and travels in Great Britain, France, United States and Canada (London, 1844) (NLS, NF.1346.e.11);

6. Address delivered at the reunion of those who were members of the Regent Place Young Men’s Society; subject: Dr. Heugh … 23d March, 1852, by David Young, United Presbyterian minister at Glasgow (1852) (UGSC, Sp Coll Mu39-h.32);

7. Thirty-fifth annual report of the Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement: read 24th February, 1859 (Printed by K.& R. Davidson, 1859) (UGL, Library Research Annexe, Ba4-g.10);

8. Annual Report of the Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association, 1865-83, 1893-1937 (ML, Mitchell (GC) 267.3 43136);

9. Catalogue of the circulating and reference libraries. Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement. 1873 (ML, Mitchell (GC), 017.2 9368);

10. Douglas, John D., The advantages of the adoption of the Public Libraries Act: first prize essay: Glasgow Young Men’s Society for Religious Improvement (1874) (ML, Mitchell (GC), 027.4 9372);

11. Binfield, Clyde, George Williams and the Y.M.C.A., online resource: <http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/brand-report-ymca-glasgow-becomes-y-people/communications/article/1053222> [accessed 23/03/15]

Repository

Mitchell Library (ML)

University of Glasgow Library (UGL)

University of Glasgow Special Collections (UGSC)

National Library of Scotland (NLS)

Reference Number

(See Source of Information)

Additional Notes

See also Glasgow Young Men’s Christian Association and Glasgow United Young Men’s Christian Association.

This society was made up of young men from the congregation of the Kent Road United Presbyterian Church, located near Charing Cross, to the west of the city centre. (For more information on this church, see ‘Kent Road UP Church‘ on The Glasgow Story website.) The group also allowed other young men who were not part of the congregation to join upon agreement with the other members.

According to the printed ‘Rules’ affixed in the front of the first minute book, the object of the group was its members’ improvement, which included intellectual, religious and moral. The subscription fee was one shilling per year, which was cheaper than the average fee for these societies (2s 6d), which means that this group’s members were probably from the working classes.

The yearly session ran from October until April. Meetings were held weekly on Thursday nights at 8.15pm at the Church Hall, located under the church. The ‘Rules’ state that the meetings were to include debates and the reading of essays and other papers written by the members, which was to be followed by conversation.

The subjects of the debates and essays had to be pre-approved by the Committee of Management consisting of the office bearers and directors. This prior selection of subjects was similar to the procedures of the St. Columba Literary Association, wherein the Directors set the society’s agenda.

There are 46 named individuals next to their attendance records in the back of the minute book for the 1869-1870 session. Six names have been scored through, however, as it appears five members stopped attending the meetings and one member ‘Left Glasgow’.

Members of this group produced a manuscript magazine in April 1872, and there are known to be at least two issues that were produced prior to this date (see ‘Additional Notes’ below).

Date of Existence

1 November 1865-?

Source of Information

1. Kent Road, UP Church, UF, and C of S, Young Men’s Institute Minutes, 1865-74 (GCA, CH3/1443/34);

2. Kent Road Quarterly, issued by Kent Road U.P. Church Young Men’s Institute, Vol. 3, No. 2, 1 April 1872 (MLSC, Mitchell (AL), 725431);

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 former residents of counties across Scotland who had moved to Glasgow. This type of group incorporated elements of a benevolent society in that they could offer a combination of accommodation, advice, referrals, and general assistance to newcomers in the city when they arrived, while also offering aid to widows, unemployed members, or members undergoing financial hardship. In addition, they might offer to provide for the education of their members’ children, or money to support their higher education.

This society was also a Burns club, and its members met at the the Christian Institute (Bothwell Street) in the early twentieth century (at least). (For more information about this institute, see the ‘Christian Institute‘ on The Glasgow Story website).

In 1897, this was a fairly large group, with a reported 120 members on its roll. This number would fall to 60 in the next year, and reached a low point of ‘about 30 members’ in 1907, before recovering slightly in 1908 (n. 40). In 1904, the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club  Directory listed the club’s object as:

‘[…] to afford relief to those in needful circumstances, to obtain situations to persons of good character, and to promote friendly intercourse among those connected with Mauchline in Glasgow; to erect, endow, hold, preserve, and manage the National Burns Memorial and Cottage Homes, Mauchline’.

(‘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 (January 1904), p. 142)

Date of Existence

1888-1934? (uncertain: date taken from last year info. given in online catalogue)

Source of Information

1. ‘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;

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. 142:

3. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1899’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. VIII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1899), p. 159;

4. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1904’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIII (January 1904), p. 142;

5. ‘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. 151;

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. 162;

7. ‘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. 136;

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

9. ‘Glasgow Mauchline Society’, Glasgow Herald, 9 December 1921, p. 6;

10 .’National Burns Memorial and Cottage Homes, Mauchline, Ayrshire: Catalogue of Exhibits in the Museum Including a History of the Burns Memorial and Cottage Homes’, Ayrshire History <http://www.ayrshirehistory.com/pdf/mauchline_catalogue_of_burns_memorial_tower_museum_1962.pdf> [accessed 31 January 2018]

Repository

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

National Library of Scotland (Annual Burns Chronicle, and Glasgow Herald)

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.

The Glasgow Herald is available at the Mitchell Library and the National Library of Scotland in both hard copy and microfilm (check libraries for availability in both formats). Digitised issues are also available through the British Newspaper Archive: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/