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 Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. X (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1901), pp. 107-8). They formed their club ‘for the purpose of affording its members an opportunity of studying the works of our National Bard as well as meeting together throughout the winter months in a social capacity’ (Ibid).

The club met monthly between October and March at the Trades’ House Restaurant on Glassford Street (Merchant City, in the heart of the city centre) with membership being restricted to 150 members.

Date of Existence

1899?-? (the 1901 Annual Burns Chronicle gives 1900 as the founding year, while the 1904 Chronicle gives 1899); Federated 1900

Source of Information

1. Roseberry [sic] Donation, Catalogue of the Burns Exhibition. Galleries of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, 175 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow (Glasgow: William Hodge & Co., 1896), [title page] (Mitchell Library Special Collections, 907880);

2. ‘Burns Anniversary. Celebrations in Falkirk and District. Falkirk Burns Club’, Falkirk Herald, 27 January 1909, p. 6;

3. ‘Burns’ Anniversary. Celebrations in Falkirk and District. Falkirk Burns Club’, Falkirk Herald, 28 January 1914, p. 3;

4. ‘Burns’ Anniversary. Celebrations in Falkirk and District. Falkirk Burns Club’, Falkirk Herald, 31 January 1914, p. 3;

5. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. X (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1901), pp. 107-8;

6. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed.  by D. M’Naught, No. XI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1902), p. 122; 146;

7. ‘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. 147;

8. ‘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. 157;

9. ‘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. 172.

Repository

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

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

Reference Number

907880 (MLSC) (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

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

Anderston is an area just over a mile to the west of Glasgow’s city centre. (For more information about this area, see Michael Moss’s article, ‘Industrial Revolution: 1770s to 1830s. Neighbourhoods. Anderston‘ on The Glasgow Story website).

According to John M’Dowall, author of The People’s History of Glasgow (1899): 

‘The Anderston Social Club was formed on 13th June, 1813. It was originally composed of thirty members, who chiefly resided in the villages of Anderston and Finnieston. It met in a tavern in Anderston, belonging to John Adam, every Monday night, from half-past eight till eleven o’clock. In addition to talking over the latest war news, poetry was a specialty with the members, among whom was William Glen, the author of “Wae’s me for Prince Charlie.” Many of the songs composed by the members are contained in the minute-books of the club.’

(John K. M’Dowall, 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), pp. 92-3)

It is currently unknown if these minute books still exist.

Date of Existence

13 June 1813-?

Source of Information

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 city centre, no number given).

Date of Existence

1900-? Federated 13 October 1913

Source of Information

1. (Mentioned in annual report in Glasgow and District Burns Club minute book: ‘Annual Report for Session 1913-1914’, Minutes, Glasgow and District Burns Club, 12 September 1912-30 April 1919, p. 60 (MLSC, 891709));

2. ‘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. 231

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.

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 Smith’s at 89 Glassford Street.

The club’s object was  ‘[t]he annual celebration of the birth-day of Robert Burns; occasional re-unions for the cultivation of social and intellectual intercourse amongst the members and friends’ (‘Bank Burns Club’, ‘Associations Too Late For Classification’, Post Office Glasgow Directory for 1883-1884… (Glasgow: William Mackenzie, 1883), p. 128). There were 150 members in the 1890s.

Date of Existence

1844-1909; 1914-? Federated 1886

Source of Information

1. ‘Bank Burns Club’, ‘Associations Too Late For Classification’, Post Office Glasgow Directory for 1883-1884… (Glasgow: William Mackenzie, 1883), p. 128;

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. 193;

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. 131

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC) (Glasgow Post Office directories, and Annual Burns Chronicle)

National Library of Scotland (NLS) (Glasgow Post Office directories, and 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

Where there are breaks in the dates of a club’s existence, it was the case that the directories listed them as ‘dormant’ during the intervening years.

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. 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.

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 the 19th century, Clydebank grew from a small village to one of the world’s major ship building centres. The town was originally known as Barns o’ Clyde, but changed its name in 1882 after the Thomson brothers relocated their shipyard to the village and began building tenement housing for the workers.’

According to the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, from 1910 until 1913 (at least), this Burns club met once a month between September and April at Mr Hutcheon’s Restaurant on Glasgow Road, Clydebank. It is currently unknown how many members it had.

Date of Existence

1896-? Federated 2 March 1910

Source of Information

1. (Mentioned in minutes of the Glasgow and District Burns Club: Minute entry, 11 December 1907, Glasgow and District Burns Club, Minutes, 8 November 1907-5 September 1912, p. 9 (MLSC, 891709));

2. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1911), p. 127;

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. 179;

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 to celebrate the memory of our National Bard by Annual Social Meetings, and by such other means as may be arranged.’

(‘Club Notes’, ‘CO-OPERATIVE BURNS CLUB’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. X (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1901), pp. 106-7)

The same listing states that in order to join, gentlemen had to pay an entry fee of two shillings, and members paid an annual subscription of one shilling, which was cheaper than the average for other clubs during this period (2s 6d). The club held their meetings between September and April on the last Friday of each month. They met at 8pm at the Bridge Street Station Hotel (6 Bridge Street). Later, the club moved their meetings to 1 Cathcart Road, which, according to the 1904-1905 Glasgow Post Office directory, was the business address of one Mrs. James Anderson, wine and spirit merchant.

Date of Existence

1899?-? Federated 24 March 1899

Source of Information

1. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1900’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. IX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1900), p. 148;

2. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. X (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1901), pp. 106-7;

3. ‘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. 145;

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 September to April, when the club would meet at George M. Nichol’s (wine merchant), located at 25 Caledonia Road, South Side.

Date of Existence

1896-? Federated 1896, but 1914 Annual Burns Chronicle gives 1897 as date of federation.

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, 1898’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. VII (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1898), p. 144;

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. 161;

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 (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1904), p. 143;

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. 153;

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. 163;

7. ‘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. 167

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC)

National Library of Scotland (NLS)

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.

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 years 1908-1911 include this club’s syllabi. The group met once a month from October until March. In addition to the lectures, there were various social activities. To give a few examples, beyond the celebration of Burns night in January every year, there was a ‘Ladies’ Night – Tea, &c., Harmony’, a ‘Church Parade’, and a Ladies’ Night that included ‘Progressive Whist, Music, Dancing’.

Date of Existence

1899-1937?

Source of Information

1. (Mentioned in Minutes of Glasgow and District Burns Club: minute entry, 11 December 1907, Minutes, Glasgow and District Burns Club, 8 November 1907-5 September 1912, p. 9 (MLSC, 891709));

2. ‘McLehose (or MacLehose, M’Lehose, Meklehose), Agnes (‘Clarinda’)’, The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women, ed. by Elizabeth Ewan, Sue Innes, and Sian Reynolds (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006), p. 237;

3. Vance, Michael E., ‘Burns in the Park: A Tale of Three Monuments’, in Robert Burns and Transatlantic Culture, ed. by Sharon Alker, Leith Davis and Holly Faith Nelson (Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, 2012), pp. 209-232 (p. 225);

4. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1911), p. 132;

5. ‘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. 223

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.

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 109 Argyle Street, and later at Sloan’s Arcade Cafe, Argyle Street). At the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, it had about 80 members.

The club was keen to emphasise the literary element of its meetings. For example, in addition to its musical evenings, the club advertised in the ‘Special Features’ of the Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory that ‘[a]t each meeting a paper on Burns or other literary subject is given by competent lecturers’.

(‘No. 83–GLASGOW Co-operative Burns Club’, ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1907’, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XVI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1907), p. 163)

Date of Existence

1896-? Federated 1896

Source of Information

1. (Mentioned in minutes of Glasgow and District Burns Club: Minute entry, 8 November 1907, Minutes, Glasgow and District Burns Club, 8 November 1907-5 September 1912, p. 1 (MLSC, 891709));

2. ‘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. 156;

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), pp. 160-61;

4. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. X (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1901), pp. 106-07;

5. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1902), p. 121;

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. 143;

7. ‘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. 153;

8. ‘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. 152;

9. ‘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. 163;

10. ‘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. 137;

11. ‘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. 169

Repository

Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC) (Minutes, 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

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.

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 Burns club. The 1912 Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory gives its objects in the ‘Special features of Club’:

‘The objects of the Club shall be the celebration of the birth of Robert Burns, occasional re-union for the cultivation of social and intellectual intercourse amongst members and friends, and the encouragement of Scottish literature.’

(‘No. 203–DENNISTOUN Jolly Beggars Burns Club’, Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies on the Roll of the Burns Federation, 1912′, in Annual Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XXI (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1912), p. 186)

The meetings were held at 8pm on the last Thursday of the month at the Loudoun Arms Hotel, Duke Street, Dennistoun. (For more information on the history of this club, see  John Gorevan’s article, ‘The Loudoun Arms Hotel‘ on the Old Glasgow Pubs website.)

Date of Existence

25 January 1911-? Federated 6 June 1911

Source of Information

‘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. 186

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.