Sigma Alpha Iota

18 Winter 2023 • sai-national.org Cposers By Hollis Thoms R obert Burns (1759-1796), the famous Scottish poet, wrote many poems and songs that are still quite well known and popular today; everyone knows Auld Lang Syne. My first encounter with Robert Burns came when I was a Fulbright Exchange Teacher to Scotland some 35 years ago. Everyone in Scotland knew his poetry and Burns' Suppers on his January 25th birthday were celebrated all over Scotland, where his poetry was recited and his songs were sung. He is considered Scotland's greatest person. When I was teaching music and English in a Scottish middle school, I had to teach his longest poem Tam o' Shanter. We read the poem and then listened to Malcolm Arnold's wonderfully descriptive overture. Tam o' Shanter is a moral tale: Tam loves to drink with his friends against the advice of his wife, Kate. One evening aer drinking with his friends, he rides towards home on his horse Meg and passes Kirk Alloway where, inspired by his drinking, he sees a vision of singing and dancing by the devil, witches, and warlocks. Because of his drunkenness, he lacks any self-control and shouts out enthusiastically at the hellish scene. In an instant, all the witches and warlocks chase aer him, as he frantically rides Meg to the River Doon towards home. As he crosses the river, the evil spirits vanish. Tam is le to think about the moral experience: he needs to follow the advice of his wife, Kate, and stay away from the intoxicating John Barleycorn. ere is more to this tale than mere entertainment. When Robert was fourteen, his father, William, compiled A Manual of Religious Belief, in form of a Dialogue Between Father and Son, in order that he might guide his son in Christian living. is question-and-answer manual focused on man's "animal" nature which was at war with man's "rational" nature. William was a moderate Calvinist and did not believe in severe punishment for man's sins. He believed that God, while a righteous judge, was also a gracious Creator who recognized his creatures' inner struggle between the "animal" and "rational" natures. He believed that in order for man to enjoy his "animal" nature, which gave him pleasure, he needed, through experience and "rational" reflection, to control this wild nature. Man was to reconcile his two natures and restore the harmony that God intended for him. Burns' Tam o' Shanter poem is a vivid portrayal of that struggle between man's two natures. Burns' own life was a struggle with his animal instincts, infidelity, and alcoholism. In July 1796, at age 37, near the end of his brief life, he wrote A MORE COMPOSER DISCOVERIES Glover, Chadwick, Arnold, and Thoms' settings of Robert Burns' Tam o' Shanter Top left, a scene from Top left, a scene from Tam o' Shanter Tam o' Shanter illustrated by E. H. Miller (New York: W. J. illustrated by E. H. Miller (New York: W. J. Widdleton, 1868), rare book owned by author. Above, Robert Burns. Widdleton, 1868), rare book owned by author. Above, Robert Burns.

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