Speaking of Burns Night - some free Burns ebooks for Kindle

[HippieLee]

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...tal-text%2C256

You only have a couple weeks to get them memorized! Git crackin'!

If you need a different format, Project Gutenberg has several too: Robert Burns ebooks

[OC Richard]

Ah... Burns night will soon be upon us!

As a piper it's a very good thing, because there are always gigs.

But every year I cringe inside a bit, as people struggle through clumsy readings of a dialect they don't know how to pronounce, and the audience can't understand.

Every few years I might get lucky and there be a reader who is a Scot and who knows the dialect. Then the audience might not understand what's being said, but they get the sound which Burns intended.

[McMurdo]

Richard
That is exactly why a few years ago I decided to memorize at least one new piece every year. I can now recite several Burns pieces including Tam O'Shanter and To A Mouse. I think I shall pick one that is not as well known this year to learn.

[Highlander31]

Ah... Burns night will soon be upon us!

As a piper it's a very good thing, because there are always gigs.

But every year I cringe inside a bit, as people struggle through clumsy readings of a dialect they don't know how to pronounce, and the audience can't understand.

Every few years I might get lucky and there be a reader who is a Scot and who knows the dialect. Then the audience might not understand what's being said, but they get the sound which Burns intended.

I understand about the dialect. A couple of years ago, I was asked to do the "Address to the Haggis". I spent four (4) weeks viewing a correctly pronounced version of the address. Then rehearsing with my wife's help. She has a perfect ear for languages (in fact in her younger days, she spoke twelve (12) languages.) It was like being back in training all over again. However, the results were worth it. The audience still didn't get most of it, but at least, they heard it with the correct dialect.

[Bob C]

Thank you for the link. Several of those books now reside on my Kindle Fire HD.

[OC Richard]

Yes indeed with poetry you have 1) the sound and 2) the meaning. Ideally a poem will have a beautiful unique sound and at the same time convey significant meaning, capturing a bit of human experience.

Many Burns readings have neither: the lovely sound intended isn't achieved, and little meaning is conveyed. Perhaps the ideal solution, where the audience consists of non-Lowland speakers, is to have a Lowland speaker do the reading and hand out sheets which include translations in standard English.

Didn't Burns write poems in standard English too? Maybe people could read some of those.

Kudos to you guys who took it seriously and prepped for your readings. An unprepared reader (of anything) can make the audience squirm in their seats.

BTW today at the funeral I piped at I met a Scottish woman (born there, and lived there much of her life) who has no trace of a Scottish accent. Her family sent her off to boarding school in England at an early age and her RP boarding school accent has stayed with her. Anyhow an example of a Scot who would sound rather odd reading Burns.

[Pleater]

Thankyou for the links - I cannot use Amazon.com, being referred to Amazon.co.uk when I try.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[HippieLee]

Thankyou for the links - I cannot use Amazon.com, being referred to Amazon.co.uk when I try.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

I shoulda thunk of that! My bad - here's the Songs and Poems of Robert Burns from the UK site if the internet doesn't do some odd reconfiguring magic. :-)

[Dale-of-Cedars]

Thankyou for the links - I cannot use Amazon.com, being referred to Amazon.co.uk when I try.

The public domain books are also available from Project Gutenberg, all formats.
Like Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Robert Burns:
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1279

[ASinclair]

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...tal-text%2C256

You only have a couple weeks to get them memorized! Git crackin'!

If you need a different format, Project Gutenberg has several too: Robert Burns ebooks

Thanks for the links, HL. I downloaded the Complete Works and Biography in plain text from Project Gutenberg. I have a Burns' Night in 3 weeks to prepare for.