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 the members; and the encouragement of Scottish literature and music’ (‘Tam O’ Shanter Club’, ‘Miscellaneous’, Post Office Glasgow Directory for 1882-1883… (Glasgow: William Mackenzie, 1882), p. 124).
The club had a good-sized membership in the early twentieth-century (these being the years for which we have evidence). In 1909, there were 72 members, and the group grew to 123 (22 life members and 101 ordinary members) in 1914. Members met on the last Friday (later changed to the last Tuesday) of the month at 8pm between November and May, including, of course, a celebration in January for Burns night. The months in which the members met would change over the years.
Similarly, the venue where the group met would also change. In 1882, members met in the Bridge Street Station Hotel (located just to the south of the River Clyde), in 1894 at Ancell’s (87 Glassford Street; according to the Post Office directory for that year, James Ancell was a ‘restaurateur, pastry cook, confectioner, and soiree purveyor’), in 1896 at the Trades’ House Restaurant (Glassford Street), in 1907 at White & Smith’s Restaurant (Glassford Street), and back to the Trades’ House Restaurant again in 1910.
Date of Existence
1880-1914? Federated 1885
Source of Information
1. ‘Tam O’ Shanter Club’, ‘Miscellaneous’, Post Office Glasgow Directory for 1882-1883… (Glasgow: William Mackenzie, 1882), p. 124;
2. ‘Directory of Burns Clubs and Scottish Societies, for 1892’, in BC, ed. by John Muir, No. I (Kilmarnock, D. Brown & Co., January 1892, 25 January 1892), p. 131;
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. 192;
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. 128;
5. ‘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), pp. 145-6;
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. 154;
7. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XIX (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1910), pp. 171-2;
8. ‘Club Notes’, in BC, ed. by D. M’Naught, No. XXIV (Kilmarnock: Burns Federation, January 1915), pp. 161-2;
9. (Newspaper clipping, annotated:) ‘Citizen. 25 Nov. 1914.’ (on the opening meeting for the club’s session 1914, also with a musical programme) (MLSC, Young’s Scrapbooks, Vol. 38, p. 55)
Repository
Mitchell Library Special Collections (MLSC) (Glasgow Post Office directory, and all other Sources of Information)
National Library of Scotland (NLS) (Annual Burns Chronicle)
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
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. Copies are available at the Mitchell Library Special Collections and the National Library of Scotland. Many of these 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.