LEST Wednesday saw a wunnerfu event in the chapel at Glesga University. This wis a live performance o Robert Burns’ much negleckit maisterpiece, his “voice cantata”, The Jolly Beggars – or Love and Liberty as the Bard styled it. This performance wis the brainchild o Professor Kirsteen McCue an the team o the uni’s Centre for Robert Burns Studies.

It says a loat fir Scotland’s investment in art an culture that this event wis free tae the public; the production wis fundit bi the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) as pairt o their fundin fir the big Burns project at Glesga Uni.Tae quote anither Bard – “O Brave new world that has such people in’t’!!”. Ye cuid jist daunder in aff the street an tak in ane o wir kintra’s greatest warks o drama, theatre, music an poetry an it widnae hae cost ye single bawbee. The university chapel is a magnificent settin fir sic an event; heich gothic columns an stained windaes, an wi acoustics tae rival ony sic buildin in the laund.

The timin o the performance at 6pm wis weel suitit tae students, public an academics alike; whit better wey tae roond aff yer day than bi unwindin an listenin tae this feast o sang an music! A guid crood assembled. There wis the odd empty seat but by an lairge aabody wha wis keen tae see this wis assured o entrance.

The Jolly Beggars is aiblins ane o Burns earliest major warks, tho strangely it ne’er appeared in prent in the Bard’s lifetime. Burns haed socht tae publish it in his Embra Edition o 1787 but wis persuaded no tae bi the critic Dr Hugh Blair – wha thocht the piece “unfit for publication” due til its earthy content! Sae it didnae appear until a pirated chapbuik copy wis pitten oot posthumously in 1799. The wark later did see formal publication bi the Burns editor George Thomson, tho he bowdlerised it tae an extent bi remuivin ocht he thocht unfit fir the ears o the Embra gentry!

The wark, tho, hus survived – an hus growne in popularity. This new production o it seems geyan fittin in a new age o poverty an austerity whaur beggars can agane be seen as a common sicht in oor ceeties an touns. Sae muckle fir progress!

But tae oor tale ... ! As the crood in the uni chapel settled doun (an switched aff their mobile phones – the performance that nicht hase bin recordtit an wull be available suin oanline!) the cast taen up their poseetions, led bi their able narrator, a kenspeckle Tam Dean Burn. Tam hud the perfeck vyce an persona fir his role an brocht rael drama an gleg smeddum tae his task! He wis ably assisted as Ruth Slater (violin), Alison McGillivray (cello) an David Gerrard (fortepiano) provided a byordnar braw musical accompaniment tae the ongauns.

Forby Tam Dean Burn, the ither principal roles wis taen bi Andrew McTaggart (the auld maimed sodger), Lorna Anderson (the Hielant weedow), Jamie McDougall

(a fiddler), Alistair Digges (a tinker), an Jamie McDougall (a bard/ballad singer). In turn, the main players wis supportit bi a live chorus o “gangrel bodies” – memmers o the Glesga Uni Chapel Choir, directed bi Katy L Cooper, wha gien a rousin an melodic backin tae the piece. The hale ensemble wis eidently watcht ower bi their maestro (in the verra front raw, wi music score in haund!) the indomitable an inspirational Professor McCue, aiblins Scotland’s leadin authority oan traditional song culture. The drama in the Jolly Beggars revolves aroon ae nicht o revelry in Poosie Nansie’s pub in Mauchline, Ayrshire – whaur Burns “witnessed” this bunch o raucle crooks an carlins wha leeved precariously oan the edge o “daicent” society. It records the behaviour o these fowk an the duckin an divin they resort tae tae wheedle a leevin oot o society.

Ah daur say a modren-day bard cuid ettle tae scrieve a contemporary Jolly Beggars frae the ongauns o ony rin-doun dive baur in ony hoosin scheme in Scotland. We still hae maimed an wounded sodgers (either physically or mentally!) frae needless wars, an weedow-weemen gettin by whitane’er wey they can – plus ca change in oor brave new warld!

The sangs in Burns’ Jolly Beggars wid muive hairts o whunstane tho! Lorna Anderson’s hielant weedow’s soprano lament fir her Braw John Highland Man brocht a tear tae the ee o audience memmers. Slowin the tempo o the tune doun heichtent its emotional impact an Lorna wrung oot evri last drap o drama frae whit is ane o the Beggars’ maist weel-kent airs. A tour de force! Andrew McTaggart’s “auld sodger” hud a braw martial style tae him, an thair wis a faded ragged glory in his willinness tae follae “at the sound o the drum!” Mind, this wis a team o star performers – an each an evriwan sang their hairts oot in their roles.

It is a tragedy that Burns wid ne’er hae seen this, ane o his true meisterwerks, performed live in his lifetime. Tho he wid hae seen theatre, in the form o street performers an rovin players in Mauchline, Ayr or Kilmarnock aiblins, an maist certes he did attend at the Theatre Royal in Dumfries, he didnae leeve lang enow tae retour tae his ain interest in theatre/drama.

Hou prood he wid hae bin tae witness this glorious performance o his wark in sic a mairvellous settin – an tae see it stampt wi the seal o academic appruival at the heichest level – an bein enjoyed bi thaim he valued maist o aa; the people o Scotland.

Rab Wilson is a Scots poet and health campaigner