Immortal Memories: A Compilation of Toasts to the Immortal Memory of Robert Burns 1801‐2001

Robert Burns once wrote ironically that “you can expect henceforth to see my birthday inserted among the wonderful events in the Almanac”, but even he can hardly have expected that it would become (uniquely among British poets as far as I know) the occasion for the performance of the same recognised ritual on every continent. Chief among the rituals at a Burns supper is a speech to the Immortal Memory of the poet, and in this book we find an anthology of substantial extracts from some of the more remarkable ones. No more appropriate editor than John Cairney could be...