The Bawdy Bard

In the post below I mentioned last night's The One Show. At the end of the programme was an item about Edinburgh and in particular the Burn's song Such A Parcel Of Rogues performed by Dick Gaughan. Burns wrote a number of bawdy songs and Christine Kydd, who is no shrinking violet, told me even she had turned down the opportunity to sing one particular song for the collection The Complete Songs of Robert Burns produced by Dr Fred Freeman, Honorary Fellow of the Department of English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. In the end another friend, Wendy Weatherby, performed the song and believe you me it is bawdy.

Anyway earlier this week The Journal reported the Faculty of Advocates is to reprint Burn's bawdy poem The Fornicator's Court, a humorously satirical account of the 18th century Presbyterian Kirk's approach to sexual shenanigans. The poem was discovered in Sir Walter Scott's private library at Abbotsford and Sir Walter was a member of the Faculty of Advocates, which owns his library. Money raised from a limited print run the will go to the Abbotsford Library Project Trust, set up to help conserve the library.