I shook my head and sighed as if with emotion, in order to fool everybody that I knew what was going on, but the truth was that I understood not a word. Misty-eyed mysteryĪ person from the Highlands rose to perform his poem, burbling beery borborygms through his beard.

‘Bootless’ is a good word and certainly has it over ‘inútil’, although I can see the translator’s dilemma. I was a little suspicious at first because my poem contained the lines: ‘But ah! How bootless to admire, When fated to despair!.’ which came out: ‘ Mas ¡ay! ¡cuán inútil es admirar, cuando se está condenado a la desesperación!’ There must have been some good brains among the choral society because they had managed to translate all the poems into Spanish, and Burns is not the easiest poet to translate. The whole thing was done properly, with a Master of Ceremonies to keep order and boss everyone around, and a very great quantity of whisky. Mine was called Anna, thy Charms, which was a lucky break and stood me in good stead later on, as the wife’s name is Anna, give or take an ‘n’. Now this was a proper multicultural bash, with a strong contingent from the Motril Choral Society gracing the evening. I had agreed to tag along on the expedition wearing my multiculturalism hat largely, I’ll admit, in order to see what the natives would make of Robbie Burns.Ĭall me a cultural black hole if you will, but hitherto I had looked upon him with something of a jaundiced eye – which is to say that I’ve never been able to make head nor tail of what your man was on about, although I’m happy to admit that he may have been a marvellous bard for a’ that. We had been to the house of some Welsh friends to celebrate whatever it is that one celebrates on Burns Night, though for one reason and another much of the proceedings remain for me clouded in uncertainty. The poultry, having observed us leaving the house the previous evening dressed in full Highland regalia, were not altogether surprised to be confronted on Monday morning with the remains of a haggis it had, after all, been Burns Night at the weekend.

Highland mary robert burns