Zig-Zag: the Paths of Robert Burns Media Release

27th October 2008

Major touring exhibition launched as part of Homecoming Celebrations

Treasures from the National Burns Collection will be brought together under one roof next month when the National Library of Scotland hosts a preview of the exhibition, ‘Zig-Zag: the Paths of Robert Burns’ in Edinburgh from Friday 7 November. Heralding Homecoming Scotland 2009 and the 250th anniversary of Burns’ birth, this major exhibition will go on to tour Aberdeen, Dumfries and Glasgow throughout the Year of Homecoming and will include such iconic items as manuscripts of Auld Lang Syne and Tam O’Shanter as well as a first edition of Burns’ first published work. 

Pictures, sound and the poet’s own words combine to show how Burns consciously created his own myth – in particular through the famous autobiographical letter of 1787, in which Burns explored the course of his life, observing that “…keen Sensibility and riotous Passions may still make him zig-zag in his future path of life.” 

Burns’ enduring influence has recently been demonstrated by his appearance in news stories alongside the likes of Michael Jackson and Bob Dylan. The exhibition explores his life thematically, looking at his Burns’ relationships with women and with the religious, political and social establishment as well as his travels around Scotland and, of course, his work both as a poet and a collector of songs.

[Note to Editors: highlights from the exhibition are listed at the end of this release]:
NLS Education & Interpretative Services Manager Nat Edwards said: “The ‘zigzag’ of the exhibition’s title comes from Burns’ own hand and, on that theme, the exhibition concentrates on Burns in his own words. The zigzag he talks about can be taken to reflect his physical journeys around Scotland , or more abstractly his artistic journey as writer and poet. It also examines the blurred lines between the man and the myth which Burns played his own part in creating.”

National Librarian Martyn Wade said: “There can be no more fitting way to mark the 250th anniversary of Burns’ birth than to bring together some of the highlights of the national collection of Burns material for the first time and, to take it around the country. This will allow a great many people to see it, whether they live here in Scotland or have come to visit us as part of Homecoming Scotland 2009.”

Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Officer, EventScotland said “The National Burns Collection Touring Exhibition is at the heart of our Homecoming Scotland programme which is inspired by the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns.  We are delighted to be a partner in this major exhibition which tours Scotland throughout 2009 and celebrates the life of our national bard.”

The exhibition will include manuscripts, printed material, artworks, museum artefacts and interactive features, with material from sources including the collections of the National Library of Scotland, the National Galleries of Scotland , Dumfries Museums and East Ayrshire Museums and Burns National Heritage Park . The National Burns Collection is held throughout Scotland , comprises 36,000 items in all and was recently recognised as a collection of national significance under Museums and Galleries Scotland’s Significance Scheme. More information available is through the website http://www.burnsscotland.com/

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Images are available
Exhibition Highlights:

• Burns’ interleaved copy of the Scots Musical Museum, a publication for which he did much research in collecting and preserving the songs of Scotland , including a manuscript version of Auld Lang Syne which will be on display
• The Kilmarnock edition (1786) – the first printed edition of Burns’ poems
• Alexander Nasmyth’s iconic portrait of Burns
• Glenriddell Manuscript (http://www.nls.uk/burns/mainsite/burns/glenriddell.htm)
• Burns’ drinking horn
• “The Mauchline Holy Fair”, a portrait by Alexander Carse
• manuscripts of poems including Tam O’Shanter, Holy Willie’s Prayer and Ae Fond Kiss
• Burns’ journal of his travels in the Highlands

Contact details:
Bruce Blacklaw, Acting PR & External Affairs Officer, National Library of Scotland
tel: 0131 623 3762
Mob: 07766 790939
Email: b.blacklaw@nls.uk

Notes to Editors:
About the National Library of Scotland

• The National Library of Scotland is a major European research library and is the world’s leading centre for the study of Scotland and the Scots - an information treasure trove for Scotland’s knowledge, history and culture.
• The Library’s collections are of world-class importance. Key areas include rare books, manuscripts, maps, music, official publications, business information, science and technology, and the modern and foreign collections.
• The Library holds well over 14 million items, including printed items, approximately 100,000 manuscripts and nearly 2 million maps. Every week it collects approximately 6,000 new items via Legal Deposit.
• NLS holds many of Scotland’s literary treasures including the last letter of Mary Queen of Scots, written six hours before her execution; the Order for the Massacre of Glencoe 1692; the world’s greatest collections of Sir Walter Scott and Thomas Carlyle manuscripts; works of Robert Burns; Robert Louis Stevenson papers; a Gutenberg bible (1455); the Murthly Hours (late 13th C); and modern collections of Scottish writers.
• Other special collections include the Scottish Screen Archive, Scotland’s national moving image collection (http://www.nls.uk/ssa/index.html) and the John Murray Archive, featuring correspondence from such iconic figures as Charles Darwin, Lord Byron, Jane Austen, David Livingstone and Sir Walter Scott among many more.
• NLS runs an all-year-round programme of free events, exhibitions and other activities.See www.nls.uk for further information about the Library and its collections.

About Homecoming Scotland 2009

• Homecoming Scotland is a Scottish Government initiative managed by EventScotland, the National Events Agency, in partnership with VisitScotland, the National Tourism Agency.
• Homecoming Scotland 2009 aims to motivate people of Scottish descent, as well as those who simply love Scotland, to come home in 2009 and take part in an inspirational celebration of our culture, heritage and the many great contributions Scotland has given to the world.
• 2009 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland’s national poet,Robert Burns, with the programme’s design guided by Scotland’s unique position as the home of Burns himself, Golf, Whisky, great minds and innovations, rich culture and heritage and as the ancestral home of millions of people of Scots descent worldwide.

For more information on Homecoming Scotland please visit the website homecomingscotland2009.com or contact Gayle Wilson, PR Executive, Homecoming Scotland 2009. Tel. 0131 472 2067 e-mail: gayle.wilson@eventscotland.org