Alloa Burns Club
- Location: University of Stirling Archives and Special Collections
- Reference Number: PD261
- Medium: Manuscript
- Date: 1849-2020
- Description: Alloa Burns Club was established in 1827. Known originally as The Alloa Tripe Club it celebrates its annual Burns Supper, celebrating the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, on, or close to, 25 January (Burns Night). This catalogue forms part of a collaborative project between Alloa Burns Club, the University of Stirling Archives and Clackmannanshire Council Archives to catalogue and digitise the minutes and papers of the Club, which date back to 1849. Following digitisation by the University of Stirling Archives in 2022 the physical documents were transferred to Clackmannanshire Council Archives for permanent storage while the digitised content has been made available online via the University of Stirling's Culture on Campus website.
- Language: English, Scots
- Level: Collection
- Extent: 3 boxes
- Administrative History: Alloa Burns Club was established in 1827. Known originally as The Alloa Tripe Club it celebrates its annual Burns Supper, celebrating the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, on, or close to, 25 January (Burns Night). The Alloa Burns Club was founded in 1827 as the Alloa Tripe Club and originally had no connection to the National Bard. The Alloa Tripe Club ?was composed of a few congenial companions? who dined or supped together once annually about 25th December.? These supper evenings were ?spent in joyous harmony with songs, recitations and stories till the hour came to part.? The club was loosely organised for the first 21 years of its existence with no formal rules and no minute books being kept until 1849. The club would hold ceremonies to initiate new members and this initiation was also known as ?making a curler?. The tripe suppers were held in various Alloa inns and hotels over the years. The Alloa Tripe Club went through a transitional period from 1870 to 1895 during which time there was more reference to and quotation of Robert Burns. Suppers were held on his birthday on 25th January, but the club also still had tripe suppers and the Initiation of Curlers was still performed. From 1895 onwards the club became a ?full? Burns Club, existing purely for the purpose of celebrating the memory of the National Bard. There were no more initiation ceremonies and the formal proposing of the Immortal Memory became the chief item at the annual supper. The name of the club was changed some time later to reflect its changing purpose. In 1912 it became The Alloa Burns Club 1828 (The Old Tripe Club) and in 1920 it was changed to The Alloa (1828) Burns Club. The date 1828 that was added to the name is an error, as records of its 30th anniversary show that the club was actually established in 1827. There were only 131 members during the first 100 years of the club?s existence, and only 10 secretaries within that time. There was initially no limit on the number of members but a limit of around 20 was put in place in the 1860s. This limit was increased to 30 in 1897, 40 in 1900 and 50 in 1929. The limit remained at 50 for many years until it was increased to 60 in 2010. Many eminent local men were members of the club, including Parish ministers, headmasters, solicitors, burgh magistrates and MPs. The toast to the Immortal Memory was first proposed in 1881 by James Lothian, editor of the Alloa Advertiser. In terms of its constitution, The Alloa Burns Club is an unincorporated association governed by a document entitled Rules of the Club. The Rules set out the limit of 60 members, the number of office-bearers and the process for admitting new ordinary and honorary members. The club also became a registered Scottish charity in 2008. The annual club dinner or supper is called the Festival and is now held on the nearest Friday on or prior to Burns? birthday, 25th January. In earlier years the Festival was split into two parts ? the dinner with formal toasts, followed by impromptu songs, stories and recitations known as ?Clatter A? Thro?. From 2012 the latter, informal part was discontinued due to the time pressures of getting through the whole programme, but in recent years there has been something of a revival of the impromptu sessions. As well as the main function of the club to meet annually in the celebration of Burns? memory, the club has also embarked on educational and charitable work, including the collection of donations for various worthy causes and the establishment of school competitions where prizes are given to children attending schools in the Parish of Alloa for the best recitations, singing of Burns? songs and essays on a subject connected with the poet.
- Access Conditions: Physical documents available for consultation at Clackmannanshire Council Archives.
- Contact: University of Stirling Archives
