Burns Club Atlanta
Encyclopedia
The Burns Club of Atlanta, officially organized in 1896, is a private social club
and literary and cultural society commemorating the works and spirit of the 18th century national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns
. In addition to holding monthly meetings, the club has held a Burns Supper
celebration on the anniversary of Burns' birthday every year since 1898. Club events are held in the Atlanta Burns Cottage, a 1911 replica of poet Robert Burns' birthplace in Alloway
, Ayrshire
, Scotland. The Cottage has been on the National Register of Historic Places
since 1983.
, Ayrshire
, Scotland. Situated in the East Atlanta
neighborhood of Ormewood Park
, construction for the Atlanta Burns Cottage was completed in 1911.
The moving spirit behind the club’s founding was Joseph Jacobs
, the Atlanta pharmacist and drug-store owner at whose suggestion Coca-Cola
was first carbonated. He served the very first Coca-Cola beverage from his fountain in the Five Points
neighborhood of Atlanta. Of German Jewish parentage, Dr. Jacobs illustrates the universal appeal of Robert Burns’ poetry.
and Scottish entertainer and goodwill ambassador, Sir Henry Lauder. Monthly meetings are noted for relaxed companionship and spirited, yet informal, discussion. Every meeting concludes with the traditional Scottish farewell observance of “circling up” and singing “Auld Lang Syne
.”
' birth home.
After the turn of the 20th century the club began an effort to obtain land and erect a cottage to be used as a clubhouse. In 1907 the club purchased 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) in what is now the Ormewood Park
neighborhood of Atlanta, at the end of the trolley line on “Dogwood Hill” across from the Confederate Veterans Home on Confederate Avenue (now the site of the Georgia Highway Patrol headquarters).
Atlanta architect and member, Thomas H. Morgan, obtained the exact measurements of the original Burns cottage in Alloway
, Scotland, and prepared plans for the Atlanta replica. Construction of the building was supervised by Robert McWhirter, a member of the club and a skilled stonemason, and was finished in 1911 using quarried granite from nearby Stone Mountain
instead of traditional mortar and rubble construction found in Burns’ birth home.
The originally thatched, but now-shingled, roof has shallow eaves and gables that connect directly to the chimneys. The three fireplaces in the cottage are constructed of random stones with mortar joints raised and rounded. The fireplace in the center of the cottage features an inset stone plaque in memory of Burns. Of the three doors on the front of the cottage, only one is used. The cottage’s uncommonly small windows reflect one particular Scottish practice of taxation in which homeowners were taxed according to the dimensions of their home’s window openings.
The low, one-story building is generally rectangular, but is slightly curved, as was the original, which accommodated the curve of the road it was built along. The interior of the house is also a close replica of the Scottish cottage, and was divided into the traditional three areas: butt, ben and byre.
The cottage is managed by a caretaker who lives on the grounds.
tartan
banners along with several plaques and bas-relief panels situated on plastered walls.
To the immediate left is the ben, the innermost room of the family dwelling. Originally there was no door between the living quarters and the byre. The ben represents the combined living room and dormitory for the large Burns family. In the Atlanta Burns Cottage it functions as additional space for club events.
To the far left is found the butt, or the outer room used as kitchen, dining room and parent’s bedroom. The fireplace/stove, cabinet, and plate rack found within this room faithfully portray the original cottage furnishings. The room also features a box-bed
that recreates the bed in which Robert Burns was born. The room is now used as an office and space for directors’ meetings. Almost a century of Atlanta Burns Club presidents’ portraits hang on the walls.
's house, originally a log cabin. It was redesigned in 1969 to bear a closer resemblance to the cottage. The grounds once included a dance pavilion, barbecue
pit, a tennis court and putting green for club use. Changes to Burns Cottage include the rear additions of a kitchen, interior porch, restrooms and an external wooden platform used for social events. Other alterations include the replacement of stone-flagged floors with finished concrete, an additional fireplace in the byre and the sealing up of several small windows.
Gentlemen's club
A gentlemen's club is a members-only private club of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Today, some are more open about the gender and social status of...
and literary and cultural society commemorating the works and spirit of the 18th century national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
. In addition to holding monthly meetings, the club has held a Burns Supper
Burns supper
A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns, author of many Scots poems. The suppers are normally held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, sometimes also known as Robert Burns Day or Burns Night , although they may in principle be held at any time of the...
celebration on the anniversary of Burns' birthday every year since 1898. Club events are held in the Atlanta Burns Cottage, a 1911 replica of poet Robert Burns' birthplace in Alloway
Alloway
Alloway is best known as the birthplace of Robert Burns, and as where he set his poem "Tam o' Shanter"....
, Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
, Scotland. The Cottage has been on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
since 1983.
History
The Burns Club of Atlanta is fifty-third in seniority among several hundred organizations recognized by the Scottish-based World Burns Federation. Officially organized on January 25, 1896, the centennial year of Robert Burns’ birth, the Burns Club of Atlanta is quite possibly the city’s oldest surviving cultural and literary society. As early as the 1870s, Burns admirers in Atlanta had been meeting in private homes and hotels to celebrate the birthday of the Scottish poet. Shortly after the club’s formation, plans were made to construct for a clubhouse an exact replica of Robert Burns' birthplace in AllowayAlloway
Alloway is best known as the birthplace of Robert Burns, and as where he set his poem "Tam o' Shanter"....
, Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
, Scotland. Situated in the East Atlanta
East Atlanta
East Atlanta is a neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia in the eastern portion of the city. The term "East Atlanta" is frequently misused to refer to the entire eastern portion of the city located in DeKalb County, roughly 10% of Atlanta's area annexed in 1909...
neighborhood of Ormewood Park
Ormewood Park
Ormewood Park is a neighborhood located east-southeast within the Downtown Atlanta area of Atlanta, Georgia. Ormewood Park is east of Grant Park, south of Reynoldstown, west of East Atlanta, and north of East Confederate Street....
, construction for the Atlanta Burns Cottage was completed in 1911.
The moving spirit behind the club’s founding was Joseph Jacobs
Joseph Jacobs
Joseph Jacobs was a folklorist, literary critic and historian. His works included contributions to the Jewish Encyclopaedia, translations of European works, and critical editions of early English literature...
, the Atlanta pharmacist and drug-store owner at whose suggestion Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
was first carbonated. He served the very first Coca-Cola beverage from his fountain in the Five Points
Five Points (Atlanta)
Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the primary reference for the downtown area. The name refers to the convergence of Marietta Street, Edgewood Avenue, Decatur Street, and two legs of Peachtree Street Five Points is a district of Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the...
neighborhood of Atlanta. Of German Jewish parentage, Dr. Jacobs illustrates the universal appeal of Robert Burns’ poetry.
A tradition of socially diverse membership
Since its organization, the club’s membership has included governors, college presidents, farmers, teachers, clergymen, engineers, lawyers, doctors, artists, salesmen and tradesmen. Membership is limited by space in the Cottage to 100 members. Following club tradition, membership is only open to males. However, non-member male and female guests are frequent and many and are welcome by invitation.Literature and fellowship
Monthly meetings in the Atlanta Burns Cottage feature readings from Burns’ works and various lectures given by visiting scholars, authorities and members. Previous lecturers include Atlanta author Margaret MitchellMargaret Mitchell
Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...
and Scottish entertainer and goodwill ambassador, Sir Henry Lauder. Monthly meetings are noted for relaxed companionship and spirited, yet informal, discussion. Every meeting concludes with the traditional Scottish farewell observance of “circling up” and singing “Auld Lang Syne
Auld Lang Syne
"Auld Lang Syne" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song . It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight...
.”
The Atlanta Burns Cottage
The Burns Club of Atlanta retains the honor of having as their clubhouse the only reproduction in the world of Robert BurnsRobert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
' birth home.
After the turn of the 20th century the club began an effort to obtain land and erect a cottage to be used as a clubhouse. In 1907 the club purchased 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) in what is now the Ormewood Park
Ormewood Park
Ormewood Park is a neighborhood located east-southeast within the Downtown Atlanta area of Atlanta, Georgia. Ormewood Park is east of Grant Park, south of Reynoldstown, west of East Atlanta, and north of East Confederate Street....
neighborhood of Atlanta, at the end of the trolley line on “Dogwood Hill” across from the Confederate Veterans Home on Confederate Avenue (now the site of the Georgia Highway Patrol headquarters).
Atlanta architect and member, Thomas H. Morgan, obtained the exact measurements of the original Burns cottage in Alloway
Alloway
Alloway is best known as the birthplace of Robert Burns, and as where he set his poem "Tam o' Shanter"....
, Scotland, and prepared plans for the Atlanta replica. Construction of the building was supervised by Robert McWhirter, a member of the club and a skilled stonemason, and was finished in 1911 using quarried granite from nearby Stone Mountain
Stone Mountain
Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome monadnock in Stone Mountain, Georgia, United States. At its summit, the elevation is 1,686 feet amsl and 825 feet above the surrounding area. Stone Mountain granite extends underground at its longest point into Gwinnett County...
instead of traditional mortar and rubble construction found in Burns’ birth home.
The originally thatched, but now-shingled, roof has shallow eaves and gables that connect directly to the chimneys. The three fireplaces in the cottage are constructed of random stones with mortar joints raised and rounded. The fireplace in the center of the cottage features an inset stone plaque in memory of Burns. Of the three doors on the front of the cottage, only one is used. The cottage’s uncommonly small windows reflect one particular Scottish practice of taxation in which homeowners were taxed according to the dimensions of their home’s window openings.
The low, one-story building is generally rectangular, but is slightly curved, as was the original, which accommodated the curve of the road it was built along. The interior of the house is also a close replica of the Scottish cottage, and was divided into the traditional three areas: butt, ben and byre.
The cottage is managed by a caretaker who lives on the grounds.
Scottish Vernacular Architecture: Butt, Ben and Byre
One now enters the Atlanta Burns Cottage through the byre, the Scots word for the portion of the cottage where, in Burn’s original birthplace, animals and farm stuffs were housed. Members of the club now use this room for their monthly meetings. While the club is primarily a literary society, many of the members share Burns’ Scottish heritage and display their clanClan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
tartan
Tartan
Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in many other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Scotland. Scottish kilts almost always have tartan patterns...
banners along with several plaques and bas-relief panels situated on plastered walls.
To the immediate left is the ben, the innermost room of the family dwelling. Originally there was no door between the living quarters and the byre. The ben represents the combined living room and dormitory for the large Burns family. In the Atlanta Burns Cottage it functions as additional space for club events.
To the far left is found the butt, or the outer room used as kitchen, dining room and parent’s bedroom. The fireplace/stove, cabinet, and plate rack found within this room faithfully portray the original cottage furnishings. The room also features a box-bed
Bed
A bed is a large piece of furniture used as a place to sleep, relax, or engage in sexual relations.Most modern beds consist of a mattress on a bed frame, with the mattress resting either on a solid base, often wooden slats, or a sprung base...
that recreates the bed in which Robert Burns was born. The room is now used as an office and space for directors’ meetings. Almost a century of Atlanta Burns Club presidents’ portraits hang on the walls.
Other architectural additions and alterations
The only remaining outbuilding is a one-story stone caretakerProperty caretaker
A Property caretaker is a person, group or organization that cares for real estate for trade or financial compensation, and sometimes as a barter for rent-free living accommodations...
's house, originally a log cabin. It was redesigned in 1969 to bear a closer resemblance to the cottage. The grounds once included a dance pavilion, barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
pit, a tennis court and putting green for club use. Changes to Burns Cottage include the rear additions of a kitchen, interior porch, restrooms and an external wooden platform used for social events. Other alterations include the replacement of stone-flagged floors with finished concrete, an additional fireplace in the byre and the sealing up of several small windows.