Robert Burns National Heritage Park
The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S2M-2114, in the name of Adam Ingram, on the Robert Burns national heritage park. The debate will be concluded without any question being put. I invite members who wish to speak in the debate to press their request-to-speak buttons now, and ask those members who are leaving the chamber to do so as quickly and quietly as possible.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament deplores the impending disintegration of the Robert Burns National Heritage Park; questions the wisdom of the actions of South Ayrshire Council in withdrawing from the joint board responsible for the park and, in particular, in leasing out the park's visitor centre, the Tam O'Shanter Experience, to a commercial operator thereby eliminating a vital income stream for the upkeep of the Burns cottage and museum; expresses alarm at the formal withdrawal of an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund which, if granted, would have allowed rebuilding and modernisation of the Burns museum enabling proper storing, archiving and display, and considers that all interested parties should work together to ensure that flagship assets for Burns heritage tourism are properly developed in good time for the major events planned for the 2009 Homecoming Year, marking the 250th anniversary of the birth of the national bard.
I am grateful to the members who are taking the time to participate in this evening's debate on the legacy of Robert Burns. I am also grateful to the many members of the public in the public gallery who have travelled to Edinburgh from Ayrshire to listen to what I hope will be a constructive session.
Over the next week or two, many of us will meet again at the perhaps more convivial gatherings at which we will celebrate the life and works of our national bard and toast his immortal memory. This evening, we have the more sobering task of finding a way in which to ensure the long-term survival of his physical legacy in the form of buildings, manuscripts and artefacts. Our task is to preserve a unique treasure as a source of inspiration for future generations. If we forget Burns, or are careless with his legacy, we will diminish both as a nation and in what we can contribute to the world.
Given the iconic status of Robert Burns, it is almost unbelievable that 46 per cent—almost half—of the most important Burns material in collections throughout the country is kept in uncontrolled environments, which allow its condition to deteriorate. By far the most important single collection is held by the Burns cottage museum in Alloway, where more than 35 per cent of all the surviving material that was used or created by Robert Burns is kept in truly primitive conditions. The problems include rainwater penetration through the roof and dilapidation. The situation is shameful. If anyone doubts the truth of that, I refer them to the report that was published last April by the distributed national Burns collections project.
Crucially, the report identifies that most of the collections are managed and funded independently; little or no support is received from the Executive or other national bodies. Surely the lesson to be learned from the failure of the Burns national heritage park is that local partnerships alone do not have the wherewithal in terms of expertise or finance to maintain and develop nationally important Burns heritage sites or collections.
I am not absolving local authorities of all responsibility—far from it. For example, South Ayrshire Council has allowed a £200,000 backlog of repairs to the auld kirk Alloway to build up. However, the Executive must have realised some years ago that the park was not sustainable under the joint board of local partners. Similarly, the never-ending saga of applications to the Heritage Lottery Fund should have awakened ministers and officials to the reality that a new museum was not in the offing in the foreseeable future. We are talking about the same Executive that declared three years ago that Burns heritage would be at the heart of its tourism development strategy and which is pinning such hopes on the 2009 year of homecoming—the 250th anniversary of the birth of Burns.
That said, I do not want to descend into the blame game. There is still time to turn things around, although there is no time to lose, and I challenge the Executive to deliver on its rhetoric. The way forward has been mapped out by key players in the tourism and heritage fields. Professor John Lennon at Glasgow Caledonian University's Moffat centre, whom the Executive commissioned to come up with an action plan for 2009, has already identified a lack of central focus that could and should be addressed. That can be done if the conservation and management issues at the national heritage park are tackled immediately.
In its final road-map report, the national Burns collections project recommends that the Executive and other national bodies should provide the long-term funding to sustain the Burns collections and should support the development of capital bids.
Most important, the National Trust for Scotland has expressed an interest not only in taking over the park, but in turning it into a national hub for Burns heritage that would co-ordinate the fragmented national collections. Its vision is that Alloway would form the gateway to a tourism trail that would cover Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, which would give people the opportunity to experience a coherent single-ticket pilgrimage. At long last, we have an exciting and realistic proposition that would allow the massive potential of Burns heritage and tourism to be fully realised.
I hope and trust that the Executive will rise to the challenge. Ministers will need to take a hands-on approach to facilitating the handover of control of the heritage park from the local partners to the National Trust for Scotland. They will also need to make a significant long-term financial commitment, so that our priceless Burns heritage can be cherished and promoted in a way that will be a constant source of pride for Scotland. The immortal memory of Robert Burns deserves nothing less.
We move to the open debate. A considerable number of members want to speak, so I will keep them to a tight four minutes.
I congratulate Adam Ingram on securing the debate. As an Ayrshire member of the Parliament, I am delighted to participate.
Burns has different meanings for different people and generates different levels of interest, which can range from attending a Burns supper once a year to being an expert on all things Burns. However, we are all concerned about the conservation of the many artefacts and buildings that are associated with the bard's life. Adam Ingram's motion considers in particular the Burns national heritage park, but the buildings in the park cannot be singled out from all the other buildings that are connected with Ayrshire's Burns heritage. Currently, each of the three Ayrshire councils is responsible for the development and conservation of its Burns heritage. I hope that colleagues will forgive me if I concentrate on the area within East Ayrshire Council's boundaries, which contains many associations with Burns's life.
Mossgiel farm, where the bard produced some of his best-known works, is in private ownership and is occupied by a tenant farmer. The Mauchline Burns Club is interested in developing the farm as part of a Burns trail, thereby securing an important building that was home to Burns for much of his life. Another place that has associations with Burns is Poosie Nansie's in Mauchline, where some of us recently enjoyed a drink and where Burns regularly met his cronies to discuss and toast the events of the day. There is also Mauchline kirkyard, where many of Burns's cronies were laid to rest.
Members might ask why I am talking about Mauchline. I declare an interest: my daughter has deserted Kilmarnock to make her home in Mauchline. The area is in my colleague Cathy Jamieson's constituency and she and her Westminster colleagues are seeking the establishment of an important Burns trail that will include all the buildings in the Mauchline area that are associated with Burns.
East Ayrshire Council manages the accommodation that is provided for the Robert Burns World Federation at the Dean castle in Kilmarnock and a significant Burns collection, which includes a copy of the Kilmarnock edition and other artefacts that are associated with Burns's life in Mauchline and Kilmarnock. That is a significant commitment for the council, which must also deal with the destruction by fire of the Burns monument in Kay park in Kilmarnock, which happened on Friday 14 November 2004. The monument was built in 1879 at a cost of £2,893—I hope that Alex Neil will be able to convert that into today's figures—which was raised by public subscription. The monument was restored in 1990 at a cost of £223,000, but the building remained in a poor condition and there was no public access to it. The council advised me today that Historic Scotland has agreed to participate on a project board to determine the future of what remains of the monument. For once, I pay tribute to Historic Scotland.
It should not fall to individual local authorities, trusts or organisations to work in isolation to protect our heritage. The current mishmash is demonstrated by Ayrshire and Arran Tourist Board's failure to finalise a date for the Burns an' a' that festival, which usually takes place in May or June—only four or five months away.
For me, that says it all. Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, the three local authorities and local, national and worldwide Burns organisations all have a part to play in developing the strategic objectives to deliver a Burns triangle to maximise the assets that we have in Ayrshire and Dumfries. Let us move forward and put something in place that provides an appropriate homecoming in 2009.
I, too, congratulate Adam Ingram on obtaining the debate and on the work that he and others have undertaken on the project. I declare an interest: I live in Ayr, within a mile or so of the Burns cottage. Margaret Jamieson is absolutely right that the Burns facilities that we are talking about are not only in Ayr, but in many other parts of Ayrshire, such as the statues of Burns in many towns, the works at Mauchline and the sites in Kilmarnock that she mentioned. Even when one goes further afield, into Dumfries or up the High Street in Edinburgh, Burns is all around.
We should be particularly proud of Burns, not just because he is our national bard, but because he is celebrated in Ayrshire, Scotland and the world over. The Burns heritage in all its forms is a huge asset for Scotland, not just within our boundaries, but internationally. Which other national bard of any country has statues of him or her in places as far away as Melbourne, parts of Canada and the United States? Burns suppers are held all over the world, in places as far apart as Russia, South America and Japan, as well as in many other countries. The English national bard, Shakespeare, was a great man and writer, but who has ever heard of a Shakespeare supper anywhere in the world? There are none. We must pay tribute not just to Burns the poet, the patriot, the internationalist, the satirist and the man, but to Scotland, for producing someone of that genius and talent. We should not let that go to waste.
Next Tuesday, it will be 246 years since our national bard was born in a wee cottage in the village of Alloway, just outside Ayr. In a few years, in 2009, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of Burns's birth. By the time we get to 2009, we should not be having debates such as this; we should be out there celebrating what has been achieved between now and then, not just in making the Burns cottage and the national park in Ayr a great magnet for international visitors to Scotland, but in linking together all the other facilities, as Margaret Jamieson mentioned.
We should be proud of the Burns heritage. However, it is not enough just to be proud of it and to promote it; we must now invest in it heavily. The issue is one on which people from across parties, boundaries and counties and from every segment of society in Scotland can join forces. Let us make 2009 not only a year that we will not forget, but one that the world will not forget.
I congratulate Adam Ingram on securing the debate on the Burns national heritage park. I welcome the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport's announcement yesterday of interim funding for the park and her declaration of commitment and intent regarding securing the future for the Burns heritage in Ayrshire. Adam Ingram's motion has captured the mood of unease and concern about the matter in Ayr, Ayrshire and the west of Scotland. Last week, Peter Watson, the chairman of Alloway and Doonfoot community council, lodged an e-petition expressing concern about the future of our Burns heritage. I welcome him and others from Alloway here tonight.
The future of the Burns national heritage park has dominated the local press for months. Although the park is not located in my constituency, its influence on and importance to the town of Ayr cannot be overstated. Concern has been widely expressed by all sectors of the community at the apparent lack of focus; the feeling is that the future of the park has been too big a problem to solve locally. Concerns have also been expressed at the possibility of loved and valuable Burns artefacts being removed to Edinburgh or elsewhere. With apologies to east coast colleagues, I believe that the artefacts that are located in Ayrshire must remain there.
However, the mood in Ayr and Ayrshire is far from one of doom and gloom over Burns. As members will be aware, at this time of year we are girding our loins for the annual round of Burns suppers. The annual celebration is now a worldwide event. We are also looking forward to the fourth Burns festival in the spring, although we do not know the dates yet.
Everyone in Ayrshire knows of Burns's importance as a poetic genius and iconic tourist attraction. However, although his poetry, wit and music are beyond compare or reproach, his potential to attract tourists to Ayrshire has not yet been realised locally or nationally. A huge opportunity now exists for a new beginning. I am optimistic that, with the help of Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, the National Trust for Scotland, Historic Scotland, the national lottery and South Ayrshire Council, Patricia Ferguson will, because of her close interest in the matter, put together a package that secures the Burns national heritage park and develops its potential for tourism.
Access to Ayrshire has never been easier for visitors, with Ryanair providing low-cost flights to and from Prestwick, which is Scotland's fastest-growing airport. The A77 upgrade is at last nearing completion, putting Ayr within half an hour's travelling time from Glasgow and the central belt.
Good new ideas are also coming to the fore from the National Trust for Scotland, which is developing a Burns trail that links under a single ticket access to all the sites dedicated to the bard in Ayrshire, Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. Unquestionably, such an approach has benefited whisky and tourism in the north-east; it is an obvious and welcome idea for the south-west. Also new and welcome are the enthusiasm and professionalism that the National Trust for Scotland can bring to the situation.
I look forward to Burns's fame and influence spreading still further round the globe. I also look forward to the minister's response to the debate, in which I hope she will flesh out her proposals for securing and developing Ayrshire's greatest literary and tourism asset.
I, too, am pleased that Adam Ingram has secured the debate because, as Margaret Jamieson said, it allows us to examine the wider aspects of Burns's legacy. We now have, for example, the annual Burns festival, which is funded by the tourist board and grants from Ayrshire's councils and Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire.
I do not know the financial ins and outs of the situation and whether the festival has been financially viable or loss leading in its infant years. I am not convinced that the best people for the job are running the show—that is another debate—but I am convinced that Ayrshire should, on behalf of Scotland, be promoting Robert Burns and his work in every way possible. The Burns festival is truly important. We should capitalise on it and build on it. In Ayrshire and in Scotland as a whole, we should show pride in everything related to our national bard.
Alex Neil mentioned Shakespeare, who is England's national bard. Shakespeare's birthplace and places associated with his legacy are never neglected or allowed to fall into disrepair—there is no argument about that. We have to show pride in Burns, his poetry, his philosophy, his egalitarianism and his sterling service to our culture in collecting and promoting traditional song.
Kilmarnock, which is part of the area that I represent, is the birthplace of the first edition of Burns's poetry, which is a wonderful legacy for the town. As Margaret Jamieson said, public subscription built the Burns monument in Kay park in Kilmarnock in 1879. Sadly, the monument was neglected over the years and in 2004 was destroyed by fire. The monument must be saved. East Ayrshire Council has a duty to save it on behalf of the people of Kilmarnock.
The Scottish Executive has a duty to assist if required, through whatever means possible, in preserving and promoting the heritage of Scotland's national bard on behalf of the people of Scotland. If the will is there, the means can be found. I look forward to hearing what Historic Scotland's plans are. What is not needed is for the Burns monument merely to be patched and repaired and preserved as a shell.
I do not believe that Robert Burns would have wanted sterile monuments to be created in his honour. I think that the man would truly have appreciated a focal point and a centre for the living, breathing and wonderful culture of our country, to which he contributed in his time. That can be done. People and local groups have the knowledge, the capability and the experience to realise such an ambition. For example, the highly respected and successful Living Tradition in Kilmarnock has contacts all over the country and all over the world and its staff have a practically infinite knowledge of traditional cultures and how they are best preserved and promoted. We should be listening to those people, rather than always seeking top-down solutions.
Robert Burns was a man of the people. His legacy is maintained by folk from all walks of life. I ask both East Ayrshire Council and the Scottish Executive not to be "wee, sleeket, cowran tim'rous" beasties, but to lead on the project to restore the Burns monument in Kay park, first through a commitment to save it and, secondly, by listening to those people who can provide ideas and enthusiasm for its future use and its place on the Ayrshire Burns trail.
I join other members in congratulating Adam Ingram on bringing the debate to the Parliament. In some ways, I see the issue as a test of the Parliament. Six weeks ago, a local community organised a public meeting and gathered together a full hall overflowing with people. Adam Ingram became involved and lodged a motion. As a member of the local community council told me at a briefing, the community got angry—and here we are, six weeks later, debating the issue in the Parliament.
We now have to prove that we, as a Parliament, can answer that community. We must not just save our Burns heritage, but grow it. Why did that community get angry? It got angry because of the failed trusteeship of the Burns visitor centre and a bad decision by South Ayrshire Council to lease out the Tam o' Shanter experience, as well as a complete failure to manage commercially a visitor centre and attraction based on the homelands of Scotland's—and possibly the world's—best-known and most famous poet.
We must now move on. I very much welcome the interest that is being shown by the National Trust for Scotland. I hope that that interest can be encouraged and that the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport and we, as individual members, can work with that body.
As many members know, I would like to go further in celebrating Burns. I would like Burns to be endorsed as the provider of a Scottish national anthem. I have lodged a motion to celebrate "A Man's a Man for a' that", with which the Scottish Parliament reopened in 1999. I have had, much to my surprise, a huge mailbag on the issue. As a result of that, and as a result of the debate in the newspapers, I would rather like "Auld lang syne" to be added to the pot for consideration.
Burns has given us a magnificent heritage. If we travel abroad and ask foreigners about Scotland, the three icons that will come across are kilts, bagpipes and Burns. We have to build on that. Burns is a national treasure and we must celebrate and build on that heritage. I underline the importance of the national Burns collection, about which we heard earlier, as a part of that.
We must build Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway as the land of Burns, to celebrate the culture of the west of Scotland and to grow rural communities that have a high dependence on tourism for extra income. The Executive needs to make a great deal more effort in that regard.
I started by saying that the issue was a test of the Parliament. Adam Ingram has brought the matter to the minister's attention; I ask her to ensure that, in particular, the initiative relating to the National Trust for Scotland succeeds.
I welcome the debate and the minister's announcement, to which we have heard reference. I hope that she can today make a fuller statement along the same lines. I particularly welcome the excellent report that was produced by the national Burns collection, which lays out the subject well and points the way ahead. I hope that we can do something along the lines that it recommends.
Quite clearly, Burns is a major neglected asset in Scotland. There is a network of enthusiasts around the world, as others have said, in which there is tremendous potential. He is, arguably, the world's greatest lyric songwriter and should be commemorated as such around the world. There is an analogy to be made with golf, which was an incredibly neglected Scottish asset until more effort was made recently to market it. It might appear curious to compare Burns with golf, but they are both popular around the world and can make Scotland an attractive destination for people.
Our task is to harness the local enthusiasm behind all the small local museums and so on, especially in Ayrshire and the surrounding counties, and to link it with the technical skills of marketing, modern museum management and conservation in one big organised museum. The university of the Highlands and Islands is scattered all over the Highlands and Islands; similarly, there could be a Burns museum that was scattered all over the west of Scotland under one organisation, which would ensure co-ordination and that people could enjoy all the resources in a well-managed way. I hope that the National Trust for Scotland can offer the necessary leadership and that the enthusiasm of Burns organisations can be brought together as I have described. I hope that the minister can lead the way in that and, when necessary, knock heads together; Scots are not always brilliant at co-operating with one another.
There is a wider issue about small museums, with which our system does not deal well. We can perhaps learn lessons that would enable us to help other small industrial and cultural museums that could benefit from modern display techniques and information technology systems.
We have to tackle education. From speaking to people in the folk-song arena, I know that they are disappointed by the lack of singing of Burns's songs in schools and that they are saddened by the ignorance of his songs that is displayed by many teachers. We have to tackle that issue because it is a basic one.
We should learn from two films: "The Sound of Music" and "Braveheart". Salzburg has had a huge tourism industry based on Mozart, but that industry is becoming more firmly based on "The Sound of Music", which has been incredibly successful at promoting Salzburg and music. "Braveheart" is the most awful film in terms of history, but it has had a huge impact around the world and has brought a great deal of publicity to Scotland. What about making a really good musical film starring somebody as Burns and using Burns's songs and music? If we launched that at the right time and filmed it in Ayrshire—rather than in Ireland, as was the case with "Braveheart"—we could really develop something.
Will the member take an intervention?
I am sorry, but I am out of time.
I should declare interests; I am a member of the committee of the Scottish Parliament Burns club number 1, as we are now called, and I was brought up in Alloway. I say to John Scott that, in this east-coast MSP, he has an ally in his attempt to repatriate the works of Burns to Ayrshire. He has my support in that effort.
I congratulate Adam Ingram on bringing the debate to Parliament. The number of members who have stayed behind for the debate is testament to the strength of feeling across the parties. We have probably had debates to celebrate the work of Burns in January every year, but this is the first time that we have had a responsibility to do something to ensure that his heritage is promoted. We can do that by ensuring that the Robert Burns national heritage park has the support that it needs.
I regard Burns as a lens through which we see Scotland. He gives us a window on the past and he gives us values as a touchstone for the present, but he also gives us an opportunity for growing our future. We need to make sure that we bring together the cultural strands, the historic strands and the economic strands to make the most of that valuable heritage. Given the terms of the motion, the debate is about stewardship. Burns's heritage is not just for Scotland or for those of us from Ayrshire who are passionate about and proud of him. Burns's work is world heritage, and our duty in protecting and promoting Burns involves stewardship of that heritage. Adam Ingram made the point that people from all over the world make pilgrimages to Ayrshire. When I was a child, I caught my bus to school from outside Burns's cottage and I saw at first hand the attendance there of people from all around the world who were deeply passionate about Burns. We must also represent their concerns.
I reflect on the point that Donald Gorrie made about films. How many films do we know of that include the song "Auld lang syne"? I am reminded of "When Harry Met Sally" because the song is sung at the end of that film, although the film is probably also remembered for other parts. There are far more statues and monuments to Burns than to any other figure in world history, and if the world knew the position that we face as far as his heritage is concerned, it would be appalled. For that reason, we should look to see what can be done. On protection of Burns's work, I stress that it is not just his songs and poetry that contribute so much to our heritage, but his written documents and manuscripts.
I finish on the opportunity for the future. Burns is exciting and his work attracts enthusiasm in Scotland and all around the world. If we can get our act together to address the difficult issues of local and national stewardship, we will do Scotland proud and make sure that the Scottish Parliament does what the people expect it to do: to speak up for and stand up for Scotland.
Before I call Mr McGrigor, I am minded to accept a motion without notice to extend the meeting for 15 minutes.
Motion moved,
That, under Rule 8.14.3, the debate be extended by 15 minutes.—[Phil Gallie.]
Motion agreed to.
I congratulate Mr Ingram on securing this important debate on the future of the Robert Burns national heritage park. Robert Burns is probably Scotland's most important cultural figure and his lasting impact can be clearly seen in the celebration of his life that takes place annually on 25 January. Alex Neil was quite correct to say that the celebrations are not restricted to Scotland; I know of Scots from Moscow to Timbuktu who have recited Burns and worn kilts—probably incorrectly, but they are flying the flag for Scotland.
Burns's verses have been sung down the centuries and they speak directly to each generation. His grasp of human nature never fades or dates. Burns is contemporary to each generation and probably always will be. Shakespeare also had that gift, but Burns was by far the better songwriter.
We would all agree that the situation that Mr Ingram outlined is not only undesirable, but a disgrace. However, we also know that the situation is all too common in Scotland: cash-strapped local authorities are snowed under with underfunded Executive initiatives and the resulting ring fencing of much of local authorities' budgets leaves them with little to spend at their own discretion. With insufficient money being allocated from the centre to cover the Executive's policies, local projects end up being cut.
Local authorities have a responsibility for the preservation of their local heritage. In the case of the Robert Burns national heritage park, South Ayrshire Council appears to have experienced problems in fulfilling that part of its remit, but I am not sure that any of the current participants should shoulder the blame. We are seeing important parts of our heritage crumble away for want of funds. The matter urgently needs to be addressed, but the Executive has yet again placed more costs on local authorities in the past year without providing extra funding. That can lead only to further above-inflation council tax rises.
I am encouraged that the minister met representatives of the National Trust for Scotland today to discuss the possible involvement of the National Trust in a plan to secure the long-term future of the Burns national heritage park. The National Trust has some interesting ideas for the creation of a national Burns centre and a Burns trail, which could attract increased numbers of visitors to Alloway and south-west Scotland. I sincerely hope that all those who are involved in the project can work together to make that vision a reality in time for 2009, which will be the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns's birth.
The current situation whereby our national poet's home and an important collection of his works are funded piecemeal by hand-to-mouth donations should not be allowed to continue. It is a disgrace that we are seeing the slow decline of such an important part of our cultural heritage. What, I wonder, does VisitScotland think about the situation? As Chris Ballance rightly pointed out, Burns should be a tourist treasure. We must remember that Burns was part of the Scottish enlightenment—that wonderfully exciting time when an explosion of new thought and culture shaped not only Scotland but much of the rest of the world. Burns played his part in the transformation of Scotland from one of Europe's poorest nations to one whose thoughts shaped the future of our modern world.
Today, we stand at a similar crossroads. We should look to the genius of Burns and that of his contemporaries, such as David Hume and Adam Smith, to inspire us as they inspired so many people in the past. The preservation of Burns's heritage is our responsibility and duty. We must not fail the memory of this cultural giant.
I congratulate Adam Ingram on securing the debate.
Today's announcement of a £50,000 grant from the Scottish Executive is to be welcomed as a short-term solution, but it is vital that we find long-term solutions in order to secure the future of the Burns national heritage park. I welcome the minister's plans to meet the National Trust for Scotland and South Ayrshire Council and I hope that those meetings will be productive.
As an Ayrshire woman who lives in the heart of Burns country, and as a long-time admirer of his works, I find the threat to the Burns heritage park to be an extremely bleak situation. Our national bard is revered the world over, yet we in Scotland struggle to maintain his heritage. We fail to promote Burns heritage and thereby to secure and to build our tourism industry in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, yet many of us will attend Burns suppers over the next few weeks, at which we will celebrate his life and work with the help of a little dram or two.
I wonder what Burns would say about all that. What would he say about today's parliamentary debate on the state of his heritage? I do not mean to accuse anyone of being a murderer, but these are the lines that come to my mind:
"Ye hypocrites! are these your pranks?
To murder men and give God thanks!
Desist, for shame!—proceed no further;
God won't accept your thanks for MURTHER!"
There has certainly been some hypocrisy not only from members in the chamber but from all those who say that they value Burns but have not been prepared to get his heritage sorted out and maintained. I hope that members will accept those lines in the spirit that was intended.
With some vision, we can find the means to secure both the Robert Burns national heritage park and the Burns monument in Kilmarnock's Kay park. Even before the fire, the monument was sitting in a state of decay and decline, with dead pigeons and pigeon droppings inside it. Let us have vision about what we could do with that. As Linda Fabiani said, let us not just leave it as a monument but come up with a vision for it. We need a purpose for such buildings, and we need more of them across Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway. Let us do our best to get back our heritage.
I congratulate North Ayrshire Council—I do not often do that—on instigating a superb historic tour in Irvine. It starts at the fantastic Irvine Burns Club and Museum, which is often visited by our schoolchildren and hosts poetry readings and all sorts of other events. It also has some wonderful Burns artefacts. Following a presentation about Burns at the museum, the walk takes people around the town to other areas. That is vision.
We need to join up the whole Burns experience and to include Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway—not just for the sake of the important tourism industry, but for the sake of our children and future generations, who have the right to enjoy our bard and his heritage. I hope that we can move forward and secure that today.
We all seem to have connections with Alloway. My sister lives about two minutes' walk from Burns cottage in the village. One very wet day, we strolled around the cottage yet another time. I was appalled to see the condition in which artefacts such as the family Bible were kept. Various manuscripts had been put in primitive cases in very damp conditions. Security was also casual. These are world treasures, rather than treasures just for Ayrshire or Scotland.
I am glad that at the 11th hour something dramatic is to be done to rescue the artefacts. However, that is not the only thing that we need to do about Burns's heritage. His true heritage is in the words of his poems and songs. He took great trouble to rescue melodies that would otherwise have been lost to the world for ever, putting words to them that emblazoned them on our hearts. I refer to songs such as "Ae Fond Kiss", with its wonderful pathos, "Scots, wha hae" and, of course, "Auld Lang Syne". However, study of Burns is not mandatory in our school curriculum, which is currently under review. I hope that it will become mandatory for pupils as a result of the review. I remember that, at school, I knew Shakespeare by heart, but we did Burns only in the week before the 25th and at no other time. I think that that continues, and it must change.
The man was not only a poet, but a philosopher. Why was his song "For a' that and a' that" sung at the opening of the Parliament in 1999? It was sung because it spoke of equality. There were some uncomfortable words in there for our monarchical visitors that day. Burns also saw hypocrisy to the core in "Holy Willie's Prayer"; his words are still as true now.
The words and songs of Burns unite communities small and large. Like many members, I speak at a lot of Burns suppers. Women are in high demand, but the reply to the toast to the lasses can get a bit tedious. The best Burns supper that I have ever attended was at a wee community at Wanlockhead. It was a moonlit winter's night, with snow piled up at the sides of the road. When I drove in, I could not see a soul and the village was deserted. I thought that the Martians had landed. With my typical lack of direction, it took me ages to find the village hall. However, when I opened the door, I found that everyone was there. There were banners everywhere and we had a wonderful evening. The whole community was drawn together by Burns.
In the same way, when we reach hogmanay, communities the world over are drawn together. The one man who does that is a Scotsman—Robert Burns. We have let his heritage dry up, disintegrate, get damp and be distributed. We have been casual about this man who has the status around the world of a colossus in culture. I am glad that the Parliament intends to do something about that. Chris Ballance was right to say that, if we can create something that is worthy of the heritage of Burns and of Scotland, the Parliament will have done one grand job.
I thank Adam Ingram for bringing this topic to the Parliament. One of the biggest disappointments of this prestigious and expensive Parliament building is the sad fact that, so far, I have yet to see a reference or tribute to Rabbie Burns anywhere on the campus.
I asked the question of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body at a meeting of the Finance Committee and Paul Grice assured me that there is an alcove or suchlike within the perimeter wall that pays tribute to our national bard. To date, I have yet to locate that item. That speaks volumes for the cavalier fashion in which those in charge of building the place have dismissed the most famous Scot of all times—Robert Burns. Surely out of a ludicrous budget of £431 million a statue of Burns should have been a main feature in the entrance to this place. No; they opted for acres of cold, bare concrete throughout the complex—that form of art extends even to a whole bare wall in the First Minister's private office.
However, more than £70,000 was spent on an inscription that is engraved in granite outside the Donald Dewar room. The inscription is attributed to John P Mackintosh, an MP in the Lothians in the 1960s. It states:
"People in Scotland want a degree of government for themselves. It is not beyond the wit of man to devise the institutions to meet these demands."
That is beautiful rhetoric, but I do not think that it will be translated into 47 different languages. Any quotation from the bard would have upgraded this place and they are available in abundance from Scotland's literary genius.
Rozelle House, which is close to the Burns cottage, currently hosts huge murals by Goudie, which depict images taken from Burns's epic "Tam o' Shanter". Those fabulous murals, or even reproductions of them, could have covered large, bare areas of concrete in Holyrood. Those visual masterpieces would have paid homage to our bard's genius. The paintings were purchased by Tom Hunter and given to South Ayrshire Council. A visit to Rozelle House to view the paintings is a must for any Burns enthusiast.
On Monday this week, I again visited the Burns cottage; I was en route to my caravan down at the Heads of Ayr. I knew that Adam Ingram had secured this debate, so I thought that it would be fitting to get a first-hand update on the condition of this national treasure. I found it rewarding to be able to feel the affinity with our bard that can be experienced by getting so close to his birthplace.
Last year, 78,000 people visited the cottage, but I was assured that if the local councils had not removed most of the signs that direct people to it, the figure could easily have been in excess of 100,000, as it regularly was before 9/11. It is reckoned that Americans who drive into Ayr all too often fail to locate Burns's birthplace. Signs are affordable and are necessary for basic marketing.
I was told that lottery funding had not been forthcoming recently and that, unless urgent maintenance and renovations are carried out soon, much of the building could fall into a state of disrepair; it is already showing early signs of severe neglect and it could be lost to posterity. I know that £50,000 has been awarded by the Executive towards the cost of repairing the Burns heritage park, but in reality that would not even cover the cost of rethatching the cottage.
I call upon the Executive to loosen its purse-strings and to restore the Burns cottage to as near its original form as is possible. It should market the site and make the National Trust for Scotland responsible for its future upkeep. Only then will this most important tribute to Scotland's national bard remain an integral part of Scotland's national pride.
Given the pressures from outside the Parliament, I feel that it is necessary to declare an interest: about 45 years ago, I joined the freemasons, as Robert Burns did. I would hate to think that I speak in the debate in such a way that someone would accuse me of bias.
I agree with almost every statement that has been made in the debate. I perhaps have one slight difference with Margaret Jamieson. She emphasised the importance of the heritage trail. In my view, when we think of Burns, there can be no more important place in the world than the auld clay biggin in Alloway. That is his birthplace and, in the eyes of many in the world, it is the heart of Burns.
I congratulate Adam Ingram on securing the debate and on the wording of his motion, which tells the story. Perhaps uniquely in the chamber, I am one of the murderers to whom Rosemary Byrne referred, because between 1992 and 1997 I was a member of the Burns Trust through my election as member of Parliament for Ayr. At that time, we had a vision of seeing the heritage park grow. I pay tribute to Gibson McDonald and the old Kyle and Carrick District Council, which put the heritage park together, because it knew about the problems that the trust had in maintaining Burns's cottage and the artefacts there. It needed the heritage park and, above all, the Tam o' Shanter experience to provide the funds to allow the cottage to thrive and develop into the future.
Money was spent at that time. There was a major renovation at the beginning of that period. There was a dispute about the fact that the cottage was painted in traditional colours, which led to local disapproval, but that was an aspect of heritage that had to be committed to in order to obtain the funds to allow the cottage to be maintained.
I want the cottage to develop and thrive in the future. I welcome the interest in it that Patricia Ferguson registered today. The trust cannot deliver any more; we need the heritage park to be taken over by the National Trust for Scotland. It is important to maintain the Tam o' Shanter experience in the heritage park, which would provide the trust with an element of funding.
I refer back to the period 1992 to 1997. I pay tribute to Douglas Hemming, who put a lot of work into securing the artefacts in the Burns cottage. He, like Donald Gorrie, acknowledged the importance of technology in preserving those artefacts and prepared plans for that. In more recent times, national lottery funding has been a way of providing the capital. We need the revenue and must allow the national lottery to contribute to provide what is needed on the heritage site to sustain it well into the future.
I congratulate Adam Ingram not only on securing the debate, in which I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak, but on the motion, which I was pleased to sign. The minister has had the benefit of hearing tonight's debate and of course she was in the chair as Deputy Presiding Officer in the Parliament's first debate on Burns's legacy, which I instigated. However, I do not think that this debate will conclude in the way that that one did, when our former colleague Dorothy-Grace Elder presented the Deputy Presiding Officer with a cake.
I have a number of points to make, the first of which will come as no surprise. The importance of Dumfries and Galloway to the Burns legacy must always be stated. To paraphrase the well-known saying in Dumfries, Burns may have been born in Ayr, but we have still got him in Dumfries. When we consider the Burns legacy, we must not only include Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway, but consider his contribution throughout Scotland. It is important to state that point.
It is easy for Opposition members to say glibly that things must be taken forward in a certain way, but we must all recognise the significant challenges in bringing together the many interests involved in the Burns movement, which, unfortunately, are not always in harmony. To my mind, nothing represents that more than the failed attempt in 1996 to have a festival to mark the anniversary of Burns's death. That is not to say that bringing together the interests is not worth doing; in fact, those events showed that it is extremely worth doing, as all the members who have spoken in the debate recognise.
We must also understand that nowadays the visitor is looking for a visitor experience. Suggesting that we can just package things as they have always been packaged will not take us forward.
I recognise David Mundell's long-standing interest, which I share, in developments in this area. We have heard a lot about monuments, artefacts, statues and suchlike. Does he agree that, important as those are, they are not as important as the vision to which Rosemary Byrne referred? Does he further agree that, for Burns's memory to be preserved, we must appeal to a new generation of Burns enthusiasts and get them as enthused as he and I—and other members—have been, which means approaching the subject from a different direction?
I agree with Allan Wilson on that point. We must seek to make Burns a much more living experience in order to engage people. That is not to discount the artefacts, so many of which rest in the Globe Inn in Dumfries—that is very apposite, because it is, in many ways a living monument. However, we must move towards creating a living experience that engages our young people in Scotland and visitors. It is clear that visitors who come from abroad are looking for a whole package and a whole experience; they do not just want to see things in a glass case. On that note—and without a cake—I conclude my remarks.
I welcome the opportunity to close today's debate on the important issue of the Burns legacy in Scotland, and I thank Adam Ingram for bringing the debate to the chamber this evening.
David Mundell referred to the debate that he sponsored in 2000, in which I was privileged—I think that that is the right word—to be the Deputy Presiding Officer. He correctly recalled that, at the end of the debate, I was presented with a cake bearing the effigy of Robert Burns. Most members would not be surprised to hear that my colleague, Cathy Peattie, sang in that debate; however, I am sure that even Scottish National Party members would be surprised to hear that Fergus Ewing also sang a solo. It was a memorable occasion. In recalling that debate, I hope that Robert Burns—whose effigy is sitting in the public gallery tonight—would regard this evening's debate as a little bit more dignified.
I am fully committed to securing the long-term future of the Burns legacy. It is personally important to me, as I have a long-standing interest in Burns and, as some members will know, I once worked in both Dumfries and Ayr at the same time, which was interesting. That helped to foster my interest even more. I have been working with partners to address, as a matter of urgency, the poor state of the Burns cottage and museum and the difficulties that are currently facing the park as a whole.
One point that Adam Ingram, unfortunately, missed out in his otherwise excellent speech, but which was mentioned by David Mundell, is the fact that we need to secure the willingness of those who own the various elements of the Burns experience in Ayrshire in order to make the project work. Such issues concern me, and I reassure members that I believe that the long-term future of the Burns legacy in Ayrshire will be secured. We are moving in the right direction and, over the past couple of months, following representations that were made to me by my colleagues Cathy Jamieson and Sandra Osborne, I have instigated discussions with all the relevant parties that are involved in securing the Burns legacy in Ayrshire. I am fully supportive of the real partnership that is now forming with a view to bringing about change.
As members know, the Executive has committed £50,000 for 2005-06 towards the running costs of the park. That will give us time to continue our efforts to secure the park's future. The Scottish Executive has also been instrumental in securing curatorial support from the National Library of Scotland and the National Museums of Scotland in supporting the upkeep of the collection until a new museum is completed.
I take seriously John Scott's point about the items that are in collections elsewhere. Some of the distributed collections have a long and historic legacy in the place where they are to be found, not least because Burns moved around Scotland. I am conscious that, for example, the original manuscript of the song "Auld lang syne" was taken to Edinburgh with a view to conserving it for the future because of the conditions in which it was being kept. I hope that that will be one of the items that will be repatriated to Ayrshire, its rightful home, once we are able to put in place the facilities needed to look after it.
I see the Burns national heritage park as the centrepiece of the year of homecoming for the Scots diaspora in 2009. That is why I agreed with the National Trust for Scotland that the park should be retained and managed holistically, keeping all its elements together, including the Tam o' Shanter experience.
Recent research has thrown up a surprising set of statistics that indicate that 330,000 people per annum visit the Tam o' Shanter experience, but only 25,000 of them make it into the museum and cottage. We have a job to do to make sure that the people who visit the Tam o' Shanter experience do not just stop for a cup of coffee but have the experience that David Mundell was talking about. That is part of my ambition for the site.
I welcome the National Trust for Scotland's interest in becoming involved in the ownership of the park and, subsequently, a new heritage lottery fund bid for a museum. Earlier today I had a very positive meeting with Robin Pellew, chief executive of the National Trust for Scotland, to hear about the proposals for the development of the park and the wider perspective of a Burns trail in Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway. The trust's involvement is an exciting development and I remain confident that it would be best placed to take over the management of the park and to develop the Burns legacy into a quality product—something that is not just a tourism asset but which reflects the importance of Burns and gives our generation and future generations a good idea of his legacy and what he was about.
I hope that we might be able to work in a comprehensive way with everyone involved in Ayrshire. I think that that is now beginning to take place and I applaud the efforts of South Ayrshire Council, East Ayrshire Council, North Ayrshire Council and others who are trying to make it happen. I am also aware that Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire has been part of our wider efforts to provide substantial support to the development of various aspects of the park.
The Burns an' a' that festival, which was established by Allan Wilson when he was Deputy Minister for Environment, Sport and Culture, continues to grow and flourish and will become a showcase event for 2009. That is not, by any manner of means, all that will happen in 2009, but it will be an important event. I am therefore pleased to confirm to members that all the funding partners, including VisitScotland, have now committed funding to the festival for 2005 and beyond. I should say to Margaret Jamieson that I understand that this year's festival will run from the 21st to the 30th of May. I take her point that we are getting close to those dates and that we need to make a point of publicising the festival to everyone who might be interested in it.
Donald Gorrie mentioned the idea of a movie. I understand that a movie is being filmed at the moment and that Scottish Screen is involved. It is not a musical—perhaps next time, and perhaps Donald will have some ideas about who can take part. I am also grateful to Phil Gallie's very constructive input. Given that I worked in Ayrshire at the same time as him—it was part of my job to make sure that he did not get re-elected—
The minister was successful.
I was.
I remember that there were funding crises from time to time back then, too, and that we seemed to lurch from one crisis to another, as far as looking after heritage was concerned. I want to ensure that that does not happen again.
I believe that the Burns legacy is alive and well and will be secured for future generations. The time is right to act to secure a long-term future for his legacy. I can reassure members that we are taking the initiative and being proactive in what is a partnership approach that is beginning to bear fruit. Securing the long-term future of the Burns legacy is well within our grasp, if we continue to work together. That is my aim and I am committed to achieving it.
I am grateful to members who have indicated their great interest and enthusiasm and their support during the debate. I hope that that is a message that we can collectively communicate to everyone in Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway, the rest of Scotland—we all have a connection with Burns somewhere—and the rest of the world.
Meeting closed at 18:15.