By Christopher Cepil
Often affectionately referred to as “Scotland’s bard,” much has been written on Robert Burns’ work and legacy as one of the country’s most iconic figures. Yet, the scholarship surrounding the celebrity he experienced during his own lifetime remains sorely lacking. Drawing from the emerging interdisciplinary field of “celebrity studies,” my work presents its own definition of celebrity and argues that Burns was indeed one during his lifetime.
Building on the work of celebrity scholars such as Antoine Lilti (The Invention of Celebrity) and Kurt Heinzelman (“Lord Byron and the Invention of Celebrity”), I arrived at the following definition of the term: “celebrity is fame, not for an achievement alone, but for whom the celebrity is perceived to be by a contemporaneous public with which the celebrity can engage.” What this definition implies is that 1) celebrity is of the fleeting, fickle present rather than lasting or posthumous; 2) there exists a public actively interested in the celebrity; 3) the celebrity in that public’s imagination is not necessarily the celebrity’s true persona; and 4) the celebrity is able to engage with their public, whether directly or indirectly by manipulating their public image in some way. Reprinted from the Winter/Spring 2020 issue of the St. Andrew's Society Journal By Jean-Marie Dubois (Université de Sherbrooke) and Gérard Coté (Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society) A street in the south of Sherbrooke’s regional industrial park was named in 1991 for a Scottish immigrant who rapidly became an influential Townshipper.
Joseph Gibb Robertson was born in Stuartfield, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on December 31, 1817. He was the fourth of the ten children of Elizabeth Murray (1787–1832), from Stuartfield, and of James Robertson (1776–1861), from Baledgarno. They had been married in New Deer, Scotland on June 2, 1807. James was the first minister of the Sherbrooke Congregational Church (now Plymouth-Trinity Church), established in Sherbrooke in 1835. In 1832, in the midst of an economic crisis, the family had fled Scotland to settle in Derby, Vermont and in 1836 they moved to Sherbrooke. Reprinted from the Autumn 2019 issue of the St. Andrew's Society Journal By Gérard Coté (Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society) and Jean-Marie Dubois (Université de Sherbrooke) Peter McLennan was born in Helensborough, Scotland, on March 17, 1809. He married Ann Glenn (1809–1875), from the Glen Fruin region, near Helensborough, on May 27, 1834 in Glasgow. Likely in the same year, they immigrated to Lachine, near Montreal. They had seven children: the eldest Duncan (1835–1900) was born in Lachine and the second Grace Glen (1837–1909), in Sherbrooke. The next five children were born in Orford Township: James Glen (1839–1896), Robert (1840–1864), John Glen (1842–1892), Mary Niel (1844–1881), Daniel (1846– after 1871), Peter Niel (1848–1908) and Niel (1850–1850).
Reprinted from the Autumn 2019 issue of the St. Andrew's Society Journal By Cameron Stevens Nineteen years ago this past July, The Black Watch (RHR) of Canada paraded side by side in formation with the 1st Battalion, The Black Watch (RHR), their parent regiment, on what was the 100th birthday celebration of the Queen Mother—the Colonel-in-Chief of both regiments at the time. All of this took place on Horse Guards Parade in London and then on the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle. Epic, wonderful, his- toric were the memories at the time. No one in 2000 realized that this would be the last time both regiments would parade together—and for the last time, celebrating the centenary of the “Queen Mum.” Further to this was the addition of the 3rd Battalion pipe band from Scotland—in all, three Black Watch pipe bands!
Reprinted from the Summer 2019 issue of the St. Andrew's Society Journal By Gérard Coté (Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society) and Jean-Marie Dubois (Université de Sherbrooke) A street in Sherbrooke’s Lennoxville Borough is named for an illustrious third-generation Scottish descendant, Lee McLean Watson. The street had been planned by Lennoxville Town Council since 1975 and was opened in 1991 on Lieutenant-Colonel Watson’s former farm.
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