As some of you may know but others, especially firth of Scotland may not,
the museum located in Burns Cottage, Alloway (where Scotland's national poet
was born on 25th January 1759) is falling into disrepair and incredibly
important documents, including those written by Burns himself, are
disintegrating into dust.
In addition to this, the cottage itself is now under threat and needs to be
repaired urgently. Further, the Burns Heritage Centre and shop nearby is
likely to be sold off and perhaps closed in the near future.
A plan to restore all these items and to finally bring everything on Burns
into one unified museum and tourist centre collapsed last month and now the
heritage of one of the finest writers anywhere in the world hangs in the
balance.
Scotland's newly re-established Parliament is concerned about this issue but
the Scottish government seem unable or unwilling to act to preserve one of
the cornerstones of Scottish and world heritage - their only promise is to
"see what they can do and perhaps put £50,000 towards helping, if they feel
that it is worth getting involved in".
Aside from any political feelings you may have for the Labour government in
Scotland, this is a shocking & deplorable response when they should be
taking the lead in securing the long-term future of Burns Cottage, the
museum and the Burns heritage for future generations. The Scottish
government CAN bring all parties together to sort this out quickly and the
sums are, for a government, small, especially to preserve the legacy of the
national poet of this country.
If you want to sign a petition calling on the Scottish Parliament to call
the Scottish government (the 'Scottish Executive') to act then please go to
the link below and sign the petition.
http://epetitions.scottish.parliament.uk/viewtopic.asp?TopicID=46
Burns stands with Wordsworth, Shakespeare and the greatest literary figures
of all time and we can not allow those in power in the country of his birth
to simply let his legacy literally crumble to dust.
Please support the petition.
Peter Mechan
Douglas Clark, Bath, Somerset, England ....
http://www.dgdclynx.plus.com
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