Burns Units

It is Burns Night 2018. I have, in frugal style, scraped up the last of the Haggis from the corners of the serving dish as it stands on the cooker top trying to avoid the scraps of neaps which from experience have a bitter aftertaste.

With a gloriously naughty feeling on what is a working day I run my finger around the inside of the whisky glass used for the evening's toasts and get just a wee sensation of the essence of Scotland.

Ours had been a grand Burns Supper, one of countless millions celebrated globally by the upwards of 45 million or more who possess a Scottish ancestry.

From The New York Public Library

Tomorrow, it is back to business and an opportunity to reflect on the value of the poet and lyricist Robert Burns to Scotland not just in artistic and cultural terms which are a given but in cold hard cash revenues to the national economy. Of course there has been talk of his referencing of others' work in his own but what great writer has not drawn upon influences and themes from the past? 

I am looking to update an exercise commissioned by the BBC in 2009 on the issue of just how much does the Burns Brand generate for the nation?

Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Ayrshire in 1759.

In his relatively short life, he died aged 37, he produced great works of prose, poetry and song in the Scottish dialect and these have endured amongst a home grown and worldwide audience. He was not always appreciated in his own lifetime, indeed it was not really until the late Victorian era that an interest was shown in all things from North of the Border from fashion to design, art and crafts, literature and furniture.

Scotland has produced, for its population, a disproportionate number of exceptional individuals in science, philanthropy, the arts, invention and as entrepreneurs. The Victorians wanted to be associated with such a progressive cultural attitude and Robert Burns was at the forefront of the movement, albeit posthumously.

It was not therefore instant stardom and celebrity for the man.

Even as recently as 2004 the sustainability of Burns as a national icon was under pressure when funding organisations withdrew from their support of the Birthplace Museum in Alloway. Declining visitor numbers led to dwindling income. Deterioration of the Museum building allowed the Burns Family Bible to be damaged by a roof leak and it was only when the National Trust for Scotland and Lottery Money stepped up in or around 2009 that any sort of future was assured.

Huge investment to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the birth of Burns  allowed construction of a new Heritage Centre and attractions in Ayrshire and the future of the Burns Brand was assured.

In 2009 the BBC consulted the great and the good in order to come up with an estimated figure for the revenue generated by all things Burns.

They considered five broad categories of income that were intrinsically linked to the current cult-status  centred on the poet.

1) General Tourism. There are millions of visitors to Scotland every year and Ayrshire is a destination for many followers of Burns. Income is derived from hotel accommodation, restaurants and shops, taxi fares, bus fares, guide books and services.

2)Burns Merchandise. The Heritage Centre and on line shops have a range of quality products in the Burns Brand ranging from expensive lyric -engraved jewellery to chess sets and snowglobes to the best selling fridge magnets. Summer visitors like the themed postcards and as Burns Night, 25th January approaches, the sales of napkins and tea towels ramp up.

3)Haggis. Not many foodstuffs have their own poem in celebration. This blend of lambs lungs, offal, oats, gravy and other things.....is available all year round but with a spike in volumes for the traditional Supper. It is quite a scrap in my local stockist to secure an elusive MacSweens Haggis for this occasion. Don't forget the tatties and neaps. Oatcakes and soup sales also peak.

4)Whisky. I do  not have much to add to the production figures for this national tipple by way of emphasising the income generating ability of this product.

5) Miscellaneous items. These are as varied as kilt and sporran hire to fees for a Piper, choirs, Master of Ceremonies, Guest Speakers and admission prices for Corporate Events.

The wide range of inputs in this calculation does, as you will appreciate, give potential for a huge margin of error.

Since the 2009 BBC guesstimate there has been inflationary and other pressures at play. 

One single element has been the increase, over that period, in the adult admission charge to the Heritage Centre from £5 to £9.

Crunching the numbers, in my update, produces a figure of £196 millions.

Robert Burns would, I think, be pleased about his 21st Century wealth generating capabilities although ironically he struggled in his lifetime with his own finances.

Not that he was really bothered by material things as a line from his "Country Lassie" testifies "Content and Loove brings peace and joy".