photo : Meri Tosh
New Year’s Eve sees the start of the Viennese Ball season, with the Le Grand Bal setting the scene for a glittering year ahead. And whilst every true Scot will tell you January is the month of their national hero, Rabby Burns – who they celebrate with lots of Highland Flings; Gay Gordons; and Jennifer’s Jigs – in Austria you could be Scottish dancing an entirely different way.
Rabby Burns
18th century poet, Robert Burns – born in South Ayrshire – is widely recognised as Scotland’s national poet. His verse was written in Scottish, but he also had a good command of English. His work is well-known around the world.
Rabby (as he is affectionately known in Scotland) was – to put it mildly – a ‘bit of a lad’. At the age of 26 he fathered a child by his mother’s servant. At the same time he was heavily involved in a relationship with another woman, who had twins by him the following year. That was not the end of his philandering ways.
There’s a suggestion that in 1786 (age 27 years) he married a third woman in a traditional Scottish wedding. This involved making a pledge over the waters of a river. It doesn’t look like they had any children, but Rabby is reported to have been plotting and planning to jump ship and go to Jamaica with her!
Burns’ Betrothed and Others
For whatever reason the trip to Jamaica didn’t happen and in 1787 or thereabouts, he married again. This time to the twins’ mother. What’s not clear is whether he was actually married to the third woman at the time. So Burns could have been a bigamist!
And still that wasn’t the end of his philandering ways.
Somewhere along the line he met and became amorously involved with the wife of a Scottish Lord. He courted her with long love letters written under a pseudonym. After some time, it occurred to the bawdy bard that her Ladyship was not to be easily bedded. So he turned his attentions to her domestic servant instead. She was less circumspect. Another Burns’ baby was born in 1788!
Just for good measure Rabby maintained his relationship with with her Ladyship and managed to slip in a bit of time with yet another of her servants. This came to an end when her Ladyship decided to try and reconcile her relationship with the Lord. She trundled off to Jamaica taking her servants with her. This was in 1791.
Meanwhile Mr Burns had moved back into the marital home with the mother of the twins. He died there in 1796 at the ripe old age of 37, having fathered 12 children in 10 years. The last one was born on the day of his funeral – to yet another servant girl!
Burns Night
January 25th is Burns Night in Scotland and across the globe lovers of this Lothario celebrate his works – though maybe not his wanderlust ways!
Traditionally Burns night features bagpipes, haggis, whiskey and much merriment, as the lovely lads and lasses jig and reel the night away. Scottish country dancing has much in common with the traditional dance steps of ancient Austrian agricultural workers. But it’s nothing like the waltzing you’ll find at a Viennese Ball.
The Schottengymnasium
photo :Cosette – Jupiter Firelyte
Since the Middle Ages (1303) there has been a private Catholic school in Vienna, where students were taught by the monks of the Schottenstift – Benedictine Abbey of the Scots. The school was established by imperial decree exclusively for the boys of high ranking noble families and courtiers. It’s called the Schottengymnasium.
Until 1938 there was a high percentage of children from Jewish families (70% of the children on the roll) at the school. By the beginning of the Anschluß (Nazi occupation of Austria) there were none.
Der Alt-Schotten Ball
In 1807 an Alumni Association was formed at the Schottengymnasium. This was to reunite former students of the school with their educational roots and strengthen the overall sense of community. As an annual feature in the event calendar, the Alt-Schotten alumni organises a Ball in January – The Old Scots Ball.
The dress code for this dance is floor length evening dresses for women; Tuxedo or full ceremonial Dress Uniform for members of the Armed Forces. It’s a black tie Ball.
The organisation and event has patronage from high places. His Serene Highness Hans Adam ΙΙ, a Prince of the House of Liechtenstein, is one of them!
The Alt-Schotten Ball for 2013 is on 12th January at the Palais Auersperg. To find out more, see here.
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