THE expertise of Burns enthusiast John Gilfillan was underlined on Thursday when Cowdenbeath Rotary Club got the Bard’s season up and running.

The club held an impromptu Burns Meeting which saw president Erica Lock playing the role of Poosie Nansie and the address to the haggis being carried out in dramatic style by Lochgelly funeral director John.

After haggis and neeps he gave an Immortal Memory to the Bard which was both knowledgeable and intermingled with some excellent excerpts of some of Burns’ best poems.

John Gilfillan said: “In what was an all too short life, Rabbie Burns, who died just aged 37, became world famous and his works went to all parts of the British Empire and well beyond.

“Rabbie was a man who reflected the lot of people in the community he lived in through his work and to this day, 217 years since the first Burns Supper was held, his poetry and songs will be remembered in almost every country in the world.

“He was a highly talented man with an engaging personality and excellent sense of humour, and that is how his work had that stamp of quality.”

The agenda for the evening had songs from vice president Norman Black and more poetry from John.