Auditors Major D. YUILLE, Burns Avenue, Kilmarnock, and Capt. ADAM MACKAY, The Crescent, Prestwick.

Local Representatives—

London-P. N. M'FARLANE, Tallis House, Tallis Street, London,
E.C.

North of England-W. H. TURNER, Sunderland.

Glasgow and District-J. JEFFREY HUNTER, 89 Bath Street,
Glasgow.

Hon. Secretary of Children's Competitions-ALEX. POLLOCK, 52 West Nile Street, Glasgow (to whom all communications should be addressed).

CONSTITUTION.

1. The Federation shall consist of Hon. Presidents, Hon. VicePresidents, Executive Council, and members of each affiliated Club.

2. The Executive Council shall consist of a President, VicePresidents, Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer, Editor of the Burns Chronicle, and two Auditors-all of whom shall be elected annually, and be eligible for re-election; also of the President, Vice-President, and Secretary, or any other three members of, and nominated by, each affiliated Club, and other gentlemen of eminence as Burnsians nominated by the Executive Council.

3. All Past Presidents of the Federation shall er officio be members of the Executive Council.

4. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Office-bearers of the Federation, who shall meet quarterly, or when called by the Hon. Secretary, for the transaction of the business of the Federation.

5. Federated Clubs outwith the United Kingdom may be represented by proxy at the meetings of the Federation.

OBJECTS OF THE FEDERATION.

1. To strengthen and consolidate by universal affiliation the bond of fellowship existing amongst the members of Burns Clubs and kindred Societies.

2. To superintend the publication of Works relating to Burns. 3. To acquire a fund for the purchase and preservation of Holograph Manuscripts and other Relics connected with the life of the Poet, and for other purposes of a like nature, as the Executive Council may determine.

4. To repair, renew, and where advisable mark with suitable inscriptions any buildings, tombstones, etc., interesting from their association with Burns.

5. To encourage and arrange School Competitions in order to stimulate the teaching of Scottish History and Literature.

RULES.

1. The Headquarters of the Federation shall be in Kilmarnock, the town in which the Federation was inaugurated and carried to a practical issue, and which contains the only properly organised Burns Library and Museum in the United Kingdom.

2. Properly organised Burns Clubs, St. Andrew's Societies, and kindred Associations may be admitted to the Federation by application in writing to the Hon. Secretary, enclosing a copy of Constitution, Rules, and list of members, which shall be submitted to the Executive Committee at their first meeting, and the Clubs shall be enrolled if there are not more than two dissentients.

3. The Registration Fee is 21s, on receipt of which the Diploma of the Federation shall be issued, after being numbered and signed by the President and Hon. Secretary.

4. Members of every Burns Club or kindred Association registered by the Federation shall be entitled to receive a pocket Diploma on payment of ls. These payments are final-not annual.

5. The funds of the Federation shall be vested in the Executive Committee for the purposes before mentioned.

6. A meeting of the Executive Council shall be held annually on the first Saturday of September, at such place as may be agreed upon, when reports on the year's transactions shall be submitted by the Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer, and Office-Bearers elected for the ensuing year.

7. A meeting of the Executive Committee shall take place some time before the Annual Meeting of the Executive Council, to make the necessary arrangements for the same.

8. All nominations for the office of Vice-President must be lodged with the Hon. Secretary two months before the Annual Meeting.

9. Each Federated Clul shall subscribe 10s 6d per annum towards the fund for the publication of the Burns Chronicle. Clubs failing to pay this subscription for two consecutive years may be struck off the Roll of the Federation. Any surplus profits resulting from the sale of the Chronicle shall be added to the general funds.

10. Notice of any amendment or alteration of the Constitution or Rules of the Federation to be considered at the Annual Meeting must be lodged in writing with the Hon. Secretary not later than 30th June.

BENEFITS.

1. Registered Clubs are supplied free with copies of newspapers containing accounts of meetings, demonstrations, etc., organised, conducted, or attended by the Executive Council of the Federation, and of the Annual Meeting of the Kilmarnock Burns Club.

2. Exchange of fraternal greetings on the anniversary of the Poet's natal day.

3. Members of Registered Clubs who have provided themselves with pocket diplomas are entitled to attend meetings of all Clubs on the Roll of the Federation, they being subject to the rules of the Club visited, but having no voice in its management unless admitted a member according to local form.

4. Members are entitled to be supplied, through the Secretaries of their respective Clubs, with copies of all Works published by the Federation at a discount of 25 per cent.

5. A list of Lecturers, Essayists, and Judges for Children's Competitions will be supplied to Clubs on application.

Copies of the last ten vols. may still be had on application to the Hon. Treasurer.

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING

OF THE

BURNS FEDERATION.

ROYAL SCOTTISH CORPORATION HALL,
CRANE COURT, FLEET STREET,

LONDON, 4th September, 1920.

THE Annual Meeting of the Burns Federation was held here to-day. Mr D. M Naught, J.P., presiding. The following Delegates were present

Thomas Amos,

No. 0, Kilmarnock-D. M'Naught, J.P.; M.A.; Geo. A. Innes, M.B.E.; ex-Provost M. Smith, J.P.; J. P. Dickson; ex-Bailie Munro, J.P. No. 1, London Robert Burns Club-L. G. Sloan, J.P.; Sir Wm. Noble, P. N. M'Farlane, James Thomson, F.S.A.(Scot.). No. 3, Glasgow Tam o' Shanter J. Jeffrey Hunter, Alex. M'Kenzie, John Carmichael. No. 9, Glasgow Royalty-Wm. Jamieson, Councillor Jas. Macfarlane, David Gunn. No. 14, Dundee J. Purves, Jas. Ogilvie, Jas. Neilson. No. 21, Greenock-Hugh M'Lean, Grierson Macara. No. 33, Glasgow Haggis David Macfarlane. No. 36, Glasgow Rosebery-Wm. Craig, Geo. Armour. No. 49, Glasgow Bridgeton-Jas. W. Shaw, J.P.; David S. Brown, Jas. Craig, Geo. Newton. No. 53, Govan Fairfield-Thomas Fullarton. No. 63, Glasgow Mossgiel-John Hutcheon, Robert Parker, Jas. Robertson. No. 67, Glasgow Carlton-Wm. Gardiner. No. 74, Glasgow Mauchline-Thos. Killin, J. Taylor Gibb, George Smith. No. 85, Dunfermline United -Sir Alexander Gibb, G.B.E., C.B., C.E.; Wm. Black, P. Donald, Thos. Lessels, P. Paterson. No. 89, Sunderland-T. E. A. A. Shaw, A. W. Semple, M. Neilson. No. 91, Shettleston-Geo. S. Glendinning. No. 113, Vale of Leven Glencairn-William Smith. No. 118, Glasgow Albany-J. Niven Murdoch, Richard Donaldson. No. 121, Hamilton Juniors-David Cross, William Wilson, Jas. Brown. No. 139, Glasgow National-T. M. Hamilton, J. G. Galpine. No. 151, Old Kilpatrick-Wm. C. Cockburn. No. 167, Birmingham-Wright Murray. No. 169, Glasgow B.C.A.-T. Sutherland, Isaac Chalmers. No. 181, Glasgow Primrose-John Hair, T. B. Paton, James Lamb. No. 184, Blairadam ShanterThos. C. Anderson. No. 187, Galashiels-Col. H. S. Murray, J.P. No. 189, Clydebank Barns o' Clyde-Lawrence Watt. No. 202, Govan Ye Cronies-Jas. Rellie, J. Hutchison, M. Stirling. No. 207, Cambuslang Wingate-John M'Farlane, John M'Cracken. No. 209, Greenock St. John's Jas. A. Morrison. No. 212, Portobello --Wm. Baird, J.P., F.S.A. (Scot.). No. 247, Lochgelly Jolly Beggars -Jas. D. Wilson, John Adamson, James Walker. No. 250, Cowdenbeath Tam o' Shanter-George Marshall. No. 251, GlencraigThomas Ferguson. No. 275, Ayr-Ex-Provost Hunter, James

Wills.

Apologies for absence were intimated from Mr C. R. Cowie, Partick; Mr Alex. Pollock and Mr Hugh M'Coll, Glasgow; and Mr Philip Sulley, Edinburgh.

The Minutes of last Annual Meeting and of Committee Meetings held during the year were read and approved.

The Secretary submitted the following Annual Report :

"To anyone unacquainted with the history of the Burns Federation, our meeting in London to-day may seem out of its proper setting, but that is not so. Wherever Scotsmen may wander they rally round the name of Burns, and in his memory establish Burns Clubs most characteristic of all the institutions in Scottish social and literary life.

"There are few Scottish towns or villages without a Burns Club, and no one can be surprised that London, the home of so many Scots, has its Burns Clubs, among which the Robert Burns Club, No. 1 on our roll, holds the premier position with a record of more than fifty years' excellent work. At its invitation we gladly visit this mighty city, whose name to the peasant Poet was always associated with wealth, but will henceforth recall to us the kindly fellowship and bounteous hospitality we have experienced during our visit.

Thirty-five years ago three Scotsmen, Colin Rae Brown of London, and David Mackay and David Sneddon of Kilmarnock, met at the unveiling of the Burns bust in Westminster Abbey. They were perfervid Burnsians, and as they were walking along the Embankment after the ceremony one of them suggested the formation of a Federation to unify Burns Clubs throughout the world. From this idea sprang the Burns Federation, which was soon afterwards founded in Kilmarnock, and has increased each year in vigour and usefulness. If an apology is needed for our presence here to-day surely this will suffice.

I have great pleasure in reporting the continued success of the Federation since our conference in Glasgow a year ago. There are now on our roll 277 Clubs in Scotland, England, Ireland, the United States, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand. Of these the following seventeen have affiliated during the past year :Fifeshire Burns Association, Glasgow Masonic, Prestonpans Jolly Beggars, Bingry Jolly Beggars, Newton Jolly Beggars, Prestonpans Mystic, Anderston Cronies, Johnstone Tam o' Shanter, Coquetdale, Trenton (U.S.A.), Stewarton Hodden Grey, Lanark Jolly Beggars, Troon, Ayr, Lumphinnans, Harriman (U.S.A.), and Duluth (U.S.A.). During the year I have issued 315 members' diplomas, which are specially value as a means of introduction by members who are leaving home.

"Last January No. 29 of the Burns Chronicle was published, and there was such an unprecedented run on our Annual that in a few days not a spare copy could be obtained. In the variety and excellence of its articles it maintained the high standard set by its predecessors, and once again we must acknowledge the untiring work of our veteran Editor, who has so successfully conducted the Chronicle for twenty-eight years. Each year finds the Chronicle more prized by Burnsians, and a complete set of its numbers is regarded by them as a treasure. The two outstanding events in the Burns world during the year have been the recent visit of Mr John Gribbel and the final disposal of the Grave and Monument of Highland Mary in the West Churchyard of Greenock.

When it was known that the restorer of the Glenriddel MSS. was to visit Scotland, the Federation determined to give him a welcome that would show him how deeply sensible we were of his