Red Rose
A historical drama dealing with the last six years of the life of Robert Burns (17591796) Scotlands most famous poet and lyricist, who is still regarded today as its national poet and the most authent…
Red Rose
A historical drama dealing with the last six years of the life of Robert Burns (17591796) Scotlands most famous poet and lyricist, who is still regarded today as its national poet and the most authentic and genuine voice of the Scottish people, whose country had been in a political union with England since the Acts of Union were ratified by both the English and Scottish Parliaments in 1707. The film, whose title is taken from A Red, Red Rose, one of the most popular of his songs, opens in 1790, a year after the French Revolution ended the old order in France by abolishing the monarchy and subsequently executing both the French King Louis XVI and his Queen Marie Antoinette in 1793. Burns was a staunch Republican and a supporter of both the American and the French revolutions. His views thus made him suspect in the eyes of the supporters of George III, whose officials feared that the Revolution would spread to Britain. For this reason the publication and ownership of Thomas Paines seminal treatise The Rights of Man was prohibited, as shown in a scene where the Burns household is visited by a young Army officer, while a copy of this work has been hastily concealed among other books lying on a small table. . The film also addresses his various relationships with various women, including Jean Armour, the daughter of a well-off stonemason, who had refused to allow him to marry her, largely on account of his writings, which criticised religion, as well as the fact that he had gotten Jean pregnant and she subsequently gave birth to twins, while still unmarried, which is portrayed in the film as being the reason why he was summoned by a priest to give an account of himself and how he intended to make amends for his wrongdoing. However, Burnss growing fame as a writer and a lyricist, acquired while living in Edinburgh, may have played a role in her father relenting, as the couple were allowed to wed in 1788. He then moved her and their children to a farm in Dumfriesshire, which, however, failed to yield much of a return, and using his connections, he succeeded in obtaining a position as an Exciseman, i.e., an official of Customs and Excise and thus a servant of the Crown. His work in this capacity allowed him to give up the farm in 1791 and move to the town of Dumfries, where he worked writing lyrics for songs that were sung to traditional folk melodies. As a young Exciseman, Burns made a serious mistake when he took a number of carronades (small cannon made by the Carron Iron Works in Stirlingshire) from a smuggling ship that had run aground. He then tried to auction them off, but when nobody wished to purchase them, he decided to send them to France to be given to the Revolutionary forces. The film later shows him having to answer for this to a committee of Customs and Excise officials, as such an act by an officer of the Crown could have been construed as treasonable or seditious.. . The film also touches on his relationship with Maria Riddell, depicting her as an intelligent, kind-hearted and spirited woman and a most trusted confidant of his, who had written an account of her travels to Madeira, and the Windward and Leeward Islands together with sketches of the natural history of those islands, which was published on 1792. She had agreed to an arranged marriage with an oaf of a man, Walter Riddell, who amused himself by having relations with the Negro maid whom he brought with him to Scotland from his sugar plantation on Antigua. Burns became acquainted with her, as he attended gatherings at her home, since her brother-in-law, Walters young brother, Robert Riddell, was his patron. The film suggests that there was an element of sexual attraction to their relationship and shows how Burns drank too much one evening and made unwelcome advances to her, resulting in him being assaulted by her husband. This ended Roberts patronage, while he was also snubbed by Maria, and matters were only resolved in 1759, a year before his death, which is featured in the last thirty minutes of this film. Its main virtues are the solid performances of a capable cast and the wise decision to shoot it in the same area of Scotland where the events it describes actually took place, with local people providing many of the extras. Sadly, the film does not cover the early years of the brief life of this most gifted and fascinating figure, who has become famous and admired beyond the bounds of his native country and a familiar name even in such distant places as the Soviet Union and its successor, the Russian Federation.
Red Rose
Drama
Film Details
A historical drama dealing with the last six years of the life of Robert Burns (17591796) Scotlands most famous poet and lyricist, who is still regarded today as its national poet and the most authentic and genuine voice of the Scottish people, whose country had been in a political union with England since the Acts of Union were ratified by both the English and Scottish Parliaments in 1707. The film, whose title is taken from A Red, Red Rose, one of the most popular of his songs, opens in 1790, a year after the French Revolution ended the old order in France by abolishing the monarchy and subsequently executing both the French King Louis XVI and his Queen Marie Antoinette in 1793. Burns was a staunch Republican and a supporter of both the American and the French revolutions.
His views thus made him suspect in the eyes of the supporters of George III, whose officials feared that the Revolution would spread to Britain. For this reason the publication and ownership of Thomas Paines seminal treatise The Rights of Man was prohibited, as shown in a scene where the Burns household is visited by a young Army officer, while a copy of this work has been hastily concealed among other books lying on a small table. .
The film also addresses his various relationships with various women, including Jean Armour, the daughter of a well-off stonemason, who had refused to allow him to marry her, largely on account of his writings, which criticised religion, as well as the fact that he had gotten Jean pregnant and she subsequently gave birth to twins, while still unmarried, which is portrayed in the film as being the reason why he was summoned by a priest to give an account of himself and how he intended to make amends for his wrongdoing. However, Burnss growing fame as a writer and a lyricist, acquired while living in Edinburgh, may have played a role in her father relenting, as the couple were allowed to wed in 1788. He then moved her and their children to a farm in Dumfriesshire, which, however, failed to yield much of a return, and using his connections, he succeeded in obtaining a position as an Exciseman, i.e., an official of Customs and Excise and thus a servant of the Crown.
His work in this capacity allowed him to give up the farm in 1791 and move to the town of Dumfries, where he worked writing lyrics for songs that were sung to traditional folk melodies. As a young Exciseman, Burns made a serious mistake when he took a number of carronades (small cannon made by the Carron Iron Works in Stirlingshire) from a smuggling ship that had run aground. He then tried to auction them off, but when nobody wished to purchase them, he decided to send them to France to be given to the Revolutionary forces.
The film later shows him having to answer for this to a committee of Customs and Excise officials, as such an act by an officer of the Crown could have been construed as treasonable or seditious.. . The film also touches on his relationship with Maria Riddell, depicting her as an intelligent, kind-hearted and spirited woman and a most trusted confidant of his, who had written an account of her travels to Madeira, and the Windward and Leeward Islands together with sketches of the natural history of those islands, which was published on 1792.
She had agreed to an arranged marriage with an oaf of a man, Walter Riddell, who amused himself by having relations with the Negro maid whom he brought with him to Scotland from his sugar plantation on Antigua. Burns became acquainted with her, as he attended gatherings at her home, since her brother-in-law, Walters young brother, Robert Riddell, was his patron. The film suggests that there was an element of sexual attraction to their relationship and shows how Burns drank too much one evening and made unwelcome advances to her, resulting in him being assaulted by her husband.
This ended Roberts patronage, while he was also snubbed by Maria, and matters were only resolved in 1759, a year before his death, which is featured in the last thirty minutes of this film. Its main virtues are the solid performances of a capable cast and the wise decision to shoot it in the same area of Scotland where the events it describes actually took place, with local people providing many of the extras. Sadly, the film does not cover the early years of the brief life of this most gifted and fascinating figure, who has become famous and admired beyond the bounds of his native country and a familiar name even in such distant places as the Soviet Union and its successor, the Russian Federation..