It was a surprise Burns Night that poet Hugh McMillan will never forget – representing Scottish poetry at 10 Downing Street.
The retired history teacher from Penpont was taken aback by an unexpected invite to read his work on Wednesday at the event celebrating Scottish culture.
Before he headed for London and the Prime Minister’s residence, Hugh told the Standard: “It’s a bit of a surprise as my politics don’t exactly agree with the present UK Government’s ... and that is clear in a lot of my work.”
Hugh was “honoured” to get the opportunity to share some of his poems.
He said later: “I read to three sessions in the state room – which had two priceless Turners on the wall – to a mixture of Tory MPs and ordinary folk.
“The poems about Scottish history were well received. A military gentleman even agreed that the Tudors were homicidal maniacs who’d slaughtered half the population of Scotland.
“At the end of each session I read, after my own poems, A Man’s a Man for A’ That – that great radical rant from Burns against rank and privilege. During my third session a whole lot of folk arrived and my minder said ‘Do the Burns’. This was because the PM was about to arrive.”
Hugh told the Standard he couldn’t resist saying to Rishi Sunak: “Where have you been? You’ve missed the best bits.”
He added: “The PM stayed for the Burns poem, then hurried off.
“I don’t think he was affected by the words but was there as a token gesture.
Hugh has published four poetry books plus had prestigious positions such as Writer in Residence for the Harvard summer school and ambassador for the Scottish Poetry Library.
