An event commemorating the escapades of four Burns enthusiasts in marking the Bard’s connection to Angus and the Mearns has been staged.
Robert Burns stopped to water his horse in Hillside, near Montrose, on his Highland Tour of 1787 along with his travelling companion Willie Nicol, when Burns was visiting the ancestral graves of his forebears at nearby Glenbervie, and the various farms and relatives connected to his family.
His father William Burnes was born at Clochnahill in the parish of Dunnottar and a stone cairn was built at the side of the road to Stonehaven, to commemorate this connection with the Bard.
In 1930 four local men marked his passage through the area and a memorial service was held on Sunday beside their revived plaque on Rosemount Road, Hillside.
It was only through a heritage project that the full story emerged, thanks to Harry Harris of Yorkshire and formerly of Montrose.
Sunnyside Hospital’s superintendent, C J Shaw, along with orderlies Willie Herd and Joseph Harris, Harry’s father, placed the memorial plaque in the wall.
The plaque was sculpted by Adam Christie, who was a patient at Sunnyside for 50 years.
This year Christie has been acknowledged and celebrated by Historic Scotland for his artistic achievements and his distinctive carvings of faces in stone.
The event focused on the four “men of Hillside” who installed the plaque, and to Burns.
Keynote speaker was Aberdeenshire councillor and NHS Grampian chairman Bill Howatson, who gave an address commemorating Burns and Christie.
Richard Stark, president of Montrose Burns Club, provided a tribute to the life and works of Robert Burns, and the Rev John Anderson gave the dedication.
Gourdon piper Tom Roberts played the welcome and farewell to Hillside on the Highland pipes, and Joan Christie of Montrose laid five red roses at the commemorative plaque.
Dave Ramsay, director of Howe o’ the Mearns Heritage Association, which organised the event, said: “It is always a pleasure to see the wide range of people who attend, from local Burns clubs and heritage societies, and it is important we all ensure that this important piece of local heritage is never forgotten.”