“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel…”

I thought of these words by the great American writer Maya Angelou as I watched the Ellisland trio perform before a transfixed congregation in the beautiful Brick Presbyterian Church on the Upper East Side as part of the New York City Tartan Week programme.

These musicians communicated the message of our campaign to Save the Home of Auld Lang Syne better than any spoken words.

Robyn Stapleton’s exceptional voice has an emotional depth to match her extraordinary range. Rebecca Hill’s Celtic harp was ethereal. Claire Mann stopped hearts when she played the 200-year-old Burns family flute from our collection – silent for more than a century, until we restored it last year.

The occasion was the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartan service, organised by the St Andrew’s Society of the State of New York, founded in 1756 to support Scots in need. The trio performed Ye Banks and Braes and then Auld Lang Syne, both written by Robert Burns at Ellisland, and perfect for the setting.

Afterwards, I was privileged to address Society members, alongside the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, Alison Johnstone MSP. Quoting Angelou, who herself admired Burns, I was able to thank our American friends for their role in honouring, preserving and celebrating Scottish culture.

In doing so, they were carrying on a tradition begun by Burns himself. At Ellisland, despite the harsh toil of the farm, he collected, preserved and adapted Scottish songs and stories he feared might be lost.

Thanks to Burns, Scotland has one of the finest folk song traditions in the world, and Americans have made a huge contribution to that. Auld Lang Syne became an international anthem to friendship because Scots carried it across the Atlantic in the great migrations of the 19th century. It was later immortalised in films like It’s a Wonderful Life and When Harry Met Sally and on television such as in Sex and the City.

The musicians were part of an all-female team who travelled from Scotland – the others being myself and Ellisland’s Project Officer Katie MacDonald. Bringing the trio and this rare instrument to Tartan Week required much work. But it allowed us to speak directly to American audiences through the songs Burns wrote at this 1788 Farmstead, the only home he ever built, and which we are in a race to save from decay.

Across the week, we were welcomed by a number of organisations at the heart of Scottish-American life. The trio performed at a breakfast event co-hosted Visit Scotland and The Scottish Government where I spoke about Ellisland’s future as a cultural destination for international visitors. They also performed at the American Scottish Foundation Supper Club dinner in the impressive University Club, where guest paid  $160 a ticket. We had a physical presence and distributed campaign specific US campaign material at all these events, as well as at the lively ceilidh hosted by the New York Caledonian Club.

At each of these gatherings, the response was the same. People were moved by the music, and deeply interested in the future of Ellisland.

Highland culture: pipes, drums and of course tartan, is very much part of the week’s iconography, shaped by the history of migration and, more recently, by the global success of Outlander, whose star Sam Heughan led the Tartan Day Parade. Our presence here offered a direct connection to Burns, and to the south of Scotland, where Sam himself hails from, and where he now owns Galloway Distillery.

It is because of Burns that so many Jacobite songs are still sung, and that Scotland’s landscapes carry such meaning. He even wrote My Heart’s in the Highlands at Ellisland. The shepherd’s plaid he wore while working the Dumfriesshire fields became the Burns Check, which we proudly wore throughout the week. The black white and brown pattern attracted a great deal of interest, not least for its understated elegance – perfectly suited to Park Avenue!

But at the centre of our visit was the campaign to Save the Home of Auld Lang Syne. Raising awareness is a crucial part of that work, and throughout the week we had conversations with dozens of people, sharing our plans, our vision, and the story of Ellisland. 

The trip culminated in the Tartan Day Parade along Sixth Avenue – an unforgettable experience. Marching behind our banner, “Help Save the Home of Auld Lang Syne”, we were met with warmth, curiosity and applause from the saltire-waving crowds.

But perhaps the most poignant moment came in Central Park. A statue of Burns stands there, inscribed with lines from To Mary in Heaven, written at Ellisland. The statue is currently fenced off while the park’s literary walk is being restored. The trio performed nearby, in a quiet corner, framed by the New York skyline and spring cherry blossom.

We were fortunate to work with New York based Scottish photojournalist David Gray. His images of that impromptu performance captured something essential about the trip, and about the campaign itself.

Here was a delicate, centuries-old instrument, meticulously restored. Now we want to restore its crumbling home, Robert Burns’s home, with the same care and love.

The flute once belonged to Burns’s son, James Glencairn Burns, an accomplished musician who performed his father’s music. We have brought it back to life so that it can once again share that brilliance with the world.

We want to do the same with Ellisland. Saving the Home of Auld Lang Syne is about more than preserving a historic building. It is also about honouring the remarkable body of work created there, more than 130 songs, verses and stories, and sustaining the living culture that connects Scotland and America to this day.

Joan McAlpine, Project Director for the Robert Burns Ellisland Trust