From Burns to Butlins Grand Tours of Scotland

The dramatic landscape of Scotland is a big part of

the country's appeal. But some of the first tourists

were attracted by something quite different.

They were fans on a pilgrimage.

They came to see all the sights associated with the life

of one of the first global superstars, Robert Burns -

the man who made Ayrshire famous.

To cater for these literary fans,

Black's Picturesque Guide to Scotland

was quick to offer help and encouragement.

A copy of this fascinating old book

has been in my family for generations.

It was always kept in the glove compartment

of my father's car when we went on holiday.

40 years on, I'm using Black's to inspire me

on my own journeys across Scotland.

And it's brought me to Ayrshire to discover the land of Burns.

My grand tour begins in Alloway,

the birthplace of Scotland's bard.

I then head up the coast to discover the delights of holiday camps

and ice cream, before rejoining the Burns trail to Mauchline

and a flutter at the Ayr races.

This is the old kirk at Alloway.

Probably the most famous ruined church in Scotland.

"Glimmering thro' the groaning trees

"Kirk-Alloway seem'd in a bleeze

"Thro' ilka bore the beams were glancing

"And loud resounded mirth and dancing."

In Burns' celebrated poem Tam o'Shanter

this is where the drunken Tam witnesses a group

of witches and warlocks dancing with the devil.

Published in 1791, the poem was a rip-roaring success

and soon fans began arriving here to see for themselves

the source of Burns' inspiration. And from the old kirk,

they began spreading out across the countryside

looking for other connections with their poetic hero.

Burns died in poverty in 1796,

but the cult of Burns was just beginning.

Right, Eric...

'Joining historian Eric Zeulow,

'I'm on a tandem tour of the land o' Burns.'

It didn't take long for this area to become a tourist attraction did it?

No. First tourists started coming within a year or so

of the poet's death and then more and more and more started coming.

And it's striking that really Burns tourism is the second literary

branch of tourism to start up after Stratford-upon-Avon in England.

And this became celebrated the world over as the land of Burns?

Yeah, there was a guide book in about 1820 that had those

words in the title and then a picture book came out in 1840

with lots of pictures and stories and more.

This early guide book with its beautiful illustrations

by the painter David Hill,

did much to encourage this new breed of tourist.

This is the way to travel, Eric.

This is great.

'And clutching their copies of Burns' poems,

'they came here from all over the world.'

Up to the keystone, up to the keystone.

This is where Tam o'Shanter was saved from the clutches

of the witches after he'd crossed over the old Brig O'Doon.

An absolutely gorgeous location.

These were pilgrimage sites in a way. It's kind of a secular pilgrimage.

Tourists coming here were coming to experience the poems,

experience the place in which those poems were created,

and to maybe get into the mind of the poet.

And the place is as much an imagined thing as it is a reality.

And I guess they weren't just coming for views, were they?

They were coming to be in a place that had a connection with Burns.

Oh, I think that's absolutely right.

They, the poems paint a vivid image of place

and so they wanted to come and experience that

and by doing that, step into the mind of the poet.

And nowhere better encapsulated the romantic image

of The heaven-taught Ploughman than the poet's humble birthplace.

-Here we are.

-Burns' cottage. All right.

But it's a really intriguing thought when you realise that this

great poetic genius did come from such a lowly background.

What did early tourists make of the experience

of coming to Burns' cottage?

Mixed views, I'm afraid.

I think some people were charmed by it.

There were others, and some of them pretty notable

John Keats, for example came and found that it had been

turned into a pub.

And this absolutely shattered his...

I mean, he'd built... He had built this up.

This was something he'd been talking about and writing about.

Oh, it was going to be so great and then he gets here

and it was just, it was shattering.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, the American author, came here and he commented

that the Alloway kirk was impossibly small and the cottage stank.

-It stank?

-Smelled.

-Well, it was a farm, course it stank.

-Exactly.

And that's the reality isn't it?

I mean, Keats came looking for something else,

but the reality he found here wasn't quite to his taste.

Yes, but you're...

When you're travelling you're not expecting reality,

you're expecting what you imagined to be authenticity.

-Right.

-And that's all in your head.

But despite some initial disappointment,

the literary pilgrims kept coming,

and throughout the following decades visitor numbers increased.

Gradually folk began to realise

that there was a buck to be made out of all these tourists.

The curator of the cottage is Tom McMinn, 75 years young.

Do you ever get any famous people here?

Famous people, sir? They come from the outermost ends of the earth.

I've met Clark Gable, Irvine Berlin,

Joe Louis the boxer,

aye, and I've met the Prince of Wales and a beggar man on the same day.

Today they still come in their thousands,

making Alloway a kind of literary theme park.

-That is enormous.

-What do they eat?

Tourists. HE LAUGHS

Burns certainly played a major part

in putting Ayrshire on the world tourist map.

I'm now heading up the coast to Ayr to find out about another man

who brought tourists flocking to this part of Scotland.

In the years immediately following the Second World War,

people wanted to have a bit of fun when they went on holiday.

And for that they turned not to Robert Burns,

but to Billy Butlin.

The whole idea behind the holiday camp

was to provide an all-inclusive entertainment package at one location.

It was actually inspired by Billy Butlin's own experience

of the great British seaside holiday,

where guests were regularly thrown out of their boarding houses in the morning,

couldn't get back in again until tea-time,

with nothing to do and nowhere to go. But soon that changed

and happy holiday-makers were pedalling to a brighter future.

The Butlins camp at Ayr opened in 1947 and the philosophy was simple -

a week's holiday for a week's pay.

The original camp has long gone, replaced by a modern holiday park.

Here, I'm meeting writer and Butlins fan Kathryn Ferry.

Kathryn, I imagine the view has changed a lot since Butlin's heyday.

Absolutely it has and you can't really visualise it today,

but Billy Butlin was really all about creating a holiday atmosphere

and so his camps had lots of colourful spaces in them

and that was really important.

So he was providing the colour of summer even if was raining?

Yeah, absolutely. That was the idea, yeah.

When you think how the country was just grey in the war years.

Billy Butlin designed the camps specifically

so that they had this sort of air of another place.

All the fences were painted in primary colours

and there fairy lights hanging up around the camp,

and gardens with full gladioli and roses.

I mean, really colourful.

There would have been, on the front here, the outdoor pool.

and there was the cable car that brought you down from the hill

-down to the main building.

-Cable car?

-Absolutely, yes.

It was very much an attempt to try and make people

feel like they'd left the everyday workaday world behind.

This series of postcards, produced at the height of Butlins' popularity,

make it all seem incredibly glamorous.

And the British public kept coming back for more.

It's just the sort of thing that I always imagined you could do at Butlins.

Do something crazy and surreal like pedal a giant swan on Swan Lake.

Yeah. Butlins always had his boating lake.

But there were all sorts of competitions for every member of the family.

So Glamorous Grandmother, there was the Bonny Baby competitions,

beauty contests of course. All sorts, even shiniest bald head.

There were competitions for eating Chinese food with chopsticks,

when that was a really new thing.

Knobbly knee competitions. What was all that about?

-That's an old favourite that one.

-It's all very self-mocking. Is that a very British thing?

It is, but I think it's a very British trait isn't it?

-We're not really taking ourselves too seriously.

-No, no if you...

-And how could you be in a giant swan?

-No, exactly.

-Tell you what, we seem to be sinking here.

-I think we are sinking!

I think seriously sinking, yes.

By the mid-sixties, Butlins Ayr was one of ten camps nationwide.

Places where working people could enjoy an affordable holiday

and good, clean family fun.

Even when it rained.

And entertaining campers was executed with military precision.

A glance at this programme from 1949

gives you an idea of just how closely

the Butlins experience was timetabled.

The day kicks off at 8 o'clock with "Good morning campers!"

And then at 10 o'clock you had Keep Fit with Sandy in the Ballroom.

11 o'clock was Crazy Cricket or Hi De Hi in the theatre,

and at 2.15 was the children's Mannequin Competition

in the Quiet Lounge, which wouldn't have been very quiet.

And then at 8.30 was the All-Star Wrestling Competition.

10.30 the Redcoats say "Ta-ta, the Noo" to departing campers,

and at midnight the escape committee met to dig a tunnel.

Only joking.

The people who were employed to bring holiday-makers out of their shells

were, of course, the Redcoats.

Their role was part organiser and part entertainer,

responsible for keeping the fun and frolics going.

-Ian, if you could help me on with the jacket.

-I'll do the honours.

Oh, thanks... The real thing, the real...

-The real McCoy.

-..Redcoat's jacket...

'And to see if I measure up, I'm meeting Frank and Ian

'who were Redcoats here at Ayr back in the day.'

-Don't forget the buttons.

-Was that important?

Oh, yes. You had to keep the buttons fastened all the time.

Didn't matter if the jacket didn't fit,

you still had to put the buttons on.

Yeah, sometimes we got late in the season, we got what was left.

-What do you think?

-There is one thing missing.

-There is something?

-Yes.

-Really?

White handkerchief. Goes in the top pocket.

-Why is a handkerchief...?

-It was the tradition.

That was the finishing touch for any Redcoat uniform.

-Sartorial flourish.

-Yeah, it's just an added finish.

You were in a new world.

You were in a special world that didn't exist beyond those gates.

You had to be always smiling.

You were not allowed to walk past people and not say "hello".

You got a chance to do maybe a bit of performing as well.

And being a Redcoat was seen as the first rung on the ladder to stardom.

Des O'Connor and Isla St Clair started their careers at Ayr

Amongst many other famous names were Charlie Drake, Jimmy Tarbuck,

Dave Allen, Rod Hull, H from Steps and now, of course, Paul Murton.

-You ready for this?

-Go for it.

-This is my audition for the part of a Redcoat.

Hi De Hi!

Ho De Ho. Perfect. The man's a natural.

Hire me.

Showbiz razzmatazz may have been Butlins' big selling point,

but when the sun was shining, everybody headed for the beach.

And there were many to choose from along this coast.

My next stop is Saltcoats.

The name comes from its unusual history

as a place where salt was harvested from the sea.

In its heyday, this was a busy seaside resort.

When its grand new esplanade opened in 1920,

you could hardly move for excited day-trippers.

Today, I've come in search of what remains

of one of the Ayrshire coast's most popular attractions.

Scotland's largest artificial tidal pool opened here in the 1930s.

It may not be much to look at today,

but, back then, it really was something,

and bathers flocked here for an invigorating plunge

in its waters.

But, sadly, like many seaside towns today,

Saltcoats went into decline in the 1970s.

And this is all that's left of a golden era.

This is pretty sad, really.

The whole place has been trashed, and there's not much left.

The pool is full of all kinds of rubbish

bottles, plastic bags, goodness knows what else.

But I'm not one to shirk my responsibilities

to get as close to the authentic experience of a Scottish holiday.

So, dressed in a dry-suit, I'm bracing myself to experience

this once-great sporting venue.

Ah!

It's hard to believe, but in the summer months this pool

would have been packed with holiday-makers enjoying themselves.

I could spend all day out here!

But the lure of warmer waters abroad

sadly spelt the end of the craze for outdoor bathing.

We've either got softer or it's got colder.

There's now only one outside pool left on this coastline.

But floating in the ruins of this once grand pool,

I get a sense of the fun that was had here.

It's Martini time!

Now, where are the hot showers?

There's nothing like a swim to work up a good appetite.

So, I'm heading up the coast to Largs

for some traditional seaside cuisine.

Early visitors to Largs weren't always made to feel welcome,

as Black's points out.

This is where the King of Scots defeated

King Haco of Norway in 1263, "with great slaughter."

Today a monument stands to that famous victory.

But, many centuries after the Norwegians were sent packing,

large numbers of incomers began arriving from southern Europe.

The difference - they stayed.

And without them, a trip to the seaside

just wouldn't be the same.

Throughout the early part of the 20th century,

Italian immigrants began to influence

the Scottish holiday experience.

They opened fish-and-chip shops, ice cream parlours and cafes,

catering for the growing number of Scots coming to the seaside.

Nardini's opened in 1935.

It had the most stylish Art Deco furnishings of the day,

and was an instant hit with customers.

To find out more about the huge influence

of Italian cafe culture on the seaside,

I'm meeting up with screenwriter Sergio Casci,

whose family, like so many Scots-Italians,

ran an ice cream parlour.

Sergio, the Italian culture had a huge influence, did it not,

on the way we appreciate our own seaside resorts?

-Yeah.

-And a whole culture has built up around ice cream,

around the Italian ice cream parlour.

Well, it's become, it's become almost a rite of passage.

You come to the little seaside resort, you have an ice cream.

It's one of the essentials of the Scottish summer, and holiday experience.

Now, you're obviously Italian,

the name Sergio, and you're directly connected to this story,

because your family set up an ice cream parlour.

Well, that's right, yeah.

My great grandfather came over in 1899, and he opened one cafe,

then two, then three, then my grandfather took over, my father.

That was one of the cafes they had...

-Your great grandfather's, is it?

-My great grandfather.

Italians came over in great numbers at the end of the 19th century.

They were poor immigrants looking for work.

They arrived in Scotland and discovered the Scots didn't really know about ice cream.

You had industrial workers who were working, maybe,

five or six days a week, and they had an extra day off.

For the first time, people had leisure time,

and they had a little bit of extra money to spend.

So, your typical Glaswegian would go to the coast at the weekend,

he'd paddle in the freezing cold sea, then he'd look for something to eat,

he'd look for a bit of luxury.

And so, the ice cream cafe, the ice cream parlour,

became an essential part of the Scottish holiday experience.

-Here they are, the staff. Very smart.

-They were beautiful.

Smartly attired, as well, with those long aprons.

In those days, going to a cafe was more

than just the ice cream, and the coffee.

You wanted to give people a sense of luxury.

But not everyone was in favour of this new craze.

As ice cream became more popular, it fell foul of the church,

who considered this frozen dessert

a subversive influence on young people.

The great and the good of Scottish society

were very suspicious of these ice cream parlours

because, at the end of the day, ice cream is an indulgence.

Ordinary working-class Scots loved it, but the people in charge

of the moral fibre of the nation, they were very suspicious.

For a start, these shops opened on a Sunday, which was a big no-no.

I think the Scottish society at that time,

there was a certain distrust and a mistrust of such fripperies.

And, when you look at some of the debates that were had,

political debates and in the newspaper letter pages

at the time, you see this tremendous suspicion.

The idea that our young people could be drawn into these

dens of iniquity, where they would indulge in such luxuries.

And where would that lead?

It would lead to smoking. It would lead to kissing.

And one person actually made a connection between young women

of great moral fibre and good character,

innocent young girls, discovering the ice cream parlour, having their

first taste of ice cream, leading to cigarettes, then kissing,

and ultimately they ended up as common streetwalkers,

-as prostitutes.

-No!

All because of a, you know, double vanilla with sprinkles.

-Right. That's a slippery slope.

-It's a slippery slope.

Of course, Italian cafes were here to stay

and have become a big part of the seaside experience.

Leaving the coast, I'm heading inland to enjoy

a traditional celebration that dates back centuries.

This is Mauchline, where thousands come every year

to enjoy the Holy Fair.

In Burns' day, this was a mixture of the righteous and the raucous.

He captured the scene perfectly in his eponymous poem.

"My name is Fun - your cronie dear,

"The nearest friend ye hae,

"An' this is Superstition here,

"An' that's Hypocrisy.

"I'm gaun to Mauchline Holy Fair,

"To spend an hour in daffin:

"Gin ye'll go there, yon runkl'd pair,

"We will get famous laughin'

"At them this day."

Over two centuries later, it's still fun that most people are after,

and it seems there's plenty on offer.

The origins of The Holy Fair date back to the 17th century,

when fire-and-brimstone Presbyterian ministers travelled around country areas

to preach and give communion.

Your heathenous ways on the Sabbath are to stop!

But by Burns' day, this religious festival had become

more of an unholy fair - a jostling, promiscuous carnival.

And the Kirk did not approve.

-You should be saying your catechism every day! Every day!

-You're a pair of eejits!

Rot down into hell!

And what's your attitude to the goings on that you've seen so far today?

Devil's work sir. Devil's work! Yes indeed, they're terrible, terrible.

Sinners, every one of them.

There's gambling, gambling for alcohol. Alcohol, the devil's juice.

There's far too much hilarity. People enjoying themselves.

Fairs like these died out in the 19th century,

but many have again become annual events.

And Mauchline Holy Fair now attracts thousands of townsfolk

and tourists for the great day.

If you had one word to say to them all, what would you say?

Repent now. Repent your sins now, before it's too late.

Think it is too late. Thanks very much, gentlemen.

Burns stayed in Mauchline when he was a young man,

and it was his experience of life here that inspired some of his most vivid characters.

Just a few minutes away from all the noise of the fair,

there's a rather grand monument to our national bard,

built to celebrate the centenary of his death.

What a great view!

From here you can see Mossgiel, the farm where Burns once lived,

along with the places that inspired his writing.

Now, this memorial was built after my edition of Black's was published,

so it doesn't get a mention at all.

But it does feature a lot in later guides,

including this colourful little number called The Burns Country,

Where We Have Been And What We Have Seen.

'And the guide proclaims, "This is the true homeland of Burns.

'"Here he grew from youth to man, fell in love and out of love,

'"married and gave his first poetry to the world."'

And rather curiously, it's illustrated with images of Scotsmen in exotic locations.

And they're united in their colonial endeavours

by a line from Burns' most celebrated international song, Auld Lang Syne.

Bound in friendship, wherever they were and whoever they'd colonised.

It occurs to me that what makes Burns special is not just his international appeal,

but the unique way in which his memory and work are still cherished and celebrated here in Scotland.

Even The Holy Fair has been revived in his honour,

helping to keep alive the traditions and the culture that inspired him.

Leaving behind the fun of the fair,

I'm completing my circular tour of Ayrshire

to witness another tradition with a long pedigree.

RACE COMMENTARY FROM LOUDSPEAKER

There's been a racecourse at Ayr for centuries,

and it's always pulled in the punters.

Much to my surprise, Black's guide, normally the model of moral rectitude,

takes the opportunity to notify tourists who want a flutter on the horses

which days of the week are racing days.

By the early 1900s, horse racing at Ayr attracted thousands of day trippers.

They came, enjoyed the spectacle, soaked up the atmosphere,

and, of course, parted with some hard-earned cash.

The present racecourse was developed here in 1907

and today hosts the most prestigious events in the Scottish racing calendar -

The Ayr Gold Cup and the Scottish Grand National.

And for many, a big part of the day is the thrill of putting a few quid on a long shot.

I'm not a gambling man and so it's with some trepidation that I'm going to try and place a bet.

But before I waste my money, I'm going to speak to someone who knows the business inside out.

I'm hoping that track-side bookie Julie Williams can give me a winning tip.

First thing I need to know is what is the form of a horse?

What's that? What are you talking about?

What you're talking about there is you want to look at how

a horse has been performing. So you'd look back at his record.

One of the most important things we look at is how a stable's doing in the last 14 days.

So they've got a good record. It's all about the record of the horse, record of the trainer?

Absolutely. But if all that fails, you just pick the colours of the jockey silks.

-The colours!

-Yeah.

-There must be more of a science to it than that, surely!

So, having studied the form, I've decided to take the less scientific approach,

and put my money on the jockey wearing red and green.

RACE COMMENTARY FROM LOUDSPEAKER

Oh! Oh!

And the system seems to work!

After a photo finish, Ginger Jack wins!

Thank you very much indeed. Yes!

Flushed with success I put my winnings on the jockey wearing blue and yellow.

Sadly, this time the system fails.

Better luck next time, I think.

The thing about gambling is, there's only really one winner, and that's the bookie.

Not that I'm grumbling in any way, because it's all about playing the game.

Which is why people come here - to enjoy the spectacle, the excitement

and the atmosphere of a great day out -

all things that Robert Burns would have loved,

which is why I'm ending my grand tour of Scotland, from Burns to Butlins, at the races.

On my next Grand Tour, I'm facing the big chill,

as winter comes to Scotland

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