The Mysterious Robbie Gordon

By Barry Bernhardt

Part I - 1951 - 1964, introduces the reader to Robbie Gordon and the family into which he is born, particularly his mother. Robbie Gordon is a mysterious, gifted, sickly boy from the Scottish community of Maxville, Ontario. Robbie seems to have special unknown gifts and as a child he starts to write beautiful poetry and falls in love with the poetry of Robert Burns. Robbie's only friend, during his short life, is Dr. John Murdoch an English teacher at Banffshire Academy in Kingston, Ontario. Robbie drowns in Lake Ontario at the age of 13 and the last poem he writes is to his beloved teacher, entitled, 'To John Murdoch'. Part II - 2010, a previously unknown and undiscovered poem is found in the archives of a 200 year old reputable French boys school in London, England. The poem is determined to be an authentic Robert Burns poem written to his beloved childhood teacher, also named John Murdoch, also entitled 'To John Murdoch'. It turns out that Dr. John Murdoch of Kingston, Ontario, now elderly, is the only surviving heir of the original John Murdoch and thus inherits the Burns poem. When Dr. Murdoch first reads the Burns poem he is shocked to see that it is exactly, word for word, the same poem that Robbie Gordon wrote to him some 46 years earlier. Now Dr. Murdoch has two identical poems, written almost 200 years apart, but keeps the Robbie Gordon poem a secret from the world for 46 years. Parts III - 2010 - Maggie Gordon is a young, attractive litigation lawyer practicing in Toronto and is an Aunt to Robbie Gordon, who she never met, but has heard many stories about. Being a major discovery, the new Burns poem becomes a world-wide phenomenon and many offers are made to Dr. Murdoch to purchase the poem, including an offer from a wealthy American, named Clarence Murdoch, for $2 million. He rejects all offers. Dr. John Murdoch contacts Maggie to tell her that he has may be facing legal challenges about his ownership of the Robert Burns poem. Part IV - Three different parties come forward claiming that they have a better legal claim to the Robert Burns poem than Dr. Murdoch: 1) the French school in London, where the poem was originally found; 2) Clarence Murdoch, who claims to be the proper heir to poem, not Dr. Murdoch; and 3) a freemason's lodge in Scotland, who produced a handwritten note from Burns himself referencing the poem 'To John Murdoch' and promising to give it to the lodge. Litigation ensues and the final decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal is that Dr. Murdoch is the rightful owner of the Burns poem, not only on legal grounds, but also on the equitable grounds that the mysterious Robbie Gordon poem and the Robert Burns poem should be kept together. The story ends with Robbie Gordon and Robert Burns becoming friends and continuing to write poetry!

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1695163052
• ISBN13: 9781695163058
• Release Date: September 2019
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 180 Pages
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.4" x 6.0"