Southern Scotland - Scotland - page 328

I see her sweet and fair:

I hear her in the tunefu' birds,

I hear her charm the air:

There's not a bonnie flower that springs
By fountain, shaw, or green;

There's not a bonnie bird that sings,

But minds me o' my Jean.

Robert Burns, 'Of a' the Airts', 1788

Best remembered for penning the words of 'Auld Lang Syne' , Robert Burns (1759-96) is Scotland's most fam-
ous poet and a popular hero; his birthday (25 January) is celebrated as Burns Night by Scots around the world.

Burns was born in 1759 in Alloway to a poor family, who scraped a living gardening and farming. At school he
soon showed an aptitude for literature and a fondness for the folk song. He later began to write his own songs and
satires. When the problems of his arduous farming life were compounded by the threat of prosecution from the
father of Jean Armour, with whom he'd had an affair, he decided to emigrate to Jamaica. He gave up his share of
the family farm and published his poems to raise money for the journey.

The poems were so well reviewed in Edinburgh that Burns decided to remain in Scotland and devote himself to
writing. He went to Edinburgh in 1787 to publish a 2nd edition, but the financial rewards were not enough to live
on and he had to take a job as a excise man in Dumfriesshire. Though he worked well, he wasn't a taxman by
nature, and described his job as 'the execrable office of whip-person to the blood-hounds of justice'. He contrib-
uted many songs to collections, and a 3rd edition of his poems was published in 1793. A prodigious writer, Burns
composed more than 28,000 lines of verse over 22 years. He died (probably of heart disease) in Dumfries in 1796,
aged 37, having fathered more than a dozen children to several different women.

Burns wrote in Lallans, the Scottish Lowland dialect of English that is not very accessible to the Sassenach
(Englishman) or foreigner; perhaps this was part of his appeal. He was also very much a man of the people, satir-
ising the upper classes and the church for their hypocrisy.

Many of the local landmarks mentioned in the verse-tale 'Tam o' Shanter' can still be visited. Farmer Tam, rid-
ing home after a hard night's drinking in a pub in Ayr, sees witches dancing in Alloway churchyard. He calls out
to the one pretty witch, but is pursued by them all, and has to reach the other side of the River Doon to be safe. He
just manages to cross the Brig o' Doon, but his mare loses her tail to the witches.
The Burns connection in southern Scotland is milked for all it's worth and tourist offices have a Burns Heritage
Trail leaflet leading you to every place that can claim some link with the bard. Burns fans should have a look at
www.robertburns.org .

Sights

Robert Burns Birthplace Museum

MUSEUM