Robert Burns (January 25, 1759 – July 21, 1796) (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite
son, the Ploughman Poet, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard) was a poet and a
lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best-known of the poets who have written in the
Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a 'light' Scots
dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these pieces, his political or
civil commentary is often at its most blunt.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became an
important source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in Scotland and among Scots who have
relocated to other parts of the world (the Scottish Diaspora), celebration of his life
and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th
centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature.
As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across
Scotland, often revising or adapting them.
His poem (and song) Auld Lang Syne is often sung at Hogmanay (New Year), and Scots Wha
Hae served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of the country.
Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well-known across the world today, include A Red,
Red Rose, A Man's A Man for A' That, To a Louse, To a Mouse, The Battle of Sherramuir, and Ae Fond Kiss.
Burns Night, effectively a second national day, is
celebrated on 25 January with Burns suppers around the
world, and is still more widely observed than the official national day,
Saint Andrew's Day, or the proposed North American celebration Tartan Day. The format of Burns suppers has not changed since Robert's death in 1796. The basic format starts
with a general welcome and announcements followed with the Selkirk Grace. Just post the grace comes the piping and cutting of the
Haggis, where Robert's famous Address To a Haggis is read, and the haggis is cut open. The
event usually allows for people to start eating just after the haggis is presented. This is when the reading called the "immortal
memory", an overview of Robert's life and work is given; the event usually concludes with the singing of Auld Lang
Syne.
Early years
Burns by Alexander Reid, 'The best likeness of me ever taken,' wrote Burns in Jan 1796
Robert Burns was born two miles south of Ayr, in Alloway,
South Ayrshire, Scotland, the eldest of the seven
children of William Burness (1721 - 1784) (Robert Burns
spelled his surname Burness until 1786), a self-educated tenant farmer from Dunnottar, Kincardinshire, and Agnes Broun (1732 - 1820), the daughter of a
tenant farmer from Kirkoswald, South Ayrshire.
He was born in a house built by his father (now the Burns Cottage Museum), where he
lived until Easter 1766 when he was seven years old. William Burness sold the house and took the
tenancy of the seventy acre Mount Oliphant farm, south east of Alloway. Here Burns grew up in poverty and hardship, and
the severe manual labour of the farm left its traces in a premature stoop and a weakened
constitution.
He had little regular schooling, and got much of his education from his father, who taught his children reading, writing,
arithmetic, geography, and history, and also wrote for them A Manual Of Christian Belief. He was also taught by John
Murdoch (1747 - 1824) , who opened an 'adventure school' in Alloway in 1763, and taught Latin, French and mathematics to
both Robert and his brother Gilbert (1760 - 1827) from 1765 to 1768,
until Murdoch left the parish. After a few years of home education Burns was sent to Dalrymple Parish School during the summer of
1772, before returning at harvest time to full time farm labouring until 1773 when he was sent to lodge with Murdoch for three
weeks to study grammar, French and Latin.
By the age of fifteen Burns was the principal labourer at Mount Oliphant. During the harvest of 1774 he was assisted by
Nelly Kilpatrick (1759 - 1820), who inspired his first attempt at poetry, O, Once I Lov'd A Bonie Lass. In the
summer of 1775 he was sent to finish his education with a tutor at Kirkoswald, where he met
Peggy Thomson (b.1762), to whom he wrote two songs, Now Westlin' Winds and I Dream'd I Lay.
At Whitsun, 1777, William Burness removed his large family from
the unfavourable conditions of Mount Oliphant for the one hundred and thirty acre farm at Lochlea, near Tarbolton, where they stayed until Burness's death in 1784. Subsequently, the
family became integrated into the community of Tarbolton. To his father's disapproval Robert joined a country dancing school in
1779, and with Gilbert formed the Tarbolton Bachelor's Club the following year. In 1781 Burns became a Freemason (see below) at Lodge St David, Tarbolton. His earliest existing letters date from
this time, when he began making romantic overtures to Alison Begbie (b. 1762). In spite of four songs written for her and
a suggestion that he was willing to marry her, she rejected him.
In December 1781 Burns moved temporarily to Irvine to learn to become a flax-dresser, but during the New
Year celebrations of 1781/1782, the flax shop caught fire and was sufficiently damaged to
send him home to Lochlea farm.
He continued to write poems and songs and began a Commonplace Book in 1783, while his father fought a legal dispute with his
landlord. The case went to the Court of Session and Burness was upheld in January 1784,
a fortnight before he died. Robert and Gilbert made an ineffectual struggle to keep on the farm but after its failure, they moved
to the farm at Mossgiel, near Mauchline in March, which they maintained with an uphill
fight for the next four years. During the summer of 1784 he came to know a group of girls known collectively as The Belles of
Mauchline, one of whom was Jean Armour, the daughter of a stonemason from
Mauchline.
His casual love affairs did not endear him to the elders of the local kirk and created for him a reputation for dissolution
amongst his neighbours. His first illegitimate child, Elizabeth Paton Burns (1785 - 1817) was born to his mother’s
servant, Elizabeth Paton (1760 - circa 1799), as he was embarking on a relationship with Jean Armour. Although she bore
him twins in 1786, her father initially forbade their marriage but they were eventually married in 1788, and she bore him nine
children in total, but only three survived infancy.
During a rift in his relationship with Jean Armour in 1786, and as his propects in farming declined, he began an affair with
'Highland' Mary Campbell (1763 - 1786), to whom he dedicated the poems The Highland Lassie O, Highland Mary
and To Mary in Heaven. Their relationship has been the subject of much conjecture and it has been suggested that they may
have married. They planned to emigrate to Jamaica, where Burns intended to work as a bookkeeper
on a plantation. He was dissuaded by a letter from Thomas Blacklock, and before the
plans could be acted upon, Mary Campbell died suddenly of a fever in Greenock. That summer, he published the first of his
collections of verse, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish dialect, which created a sensation and has been recognised as a
significant literary event.
Literary career
Title page of the Kilmarnock Edition.
At the suggestion of his brother, Robert Burns published his poems in the volume, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish
dialect in April 1786, known as the Kilmarnock volume. Brought out by a local
printer in Kilmarnock it contained much of his best writing, including The Twa Dogs,
Address to the Deil, Hallowe'en, The Cotter's Saturday Night, To a Mouse, and To a Mountain Daisy, many of which
had been written at Mossgiel farm. The success of the work was immediate and soon he was known across the country.
He was invited to Edinburgh in 1787 to oversee the preparation of a revised edition. There
he was received as an equal by the city's brilliant men of letters and was a guest at aristocratic gatherings, where he bore himself with unaffected dignity.
Here he encountered, and made a lasting impression on, the sixteen year old Walter
Scott, who described him later with great admiration:
| “ |
His person was strong and robust; his manners rustic, not clownish, a sort of dignified
plainness and simplicity which received part of its effect perhaps from knowledge of his extraordinary talents. His features are
presented in Mr Nasmyth's picture but to me it conveys the idea that they are diminished, as if seen in perspective. I think his
countenance was more massive than it looks in any of the portraits ... there was a strong expression of shrewdness in all his
lineaments; the eye alone, I think, indicated the poetical character and temperament. It was large, and of a dark cast, and
literally glowed when he spoke with feeling or interest. I never saw such another eye in a human head, though I have seen the
most distinguished men of my time. |
„ |
|
— Walter Scott
|
His stay in the city resulted in some life-long friendships, among which were those with Lord Glencairn and Frances Anna Dunlop (1730 - 1815) who became his
occasional sponsor, and with whom he corresponded for the rest of his life. He embarked on a relationship with the separated
Agnes 'Nancy' McLehose (1758 - 1841), with whom he exchanged passionate letters under pseudonyms (Burns called himself
'Sylvander', and Nancy 'Clarinda'). When it became clear that Nancy would not be easily seduced into a physical relationship,
Burns moved on to Jenny Clow (1766 - 1792), Nancy's domestic servant, who bore him a son, Robert Burns Clow in 1788. His
relationship with Nancy concluded in 1791 with a final meeting in Edinburgh before she sailed to
Jamaica for what transpired to be a short-lived reconciliation with her estranged husband. Before she left, he sent her the
manuscript of Ae Fond Kiss, as a farewell to her.
In Edinburgh in the winter of 1787 he met James Johnson, a struggling music engraver and music seller, with a love of old
Scots songs and a determination to preserve them. Burns shared this interest and became an enthusiastic contributor to
The Scots Musical Museum. The first volume of this was published in 1787 and
included three songs by Burns. He contributed 40 songs to volume 2, and would end up responsible for about a third of the 600
songs in the whole collection as well as making a considerable editorial contribution. The final volume was published in
1803.
On his return to Ayrshire he resumed his relationship with Jean Armour and took the farm of Ellisland near Dumfries, but trained as an exciseman
should farming continue to prove unsuccessful. He was appointed duties in Customs and Excise in 1789 and eventually gave up the farm in 1791.
Meanwhile he was writing at his best, and in 1790 had produced Tam O'
Shanter. About this time he was offered and declined an appointment in London on the staff of the Star newspaper, and refused to become
a candidate for a newly-created Chair of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgh, although influential friends offered to support his claims. After
giving up his farm he removed to Dumfries.
It was at this time that, being requested to write lyrics for The Melodies of Scotland, he responded by contributing
over 100 songs. He made major contributions to George Thomson's A Select
Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice as well as to James Johnson's The Scots Musical Museum. Arguably
his claim to immortality chiefly rests on these volumes which placed him in the front rank of lyric poets. Burns described how he had to master singing the tune before he composed the words:
| “ |
My way is: I consider the poetic sentiment, correspondent to my idea of the musical
expression, then chuse my theme, begin one stanza, when that is composed - which is generally the most difficult part of the
business - I walk out, sit down now and then, look out for objects in nature around me that are in unison or harmony with the
cogitations of my fancy and workings of my bosom, humming every now and then the air with the verses I have framed. when I feel
my Muse beginning to jade, I retire to the solitary fireside of my study, and there commit my effusions to paper, swinging, at
intervals, on the hind-legs of my elbow chair, by way of calling forth my own critical strictures, as my, pen goes. |
„ |
|
—Robert Burns
|
His direct literary influences in the use of Scots in poetry were Allan Ramsay
(1686-1758) and Robert Fergusson. Burns's poetry also drew upon a substantial
familiarity and knowledge of Classical, Biblical, and
English literature, as well as the Scottish Makar
tradition. Burns was skilled in writing not only in the Scots language but also in the
Scottish English dialect of the English language. Some of his works, such as Love and Liberty (also known as The Jolly
Beggars), are written in both Scots and English for various effects.
His themes included republicanism (he lived during the French Revolutionary period) and Radicalism which he
expressed covertly in Scots Wha Hae, Scottish patriotism, anticlericalism,
class inequalities, gender roles, commentary on the
Scottish Kirk of his time, Scottish
cultural identity, poverty, sexuality, and the
beneficial aspects of popular socialising (carousing, Scotch whisky, folk songs, and so
forth). Burns and his works were a source of inspiration to the pioneers of liberalism,
socialism and the campaign for Scottish
self-government, and he is still widely respected by political activists today, ironically even by conservatives and establishment figures because after his death Burns became drawn into the very fabric of
Scotland's national identity. It is this, perhaps unique,
ability to appeal to all strands of political opinion in the country that have led him to be widely acclaimed as the
national poet.
Burns's views on these themes in many ways parallel those of William Blake, but it is
believed that, although contemporaries, they were unaware of each other. Burns's works are less overtly mystical.
He is generally classified as a proto-Romantic poet, and he influenced
William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor
Coleridge, and Percy Bysshe Shelley greatly. The Edinburgh literati worked to sentimentalise Burns during his life and after his death, dismissing his education by
calling him a "heaven-taught ploughman." Burns would
influence later Scottish writers, especially Hugh MacDiarmid who fought to dismantle the
sentimental cult that had dominated Scottish literature in MacDiarmid's opinion.
Burns also worked to collect and preserve Scottish folk songs, sometimes revising, expanding, and adapting them. One of the
better known of these collections is The Merry Muses of Caledonia (the title is not Burns's), a collection of bawdy lyrics
that were popular in the music halls of Scotland as late as the 20th century. Many of Burns's
most famous poems are songs with the music based upon older traditional songs. For example, Auld Lang Syne is set to the traditional tune Can Ye Labour Lea, A Red, Red Rose is set to the tune of Major Graham and The Battle of Sherramuir is set to the Cameronian Rant.
The genius of Burns is marked by spontaneity, directness, and sincerity, and his variety is
marvellous, ranging from the rollicking humour and blazing wit of Tam o'
Shanter to the blistering satire of Holy Willie's Prayer and
The Holy Fair. His life is a tragedy, and his
character full of flaws. But he fought at tremendous odds, and as Thomas Carlyle in his
great Essay says, "Granted the ship comes into harbour with shrouds and tackle damaged, the pilot is blameworthy ... but to
know how blameworthy, tell us first whether his voyage has been round the Globe or only to Ramsgate and the Isle of
Dogs."
See Cutty-sark for the popularity of the phrase "Weel done, Cutty-sark", a line
from "Tam O' Shanter".
Masonic association
Robert Burns was initiated into Lodge St David Tarbolton on 4 July 1781, when he was 22. He was passed and raised on 1 October 1781. Later his lodge became dormant and Burns joined Lodge St James Tarbolton Kilwinning number 135. The location
of the Temple where he was made a Freemason is unknown but on 30
June 1784 the meeting place of the lodge became the “Manson Inn” in Tarbolton and one month later, 27 July 1784
Burns became Depute Master which he held until 1788, often honoured with supreme command.
Although regularly meeting in Tarbolton, the “Burns Lodge” also removed itself to to hold meetings in Mauchline. During 1784 he was heavily involved in Lodge business, attending all nine meetings, passing and
raising brethren and generally running the Lodge.
Similarly in 1785 he was equally involved as Depute Master where he again attended all nine lodge meetings amongst other
duties of the Lodge. During 1785 he initiated, and passed his brother Gilbert being raised on 1
March 1788. He must have been a very popular and well respected Depute Master, as the
minutes show that there were more lodge meetings well attended during the Burns period than at any other time.
At a meeting of Lodge St. Andrew in Edinburgh in 1787, in the presence of the Grand Master and Grand Lodge of Scotland, Burns
was toasted by the Worshipful Grand Master, Most Worshipful Brother Francis Chateris. When he was received into Edinburgh Lodges
his occupation was recorded as a “poet”. In early 1787, he was feted by the Edinburgh Masonic fraternity. The Edinburgh period of
Burns life was fateful as further editions the Kilmarnock edition were sponsored by the Edinburgh Freemasons, ensuring that his
name spread around Scotland and subsequently to England and abroad.
During his tour of the South of Scotland as he was collecting material for The Scots Musical Museum, he visited lodges
throughout Ayrshire, and became an honorary member of a number of them. On 18 May
1787 he arrived at Eyemouth, Berwickshire and a meeting was convened of Royal Arch and Burns became
a Royal Arch Mason. On his return journey home to Ayrshire as he passed through Dumfries, where he later lived and is the site of
the Burns Mausoleum, he was given the freedom of the town.
On 25 July 1787, after being re-elected Depute Master he
presided at a meeting where several well-known Masons were given honorary membership. During his Highland tour he visited many
other lodges. During the period from his election as Depute Master in 1784, Lodge St James had been convened 70 times. Burns was
present 33 times and was 25 times the presiding officer. On 11 November 1788 was his last meeting at his mother lodge St James Kilwinning.
He joined Lodge Dumfries St Andrew Number 179 on 27 December 1788. This was an unfortunate choice, made perhaps because of the Excise connection. Out of the six Lodges in
Dumfries he joined the one which was the weakest of them. The records of this lodge are scant and we hear no more of him until on
30 November 1792 when Burns was elected Senior Warden. From
this date until his final meeting in the Lodge on 14 April 1796
it appears that the Lodge met only 5 times. There are no records of Burns visiting any other lodges.
Final years
Statue of Burns in Dumfries.
As Burns's health began to give way he began to age prematurely and fell into fits of despondency. The habits of intemperance
aggravated his long-standing rheumatic heart condition, and on July 21 1796 he died at the age of 37.
A memorial edition of his poems was published to raise money for his wife and children, and within a short time of his death,
money started pouring in from all over Scotland to support them. His life and work continues to be promoted by Burns clubs across
the world, with his birthday an unofficial national day for Scots and those with
Scottish ancestry, celebrated with Burns
suppers.
Honours
There are many organizations around the world named after Burns, as well as a large number of statues and memorials. Organisations include:
Statues and memorials
-
Towns named after Robert Burns
Miscellaneous
The British Royal Mail issued postage stamps commemorating Burns twice: two stamps,
valued at fourpence and 1 shilling and threepence, both carrying Burns's portrait were issued in 1966. A second issue
commemorating the bicentenary of Burns's death in 1996 contained four stamps valued at 19 pence, 25 pence, 41 pence and 60 pence,
and included quotes from Burns's poems.
Robert Burns is pictured on the £5 banknote (since 1971) of the Clydesdale Bank, one of the Scottish banks with the right to
issue banknotes. On the reverse of the note there is a vignette of a field mouse and a wild rose which refers to Burns's poem
"Ode to a mouse"
A BR standard class 7 steam locomotive was named after him, along with a later
electric locomotive, 87035
Burns's birthplace in Alloway is now a public museum.
1996 a musical by the name Red Red Rose won third place at a competition for new musicals in Denmark. The musical was
about Burns's life and Robert Burns was played by John Barrowman.
See also
Notes
References
- Robert Burns, The Canongate Burns: The Complete Poems and Songs of Robert Burns, ed. Andrew Noble and Patrick
Scott Hogg (2001; Edinburgh: Canongate, 2003). ISBN 1-84195-380-6
- This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910).
A Short Biographical Dictionary of English
Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.
- Dietrich Hohmann: Ich, Robert Burns, Biographical Novel, Neues Leben, Berlin 1990 (in German)
External links
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