Robert Burns

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Robert Burns (1759 – 1796), also known as Rabbie Burns, Bard of Ayrshire, and other titles and epithets, was a Scottish poet and lyricist.

He is widely regarded as Scotland's national poet, and is lauded around the world.

He is the best-known of the Scots language writers, but much of his writing is also in English and a light Scots dialect, making it available to a wider audience than Scotland.

He also wrote in standard English, and in these essays his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest. He is widely regarded as a pion of the Romantic movement, and after his death he inspired both liberalism and socialism as well as a cultural icon in Scotland and the Scottish diaspora around the world.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, his life and work became almost national charismatic, and Scottish literature has long been a strong focus.

In 2009, he was named as the best Scot by the Scottish people in a referendum run by Scottish television network STV. Burns has also collected folk songs from around Scotland, many times revising or adapting them.

"Auld Lang Syne" is often performed in Hogmanay (the country's last day of the year), and "Scots Wha Hae" served as the country's unofficial national anthem for a long time.

"A Red, Red Rose," "A Man's A Man for A' That," "To a Mouse," "The Battle of Sherramuir," "To a Man," "The Battle of Sherramuir"), "Tam o' Shanter," "The Battle of Sherramuir," "To a Soldier," "The Battle of Sherramuir," "To a Man for a Man," "To a Mouse,"

Life and background

Burns was born two miles (3 kilometers) south of Ayr, the eldest of William Burnes' seven children (1721–1784), a self-educated tenant farmer from Dunnottar in the Mearns, and Agnes Broun (1732–1820), the daughter of a Kirkoswald tenant farmer.

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 Burnes sold the house and assumed the tenancy of the 70-acre (280,000 m2) Mount Oliphant farm, southeast of Alloway. Burns grew up in poverty and hardship, while the farm's heavy manual work left its mark in a stoop and a defunct constitution.

He had no formal education and obtained a substantial portion of his education from his father, who taught his children reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, and history while also writing for them. A Manual of Christian Belief (Joyce). 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), who died in 1848. Burns was sent to Dalrymple Parish School in mid-1772, before returning to full-time farm labor until 1773, when he was sent by Murdoch to study grammar, French, and Latin.

Burns, Mount Oliphant's most senior labourer by the age of 15, was the principal laborer by that time. "O, Once I Lov'd A Bonnie Lass," he was aided by Nelly Kilpatrick (1759-1820), who inspired his first attempt at poetry, "O, Once I Lov'd A Bonnie Lass." He was sent to complete his education with a Kirkoswald tutor, where he met Peggy Thompson (born 1762), to whom he wrote two songs, "Now Westlin' Winds" and "I Dream'd I Lay."

Despite his talent and character, William Burnes was always sad, and he and his large family migrated from farm to farm, never being able to change his circumstances. He moved his entire family from Mount Oliphant's miserable living conditions to a 130-acre (0.53 km2) farm near Tarbolton, where they lived until William Burnes' death in 1784. The family was later integrated into Tarbolton's neighborhood. Robert attended a country dancing school in 1779 and formed the Tarbolton Bachelors' Club the following year, to his father's disapproval. His earliest known letters date back to Alison Begbie, who began making romantic hints (b). (1772). Despite four songs written about her and a suggestion that he was destined to marry her, she turned down her.

When Robert Burns was 22 years old, he was initiated into the Masonic lodge St David, Tarbolton.

Burns went to Irvine briefly in December 1781 to learn how to be a flax-dresser, but the flax shop caught fire and was burned to the ground during the workers' New Year 1781/1782 (which included Burns as a participant). Burns and his family's other ventures came to an end, and the Burns family returned home to Lochlea Farm. During this period, he encountered and befriended Captain Richard Brown, who encouraged him to become a poet.

In 1783, he began writing poems and songs and began a commonplace book, while his father battled a court feud with his landlord. Burnes' appeal was heard in January 1784, a fortnight before he died, and he appealed to the Court of Session, but the trial was dismissed in January 1784.

Robert and Gilbert suffered with an ineffective attempt to keep the farm alive, but after the farm's demise in March, they relocated to Mossgiel, near Mauchline, where they continued their uphill battle for the next four years. Burns came to know a group of girls identified collectively as The Belles of Mauchline, one of whom was Jean Armour, the daughter of a stonemason from Mauchline.

Elizabeth "Bess" Burns (1785-1817) was his first child, born to Elizabeth Paton (1760–circa 1799), when he was embarking on a friendship with Jean Armour, who became pregnant with twins in March 1786. Burns' marriage to Jean was confirmed by a newspaper, but her father "was in the greatest pain" and "bleep away." Her parents sent her niece to live in Paisley to prevent disgrace. Although Armour's father banned it from being used, the pair were married in 1788. Armour bore nine children, three of whom survived infancy.

Burns was in financial difficulties due to his inability in farming and his inability to pay a family. Patrick Douglas of Garrallan, Old Cumnock, was born in Jamaica, but Burns was still a slave owner under whom Burns was to be a "book keeper" (assistant overseer of slaves). The position was thought to be for a single man and that he would live in rustic circumstances, not likely to be living in the great house on a salary of £30 per annum. According to Burns' defense, the abolitionist movement was just getting off the ground in 1786. "The Slave's Lament" (1792), Burns' authorship, which was supposed to exemplify his egalitarian views, is disputed. Burns' name is unveiled in any abolition petition, and Lisa Williams "is curiously silent on the issue of chattel slavery in comparison to other contemporary writers." Perhaps this was due to his government's position, severe restrictions on free expression at the time, or his association with slave trade beneficiaries.

Burns and Mary Campbell (1763–1786), both in love with whom he had seen in church when he was still living in Tarbolton, became engaged. She was born near Dunoon and had lived in Campbeltown until she decided to work in Ayrshire. She dedicated the poems "The Highland Lassie O," "Highland Mary," and "To Mary in Heaven" to her. My Mary, Will ye go to the Indies, and leave auld Scotia's shore?" his song "Will ye go to the Indies." According to reports, the two couples planned to immigrate to Jamaica together. Their union has long been a topic of much speculation, and it has been suggested that they exchanged Bibles and plighted their troth over the Water of Fail in a traditional sense of marriage on May 14th. Mary Campbell left her career in Ayrshire and sailed home to her parents in Campbeltown shortly thereafter.

Mary and her father sailed from Campbeltown to Greenock's brother in October 1786. Her brother was ill with typhus, which she also caught while caring for him. She died of typhus on the 20th or the 21st of October 1786 and was buried there.

Gavin Hamilton suggested that he should "publish his poems in the mean time by subscription, as a way to gain a little cash to bring him more fully into necessaries for Jamaica" as Burns ran out of funds to pay for his transfer to the West Indies. Burns, a printer in Kilmarnock, who published these poems on April 14th, Burns sent a letter on April 3 asking for publication of his Scotch Poems to John Wilson, who published these articles on the same day that Jean Armour's father ripped up the newspaper in which Burns denied his marriage to Jean. Burns decided on June 25th to stand for rebuke in the Mauchline kirk for three Sundays in order to obtain a certificate that he was a free bachelor. He sold his portion of the Mossgiel farm to his brother Gilbert on July 22nd, and told John Richmond on July 30 that Armour has a warrant to throw me in jail until I can find a warrant for a huge sum." I'm going from one friend's house to another.

Robert Burns, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish dialect, appeared on July 31th, 1786. It was published on Kilmarnock's third book, "The Twa Dogs," "Address to the Deil," "Epitaph for James Smith," and "To a Mountain Daisy," many of which had been written at Mossgiel farm. The work was immediate, and soon he was known around the world.

Burns postponed his planned migration to Jamaica on September 1st, but was in Mossgiel two days later when he learned that Jean Armour had given birth to twins. Thomas Blacklock wrote a letter on September 4th expressing appreciation for the poetry in the Kilmarnock collection and recommending a larger second edition. When a letter from Dr. Blacklock to a friend of mine that opened new possibilities to my poetic aspirations, a copy was given to Burns who later reported, "I had taken the last farewell of my few relatives" when he said, "I had taken the last farewell of my few friends." The Doctor was convicted by a group of critics for whose applause I had not dared to believe. I would welcome encouragement in Edinburgh for a second edition, which surprised me so much that I didn't have a single acquaintance or even a single letter of introduction."

Burns took a pony and rode out for Edinburgh on the 27th of November 1786. William Creech published subscription bills for the first Edinburgh edition of Poems, primarily in the Scottish dialect, on December 14th, which was released on April 1787. Burns had sold his copyright to Creech for 100 guineas within a week of the incident. The book's frontispiece was ordered by Creech for the edition. Alexander Nasmyth was commissioned by Creech to paint the oval bust-length portrait now in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Nasmyth was first aware of Burns, and his fresh and appealing image has remained the basis for most of the poet's subsequent representations. He was welcomed as an equal by Edinburgh's men of letters, including Dugald Stewart, Robertson, Blair, and others, and he was a guest at aristocratic functions, where he bore himself with unashamed dignity. Walter Scott, 16, was here he encountered, and left a lasting impression on him, who later expressed adoration for him.

Burns £400 was included in the latest edition of his poems. His stay in the city spawned several lifetime friendships, including those with Lord Glencairn and Frances Anna Dunlop (1730-1815), who became his occasional sponsor and with whom he corresponded for many years before a rift appeared. He embarked on a friendship with Agnes "Nancy" McLehose (1758-1801), with whom he exchanged passionate letters under pseudonyms (Burns called himself "Sylvander" and Nancy "Clarinda"). Burns continued to Jenny Clow (1766–1792), Nancy's domestic servant, who bore him a son, Robert Burns Clow, in 1788, after it became apparent that Nancy would not be able to enter into a physical relationship. Margaret "May" Cameron, his servant daughter, also had an affair. With a last meeting in Edinburgh in 1791, he came to an end before sailed to Jamaica for what turned out to be a short-lived reconciliation with her estranged husband. As a farewell, he gave her the manuscript "Ae Fond Kiss" before she left.

In Edinburgh, in early 1787, he met James Johnson, a struggling music engraver and music retailer with a passion for old Scots songs and a desire to preserve them. Burns piqued this ardent curiosity and became a regular visitor to The Scots Musical Museum. Burns' first volume was released in 1787 and featured three songs. He contributed 40 songs to volume two, and he was responsible for about a third of the 600 songs in the whole collection as well as making a significant editorial contribution. In 1803, the last volume was published.

On his return from Edinburgh in February 1788, he revived his friendship with Jean Armour and took a lease on Ellisland Farm, Dumfriesshire, settling there in June. In case farming was still poor, he was trained as a gauger or exciseman. In 1789, he was first appointed to work in Customs and Excise, but in 1791, he sold the farm. Meanwhile, he had written his masterpiece, "Tam O' Shanter," in November 1790. Burns' books, artefacts, and manuscripts have been preserved as long as Burns and his young family lived there. Around this time, he was offered and turned down an appointment in London on The Star newspaper's staff and refused to apply for a newly appointed Chair of Agriculture in Edinburgh, despite influential friends' promises to back him up his claims. He did however accept membership in the Royal Company of Archers in 1792.

He was moved to Dumfries after giving up his farm. It was at this point that he responded by contributing over 100 songs after being asked to write lyrics for The Melodies of Scotland. He made significant contributions to George Thomson's A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice, as well as James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum. Arguably, his claim to immortality derives from these volumes, which placed him in the top lyric poets. He wrote his own songs, some of which were adapted from traditional words. He brought words to Scottish folk melodies and airs he collected and created his own versions of the music, such as changing tunes or recreating melodies on the basis of fragments. He wrote in letters that he preferred simplicity, comparing songs to spoken words that should be sung in traditional ways. The original instruments would be fiddle and the guitar of the period, which was similar to a cittern, but the transcription of piano songs has resulted in their performance in classical concert or music hall styles. Burns songs are often performed with both fiddle and guitar at the three-week Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow.

Thomson as a publisher commissioned arrangements of "Scottish, Welsh, and Irish Airs" by such eminent composers of the day as Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, with new lyrics. Burns was one of the lyrics' contributors. Although such arrangements were widely popular, Beethoven's music was more accessible and difficult to play than Thomson's.

Burns recalled how he had to master singing the tune before composing the words:

Burns also worked to collect and preserve Scottish folk songs, often revising, expanding, and adapting them. The Merry Muses of Caledonia (the title is not Burns') is a series of bawdy songs that were popular in Scottish music halls as late as the twentieth century. He wrote "A Man's a Man for A" That," a satiric song based on Thomas Paine's "The Rights of Man," one of the leading political theoreticians of the American Revolution, at Dumfries. Burns wrote the poem anonymously in 1795 to the Glasgow Courier. He was also a radical for change and wrote poems for democracy, including Parcel of Rogues to the Country, The Slaves Lament, and the Rights of Women.

Many of Burns' most popular poems are songs based on older traditional songs. For example, "Can Ye Labour Lea" is set to the tune of "Major Graham" and "The Battle of Sherramuir" is scheduled to the "Cameronian Rant" on "Auld Lang Syne."

Burns' global standings were certainly better than they had ever been, but he alienated some friends by openly supporting the French and American Revolutions, as well as the Society of the Friends of the People, which advocated for Parliamentary reform and voting. His political convictions were brought to the attention of his employers, to whom he pleaded his innocence. At the Globe Inn Dumfries, Burns met other radicals. In March 1795, an Exciseman was compelled to join the Royal Dumfries Volunteers. He lived in Dumfries in a two-story red sandstone house on Mill Hole Brae, now Burns Street. The home is now a museum. He rode on horseback, many times in extreme weather as an Excise Supervisor. He was kept very busy doing reports, father of four young children, song collector, and songwriter. He aged prematurely and fell into fits of depression as his health began to decline. According to reports, the intemperance habits (mainly by temperance activist James Currie) have exacerbated his long-standing potential rheumatic heart disease.

Burns died in Dumfries on the morning of 21 July 1796 at the age of 37. The funeral took place on Monday, the day his son Maxwell was born. He was first buried in Dumfries' far corner of St. Michael's Churchyard; a simple "slab of freestone" was erected as his gravestone by Jean Armour, which some felt insulting to his memory. In September 1817, his body was eventually moved to the Burns Mausoleum, which was also located in the same cemetery. Jean Armour's widow was buried with him in 1834.

Armour took steps to protect his personal residence, partly by liquidating two promissory notes worth fifteen pounds sterling (roughly 1,100 pounds at 2009 rates). Dr. James Currie's family appeared in 1798 with a pledge to help his surviving children. Subscriptions were raised to offset the initial cost of publication, which was in the custody of Thomas Cadell and William Davies in London and William Creech, Edinburgh's bookseller. Burns' family's fund-raising was embarrassingly slow, and it took several years for the company's to amass substantial funds thanks to John Syme and Alexander Cunningham's efforts.

Burns was given the freedom of the town of Dumfries posthumously. Burns was granted the freedom of the Burgh of Dumfries on June 4, 1787, 9 years before his death, and he was also made an Honorary Burgess of Dumfries, according to Hogg.

Burns has over 900 living descendants as of 2019.

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