ROBERT BURNS THE POET- A TRIBUTE
"I insist that you shall write whatever comes
first, - what you see, what you read, what you hear, what you
admire, what you dislike; trifles, bagatelles, nonsense, or,
to fill up a corner, e'en put down a laugh at full length" - Robert Burns.
Alexandria
Burns Club Founded 1884
(Number 2 in the World Burns Federation)
Robert (Rabbie) Burns 1759 - 1796
Welcome to the website of the Alexandria
Burns Club where we celebrate the life and times of Scotland's
national bard, Robert Burns.
Our President - Harry Summers
Robert Burns a Brief Biography
We don't have the time or space to provide an
extensive Robert Burns Biography on these few pages. This mini
biography provides only the basic information about Burns life.
Very many books have been written about the bard during the last
200 years or so, some good
and some, well, some not so good. If you would like a complete
biography of Burns you can chose from the many you will find by
searching for "Robert
Burns Biography" on Amazon UK.
If you are researching Burns' work you will find useful information on our Robert Burns Resources page.
Robert Burns Birthplace
Apart
from being a fascinating person, Burns was, in my view, the greatest poet who
ever lived. He was born on 25 January 1759, the son of a poor tenant farmer
or "Cotter",
William Burness. William was born in Kincardineshire
in the north east of Scotland in 1721. He left there and
moved around looking for work for a few years. He worked as a
gardener in Edinburgh before eventually settling in Alloway, Ayrshire.
He married Agnes Broun and on 25 January 1759 his son
Robert was born, in the mud and clay cottage that he had built with his
own hands.
William quickly recognised that Robert was special and
despite being very poor he somehow managed to forge out an education
for himself and his brother Gilbert. Robert developed an interest and
aptitude for literature at a very early age and arguably, as a
young man between the ages of 24 and 29, when he was at his most prolific he produced most of his
best poetry and songs. Most people worldwide will know at least
one of his works, "Auld
Lang
Syne".
"Should auld
acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!"
Listen
to the Music Here
Robert's
father encouraged his interest in literature and poetry and he
became very highly educated for someone of his lowly class. As his work
became well
known throughout Scotland he was feted by the gentry in Edinburgh
who recognised his unique talent.
Robert Burns was the people's
poet,
his work was often written in
his own Ayrshire dialect and was often based on his experiences
as a farmer. For
example the poem "To
a Mouse" was written when he turned over
a field mouse's nest with
his plough share. This was the poem that contained the lines
...
"But mousie
thou art no thy lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft agley,
An Lea'e us nought but grief an' pain for promised joy."
The famous American writer, John
Steinbeck, used this as the title of his work "Of Mice and
Men" and
many
more lines from Robert Burns' work have become part of everyday speech.
One story that I like is that
the Mexican term for Americans, "Gringos" was picked
up when they heard a
US cavalry marching song, Burns' "Green
Grow the Rashes O".
This may well
be true because about eighty Scots mercenaries were employed during
the
Alamo.
"Green grow the
rashes, O
Green grow the rashes, O
The sweetest hours that e'er I spent
Are spent amang the lasses, O"
Listen
to the Music Here
Tam o' Shanter
(This painting is displayed on the ship, "Cutty
Sark" at Greenwich, London)
Robert Burns was very much at one
with nature and this was evident in much of his work. Look at these
lines
from his epic poem Tam O' Shanter.
"But pleasures
are like poppies spread,
You seize the flower its bloom is shed;
Or like the snow falls in the river,
A moment white - then melts forever;
Or like the Borealis race,
That flit ere you can point their place;
Or like the rainbow's lovely form
Evaneshing amid the storm.-"
Read
the whole poem, including a translation from the dialect
Read
the Address to a Haggis and its Translation
Much of Robert Burns's poetry, like Tam
O' Shanter, was written humourously about his
own situations and experiences. This humour stands the test of
time and it is as
funny today as when it was written more than 200 years ago. Living
conditions were extremely harsh for the majority of the population and that Burns was
able to see humour in his situation at all makes his work even more special. Another lesser
known facet of his
work was his bawdy
poetry, the Merry
Muses of Caledonia, which
used just about every swear word known at the time and some that
Burns probably invented!
Burns could never have been accused of being perfect. He was both very
handsome and very much a lady's man.
His early life was a procession of affairs and he had at least
three illegitimate offspring.
He got in trouble with the Church of Scotland through his refusal
to obey the moral
code of the day. This led him to write poems about the hypocrisy
of the situation like "Holy
Willie's prayer". Eventually
he married his "Bonie
Jean" (Jean Armour) and settled down
to raise a family.
Robert Burns Working Life
Burns was essentially a farmer but after a few years at the plough he gave it
up as a bad job. With the help of the influential connections that
he could now call upon he managed to secure a job as an exciseman
or gauger. (See Robert Burns Exciseman). This was a well paid job that let him support
his family in a way that he had not been able in the past.
He moved
to Dumfries and bought a sizeable house there but unfortunately
the years of hard work in all types of weather had already taken
their toll. Burns became ill and died of what was probably rheumatic
fever in 1796 at the age of only 37. Genius that he was, one can
only speculate about how great he would have become had he not
been taken so young.
Bryan Weir
(Member of Alexandria Burns Club, No.2 in the Federation)
