23 Robert Burns Life Facts: Creativity, Poems & Art Work!

Robert Burns was the son of a humble farmer, but his legacy lives on as Scotland's National poet, songwriter, and lyricist.

The works of Robert Burns, often familiarly known as Rabbie Burns, National bard, Patriot bard, Ploughman poet, or the Bard of Ayrshire, are an important element of Scottish culture. Icons from various eras, ranging from Bob Dylan to Abraham Lincoln, have cited him as a significant influence. 

Every year on January 25, Bard's birthday, an increasing number of people from all over the world gather for the renowned Burns Night or Burns Supper, which includes haggis, whisky, and readings from his works.

The tradition of Burns Suppers dates back to 1802, a little while after his death.

His songs, which are centred on universal themes of nature and romance, have a timeless appeal that continues to resonate around the world.

His poem 'Auld Lang Syne,' which is famously sung on New Year's Eve around the world, is considered to be in third place amongst the most popular songs in the English language, after 'Happy Birthday' and 'For He's A Jolly Good Fellow,' according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Except for Christopher Columbus and Queen Victoria, Burns has more statues around the world than any other person, living or dead.

History And Background: Robert Burns

The eldest of seven children born to William Burnes and Agnes Broun, Robert Burns was born in a small village named Alloyway in Ayrshire, Scotland, on January 25, 1759. During his early life, Burns was a proud, restless man full of ambition and a distaste for social order.

It was actually the birth of his first son that led him to channel his emotions through poetry and folk songs.

Burns' father had moved to Ayrshire from Kincardineshire in the hope of bettering his fortunes, but despite working tirelessly on farms, he died a poor man, exhausted, destitute, and penniless. His father's sorry state is what instigated Burns to rebel against the rigid social order and class system of his day and converted him into a bitter satirist.

Yet, young Burns had no option but to take over the farm business with his brother Gilbert although he disliked the work and claimed it was detrimental to his health.

As a child, Robert had acquired formal education from private instructor John Murdoch, learned a rudimentary command of French and Latin, and read most of the major relevant 18th-century English authors, including Shakespeare, Milton, and Dryden.

And although he could be described as a literate and learned man, his knowledge of Scottish literature was limited to orally transmitted folklore and folk songs only.

Burns' poetic instinct was sparked by the works of literary greats like Alexander Pope, Henry Mackenzie, and Laurence Sterne, as well as his encounters with the opposite sex.

After his father died, Burns became a tenant of the Mossgiel property, where the family had relocated, and he was free to pursue male and female company anywhere he pleased. It was here he had an affair with his mother's servant girl named Elizabeth Paton, who gave him his first child in 1785.

He welcomed the newborn with a spirited sonnet and thus began his journey as a poet.

Burns quickly established himself as an 'occasional' poet in 1785. Burns' poems mainly conveyed his feelings of love, friendship, or enjoyment, as well as his caustic observations on the social scene.

But writing poetry for himself and his companions was not enough to soothe his restless and dissatisfied soul. Burns had also earned a reputation as a dangerous anti-orthodox religious rebel, and so when he fell in love with Jean Armour in 1786, her father refused the union.

Enraged, Burns decided to elope with Mary Campbell, the woman for whom he composed the song, 'Highland Mary'. But unfortunately, she passed away soon after.

Jean gave birth to twins out of wedlock on September 3. Robert wanted to emigrate mid-way through his life, but first, he wanted to show his country what he was capable of.

Despite difficulties, he pushed forward with his plans to publish a collection of his poems in Kilmarnock, a nearby town. The collection titled 'Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect', was published on July 31, 1786.

It was the instant success and sudden fame that cajoled Burns into staying in Scotland for some more time.

Burns set out for Edinburgh on November 27, 1786, to celebrate his success but found the city not to his taste, and after a series of romantic adventures, he moved to Ellisland, Dumfriesshire, having married Jean Armour. During their marriage, they had nine children, of whom only three survived infancy.

Burns met James Johnson in Edinburgh, a great collector of Scottish songs who was putting out a series of volumes of songs with music and requested Burns' help in locating, editing, revising, and rewriting pieces for a series of volumes. Burns was ecstatic, and he quickly rose to the position of virtual editor of Johnson's 'The Scots Musical Museum'.

The majority of Burns' songs can be found in Johnson's The Scots Musical Museum (1787–1803) and Thomson's 'A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice' (1793–1818).

Burns spent the latter years of his life collecting and producing songs that would offer language for traditional Scottish airs. He saw his labour as a service to Scotland and defied the odds by refusing to accept payment.

Tam o' Shanter (1791), a vibrant narrative poem, was the only poem he composed after his Edinburgh tour that revealed a hitherto untapped aspect of his literary genius.

Death: Robert Burns

According to common belief, Burns died of rheumatism after being discovered by the roadside in the freezing rain after a night of heavy drinking. Burns' image as a heavy drinker is difficult to refute, but the truth is that the poet was and had been gravely ill for a long time.

Robert Burns began to age prematurely as his health began to fail, and he became despondent. Intemperance of habits is supposed to have aggravated his long-standing potential rheumatic heart ailment, as alleged by activist James Currie.

Burns died in Dumfries on the morning of July 21, 1796, at the age of 37 and His son Maxwell was born on July 25, 1796, and his funeral was held on that day. To help his wife and children raise money, a memorial edition of his poems was released.

Burns was initially buried in the distant corner of Dumfries' St. Michael's Churchyard, where Jean Armour fashioned a modest 'slab of freestone' as his gravestone, which some considered demeaning to his memory. In September 1817, his body was finally relocated to its final resting place in the same cemetery, the Burns Mausoleum.

Influence: Robert Burns

Burns, along with William Wordsworth, is undoubtedly one of the most enduringly popular and important poets of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and his influence on Scottish and English literature is far-reaching.

Burns and his works inspired the forefathers of liberalism, socialism, and the campaign for Scottish independence, and he is still revered by political activists today, including, ironically, authoritarian nationalists, because Burns was appropriated into the fabric of Scotland's national identity after his death.

His ability to appeal to all strands of political opinion in the country earned him widespread respect as Scotland's bard.

Burns is considered a proto-Romantic poet, and he had a huge influence on William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Percy Bysshe Shelley. New age musical figures such as Bob Dylan and Michael Jackson have also claimed Burns' work to have influenced their music.

Literary Style: Robert Burns

Burns's poetry and literary style are characterized by spontaneity, directness, and sincerity. His range is astounding, spanning from the emotional intensity in Red Rose, to hilarity in Tam o' Shanter, to scathing satire in Holy Willie's Prayer and The Holy Fair.

Allan Ramsay and Robert Fergusson were direct influencers on Burns' usage of Scots in poetry. Burns' poetry also drew on a deep understanding and familiarity with the classics, the Bible, and English literature, as well as the Scottish tradition in which he grew up.

Burns could write in both the Scottish dialect and the Scottish English dialects of the English language. Burns wrote 'The Jolly Beggars' in both Scots and English for diverse effects.