|
Robert Burns
(1759-1796)
|
Robert Burns
The National Bard of Scotland
Robert Burns, the son of a farmer, was born January 25, 1759, in Alloway, Ayshire, in the southwest of Scotland. He worked at several trades prior to turning to publishing his poetry as a source of income: first as a farmer which damaged his health and then as a flaxweaver. He failed at both. He began writing poetry in 1784 but his first collection of poems was published in 1786 (The Kilmarnock edition, named for the city of publication). In 1788, he began working as a tax collector while continuing to write poetry and eventually collect, revise, and write folk songs. He married Jean Armour, the mother of his illegitmate child and eventually died in 1796.
Some of the more familiar Burns poems include Auld Lang Syne; Comin' Thro the Rye; Sweet Afton; Scots, Wha hae; Green Grow the Rashes; and A Red, Red, Rose which are all songs as well. In additon there is The Selkirk Grace-a grace before meals and Address to a Haggis both used at annual Burns Night celebrations held around the anniversary of his birth in Scottish communities worldwide. |
|
