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Scotland’s Bard: Robert Burns

By Caroline M. Jackson

When Robert Burns was born in a small thatched cottage on January 25, 1759, the event hardly caused a tremor in the fertile Ayrshire soil famous for its tasty wee spuds. However, by the time Robert died 37 years later on July 21^t, 1796, he had penned more than 600 songs and poems, a legacy which was to be translated into 40 languages all the way from Urdu to Hebrew.

Many visitors to southwest Scotland follow the footsteps of Rabbie Burns by taking a circular route known as the Burns Heritage Trail, which loops through Ayr, Dumfries and Kilmarnock. They will not be disappointed. Less than an hour's journey from Glasgow, Ayrshire is a beautiful patchwork quilt of beige and green fields trimmed with thick hedgerows.

Robert Burns was born in Alloway two miles south of Ayr. Inside the kitchen of this small whitewashed cottage visitors can see the little box bed where he was born. The cottage has only one tiny window because in those days there was a heavy tax on glass. The single-room dwelling with adjacent barn and cowshed is now a museum, and tableaux reflect life much as it would have been during the 18^th century.

Just along the road is the modern Burns National Heritage Park with its piece de resistance being the Tam o’Shanter experience – a lively audio-visual presentation depicting the life and times of Burns as well as exhibits. Nearby you can also visit the haunted Alloway Kirk, which inspired the epic poem Tam O' Shanter wherein drunken Tam watched the witches and warlocks reel and dance while the Devil played the pipes. A short walk leads to the churchyard which is the resting place of four of his children and on the outskirts of the town, the imposing Grecian-style Burns Monument.

Inland from Ayr at Mossgiel Farm is the land which inspired some of the Bard's best known poems. Upturning the nest of a field mouse with his plough, led him to write the famous poem To a Mouse. The Burns House Museum is particularly worth a visit.

Further south in the main town of Dumfries aficionados can visit the Robert Burns Centre and the Selkirk Arms where he wrote the famous Selkirk Grace. A highlight for me was a visit to Burns’ favorite pub, the Globe Inn. Established in 1610, it is located along a narrow close off the High Street. Amazingly the interior, especially the Burns Room, remains much as it did in his day.

In many corners of the world, people will celebrate his life by attending a Burns Supper on the 25^th of January. Traditionally the meal begins with soup, followed by the piping in of the haggis set on a silver tray. Over the years, there has been much speculation about the contents of this “beastie,” which somewhat resembles a curling stone dipped in candle wax. It really is a pudding cooked in a sheep's stomach and consists of sheep or calf's offal. To this is added suet, oatmeal, seasoning and onions. Before the haggis is gashed with a dirk (a dagger), the host addresses the haggis in poetry penned by the Bard. Always a toast is drunk to the Bard's “immortal memory,” followed by speeches and poetry readings from Tam O' Shanter and Holy Willie's Prayer.

When you return to the town of Ayr, enjoy a breezy walk along the miles of beautiful sands, the seawall or meander along the swath of green grass that parallels the seafront. Afterwards watch the sun set behind the Isle of Arran. It is surely a sight that would inspire any artist or poet to put pen to paper.

Travel tip:

If your journeys take you to Edinburgh, visit the Writer’s Museum in Lady Stair’s House, which has interesting memorabilia about many Scottish writers, including Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson.