The Life and Works of Robert Burns
Like us, you have probably heard of Robert Burns and perhaps celebrated Burns night. A Scottish national treasure, wonderful lyricist and poet, and fierce advocate for many social issues, his life and work is celebrated on the 25th January each year with a traditional Burns Night supper.
Read on to discover his story, and take a look at our article on how to host your own Burns supper here, complete with traditional Scottish recipes and our recommended Scottish whiskies for the occasion.
The first Burns Night supper was held on July 21st 1801, the fifth anniversary of his death, when a group of his friends came together to celebrate Burns’ life and legacy with readings of his poetry and songs. The festival, which included dance and traditional Scottish food and drink, was later changed to the date of his birthday, January 25th. It has become something like a second national holiday in Scotland.
Known for his poetry, epistles, satires and songs, Burns’ work recorded and celebrated rural farm life, the working class, traditional Scottish culture, religion and much, much more. He is one of Scotland's most important cultural icons and known as the ‘Scots Bard'. His writings were amongst some of the last written in Scots vernacular, and present a national identity that, following the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the political union of 1707, was, for a while, thought at risk of being lost.
My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,
My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;
Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,
My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go.
Farewell to the Highlands, farewell to the North,
The birth-place of Valour, the country of Worth ;
Wherever I wander, wherever I rove,
The hills of the Highlands for ever I love.
My Heart is in the Highlands, Robert Burns, 1789
Read the full poem here
Early Life
Born in 1759, Robert Burns was the son of William Burnes, a gardener, nurseryman and farmer, and Agnes Broun, a housewife and mother from whom it is said he may have gotten his lyrical gift. In an autobiographical letter Robert Burns wrote to Dr John Moore, he claimed the ‘latent seeds of poesy’ had been cultivated by an old maid of his mother’s, who had ‘the largest collection in the country of tales and songs concerning devils, ghosts, fairies, brownies, witches warlocks, spunkies, kelpies, elf-candles, dead-lights, wraiths, apparitions, cantraips, enchanted towers, giants, and other trumpery’ - whatever these may be!
Burns experienced hard labour growing up, and witnessed the dire consequences of bad harvests, the suffering of which is reflected in ‘In the Character of a Ruined Farmer’. This poem likely refers to his father and the life he witnessed on the farm. Upon his father’s death in 1784, Burns started to become well known for his rhymes, and he seemed to have a burst of creativity; with much of his poetry was being produced during the years of 1784-1786.
The sun he is sunk in the west,
All creatures retired to rest,
While here I sit, all sore beset,
With sorrow, grief, and woe:
And it's O, fickle Fortune, O!
The prosperous man is asleep,
Nor hears how the whirlwinds sweep;
But Misery and I must watch
The surly tempest blow:
And it's O, fickle Fortune, O!
There lies the dear partner of my breast;
Her cares for a moment at rest:
Must I see thee, my youthful pride,
Thus brought so very low!
And it's O, fickle Fortune, O!
There lie my sweet babies in her arms;
No anxious fear their little hearts alarms;
But for their sake my heart does ache,
With many a bitter throe:
And it's O, fickle Fortune, O!
The Character of a Ruined Farmer, Robert Burns, 1771-9
Read the full poem here
Many will know ‘Auld Lang Syne’, sung on New Year’s Eve across Scotland and around the world. This is just one of a vast range of poems he produced during his life, reflecting all matters from his joy of folklore, nature, Scottish history and culture. Frequent themes are his passionate love for the women in his life, and his anger at humanity's inequality and social injustice.
Though the earlier years of his life were spent on the family farm, during the years before his death in 1796 he was an officer of the Crown, collecting excise. Some suggested he was perhaps forced into the profession so the government could keep an eye on him and silence his more radical views; however, it seems he was happy to take the job. In fact, after the French Revolution, although he was forced into public silence, Professor Gerald Carruthes has argued that this was when Burns produced some of his most progressive and radical political poetry. He is today seen as a champion of democracy and a source of inspiration for liberalism and socialism. ‘A Man's a Man for A' That’ is one of the poems written around this time;
Is there for honest Poverty
That hings his head, an' a' that;
The coward slave-we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, an' a' that.
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The Man's the gowd for a' that.
What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an' a that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine;
A Man's a Man for a' that:
For a' that, and a' that,
Their tinsel show, an' a' that;
The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.
A Man’s a Man for A’ That, Robert Burns, 1795
Read the full poem here
Burns didn’t just advocate for democratic and parliamentary reform, but also condemned institutional religion and control of the state over traditional religious ceremonies and practices. In his poem ‘The Holy Night’, he describes a joyous gathering in which sermons are read, people feast on food and drink, laugh and are merry. It would have made John Knox turn in his grave! In many of his poems he refers to non-marital love. His affection for women and hunger for life come out in poems such as ‘Handsome Nell’, ‘The Lass of Cessnock Banks’ and ‘Montgomerie’s Peggy’. These were controversial as they didn’t sit well with the attitudes of the Church at the time.
On Cessnock banks a lassie dwells;
Could I describe her shape and mein;
Our lasses a' she far excels,
An' she has twa sparkling roguish een.
…
She's spotless like the flow'ring thorn,
With flow'rs so white and leaves so green,
When purest in the dewy morn;
An' she has twa sparkling roguish een.
Her looks are like the vernal May,
When ev'ning Phoebus shines serene,
While birds rejoice on every spray;
An' she has twa sparkling roguish een.
Her hair is like the curling mist,
That climbs the mountain-sides at e'en,
When flow'r-reviving rains are past;
An' she has twa sparkling roguish een.
The Lass of Cessnock Banks, 1780
Read the full poem here
Altho' my bed were in yon muir,
Amang the heather, in my plaidie;
Yet happy, happy would I be,
Had I my dear Montgomerie's Peggy.
When o'er the hill beat surly storms,
And winter nights were dark and rainy;
I'd seek some dell, and in my arms
I'd shelter dear Montgomerie's Peggy.
Were I a baron proud and high,
And horse and servants waiting ready;
Then a' 'twad gie o' joy to me, -
The sharin't with Montgomerie's Peggy.
Montgomerie’s Peggy, 1771-1779
A bonie lass, I will confess,
Is pleasant to the e'e;
But, without some better qualities,
She's no a lass for me.
But Nelly's looks are blythe and sweet,
And what is best of a',
Her reputation is complete,
And fair without a flaw.
…
A gaudy dress and gentle air
May slightly touch the heart;
But it's innocence and modesty
That polishes the dart.
'Tis this in Nelly pleases me,
'Tis this enchants my soul;
For absolutely in my breast
She reigns without control.
Handsome Nell, 1771-9
Read the full poem here
Click here to join us at upcoming events. If you can’t make it, set up a Burns Night tasting at home with our tasting gift sets or sharing boxes. Each tasting set includes a selection of Burns poetry alongside the six premium single malts and blind tasting experience.