Robert Burns (1759 - 1796)

Selected Works, A-Z: A Man's A Man For A' That A Red, Red Rose Ah, Woe Is Me, My Mother Dear Address Of Beelzebub Address To Edinburgh Address To The Deil Address To The Toothache Address To The Unco Guid Ae Fond Kiss, And Then We Sever Auld Farmer's New Year Morning Salutation To His Auld Mare, Maggie, The Auld Lang Syne Banks O' Doon, The Battle Of Sherramuir, The Bonie Jean Bonie Lass Of Albany, The Bonie Moor-Hen, The Bonie Peggy Alison Braw Wooer, The Bruce's Address at Bannockburn Charlie, He's My Darling Cotter's Saturday Night, The Death And Dr Hornbrook Epistle To A Young Friend Epistle To James Smith Epistle To William Simson Farewell Song To The Banks Of Ayr Green Grow The Rashes Halloween Handsome Nell Here's To Thy Health Highland Lassie, O, The Holy Willie's Prayer I'm O'er Young To Marry Yet John Barleycorn Killiecrankie Lass Of Ballochmyle, The Lass Of Cessnock Banks, The Man Was Made To Mourn My Heart's In The Highlands My Nannie's Awa' Rights Of Woman, The Ronalds Of The Bennals, The Scotch Drink Such A Parcel Of Rogues In A Nation Tam O' Shanter Tarbolton Lasses, The To A Haggis To A Louse To A Mountain Daisy To A Mouse To Mary In Heaven Twa Dogs, The Twa Herds, The Whistle, an' I'll Come To You, My Lad Yon Wild Mossy Mountains Young Highland Rover, The

Robert Burns was born on the 25th of January, 1759 near Ayr. He was the son of William Burnes, or Burness, an unsuccessful tenent farmer who was working as a nurseryman in Ayrshire when Burns was born. It was mainly from his mother, Agnes Broun, and her servants that he learned of Scotland's folk tales, songs, ballads and proverbs, he later increased his knowledge through manuscripts and oral sources. His father did attempt to give his children a reasonable education despite their poverty and Robert, as the eldest, was sent to school at a nearby village for three years as well as other neighbouring villages for shorter attendances. In 1766 his father had rented 1766 the farm of Mount Oliphant, and it was while working here that Robert suffered physically from the grinding toil of farm labouring. By 1771 he had moved to Irvine on the Ayrshire coast to learn flax-dressing. This venture was unsuccessful,the only outcome of his time in Irvine seems to have been the beginning of his adventures with women after a chance meeting with a sailor who led him away from the straight and narrow. Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 1786 After his father died in 1784 he rented the farm of Mossgiel with his brother but this was also a failure. It was also in 1784 that Burns discovered the Scots poems of Robert Fergusson and these made him realise the possibilities that were available to him in the Scots dialect. It was also at around this time he fell for Jean Armour, for which he was censured by the Kirk-session and his father-in-law attempted to overturn his irregular marriage with her. To escape from all this he decided to emigrate and he wrote a volume of poems entitled Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect with which he hoped to raise the necessary money, originally only 612 copies were published. The Kilmarnock edition, which included 34 poems, was published in 1786 and contained work that he had been working on for several years. The publication was spectacularly successful and Burns abandoned his plans to emigrate to the West Indies and went to Edinburgh instead, where he became a celebrity. Mrs Alison Cockburn, a 'queen' of Edinburgh society wrote to a friend at the end of 1786: 'The town is at present agog with the ploughman poet, who receives adulation with native dignity, and is the very figure of his profession, strong and coarse, but he has a most enthusiastic heart of LOVE.' Tam o' Shanter In 1787 an enlarged edition of his poems was published in Edinburgh, the proceeds from this volume allowed him to help his brother in Mossgiel, as well buying for himself the farm of Ellisland in Dumfriesshire. He was so successful that tours were arranged of the Borders and the Highlands and it was during these tours that he gained inspiration from the scenery and nature as well as famous battlefields such as Bannockburn and Culloden. Of course, he was also listening to the local music and on one occasion he heard the incomparable fiddle playin of Neil Gow. After the tours he returned to the lowlands to spend the first three months of 1788 in Edinburgh. While Burns was in Edinburgh he met people like David Herd and James Johnson who also took Scottish folksongs and ballads seriously. Burns himself contributed 250 of his own, or mostly his own, composition to George Thomson's Select Collection of Original Scotish (sic) Airs that was published between 1793 and 1818 in five volumes. He also contributed many songs to James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, published in six volumes between 1787 and 1803. As he was now a famous poet the Armour family accepted his marriage to Jean and she moved with him to Ellisland, however, by 1791 he had to yet again abandon farming and he moved to Dumfries where he began working for the Excise. It was while living at Ellisland that he composed one of his most famous works, Tam o' Shanter, in 1790. Although he worked hard for the Excise his support for the French Revolution resulted in an investigation into his loyalty in 1793. Despite his hard drinking it was not this but a rheumatic heart condition (aided by his doctor's prescribing bathing in the River Solway) that finally killed him in 1796. Portrait of Burns by Alexander Naysmith

History Books on Robert Burns:

Author	Title	Published	Price	Order Now From:
Burns, Robert	Complete Poems and Songs of Robert Burns	2000	£12.99	Amazon.co.uk
Robert Burns, Andrew Noble (Editor), Patrick Scott Hogg (Editor)	The Canongate Burns	2001	£14.99 or $15.00	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
This is the ultimate word on Burns; a collection of every single song and poem written by Scotland's best know bard. It seems that everyone knows something about Robert Burns, with his life and work celebrated the world over. Despite being born to a poor farming family in Ayrshire, Burns was well educated, with superb English and French. His first collection of poetry was a huge success, but instead, of receiving a handsome income, the myth of a 'heaven-taught ploughman' was created. Although lionised by the Edinburgh establishment, his financial state forced him to return to farming. He continued to write hundreds of poems and collected, wrote and rewrote a vast collection of old Scots songs. The Canongate Burns not only includes his entire oeuvre, but also half a dozen poems never before attributed to him. These poems were first published in London magazines at the end of the eighteenth century, but the author most likely kept himself anonymous because of their treasonable content. The extensive Scots glossary, explanatory footnotes, chronological listing of the major poems and fascinating introduction have created a breathtaking volume, and a major publishing event for Scots Literature. The editors, Andrew Noble and Patrick Scott Hogg, have both written and edited several books, including other titles on Robert Burns.
Burns, Robert	Robert Burns: Selected Poems	1993	£6.99 or $12.95	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
A selection of Burns's poems and songs, arranged in the order of composition and using the original texts where possible. This edition gives equal weight to Burns as song-writer and poet, providing lyrics and tunes where applicable.
Burns, Robert	Poetical Works	1993	£9.95	Amazon.co.uk
Burns, Robert	Complete Letters	1987	£29.50	Amazon.co.uk
Burns, Robert	Complete Poetical Works and Complete Letters	1993	£47.50	Amazon.co.uk
Burns, Robert	Robert Burns: Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect	1999	£3.99	Amazon.co.uk
First published in July 1786, Robert Burns' first, and most famous, collection, "Poems, Chiefly in a Scottish Dialect", transformed the face of Scottish and English romanticism.
Burns, Robert	Burns: Complete Poems and Songs	1969	£12.99	Amazon.co.uk
This edition of Burns's poems and songs is taken from Professor Kinsley's three-volume Oxford English Texts edition (Clarendon Press 1968) hailed as the first really scholarly and critical edition for more than seventy years. It contains all of Burns's writings, including those reasonably attributed to him.
Cairney, John	On the Trail of Robert Burns	2000	£7.99 or $14.95	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
The author John Cairney is best known for his portrayal of Robert Burns in the 1969 television adaptation called "The Robert Burns story". In this text he visits over 100 places connected with Burns to provide a new challenge trail for Burns fanatics.
Carswell, Catherine	The Life of Robert Burns	1996	£6.99 or $12.95	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
First published in 1930 to a storm of protest due to its frank approach, this biography of the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, deliberately seeks to shake the image of Burns as a romantic hero. It exposes the sexual misdemeanours, drinking bouts and waywardness that is often overlooked. The book also brings to life the personality of this man, showing him to be passionate, hard-living, generous, melancholic, morbid and triumphant.
Douglas, Hugh	Robert Burns: The Tinder Heart	1996	£9.99 or $19.95	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Thought the catalyst for much of his poetry, Robert Burns' sex life has often been denied, glossed over, even bowdlerized out of recognition. How could a man who revelled so unashamedly in earthy, unending sexual adventures write so tenderly about women and love? How could he father eight illegitimate children, yet conceive that timeless song of faithfulness "John Anderson my Jo"? Was Robert Burns not so much a conspicuous sinner as a man who sinned conspicuously? This volume seeks out the truth about Burns to show a man who was much less secure than his action suggest, one of whom sex was an act of rebellion as well as love. His peasant background was a shaping force in his attitude to women. Though amorous love was the impulse which drove him to verse, his love for his children usually transcended that for their mothers. Burns called himself "an extravagant prodigal of affection" and Hugh Douglas here examines the extravagance which shaped Burns' life and poetry, tracing his relationships with women from a loving apprenticeship at his mother's knee to Jean Armour, his loyal, supportive wife. He also examines Burns' many amorous adventures: Nelly Kilpatrick, his harvest-field partner, who first inspired him to write; Highland Mary Campbell; the enigma of "E"; Peggy Chalmers, who rejected him; Clarinda, who always held back; and Maria Riddell, who came nearest to being his intellectual equal.
Douglas, Hugh	Burns Supper Companion	1998	£6.95	Amazon.co.uk
A comprehensive guide to the planning and enjoyment of a successful Burns Supper.
Fraser, Elizabeth	Robert Burns	1999	£5.99	Amazon.co.uk
This title is a highly accessible and illustrated introduction to the life and work of Robert Burns, with an extensive selection of his songs and verse.
McIntyre, Ian	Dirt and Deity: A Life of Robert Burns	1997	£9.99 or $17.95	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
This biography illuminates and explores the complexities and contradictions of Burns's character and personality, untangling the myth from the legend. Based on new evidence from 700 letters Burns wrote during his life, McIntyre concentrates on the circumstances of the writing of poetry itself, and paints a vivid picture of Burns's emotional and impulsive political views, the cruelty and gentleness of which he was capable, stressing the importance and the quality of the satirical poetry as well as the unforgettable love poetry immediately associated with his name.
McOwan, Rennie	Robert Burns for Beginners	1995	£5.99 or $39.00	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Part of the 1995 Scottish Book Fortnight promotion, this title is designed for primary children and Robert Burns "beginners". It contains an introduction to Burns' life, and includes sample poems and songs, information on how to organize a Burns supper, and project suggestions for class.
Mitchell, Keith	On a Scotch Bard: Illustrated Life of Robert Burns	1993	£4.99 or $9.95	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Covering the last seven years of Burns life, and dispelling some of the myths surrounding his career as an Excise Officer.
Smith, Graham	Robert Burns, The Exciseman	1989	£4.95	Amazon.co.uk
Sprott, Gavin	Robert Burns: Pride and Passion	1996	£12.99 or $18.95	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Wilkie, George Scott	Select Works of Robert Burns: Verse Explanation and Glossary		£7.99 or $15.00	Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
A lifetime love of Robert Burns' poetry compelled George Scott Wilkie to analyze some of Burns' most endearing works and create explanatory notes which make some of the more difficult passages more accessible. Each poem is annotated and accompanied by a glossary where necessary.