Robert Burns
Frae Wikipedia
Robert Burns (25 Januar 1751 in Alloway, Ayrshire – 21 Julie 1796 in Dumfries), cried Robbie or Rabbie Burns an aw, is the naitional poet o Scotland. He wrate in Scots, wi whiles some Inglis influence.
He widelt kent as the Naitional Makar Scotland, an his wark is celebrate aw ower the wurld. Athrot the wurld he is the best kens o the monie makars that haees wrocht in the Scots leid, tho he also screived monie poems in Inglis an in a kind o licht Scots that can be eithly read by fowk no sae acquaint wi Scots, within an furth o Scotland.
Burns is aften reagairdit as a pioneer o the Romantic Muivment, an efter his daith he becam a seimbol an important source o inspeiration tae the founders o baith Leiberalism an Socialism. He haes also become a cultural icon o Scotland, baith in Scotland itsel an amang Scots that haes flittit tae fremmit airts.
Forbye his ain componins, Burns also ingaitherit fowk sangs frae across Scotland, aften revisin or adaptin thaim. The best kent o thir is Auld Lang Syne that's lilted at Hogmanay an Scots Wha Hae, that haes whiles been saw as a naitional anthem fer Scotland. Ithir poems an sangs o his that byde weil kent athort the wurld the day include A Red, Red Rose, A Man's a Man for A' That, To a Louse, To a Mouse, The Battle of Sherramuir an Ae Fond Kiss.
Table o contents |
[edit] Early Years
[edit] Barinheid
Robert Burns wes born twa mile south o Ayr in Alloway, the auldest o seiven weans o William Burness (1721-1744) (Robert chynged the spellin o his name tae "Burns" in 1786), that wes a sel eddicated fermer frae Dunnottar an Agnes Broun (1732-1820), that wes the dochter o a fermer frae Kirkoswald.
Robert wes born intae a houss that his faither haed biggit (nou the Burns Cottage Museum), whaur he bydit intil Easter 1766, whan he wes seiven year auld. William Burness selt the houss an tuik the tenancy o the 70-acre Mount Oliphant ferm, southeist o Alloway. Here Burns grawed up in puirtith an hairdskip, an the teuch haund ark o the ferm left traces in a premature stoup an a weakened constitution.
The yung Burns haed but a tait regular schuillin, an tuik muckle o his eddicatin frae his faither, that teachit his bairns readin, writin, arithmatic, geography an history, forbye screivin fer thaim A Manual of Christian Belief. He wes also teachit by John Murdoch, that apent a schuil in Alloway in 1763 an techit Laitin, French an mathematics tae baith Robert an his brither Gilbert frae 1765 tae 1768 until Murdoch quat the parish. Efter twa-thrie year o hame eddicatiopn Burns wes sent tae Dalrymple Parish Schuil durin the simmer o 1772, ere retourin at hairst time tae fou time ferm darg until 1773 whan he wes sent tae wonn wi Murdoch fer thrie week tae study grammar, French an Laitin.
By the eild o 15, Burns wes the heidmaist darger at Mount Oliphant. Durin the hairst o 1774 he wes assistit by Nelly Kilpatrick (1759-1820), that tiftit his first attempt at musardrie, O, Once I Lov'd A Bonnie Lass. In the summir o 1775 he wes sent tae finish his eddication wi a tutor at Kirkowswald, whaur he met wi Peggy Thomson, tae wham he wrate twa sangs, Now Westlin' Winds an I Dreamed I Lay.
At Whitsun, 1777, William Burness remuivit his lairge faimily frae the fashfou conditions o Mount Oliphant fer the 130-acre ferm at Lochlea, near Tarbolton, whaur they bydit until Burness' daith in 1784. Efterhaun, the faimily became integratit intae the community o Tarbolton. Tae his faither's disapproval Robert jyned a kintra dancin schuil in 1779, an wi Gilbert shappit the Tarbolton Bachelor's Clud the follaein year. In 1781, Burns becam a Freemason at Lodge St. David, Tarbolton. His earliest existin letters date frae this time, whan be begoud makkin romantic overtures tae Alison Begbie. Despite fower sangs screived fer her, an a suggestion that he wes wullin tae mairry on her, she rejectit him
In December 1781, Burns flittit fer a wee tae Irvine tae leir tae become a flax-dresser, but during the Hogmanay celebrations o 1781/2, the flax shop caught fire an wes damaged enou tae send him hame tae Lochlea ferm.
He cairriet on screivin poems an sangs an begoud a Commonplace Buik in 1783, while his faither focht a legal dispute wi his landlaird. The case gaed tae the Court o Session an Burness wes uphaudit in Januar 1784, a fortnicht ere he dee'd. Robert an Gilbert made an ineffectual strauchle tae keip on the ferm but efter it falyied, they flittit tae the ferm at Mossgiel, near Mauchline in Mairch, that they haudit on tae wi a sair fecht fer the neist fower year. Durin the simmer o 1784 he cam tae ken a curn o lassies kent thegither as The Belles o Mauchline, ane o wham wes Jean Armour, the dochter o a stanemason frae Mauchline.
Burns' casual luve affairs an houghmagandie didna endear him tae the elders o the local kirk an creatit fer him a name fer dissolution amang his neibours. His first illegitimate bairn, Elizabeth Paton Burns (1785-1817) wes born tae his mithir's servand, Elizabeth Paton as he wes stairtin out on a relationship wi Jean Armour. She buir him twins in 1786, an tho her faither wes agin their mairrage at first, they wes mairriet in 1788. She buir him nine bairns in aw, but ainlie thrie won past infancy.
Durin a first in his relationship wi Jean Armour in 1786m an as his prospecks in fermin dwynit, he begoud an affair wi Mary Campbell, tae wham he dedicatit the poems The Highland Lassie, O, Highland Mary an To Mary in Heaven. Their relationship haes been the subjeck o muckle jalousin an it haes been suggestit that they micht hae mairriet. They ettled tae flit tae Jamaica, whaur Burns ettled tae wark as a buik-keiper on a plantation. He wes dissuadit by a letter frae Thomas Blacklock, an ere the plans cuid be actit upo, Campbell dee'd o a suddentie o a fever in Greenock. That simmer, he set furth the first o his collections o musardrie, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, that creatit a sensation an haes been recognisit as a signeificact leiterary event.
[edit] Leeterar Career
At the suggestion o his brither, Robert Burns set furth his poems in a vollum cried Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect kent as the Kilmarnock Edition an aw. First proposals wis pitten oot in April 1786 or the poems wis at lang an last setten furth in Kilmarnock in July 1786 an selt for 3 shillin. Brocht oot by John Wilson, a local prenter in Kilmarnock it haed muckle o Burns' best writin, includin The Twa Dogs, Address to the Deil, Hallowe'en, The Cotter's Saturday Night, To a Mouse, an To a Mountain Daisy - mony o whilk haed been written at Mossgiel ferm. The wark wis a success straucht awa an Burns wis suin weel kent aw ower the kintra.
He wis invite tae Edinburgh on 14t December 1786 tae owersee the preperation o a reveesit edeetion, the first Edinburgh edeetion, by William Creech, that wis finally setten furth on 17t Apryle 1787 (athin ae week o this, Burns selt his copyricht tae Creech fer 100 guineas). In Edinburg, he wis taen in as an equal by the ceety's weel kent leeterati an wis a guest at upper-cless gaitherins, whaur he buir himsel wi unaffecktit mense. Here he met wi, an made a lastin impression on, the 16-year auld Walter Scott that later descrievit him wi great admiration:
-
- "His person wis strang an robust; his mainers landwart, no clounish, a sort o mensfu plainness an simpleecity that aiblins teuk in pairt o its effect frae knawledge o his stoundin talents. His featurs is presentit in Mr. Nasmyth's pictur but tae me is gies ower the norrie that they wis dimeenshed, as if saw in perspective. I jalouse his countenance wis mair muckle nor it kythes in ony o the portraits...there wis a strang expression o cannyness in aw his lineaments; the ee alane, I dout, indicatit the makarly chairacter an temperment. It wis lairge, an o a daurk cast, an leeterally glowed whan he spak wi feelin or intrest. I ne'er saw anither sic ee in a human heid, tho I hae seen the maist kenspeckle chiels o ma time."
His stay in the ceety resultit in some life-lang freendships, amang whilk wis thaim wi Lord Glencairn an Frances Anna Dunlop, that wis whiles his sponsor, wha wi he correspondit for the lave o his life. He begoud a relationship wi the seperatit Agnes 'Nancy' McLehose, wi what he exchynged passionate luve letters unner bynames (Burns cried himsel 'Sylvander' an Nancy 'Clarinda'). Whan it becam clear that Nancy wadna be easily wooed intae a pheesical relationship, Burns muived on tae Jenny Clow, Nancy's hoose-servand, that buir him a son, Robert Burns Clow in 1788. His relationship wi Nancy endit in 1791 wi a hintmaist meetin in Edinburgh or she sailt tae Jamaicie for whit transpired tae be a short-lived reconcilin wi her estrynged guidman. Or she quat Scotland, he gied her the manuscript o Ae Fond Kiss, as a fareweel tae her.
In Edinburgh in the winter o 1787 he met wi James Johnson, a strauchlin muisic engraver an muisic seller, wi a luve o auld Scots sangs an a determination tae preserve thaim. Burns skared this intrest an becam an enthusiastic contreebutor tae The Scots Musical Museum. The first vollum o this wis setten furth in 1787 an includit three sangs by Burns. He contributit fowerty sangs tae Vollum II, an wad end up sponsible for about a third o the sax hunder sangs in the hail ingaitherin as weel as makkin a conseederable editorial contreebution. The hintmaist vollum wis setten furth in 1803.
Whan he retoured tae Ayrshire on 18t Februar 1788, he resumed his relationship wi Jean Armour an teuk a lease on the ferm o Ellisland near Dumfries on 18t Mairch (settlin there on 11t Juin), but trained as an exciseman shoud fermin conteena tae pruive unsuccessfu. He wis appyntit duties in Customs an Exise in 1789, an gied up the ferm in 1791. Meanwhile, he wis aye scrievin awa at his best, an in November 1790 haed feenisht Tam O' Shanter. Aboot this time he wis offered an turnt doun an appyntment in Lunnon on the staff o the Star newspaper, an refuised tae become a canditate for a newly-creatit Chair o Agricultur in the Varsity o Edinburgh, awtho influential freends offert tae uphaud his claims. Efter giein up his ferm he flittit tae Dumfries.
It wis at this time that, bein aksed tae scrieve leerics for The Melodies of Scotland, he respondit by contreebutin ower 100 sangs. He made major contreebutions tae George Thomson's A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice as weel as tae James Johnson's The Scots Musical Museum. Airgiably his claim tae immortality chiefly rests on thir vollums that pat him in the front raing o leeric makars. Burns descrieved hou he haed tae maister the tuin or he componed the wirds:
-
- "Ma wey is: I conseeder the makarly sentiment, correspondent tae ma norrie o the muisical expression, syne wale ma theme, begin ae stanza, whan thon is componed -that's for ordinar the maist fykie pairt o the business- I walk oot, sit doun nou an than, leuk oot for objects in naitur aboot me that's in unison or hairmony wi the cogitations o ma fancy an wirkins o ma bosom, hummin ilka nou an than the air wi the verses I hae framed. Whan I feel ma Muse beginnin tae jaud, I retire tae the solitar ingle-side o ma study, an there pit ma effuisions doun on paper, sweengin, at intervals, on the hint-legs o ma elbae cheer, by wey o cawin furth ma ain creetical stricturs, as ma pen gaes."
- "Ma wey is: I conseeder the makarly sentiment, correspondent tae ma norrie o the muisical expression, syne wale ma theme, begin ae stanza, whan thon is componed -that's for ordinar the maist fykie pairt o the business- I walk oot, sit doun nou an than, leuk oot for objects in naitur aboot me that's in unison or hairmony wi the cogitations o ma fancy an wirkins o ma bosom, hummin ilka nou an than the air wi the verses I hae framed. Whan I feel ma Muse beginnin tae jaud, I retire tae the solitar ingle-side o ma study, an there pit ma effuisions doun on paper, sweengin, at intervals, on the hint-legs o ma elbae cheer, by wey o cawin furth ma ain creetical stricturs, as ma pen gaes."
Burns wrocht tae gaither an preserve auld Scots fowk sangs an aw, whiles revisin, eikin tae an adaptin thaim. Ane o the better kent o thir gaitherins is The Merry Muses of Caledonia (the title's no Burns'), an ingaitherin o clarty leerics that wis kenspeckle in the muisic haws o Scotland as late as the 20t century. Mony o Burns' maist fawmous poems is sangs wi the muisic based upo aulder tradeetional sangs, for ensaumple Auld Lang Syne is setten tae a tradeetional tuin cried Can Ye Labour Lea", A Red, Red Rose is setten tae Major Graham an The Battle of Sherramuir is setten tae The Cameronian Rant.
[edit] Leiterary Style
Burns' direck leiterary influences in the uise o Scots in musardrie wes Allan Ramsay an Robert Fergusson. Burns' musardrie also tuik tift frae a guid kennin o Clessical, Biblical an Inglis leiteratur, as weil as the Scottish makar tradeition an the fowk poetry that he kent frae his bairnheid.
He wes skeily in uissin Scots an Scottish Inglis, aften a mixter-maxter o the twa. Writtin in Inglis or in a "licht" dialeck version o Scots gied him a readership furth o Scotland, an also alloued him tae chynge frae ane til anthir fer effeck (as in his uise o Inglis fer the "moralisin" pairts o Tam O' Shanter) or gin he wes needin the rhyme.
His themes includit Republicanism (he livit durin the time o the French Revolution) an Radicalism, that expressit in Scots Wha Hae, Scots patriotism, anticlericism, cless inequalities, gender roles, commentary on the Scots Kirk o his time, Scots cultural identity, puirtith, sexuality an the guid side o popular socialisin (carousin, whisky, fowk sangs etc.). Burns an his warks wis a source o inspiration to the pioneers o liberalism, socialism an the darg fer Scots sel-govrenment, an he is still widely respectit an aften quotit by poleitical activists the day, e'en by consrvatives an establishment feigures acause syne his daith, Burns becam drawn intae the fabric o Scots naitional identity. Aiblins it is this abeility tae appeal tae aw strines o poleitical opeinion in Scotland that haes led tae him bein widely saw as the naitional poet.
He is fer ordinar cried a proto-Romantic poet, an he gied muckle tift tae William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge an Percy Bysshe Shelley. The Edinburgh literati warked tae sentimentalise Burns durin his life an efter his daith, dismissin his eddication by cryin him a "heiven-teachit pluechman." Burns was influence later Scots screivers, specially Hugh MacDiarmid that fechtit tae brak doun the sentimental cult that dominatit Scots leiterature in MacDiarmid's opeinion.
[edit] Hinmaist Years
As his heil begoud tae gie wey Burns stairtit tae age early an fawed intat fits o doul. His drinkin habits didna hulp this, an in July 21, 1796 he dee'd at Dumfries at the yung eild o 37. He wis yirdit fower day efter, the samyn day that his son Maxwell wis born. A memorial edeition o his warks wis set furth tae raise siller fer his guidwife an bairns, an wi-in a wee time efter his daith, siller cam in frae aw ower Scotland tae support thaim.
[edit] Fremmit Airtins
- Offeicial wabsite o Burns Cottage Museum
- National Burns Collection (Scottish naitional archive o Burns-relatit portraits, manuscripts an objecks)
- Modren online ingaitherin o Burns eimages an artefacks
- Scots govrenment produced Burns mini site
- Robert Burns Encyclopedia: A-Z companion tae Burns life an times
- Podcasts on iTunes that haes sum o Robert Burns' greatest poems read by Tadhg McKenna.
- National Library of Scotland's Burns site
- "The Illustrated History of the Family, Friends and Contemporaries of Robert Burns" by Colin Hunter McQueen