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More than 80 countries and 3,500
registered events take place to
celebrate the bard’s birthday on
January 25 each year.
So why not host your own Burns
night, offering some authentic
nibbles, meals and party fun?
One idea could be to offer the ladies
their first drink for free in honour of the
traditional ‘Toast to the Lassies’ which
takes place during the celebrations.
Here are some quotable facts about
the great man to impress your guests:
- Poet Robert Burns was born in
Alloway, Scotland on Jan 25th, 1759
and died in Dumfries on July 21, 1796
. . . the very same day his youngest
child was born.
- He is also known to fans as Rabbie,
Rantin’, Rovin, The Ploughman’s Poet
and The Bard of Ayrshire. The Scots
refer to him as ‘The Bard,’ others as
‘The Scottish Bard,’ to distinguish his
nickname from Shakespeare’s.
- Famed for his anti-authoritarian views
and heavy drinking, Robbie’s writing
style was inspired by his own early
struggles as the eldest son of a poor
farmer named William. Robbie
worked the farm from the age of
three and was 15 when his dad died.
- In 1786 Robbie published his first
book of poems, which were catchy,
sarcastic and accessible to all. The
simple unbound book reached the
socialites of Edinburgh who were
astounded an uneducated farmer
could write in such a manner.
- When he wasn’t busy penning a
masterpiece, the handsome and
young Scot went about the business
of fathering children - fourteen by
six different mothers in total! He
married just once, to Jan Armour
in 1788 who gave him four heirs.
- Perhaps his best known work is ‘Auld
Lang Syne’ - which translates into
English as ‘old long since’ and
is set to the tune of a traditional
folk song.
- Robbie believed in equality for all
men, his poem ‘A Man’s a Man for
That’, was cited in a lecture by Kofi
Annan, the UN Secretary General.
- When he died, aged 37, more than
10,000 people attended his funeral
and Robbie was later named the
poet laureate of Scotland.
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