The life and legacy of Scotland's national poet
About Robert Burns
25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796
Robert Burns (1759–1796) was a Scottish poet and lyricist whose writing in Scots and English became central to celebrations of Scottish culture. Burns suppers held around January 25 commonly combine his poetry with piping, speeches, food, and song.
This collection brings together important moments in Burns’s short life, the publication of his work, his poetry and songs, his screen legacy, and the music that entered the bagpipe repertoire. Burns often supplied or adapted words for existing Scottish airs, so the relationship between poet, melody, arranger, and piping tradition differs from piece to piece.
The closing chapter
Robert Burns’s final years and death
Robert Burns (January 25, 1759 – July 21, 1796) is the best known of the poets who have written in Lowland Scots. Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often times revising or adapting them. His poem (and song) Auld Lang Syne is often sung at Hogmanay. Other poems and songs of Burns that …
Continue the storyExplore the work
Poetry, film, and piping tradition
Milestones
Robert Burns history
Robert Burns Works Heard on the Bagpipes
A practical index of Robert Burns poems and songs commonly arranged for, performed with, or associated with bagpipes.
Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect Published
On July 31, 1786, the Kilmarnock Edition introduced Robert Burns's first major collection and changed the course of his life.
The Poetry and Songs of Robert Burns
A starting point for exploring Burns's best-known poems, songs, Scots language, recurring subjects, and continuing place in Scottish culture.
Robert Burns on Film and Television
Films, documentaries, and screen portrayals that introduce the life, writing, and international legacy of Robert Burns.
What Happens at a Burns Supper?
A guide to Burns Night traditions, the order of a Burns supper, piping the haggis, speeches, poetry, music, food, and Auld Lang Syne.
Robert Burns, died
July 21, 1796
Robert Burns - Scottish Poet - born.
January 25, 1759