robert burns son, the ploughman poet, the bard of ayrshire and the bard national poet of scotland...
TRANSCRIPT
Robert Burns
� Date of birth - 25 January 1759
� Date of death - 21 July 1796
� Also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's
favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, the Bard
of Ayrshire and The Bard
� National poet of Scotland
Robert Burns
� He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language.
� Pioneer of the Romantic movement
� Strong influence on Scottish literature
� Collected folk songs from across Scotland
Robert Burns
� His poem Auld Lang Syne is often sung at
Hogmanay
� Scots Wha Hae served for a long time as an
unofficial national anthem of the country.
� Other poems A Red, Red Rose; A Man's A
Man for A' That; To a Louse; To a Mouse;
The Battle of Sherramuir; Tam o' Shanter,
and Ae Fond Kiss.
Robert Burns
� Burns was born two miles south of Ayr, in
Alloway, South Ayrshire, Scotland
� the eldest of the seven children of William
Burness and Agnes Broun
� Received most of his education from his
father
Education
� R. Burns was housetaught
� He was also taught by John Murdoch
� Dalrymple Parish School 1772
� In 1775, he was sent to finish his education
with a tutor at Kirkoswald, where he met
Peggy Thomson
Ellisland Farm
� Burns returned to Ayrshire on 18 February 1788
� Resumed his relationship with Jean Armour
� Took a lease on the farm of Ellisland near Dumfries on 18 March
� Gave up the farm in 1791
� Refused to become a candidate for a newly-created Chair of Agriculture in the University of Edinburgh
Lyricist
� After giving up his farm he removed to
Dumfries itself
� It was at this time that, being requested to
write lyrics for The Melodies of Scotland
� Burns also worked to collect and preserve
Scottish folk songs at that time
� One of the better known of these collections
is The Merry Muses of Caledonia
Failing health and death
� As his health began to give way, Burns
began to age prematurely and fell into fits of
despondency
� His death was probably caused by bacterial
infection reaching his blood
� On the morning of 21 July 1796, Robert
Burns died in Dumfries at the age of 37
Failing health and death
� The funeral took place on Monday 25 July
1796
� He was at first buried in the far corner of St.
Michael's Churchyard in Dumfries
� His body was eventually moved in
September 1815 to its final resting place, in
the same cemetery, the Burns Mausoleum
Literary style
� Burns' poetry drew upon a substantial
familiarity and knowledge of Classical,
Biblical, and English literature, as well as the
Scottish Makar tradition.
� His themes included republicanism and
Radicalism which he expressed covertly in
Scots Wha Hae, Scottish patriotism,
anticlericalism, class inequalities
Influence
� He influenced William Wordsworth, Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, and Percy Bysshe Shelley
greatly.
� His direct literary influences in the use of
Scots in poetry were Allan Ramsay and
Robert Fergusson.
� Burns would influence later Scottish writers,
especially Hugh MacDiarmid
My Heart’s In The Highlands
� My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here, My heart's in the Highlands a-chasing the deer - A-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’s In The Highlands
� Farewell to the mountains high cover'd with snow;
Farewell to the straths and green valleys below;
Farewell to the forrests and wild-hanging woods;
Farwell to the torrents and loud-pouring floods.
� 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, whereever I go.