As we celebrate the life and work of Scotland's national poet, how much do you know about the bard Robert Burns?
Burns Night falls on the poet's birthday - January 25 - but what do you know about the man behind the words?
Whether you know his work inside out or you're grateful for a wee dram of whisky to slur your way through Auld Lang Syne, we've got you covered.
We have put together ten facts about the beloved Alloway writer that you can whip out before or after your haggis, neeps and tatties.
10 facts about Robert Burns for Burns Night
- Robert Burns wrote his name originally as “Burnes” rather than Burns
- Rabbie - as we sometimes refer to the poet - produced his first poem at only 15 years old
- There are over 60 statues dedicated to the writer which is the third most monuments of a non-religious figure after Queen Victoria and Christopher Colombus
- Burns had planned on moving to Jamaica but found success with his collection: Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (or the Kilmarnock collection) and decided to move to Edinburgh instead
- The poet fathered a staggering 12 children - nine to his wife Jean Armour whom he married in 1788
READ MORE: When is Burns Night 2023? Everything you need to know
READ MORE: What you should not do when celebrating Burns Night this year
6. While Burns was said to have written 100 songs, fifty of them appear to be credited incorrectly - including his famous tune ‘Auld Lang Syne' since the poet had a habit of reworking existing works
7. Burns died on July 21, 1796 aged just 37 with his funeral being held on July 25 which was the same day that his last son, Maxwell, was born
8. The bard is buried in the Burns Mausoleum in St Michael’s Churchyard, Dumfries which you can still visit
9. Robert Burns' Birthplace Museum in Alloway is now a National Trust for Scotland property that houses "more than 5,000 Burns artefacts including his handwritten manuscripts"
10. The poet and songwriter has inspired generations of other creative minds including the title of John Steinbeck’s 1937 novel 'Of Mice and Men' from his poem 'To a Mouse'. Burns poem Comin’ Thro’ the Rye also inspired J.D. Salinger’s 1951 novel title 'The Catcher in the Rye'
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here