Burns Night is upon us, seeing households across Scotland come together to celebrate the country’s national bard.
Born in Ayrshire, Robert Burns (or Rabbie Burns) wrote Auld Lang Syne – a song for which is he known all over the world.
With only hours to go before we whip out the haggis, neeps and tatties, here is everything you need to know about the important day and of the man himself.
When is Burns Night taking place?
Burns Night takes place annually and is set to occur on Thursday, January 25 this year. Burns Suppers are traditionally held on January 25 as this is the date Robert Burns was born in 1759.
Who is Robert Burns and why is he famous?
Robert Burns, who was born in Alloway, Ayrshire in 1759, is Scotland’s national poet and well-known globally for writing Auld Lang Syne, a popular song used to mark the beginning of a new year.
He also penned a number of other works such as Tam O’Shanter and Scots Wha Hea.
He was also very open about his political views, expressing sympathies with the French during their revolution and advocating for democratic reform in the United Kingdom.
In recent years, his personal life has raised some eyebrows with his many love affairs becoming a topic of discussion.
He fathered 12 children with his first being born to Elizabeth “Bless” Burns in 1786. He went on to have relationships with various women.
Why do we celebrate Burns Night and how did it start?
The first Burns Supper took place on July 21, 1801, as a way for the poet's friends to remember him and his legacy.
This soon became a regular occurrence and even now there are dozens of Burns Clubs up and down the country which mark his impact on Scottish culture.
When did Robert Burns die and what was his cause of death?
Robert Burns died on July 21, 1796, at the young age of 37 in Dumfries. His passing was preceded by a period of poor health which caused him to age prematurely.
It is possible that Burns' health was impacted by a long-standing rheumatic heart condition which may have coupled with a bacterial infection caused by a tooth abscess.
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