Robert Burns was Scotland's National Poet, and a hero to Scots worldwide.
Why?
Burns, a strong patriot, as well as writing poems in the Scots own language (not the English of, say, Shakespeare), travelled extensively throughout the country, listening to the ancient folksongs of the people, and putting them down on paper, for future generations to have a record of their own culture. Burns was not a member of the gentry, the "society" of lords and ladies, Lairds and Thanes. He was a ploughman, a farmer, the son of a tenant farmer (a Cotter in the Scots dialect) in Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland , south of Glasgow.
It was as the celebrated "Ploughman Poet", after the publication of the first volume of his "Poems Written Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect" that Burns was noticed, and feted, by Edinburgh Society, and the country as a whole.
While his poetry brought him fame, around the country, and later around the world, it did not bring him wealth, and he needed to supplement his meagre income as a farmer as a tax collector, an Exciseman. It is remarkable, given the feeling of the common people toward an Exciseman, that Burns was able to remain as beloved among as he was, but it was due largely to his great kindness.
Robert Burns was a lover of all mankind, a believer in a worldwide brotherhood - as denoted by his immortal lines:
Then let us pray, that come it may
(As come it will for a' that)
That Sense and Worth o'er a' the earth
May bear the gree an, a' that
For a' that and a' that
It's coming yet, for a' that
That man to man the world o'er
Shall brothers be for a that
Burns was a man who hated hypocrisy, especially within the church (Kirk) and many of his most popular works during his lifetime were his satires of leading figures of the Kirk, particularly "Holy Willie" whom his contemporaries would certainly recognize.
Burns was a lover of women, of all kinds, but the most enduring love of his life was his wife, his "Bonnie Jean." His most famous love songs, still well known today, include "My love is like a red, red rose", "Sweet Afton", "Ae fond kiss."
Robert Burns, though born a son of Scotland, would, no doubt, be proud that he has become a man of the world. His works have been translated into many languages, including Russian, Italian, Japanese and Punjabi.
Thanks, in large measure to Canadian-born bandleader Guy Lomdardo, people throughout the world, on New Years Eve, sing, in tribute to the year past, and the year to come:
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and Auld Lang Syne
One of the many songs for which Robert Burns is famous.
There are other quotes, now a common part of conversation originally penned by Burns. Among them:
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley
An' lea'e us nought but grief an pain
For promised joy. - (To a Mouse)
O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us! - (To a Louse)
As Scots have left their homeland and settled throughout the world, they have taken their admiration of the International Bard with them.
