The Hour

Every year on January 25, people gather together all over the world to celebrate the life of Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns.

A poet from Alloway in Ayrshire, Burns reached worldwide fame through his work, as well the reputation he gained for his less than honourable way of living.

Rabbie’s legacy lives on today, with the Bard a true legend worldwide, and historian Ashley Cowie has a few theories on exactly why this is.

“The reason we celebrate Burns more so than the other British poets is he spoke in language, these other great poets didn’t. He was speaking using the terminology and the words of the common person, which appealed to the educated man as much as the common, therefore we see he is celebrated by the masses more so than the other great poets that were UK-bred.”

When Burns - who was voted STV’s Greatest Scot out of 35 nominees last year - died in 1796, aged just 37, he had already became incredibly famous, and those closest to him decided to mark his life.

Ashley continued: “When he died in 1796, his group of friends and the people who knew him best all started not celebrating the death but commemorating his death. But about 1802, this was formalised by organisations of Burns clubs around Scotland, who thought it would be a better idea to celebrate the life of rather than remember the death of (him). And that’s a very traditional Scottish way of looking at things, it extends all the way through to our funeral, it’s as much a celebration as it’s a commemoration.”

By 1885 there were 50 Burns clubs around Scotland, celebrating his life. Every year people still gather on the day that Burns was born, to mark his life by holding Burns Suppers, feasting on haggis, neeps and tatties, and making various addresses, including one of the most famous, the Toast to the Lasses.

However, not everything Burns did was celebrated. A notorious womaniser, he fathered 12 children by various different women, with his behaviour so shocking during the time that Alloway Parish Church banished him!

And Ashley thinks that if he was alive today, some of his fans would soon turn against him for his ‘sinful’ way of living.  “What’s really interesting about burns I find, is a lot of the people who support him today, if he was alive today, they would absolutely write him off and push him to the side. Because he was politically offensive, he was quite crude when he used his terminology, and even when he became famous in the latter days of his life and he moved in the aristocratic circles in Edinburgh, he was sort of admired, but he was admired because of his distinction and distinctive ways, and not being scared to say what he thought.”

Are you a Burns fan? Find out all you could possibly want about Rabbie, as well as tips on how to hold your own Burns Supper, on STV’s dedicated pages to the Bard.