Day Seven: Sunday October 20th

Today we visited the Robert Burn’s Cottage and Museum. Robert Burns is considered the national poet of Scotland and is quite known for having written in Scots, as well as English and Scot dialect. He is considered the father of the Romantic movement as well. One of his most famous works is “Auld Lang Syne,” a song now typically sung on New Years Eve or “Hogmanay.” The Burn’s Cottage is the original cottage where Robert Burn’s was born and raised (of course with reconstruction). Inside there is a replication of how the cottage would have been set up in Burns’ time there. We were taken on a guided tour of the cottage and the surrounding area. I thought the cottage was clever and well put together and I could definitely imagine (without the smell) what the cottage was like when the Burns family lived there. After we passed by the bridge where Tam O’ Shanter was caught by the witches when trying to cross over the river, and our tour guide recited, from memory a part of the poem which is written in a mix of English and a Scots dialect. Near the bridge is also the a memorial to Robert Burns. Inside the memorial, which is circular in base, we can see where in the world other memorials to Robert Burns are located. We then find out that Robert Burns is the seconds person with the most memorial dedicated to him in world only after Jesus! I found this fact very surprising. It shows Burns’ prominence on an international level, as well as the migration of Scots around the world. After we walked over to the museum where we saw just the beginning of the exhibition, although I did learn a little bit more about Burns and his romantic love affairs and his family situation. 

Overall I must say that I am not a Robert Burns fan mostly because I find him hard to understand due to language, and partly because I don’t find interest in the things he writes about. I do find interest in what I can learn about Scotland through his writing though. Many of his writings are nature based, inspired by his experience with the land, hard labor, and I think that this has something to say about the people of Scotland. That they are a hard working honest type of folk. I don’t think they would have chosen him as their national bard if it was otherwise.