Tomorrow (24th January 2007) I am going to say part of the following speech about Robert Burns.
OK, why are we here today? Yes, to celebrate the life of someone very special in Scotland’s history…….Robert Burns!
Burns was born on 25th January 1759 in Alloway near Ayr. He is the National Bard of Scotland.
His father was a farmer. His mother was a good singer and he was brought up listening to old stories and songs from Ayrshire.
His father had enough money to employ a teacher for the family for the family and the children were well educated. The family farm did not do well however and the children had to help which was not good for Robert’s health. He later moved to the town of Kirkoswald (Ayrshire) to learn the trade of surveying from “Souter Johnny” and other characters made famous later in his poems and he sampled town life for the first rime. Later he went to Irvine (Aryshire) and learnt flax dressing but things didn’t work out and he was left penniless. Meanwhile his father’s farm was doing very badly and his father died almost bankrupt. The family kept what they could and moved to a rented farm in Mauchline (Ayrshire) and there he met his future wife Jean Armour. He wrote many poems and songs whilst here including “My love is like a Red Red Red Rose” for Jean. Her family would not let him marry Jean as he had no income and did not seem a good prospect.
He had difficulty getting his poems published but then decided to try for subscribers. This is a list of wealthy who will pay in advance for a book and whose name appears in the book making them look important. Burns was successful and his “Kilmarnock” edition of 300 books was published a became very successful.
It did so well that he was invited to come to live in Edinburgh and make a second edition. This he did in 1786 and 3000 were published of the “Edinburgh Edition” in 1787. In Edinburgh he kept very good company and enjoyed the life and poetry reading to wealthy people. Now he was quite a wealthy man and a celebrity so Jean Armour’s family were very happy to have him as a son in law now! Jean meanwhile had had two sets of twins by Burns but only one of the children had survived.
Robert and Jean had a further five children apart from the two sets of twins but only three children survived to adulthood and there are no direct male descendants.
Unfortunately his childhood illness and rheumatism came back later when he lived in Dumfries and he gradually declined and died in 1796. He was buried on the day his ninth child born. There was a huge funeral of over 10,000 people. Dumfries and the other towns associated with Robert Burns have preserved many of the buildings and details of his life for you to go and visit if you are in Ayrshire or Edinburgh.
By today’s standards, Burns died very young….he was only 37. Can we end, by asking you all to join us in a toast………. to the Memory of Robert Burns!
