Robert Burns was born on January 25, 1759 in Alloway, Ayrshire, the first of the seven children of William Burness and Agnes Broun. Today his birthday is widely celebrated; many in Scotland, and around the world, attend Burns Suppers yearly on that day. These suppers always include bagpipes, haggis and scotch whisky, as well as the recitation of Burns' poems.
Burns was mainly home schooled by his father but he and his brother Gilbert attended the Adventure School in Alloway for three years from 1765 to 1768. Burns also attended the Dalrymple Parish School for the summer of 1772. He and his brothers mainly attended school in the summer; they worked on the family farm the rest of the time.
Robert Burns was the father of at least 12 children with four different women; his first was a daughter named Elizabeth who was born in 1785 and was the daughter of a family maid. In 1786, he had twins with Jean Armour whom he married the next year. Robert and Jean had 9 children; 3 survived childhood. Burns was well known as a philanderer and his being married did not interfere with his activities. His personal behavior did hurt his reputation amongst his neighbours. However, it did not affect the popularity of his writings and his subsequent lionization as Scotland's national poet.
Robert Burns' began writing poems at the age of 15; his poems were first published in 1786 in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect. Burns was primarily a poet but was also a fan of Scottish songs; many of his poems were later rewritten as songs. Among Burns' most famous works are Auld Lang Syne, To A Mouse, and Tam O'Shanter.
Robert Burns died on July 25, 1796 of bacterial endocarditis as the result of an infection he caught while having a tooth pulled; his son Maxwell was born the same day.
Today, Robert Burns remains the most popular and well-known of all Scottish poets. His words are a pertinent today as they were in the 18th century; one of his poems is even considered to be the front runner for a Scottish national anthem should the country ever regain full independence from the United Kingdom.
