Interesting facts about Scotland’s Robert Burns

Burns Night is an annual festival that celebrates the life and works of Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns … also known as ‘Rabbie’ to his friends.

Burns Night also has a strong association with Whisky!

‘Rabbie’ is widely regarded as Scotland’s national poet and the festival has become Scotland’s unofficial national day.

It is celebrated on January 25th the date of Burn’s birth.

Burns Night has a rich heritage in Scottish culture and combines two of the nation’s favourite pastimes, eating and drinking whisky, with the legendary poetry of Robert Burns.

Burns was born in 1759. Over the years his work became more renowned … as did his reputation for liking whisky and women.

His heavy drinking and adultery gained him notoriety and scorn within literary circles, although the quality and output of his work remained consistently high.

So, how did Burns Night begin and what does it involve?

It is believed that the first Burns Night took place over 200 years ago in 1801 – less than five years after Burns’ death … and was celebrated by a group of scholars who were fans of his work.

In the early days it was seen as the perfect platform to celebrate Scotland and being Scottish … incorporating Burns’ poetry, Scottish food (most notably haggis, neeps and tatties) … and, of course, copious amounts of whisky!

The popularity and celebrations grew year on year until we have the Burns Night that we know today.

And a couple of interesting facts about ‘Rabbie’ …

‘Auld Lang Syne’ – composed by Burns – is recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as being one of the top three most popular songs in the English language. The other two are ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’

Robert Burns was the first person to appear on a commemorative bottle of Coca-Cola, in 2009, according to the Daily Telegraph, previous promotional bottles had featured The Fifa World Cup and the Olympic Games, but never individuals.

Cheers!