Robert Burns at The Writers' Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland - 2023.
www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/venue/writers-museum
'From scenes like these, old Scotia's grandeur springs,
That makes her lov'd at home, rever'd abroad;
Princes and lords are but the breath of kings,
'An honest man's the noblest work of God''
'Those who think that composing a Scotch song is a trifling business - let them try.'
'For my own part I never had the least thought or inclination of turning Poet till I got heartily in Love, and then Rhyme and Song were, in a manner, the spontaneous language of my heart.'
From 'How the Scots Invented the Modern World', by Arthur Herman (2001):
‘Raised as a farmhand, virtually self-taught, Robert Burns arrived in Edinburgh in 1787 with a reputation as a boy genius. His literary mentors had encouraged him to write verse in the standard highbrow classical vein, which Burns could do perfectly well. But he sensed that his true talent lay in turning the everyday speech, songs, and stories of the people he had grown up with into poetry, and communicating to readers the latent power, eloquence, and nobility of the ordinary man and woman. It made Burns Scotland’s most beloved poet, even today. But it disappointed his mentors, sank his career, and eventually drove him out of Edinburgh. His failure also drove him to drink, cutting short his life at thirty-seven.’
As a side note, a direct Scottish ancestor of mine - Alexander Quarrier - also grew up on a farm (like Burns) and then moved to Edinburgh in the 1760's as a young adult. He ultimately moved to New York City in 1774 and had sixteen American children with two wives. I also have a Burns family line from Scotland. So maybe I'm a poet and don't even know it.
Robert Burns at The Writers' Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland - 2023.
www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/venue/writers-museum
'From scenes like these, old Scotia's grandeur springs,
That makes her lov'd at home, rever'd abroad;
Princes and lords are but the breath of kings,
'An honest man's the noblest work of God''
'Those who think that composing a Scotch song is a trifling business - let them try.'
'For my own part I never had the least thought or inclination of turning Poet till I got heartily in Love, and then Rhyme and Song were, in a manner, the spontaneous language of my heart.'
From 'How the Scots Invented the Modern World', by Arthur Herman (2001):
‘Raised as a farmhand, virtually self-taught, Robert Burns arrived in Edinburgh in 1787 with a reputation as a boy genius. His literary mentors had encouraged him to write verse in the standard highbrow classical vein, which Burns could do perfectly well. But he sensed that his true talent lay in turning the everyday speech, songs, and stories of the people he had grown up with into poetry, and communicating to readers the latent power, eloquence, and nobility of the ordinary man and woman. It made Burns Scotland’s most beloved poet, even today. But it disappointed his mentors, sank his career, and eventually drove him out of Edinburgh. His failure also drove him to drink, cutting short his life at thirty-seven.’
As a side note, a direct Scottish ancestor of mine - Alexander Quarrier - also grew up on a farm (like Burns) and then moved to Edinburgh in the 1760's as a young adult. He ultimately moved to New York City in 1774 and had sixteen American children with two wives. I also have a Burns family line from Scotland. So maybe I'm a poet and don't even know it.