Robert Burns Research Paper

Robert Burns

Robert Burns was a man who was well respected during his time. His songs, his poetry, and other writings was one of the most influential to present the country of Scotland during that time. Burns leff a great legacy passionate poetry that is remained sung and perform to this day. Not only his poems and his song were cherish, but also for his character.

Robert’s father, William Burness was a tenant farmer who married Agnes Broun who was also a tenant farmer. Agnes gave birth to Robert Burns on 25th of January in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland on 1759. His last name was Burness but later it changed to Burns. Burns was the oldest child of seven brothers and sisters. When he was the age of seven, his father sold his household and moved to Mount Oliphant Farm. Their farmland was very ineffective and his family experience hard labor. His family lived in poverty and most of his early youth was filled with hardship. Burns

received a small amount of education but he was mostly educated from his father since he was a self taught learner. His father taught him about history, mathematics, geography, writing, and reading. Between 1765 and 1768, Robert and his brother, Gilbert both had a teacher named John Murdoch. Who taught them various languages like Latin and French, also mathematics. Burns was only homeschooled. Throughout the summer of 1772, he attended to Dalrymple Parish School and went off to Kirkoswald to wrap up his education at the age of fifteen. In 1777, his family transferred to another farm called Lochlea which became more beneficial. In 1779, Burns joined a country dancing school, but his father turned down his decision so soon enough Robert and his brother, Gilbert then joined the Tarbolton Bachelors’ Club. In 1781, Burns traveled to Irvine, North Ayrshire to study to become a flax-dresser. However, soon after the flax emporium was caught on fire and burned down on New Year celebrations. Shortly he moved back to Lochlea. Burns's father died in the year of 1784 (“Robert Burns Biography”).
After his father died, Robert and Gilbert tried to keep up with the farmland, but unfortunately it was unsuccessful so the family moved to another farm called Mossgiel, nearby Mauchline.

Burns was introduced to Lodge St David Tarbolton when he was the age of twenty-two. It did not last very long, thus he joined another lodge, St. James Tarbolton Kilwinning. During those years of 1784 and 1785, Robert was deeply engaged with the lodge work. He attended meetings occasionally, passing and raising brethren and mostly working the lodge. While living in Mauchline, Burns loved writing poetry and songs. Most of his poetry and songs speaks for his passion of the country and love. Burn was given advice from his good friend, Gavin Hamilton, to print out his poems to a local publisher in Kilmarnock, John Wilson. John Wilson published Burn’s poem, “Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect” on July 31, 1786. The publication was a huge success and so, Burns became famous in the city and was invited at countless elegant meetings. (“Robert Burns

Biography”).
Burns was greatly influenced by a female author during his time named Mary Wollstonecraft. Who believed that women were designated to education and a place in humanity. For that reason, he appreciated women which influenced on his work and his personal life. His skills on writing involved sensuality, hardship, socialism, injustice, and loyalty. The most well known poetry Burns wrote was known as, “To A Mouse” in 1785, which was also in his Kilmarnock volume. As explained from Alex Broadhead about how unique and how it relates to reality from the poem, “The poem exposed the boundaries that carve up reality, even as it invites us to see beyond them. Although Burns include contextualization cues which help us to understand that a shift in situation has taken place, the nature of the shift is so unprecedented and ideologically challenging that it should come as no surprise to find critics responding to it an uncharacteristic and inconstant way.” (Broadhead 183). The themes is that our life strengthen when beings recognize the influential of all life, yet meaningless it might seems. It represent Burns’s grief of ruining the mouse’s tiny nest with his plough. He then asks forgiveness to the mouse for his mistake for his cruelty in his being and sadly thinks about every creature’s fate in life, along with himself. Two of Robert’s most famous lines in this poetry are, “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men Gang aft agley,..” The lines shows the idea that things often go wrong even though you have carefully planned on what you are going to do. (Broadhead, “The Language of Robert Burns”).
Burns was a ladies man and had few affairs. In 1785, Burn’s had his first child with Elizabeth Paton. His daughter’s name was Elizabeth Paton Burns. Elizabeth Paton was his mother’s servant. While he was with Elizabeth Paton, he had a relationship with Jean Armour. In 1786, Jean Armour, gave birth to two twins with Robert in March 1786. Burns was prepared to marry Jean, however, Jean’s father did not approve their marriage. Two years later in 1778, Robert and Jean was married. They both had nine children, but only three survived, but that did not stop him for going around with the ladies. In 1786, Burns deeply fell in love with Mary Campbell. Today, people know her as “Highland Mary.”, Burns met Mary in the church while living in Tarbolton. Burns wrote three poems that were dedicated to Mary Campbell, “The HIghland Lassie O”, “Highland Mary” and “To Mary in Heaven”, during the same year, Mary Campbell unfortunately died from a serious fever. Robert burns have a total of twelve children with four women, but seven of his kids were illegitimate, including Elizabeth Patron Burns (“The Life And Times Of Robert Burns”).
Burns died at the age of 37 on July 21, 1796 in Dumfries and most likely died from bacterial endocarditis, which is an infection of the heart’s inner lining. Researchers are still unsure how it caused his death. In the beginning, he was buried in St. Michael’s Churchyard in Dumfries. Eventually, he moved to the Burns Mausoleum in 1815, which still remain to this day. (“The Life And Times Of Robert Burns”).
Burn’s work has influenced 20th Century American writers. His capacity is to understand the human action that makes him known everywhere with his poems and songwriting, and left an important artistic character ever since his death. Burns is appreciated in Scotland and they celebrate on his birthday with supper, which is held around the country. Robert gave us historical detail, social interactions, philosophical debate, songwriting, and the pride of Scotland as a society.